The Battle of Bunker Hill

The sun was shining from a cloudless sky a little past noon on June 17, 1775 when a British force

of 1500 men landed on Charlestown Heights in Massachusetts. Their objective: a surprise attack

to nullify the threat posed by "rebel" batteries on the peninsula.

However, the night before for nearly twelve hours   the Americans had worked non-stop building

their main fortification on Breed's Hill which lay at the foot of Bunker Hill to the north.

At daybreak on the 17th gazing through the morning fog, British General Howe was astonished to

see a six-foot high earthwork   a mushroom fortress   that seemingly appeared overnight. "The

rebels," he exclaimed, "have done more work in one night than my whole army would have done

in one month." British cannons immediately opened fire from the ships offshore but the patriots

continued work on the entrenchments without harm.

By mid-afternoon General Howe ordered his troops to advance and open fire. As the British

moved forward, the Americans remained as silent as the tomb. "Don't fire until you see the whites

of their eyes," was the order passed along the lines. When that moment came, the word "FIRE!"

was shouted, and whole enemy platoons were mowed down and shattered, retreating to the foot

of the hill.

Howe rallied his forces and repeated the attack with the same crushing results. Not to be

discouraged, Howe rallied his men a third time, ordering them to use only their bayonets. After a

desperate hand-to-hand struggle, the Americans were driven out.

In that final assault American General Joseph Warren and British Major John Pitcairn were

killed. While the exact number of casualties varies among historians, the Americans were

estimated at 441 killed and wounded... with the British casualties at 1,150 killed and wounded.

In all of the twenty battles of the Revolution, Bunker Hill exacted a heavy toll on British officers.

In this one battle alone one-eighth of the British officers in the entire War were killed and one-

sixth were wounded on that day.

Following the earlier skirmishes at Lexington and Concord, the battle of Bunker Hill was

significant in that it overruled any real hope of conciliation. The outcome of the battle rallied the

colonies and moved a lethargic Congress to take action. Bunker Hill showed the Americans that

the British were not invincible. It showed the British Government that the "rebels" were a serious

opponent, that "the mightiest army in all of Europe" had a real fight on its hands.

Answer the Following:

1. What was the British objective on the Colonists?

2. What was the advice of General Howe?

3. How many Brits died? How many Colonists?

4. Why was the Battle of Bunker Hill considered to be a victory for the Colonists? Explain.