Bunker+Hill

MHS13 **Bunker Hill**


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Animated map: http://www.revolutionarywaranimated.com/bunnker-hill

http://www.masshist.org/revolution/bunkerhill.php

Rowe's Revolution "Afternoon I went by invitation of Brother Webb to attend the Funeral of the Remains of Dr. Warren ... The Corps of Dr. Warren was Carried into the Chapell Dr. Cooper prayed & Mr Provoz Morton delivered an Oration on the Occasion. There was a handsome Procession of the Craft with Two Companies of Soldiers." Diary of John Rowe, 8 April 1776

The Battle of Bunker Hill

Introduction

To prevent British soldiers from conducting further attacks on the countryside after the march to Lexington and Concord, 20,000 provincial militiamen encircle Boston in the spring of 1775. The Charlestown peninsula and Dorchester Heights, commanding both the city of Boston and Boston harbor, lie abandoned. Hoping to make the British "masters of these heights," General Gage, in conference with Major Generals William Howe, Henry Clinton, and John Burgoyne, plans to seize the neglected positions before the colonists do so. News of Gage's intent filters across from Boston and down from New Hampshire on 15 June. Acting quickly on this intelligence, the Massachusetts Committee of Safety orders General Artemas Ward, commander of the colonial militia surrounding Boston, to race the British to the Charlestown peninsula, capture Bunker Hill, and then seize the Dorchester hills.

The following day, Ward orders Colonel William Prescott, with the aid of one thousand colonial troops, to take and fortify Bunker Hill. Unknown to the British, Prescott and his troops arrive at the Charlestown peninsula that same night. Prescott and other officers ultimately decide to bypass Bunker Hill, rising 110 feet and situated near the only route back to Cambridge, and instead give "orders to march" to Breed's Hill, a smaller mount further south and within cannon range of Boston and British ships in the harbor. The colonists toil industriously throughout the night and early morning to construct an earthen fort 160 feet long and 30 feet high atop the hill, with breastworks and a rail fence all the way down to the Mystic River.

Astonished British generals wake on the morning of 17 June to discover the newly erected defenses. As the day continues, British ships bombard the untrained militia as they work, and Colonel Prescott walks the bulwarks to raise morale. Thirsty and tired, the soldiers receive "no refreshment." Back in Boston, Gage summons a war council.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, over 2,000 British soldiers, commanded by General Howe and wearing flashing red coats, land on the Charlestown shore. Continental snipers fire at the British as they march, and General Howe orders a combustible shell launched on Charlestown. Amid smoke and flames, local inhabitants flee their homes in order to escape "Charlestown's dismal fate." From rooftops and hilltops, spectators watch Charlestown burn. The clear day affords views to residents as far off as Braintree, including Abigail Adams and an eight-year-old John Quincy Adams who later recalls living in "unintermitted danger."

British troops head uphill, where they are frustrated by fences, pits, and tall grass. In dust and heat, the continental militia wait behind their walls. They hold fire until the British are in within 150 feet of the redoubt. "Heavy and severe Fire" decimates the thick British ranks. Recoiling from the first attack, General Howe relies on "the Bravery of the King's Troops" and immediately orders his stumbling and disordered soldiers to make a second charge, this time only at the hill and rail fence. Again the colonists slaughter the King's troops with their fire.

An hour passes as the British recover from the two attacks. They receive 400 new troops from Boston. A third time, General Howe orders his soldiers, with the help of the reinforcements, to charge the breastworks and the rail fence. With "Bravery and Resolution," Prescott's men again wait until the last minute to open fire. This time, however, they are running short on ammunition and are soon overrun by the British, whom they fight with rocks and the butts of their muskets as they dodge the "Arrows of death."

No longer able to withstand the British attack, Prescott's men retreat north over the road to Cambridge, as General Stark's New Hampshire troops cover them in the rear. One of the last to abandon the fort on Breed's Hill, Joseph Warren is killed as he retreats, and he is mourned with "the tears of multitudes." In total, 140 colonists are dead and 271 are wounded. Before dark, the British again command the Charleston peninsula, though 226 British lie dead and 828 are wounded.

Despite renewed British control of the peninsula, colonial forces still trap the British in Boston. As supply issues and shortages plague them, the British prepare for further military commitment to defeat the "poor and ignorant" colonists. Meanwhile, the colonies scramble to assemble more soldiers. Britain replaces General Gage with General Howe in early October 1775, and two weeks after the battle at Breed's Hill, on 2 July 1775, George Washington arrives in Cambridge to take command of the Continental Army.

