1

This 1775 map shows the locations of Lexington and Concord as well as the Siege of Boston which followed.

•Colonial troops surrounded British troops bottled up in the city, assisted by cannons captured by the Continental Army when Fort Ticonderoga was captured in 1775

• Colonial forces numbered 6,000-8,000 men. British forces totaled 4,000

• While they were surrounded by land, British forces still had access to supplies from the ocean

• In March, 1776, British troops were allowed to set sail for Halifax, ending the siege

Siege of Boston,

April 19, 1775 - March 17, 1776

2

Originally proposing a direct attack on

Boston, Washington agreed to a plan to fortify Dorchester

Heights with a cannon seized from Ft. Ticonderoga.

By March, 1776, British troops and ships were under

American armaments.

British General Howe elected to evacuate

the city.

Siege of Boston

3

Dorchester Heights

This marble tower commemorates the colonial victory in March 4-5, 1776

• In 1775, Washington ordered General Henry Knox to bring captured cannon from Fort Ticonderoga to Dorchester Heights for use in the siege of Boston

• Teamsters with 80 yoke of oxen transported the 59 guns to Dorchester Heights. Straw was used to pad the cannon wheels to deaden the sound

• Cannon arrived in March, 1776

• More than 1000 British troops, led by General Howe, evacuated the city and fled to Nova Scotia; leaving Boston under colonial control

4

Battle of Bunker Hill

June 16, 1775

5

British General Gage and his forces attacked

Colonial militiamen dug in on Breed’s Hill, located

north of the city of Boston, near another hill called Bunker Hill. This battle, called “Bunker

Hill” by both sides even though it really took

place at Breed’s Hill, was the bloodiest of the

American Revolution.

True battle location

6

General Gage’s forces made three assaults on the colonial position on Breed’s Hill. The colonists, holding their fire

until they “could see the whites of their (the British soldiers’) eyes”, stopped the first two advances, but

abandoned the position on the third because they ran out of ammunition. The British won the battle, but lost

approximately 40% of their men.

7

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

Engaged Killed

British

Colonists

2,400 British soldiers took on 1,500 Colonial troops in the battle. Final casualty figures were 1,150 for the British, and

450 for the American forces.

Bunker Hill casualties

8

Written at the Second Continental Congress in July,

1775, the Olive Branch Petition was a final attempt by the

colonists to end the fighting between the colonists and the

British.

Moderates in the Congress, led by John Dickenson, wrote that the purpose of the petition was to “stop the future effusion of

blood”, and implored the king to agree to a cease fire until the

disagreements between colonies and mother country could be

settled.

King George III rejected the petition, called the colonists rebels, and ordered a naval blockade of the east coast.

Olive Branch Petition

9

King George III

of Great Britain

…the line has been drawn…

blows must decide whether they (the

colonists) are to be subjects of this

country or independent…

Excerpt from King George III’s diary

10

Cartoon from the 1770s