Taking place in 1775, at the start of the Revolutionary War, the Battle of Bunker Hill was a needed victory early in the war to get the soldiers to believe in themselves. Many soldiers in the beginning of the war did not believe that the lowly colonists could defeat and declare independence from a superpower; Britain. Although outnumbered and with little confidence, the continental army stood their ground at the Battle of Bunker Hill and proved that they could win the war.
The colonies were in a state of turmoil. They had to pay extravagant taxes, but they also were not counted as Britain’s “people.” The colonies tried to obtain peace with documents such as the Olive Branch Petition, but were refused many times. So after many attempts
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Most people did not expect the colonists with their under trained militia to last long against the British superpower. The colonists did just that. In the night of June 16, 1775, a detail of 1200 troops under orders from Artemas Ward, and led by William Prescott was supposed to entrench themselves on the rise on Bunker Hill, but instead misunderstood the instructions and went to Breed’s Hill by mistake. The next morning, the British were shocked to see Americans threatening them. In the 18th century, British military custom urged that the British soldiers attack the American soldiers, even though the Americans were in a superior position. Major General William Howe, leader of the British forces could easily have surrounded the Americans with his ships, but chose to march his troops up the hill; to the Americans. Howe might have believed that the Americans would retreat in the face of a smashing, head-on attack. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how a person looks at it, William Howe was wrong. The Americans stood their ground, dug in their heels, and stood firm. In the first wave, the Americans waited until they were within forty meters, then opened fire. The British force retreated with their wounded for a second wave. The British rushed up yet again. Again they retreated, suffering a great number of casualties. By the time the
The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17 1775, about a year before the 13 colonies declared independence from Britain. This battle took place in Charlestown on the north side of the Boston Harbor. The two main generals were Artemas Ward, for America and William Howe, for Britain. Other commanders from America included: Israel Putnam and William Prescott. Other commanders from Britain included: Sir Robert Pigot, Henry Clinton, John Stark, Thomas Gage, and Samuel Graves. Now, at the time Britain had more troops than the colonies so it makes sense that they had more commanders. Britain had 2,400 British troops of the Boston Garrison while the colonies had 1,500 troops from the American Continental Army.
The bunker battle was an extention of the lexington and concord battles which were fought in April 1775. believing that a straight-on show of force would break the spirit of rebellion, british launched a frontal attack against the rebel militia entrenched on breeds hill. According to History.com having learned that the British was planning to send
The American Revolution, when 13 American colonies waged war against the most powerful country in the world, Great Britain, for their independence. Soldiers who fought in the war and risked their lives to gain the freedom we have today, is just one of the many prime examples of prevailing hardships in battle. George Washington proved to be exemplary just like many others heroic patriots, like Henry Knox and Nathaniel Greene, when triumphing over the British soldiers with what little strength they had and defeating them. Their victory was more than enough proof on why they deserved independence. David McCullough’s 1776, describes and educates us about events which happened before the war and foreshadows up to the revolution. We learn about the hardships thrown at George Washington and the Continental army whose intentions switched from equal rights to complete emancipation. Battles throughout the Revolutionary War, like the Battle of Bunker Hill, are well known, but McCullough shows the reader how the Continental army continues to strive on even when victory is not in their favor.
For many, the American victory over Great Britain in the Revolutionary War remains a question of how colonial forces were able to overcome superior forces in conventional, face-to-face encounters. The British army was, unquestionably, superior in military skill and classical tactics to the American regulars. They were extremely disciplined and very proud. The redcoats also held the advantage of superior leadership and a strong chain of command. Overconfidence in themselves, and the difficulty of fighting so far from the mother country were, perhaps, their downfall. The British did not anticipate the power of an occupying citizenry to defend a land they considered their own. Although it will be seen that the American regular army, with its alliance
Great Britain at this time had many issues with funding themselves after exhausting resources and political power, after the French and Indian War. Britain was slowly losing power trying to keep the inhabitants of the American colonies at the bay. With a victory in the hand of Britain and one of the bloodiest wars staining the hearts of the people of America in the other, Britain had to keep itself strong, so the idea of taking their colonies quickly came to mind and keeping foreign colonies in check was their first priority. There were many issues going on in the British colonies. One of many issues that happened is salutary neglect, which led to the colonies to be mad with the British Government.
When looking at the American Revolution on paper, there would be no surprise that when comparing the colonies to Great Britain, that Great Britain would certainly have the advantage. In fact Great Britain should have won the war handily. The colonists certainly deserve praise for the amount of effort they put in fighting off the British. However, Great Britain had a wide array of advantages that should have gotten them the win. The only reason the revolutionaries won the war was because the British failed.