List of supporting documents:

A. "masters of these heights"

By late April 1775, British troops garrisoned on the Boston peninsula are surrounded by 20,000 colonial militia in the outlying countryside. The siege of Boston has begun. The geography of Boston and Charlestown is laid out in both the map drawn by an "Officer on the Spot" and the letter from General Burgoyne to his nephew, Lord Stanley. General Burgoyne, who has only just arrived in Boston in late May, describes the vital importance of the high ground surrounding Boston in both Charlestown and Dorchester and why "it was absolutely necessary to become masters of these heights." Burgoyne, a veteran of the Seven Years' War in Europe, details the original plan to capture the heights, and explains what caused that plan to change. The map shows British fortifications on the Boston peninsula and the positions of both British and colonial troops on 17 June 1775.

Questions to Consider

1. Why were both the colonists and the British anxious to control the hilly areas of Charlestown and Dorchester?

2. What precipitated the change in the original British plans?

Further Exploration

3. The map marks the routes and landing sites of the boats with the British troops. There is also a notation "Hither the ships should have come" on one section of the map. Why did the officer/mapmaker add that? Using the map and Burgoyne's letter, argue for or against his position.

B. "Orders to march"

From the headquarters of the Continental Army in Cambridge (six weeks after Washington's arrival), William Prescott, who has commanded the colonial forces at Bunker Hill, writes to John Adams. Adams is representing Massachusetts at the sessions of the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. Interestingly, Prescott never mentions that the original orders were to fortify Bunker Hill, located just to the north, as the subsequent Committee of Safety report indicated. Historians to this day have been trying to piece together what happened during the council of war that Prescott held with his field officers on the night of 16 June. Why did they decide to build their entrenchments on the lower hill? Was it because it was closer to Boston and would be even more likely to force a confrontation? Who was involved in making this decision? Prescott provides the "State of Facts tho' imperfect & too general," as he tells Adams, but leaves us with many unanswered questions.

Questions to Consider

1. Why might Adams have wanted this information from Prescott?

2. What problems did Prescott encounter in setting up the fortifications and fending off the British attack on them? What problem would prove to be insurmountable and force the colonial forces to retreat?

3. Does Prescott come across as defensive in describing his defense of Breed's Hill? Defend your answer!

4. Prescott uses the words "train," "hot," and "smart" differently than we do today. How might he have defined those words?

C. "no refreshment"

In this account written four days after the battle, a man from Newburyport, north of Boston, recounts what he has heard of the events of June 16 and 17 -- beginning with the difficulties of the colonists working to fortify the hill in Charlestown. He passes on to his friend a description of what happens when the provincial forces laboring away realize that British troops are heading right toward them, coming across the water from Boston. He describes the actions that follow and particularly the role of the two Newburyport companies. And he then describes the "greatest loss" of all.

Questions to Consider

1. In his reporting of the Battle of Bunker Hill, what things is Mr. Bromfield uncertain about? Where does he seem to have more details? What might account for what he knows and what he does not know?

2. What examples of heroic and less-than-heroic actions does he cite?

Further Exploration

3. Who was Major Joseph Warren and why was he "universally lamented in the camp"? How does the description of his last action help us to understand how he was viewed by the colonists?

D. "Charlestown's Dismal Fate"

The cannonading of Charlestown during the afternoon of 17 June 1775 is part of the British assault -- clearly visible from Boston and many other points along the shoreline on an extremely clear day. The town is set afire and many of its inhabitants are left homeless, losing all their possessions. During the final throes of battle, numerous colonial soldiers, including Joseph Warren, president of the Provincial Congress, are killed. Warren and other fallen soldiers are mourned deeply by the colonists. This broadside, written shortly afterward, seeks to fan the flames, enlisting the support of all "Friends to the American Cause" for the victims of the shelling and the soldiers of the Continental Army.

Questions to Consider

1. What specific language and images does the broadside employ to inspire the sympathy and incite the anger of the readers?

2. What unembellished facts can you extract from this document? In what examples is the line between fact and imagination blurry and why?

3. What functions or purposes do the graphic images, the capitalized words, the "elegiac poem" and the Warren acrostic play in this broadside?

4. What motivations (political, economic, social, personal) might E. Russell have had in creating this broadside? Provide evidence to back up your statements.

Further Exploration

5. Other documents in this section also deal with the death of Warren. What does this one contribute to our understanding of the significance of this man--in life and in death--to so many people?

E. "unintermitted danger"

In 1846, John Quincy Adams writes this letter to an English philanthropist and abolitionist who had visited the United States five years earlier. In it, on pages 3 and 4, he recalls his family's experiences back in 1775 -- when he was eight years old.

