Battle of Bunker Hill

3 Pages 634 Words

One of the most important battles of the American Revolution was the Battle of Bunker Hill. This battle was one of the earlier battles of the war. The battle was fought in Charlestown, Massachusetts on June 16, 1775. Two locations were critical to the americans during this war. These locations were Bunker Hill and Breed’s Hill. Bunker Hill is the highest of the two hills, it is also the location where the americans retreated to. Breed’s Hill is where the where the main portion of the battle was fought. The British commanders were General Thomas Gage and General Sir William Howe. The American commanders were Colonel William Prescott, General Israel Putnam and Joseph Warren. These three commanders were fairly skilled in combat, while the British commanders were highly skilled in combat.
After receiving a message that the British were going to secure the two hills on the peninsula across from Boston which at the time was separated from the peninsula by Boston Harbor the Americans decided to invade that area, and they did. They were also starting to build a fort on it, because at that position they could lob cannon shells into Boston easily, and then the Americans could take over Boston, which at the time was a British stronghold. The colonists also wanted to get revenge on the British for shooting then in their backs when they were retreating at Lexington. A spy brought news to the Americans that the British General Gage ordered about seven-thousand men to take out the twenty-thousand man American makeshift army at Bunker Hill. Gage did this because he was furious that the colonists were building a fort right across from Boston. "Dig, and dig hard," was one of many famous phrases said by Colonel Prescott to the Americans while they were digging trenches and wa!
iting on the British to attack. British warships started bombing the hillside with cannonballs at dawn. This attack did little damage to the Americans. The British ...