At Concord, hundreds of miltia and minutemen alike gathered in preparation, they were not going to go down without a fight (Boots, 66). The British began to retreat and the militia followed them by flanking them. The Patrios picked them off easily in the narrow roadway as they sought shelter behind trees, rocks, and tall grass (Inskeep). The British were relatively easy targets due to the brightness of their scarlet uniforms (Boots, 66). The British suffered a loss of 65 men, with 207 wounded, whereas the colonists had only lost 49 men, with 44 wounded (Boots, 67). This was the first time the colonists had utilized guerilla warfare, and it paid off. It played on their strengths, particularly their knowledge of the land and their ability to use it for their advantage. They learned of a plot, and they quickly and efficiently devised a way in which to minimize their loses while expanding on their potential gains of liberty and patriotism. Guerrilla warfare, was the only way that the colonists could have won against Gage in this instance, and it instill in others that the war tactic in itself was not savage at all, but a
(They were sometimes called redcoats.) The British woke up to see americans 6 foot dirt wall, and their leader, was not happy, they had done more work in one night than his men could do in a month. Bang, bang, bang, the British marched up the hill in a perfectly straight line with their guns, horses, and drums. The British had boats and ships. They burnt down some houses.There were more british than colonists. Unfortunately, the British had to go up a hill, which made them an easier target. Most british marched by foot, but some were on horses. It could have been that the British had the general and important people on horses and their soldiers on foot. The British struggled a lot in this battle from being pushed down to the river. Even though they won, and it gave them control of the Boston Harbor, it had a very risky cost about 266 British were killed and 828 wounded And for the Americans, they suffered less than half. Was this battle worth
The colonies had many reasons to feel bitter toward Britain after the war. First off, of course there had been a lot of money spent during the seven years of the war, so Britain had to pay off their war dept somehow. This became the major economic issue that Britain had to face. The responsibility to pay the cost of the war that the colonists had fought, sadly had been laid upon themselves. This
At the time of the Revolutionary War, Britain had the world’s strongest military. It was ridiculous to consider a tiny military, such as the Continental Army, standing any sort of chance against them. However, the British fought according to the traditional “laws of war”, facing the enemy straight on in an open area. The Colonials weren’t trained as well as the Brits, but instead used guerrilla tactics: hiding behind obstacles and firing on the enemy at choke points. This strategy was extremely effective against the highly trained British troops. However, they weren’t always able to use such strategy; sometimes they had to resort to
Seeking to break the siege of boston ,the british planned to launch a massive attack on June 18,1775. To seize the two promontories overlooking the city-first dorchester heights to the south and then bunker hill to the north.
The battle at Bunker Hill was faught on June 17, 1775 on Breeds Hill instead of Bunker Hill. There were two hills that the British wanted to take in order to be able to bombard the Americans from a distance. These were Breeds Hill and Bunker Hill. The Battle of Bunker Hill actually took place mostly on Breeds Hill. It's only called the Battle of Bunker Hill because the army thought they were on Bunker Hill. This battle happend in the Town of Charlestown, Boston. The Battle at Bunker Hill was faught against the British and the patriots. The British were under the command of General William Howe and General Robert Pigot and marched to Breeds Mountain.The British side had about 2,400 troops defending Britian. The Patriots had about 1,500 troops
Throughout the book, Redcoats and Rebels, Christopher Hibbert discusses the British interaction in the Americas during the American revolution. There were multiple strengths and weaknesses expressed, in the book, about the British involvement during the American revolution. The major strength of the British was that they had some strong generals that were the main causes of the multiple successes of the British army. The British also had more militiamen than did the Americans, as well as more equipment and weaponry. Multiple areas were also captured by the British, which was another strength of the British army. A weakness that was discussed a few times, within the book, was that the British had to surrender some attacks because of the amount of damage that had been done to the force; this was mostly because there was never a plan for the attack. The British were successful, for the most part, during the American revolution and they had multiple people on their side.
The “British” colonies were slowly considering themselves a separate entity altogether – they had over a century’s worth of history. After the signing of the treaty, the colonists realized that they had different ideals and intentions for themselves than the British Parliament did. The Parliament had a virtual representative speaking out for the needs and wants of the colonists, so in result of that the colonists were not getting the things they wanted, or felt that they needed. What this means for the colonists was that they now had a common enemy – none of the colonists wanted to be spoken for, thus they needed to attempt to unify and make their own nation.
The Revolutionary War started in 1775. The American colonies have had enough of the British occupants and set their foot down in pursuit to freedom and independence. Each battle that happened during the Revolutionary War had its own significance and contributions to the independence of the colonies. Many brave men laid their lives in pursuit of the dream of independence from British control. One particular battle paved the way for that independence to become a reality. That battle is known as the Battle of Yorktown. The Battle of Yorktown took place in what we know today as Virginia. It was a decisive battle that turned the table during the Revolutionary War. The battle ultimately led to the liberty of the American Colonies from the