Battle At Bunker Hill by Matt MacLeod, updated 5/3/98

Related historical timeline created with Timeliner (Nobles grad, Tom Snyder)

The Battle Of Bunker Hill which took place in Boston was one of the most important Colonial victories in the early part of the U.S. war for independence against the British. This Battle was fought during the Siege of Boston, two months after the battles of Lexington and Concord on June 17, 1775. At this time, more than 15,000 troops from Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Rhode Island were assembled in the Boston area prepared to defend themselves and stop the 5,000 or so British troops that had gathered.The Battle of Bunker Hill was an extremely important victory for the Americans because this win boosted the confidence of the troops and it was proven to them that they had the skills and the heart to rise above the British and gain their independence.

Links to some sites on Bunker Hill

The Actual Battle

In the Boston area, there were two main places that Boston vulnerable to artillery fire, The Dorchester Heights, and Bunker(a.k.a. Breed's) Hill, now located in Charlestown. The objective that the Americans had was to lure the British near one of these hills so that they could take them down easily. Gen. Artemas Ward heard that British general Thomas Gage wanted to occupy one of the hills. When Ward heard the news, he had Bunker Hill fortified for extra cover from fire. Col. William Prescott, one of Ward's men, took his troops and secured them on the hill without being noticed. They took cannonade from British ships in the harbor, but were still able to strengthen their position. British men were then dispatched to attack Bunker Hill and were stopped by barricades and heavy fire power. Since the British had no cover, their casualties were approximately 1,000, leaving the rest to flee for their lives. British still had soldiers left and if they had followed this up with an attack on Dorchester Heights, it might have been worth the heavy cost.
Due to the tactful fighting of the Americans and their new victory, their confidence was jolted so much that the British had no chance in defeating the Americans.

Here are some Bunker Hill pics and sites to check out!!






This site completed by Matt MacLeod Class of 2000---e-mail =Matthew_MacLeod@noblesnet.org
Thanks to my teacher Don Allard

Information taken from: The Encyclopedia Britannica
http://charlestown.ma.us/
http://users.southeast.net/~dixe/amrev/
http://dcn.davis.ca.us/vme/vo/4.html