Questions to Consider

1. How long after the events being described was this account written?

2. According to JQA, why was the Boston area such a dangerous place to be?

Further Exploration

3. How does JQA's account differ from the one written by his mother the day after the battle? Click here to read Abigail's account.

4. What might account for the differences in the two descriptions of Bunker Hill?

5. What does this letter tell us about the way JQA remembered the dramatic events of his childhood?

6. What does it tell us about his views of motherhood? How does the image of his mother compare with the image of Abigail that comes from her own account?

7. What are some of the things that we need to be aware of when looking at reminiscences such as this?

F. "heavy and severe fire"

Lieutenant Waller is the Adjutant of the 1st Battalion of Marines (later called the Royal Marines), which has already seen bloodshed on 19 April 1775. The Marines, under the command of Major Pitcairn, were part of the expeditionary force that marched to Lexington and Concord. Now, a little over two months later, Lt. Waller gives a detailed account of the Battle of Bunker Hill, an action "very fatal to the 1st Battalion."

Questions to Consider

1. What is a redoubt? According to Lt. Waller, why was it so difficult for the Marines to capture it?

2. How does Lt. Waller characterize the scene within the redoubt? What other words would you use to convey what he was describing?

3. By what word does Lt. Waller refer to the colonial forces? What does that tell you about the situation in the Boston area at the time?

4. Does this account give you any insight as to why the British troops set Charlestown afire? Provide evidence to back up your answer.

Further Exploration

5. The recipient of this letter is unknown. What can we tell about this person from the context of the letter itself?

6. Massachusetts Historical Society also holds Adjutant Waller's orderly book for the period March 1775-January 1776, which contains all the official orders received and issued by the Marines. What might this document tell us that would help us to understand how the events of 17 June fit into the larger story?

G. "The Bravery of the King's Troops"

One week after the Battle of Bunker Hill, this document is printed and circulated by John Howe, the same loyalist Boston printer who published General Gage's account of the events of 19 April 1775. Broadsides -- single sheets printed on one side -- serve as public announcements or advertisements. Generally posted or read aloud, they are the popular "broadcasts" of the day, bringing news of current events to the public quickly. In this case, efforts are made to demonstrate "The Bravery of the King's Troops" and produce a version of events that counteracts that being spread by the patriot press and Committees of Correspondence.

Questions to Consider

1. What specific evidence in this broadside tells you that this is an interpretation unfavorable to the American cause?

2. Why are the implications of calling the Americans "rebels"?

3. Why do choices of words matter in documents like these?

4. According to this broadside, why were King's Troops fighting at Bunker Hill?

H. "Bravery and Resolution"

The "Bravery of the King's Troops" praised in the previous broadside is matched by accounts of equal "Bravery and Resolution" on the colonial side. Here a newspaper story from a different perspective recounts the cannonading of the American position in Charlestown from British guns on Copp's Hill in Boston's North End -- across the Charles River -- and the military actions that follow. The newspaper article contains a letter from a resident of Hingham -- a town south of Boston -- who has just returned from that city. It contains another report from an unidentified source in Chelsea -- just north of Charlestown -- and an erroneous claim that either General Howe or General Burgoyne has been killed in action.

Questions to Consider

1. What sources of evidence did the newspaper article employ? What were/are the advantages and disadvantages of each to the newspaper publishers? The intended audience? Readers today?

2. What lessons can we learn from this broadside about the use of sources, evidence based on hearsay, the spread of propaganda and the choice of words?

Further Exploration

3. The numbers of British troops involved is exaggerated in this newspaper article: historians have determined the figure to be closer to 2,000 grenadiers and light infantrymen against about 1,500 Americans to start (though there were less than half that number of Americans defending the fortifications at the end). The Hingham correspondent's figure of close to a thousand British troops killed or wounded is more accurate. American casualties numbered about half that. What accounts for the discrepancies? Would the same errors occur today? Why or why not?

I. "the arrows of Death"

Peter Brown, a company clerk "hearty in the cause," who has fought with Col. Prescott in the redoubt at Bunker Hill, gives us the fullest account that survives of the feelings and observations of a participant in the ranks. Private Brown's account includes his actions when the British marched to Concord on 19 April, his enlistment in the army at Cambridge, and the orders of 16 June. He writes to his mother about the dawning realization of the danger the Americans are in as they build the fort and breastworks, with "all Boston fortified against us". He depicts the unfolding of events as the British begin their bombardment from Boston and from the ships in the harbor, and then he describes the attack on the redoubt as the British troops are ferried over to Charlestown.

Questions to Consider

1. Why did Peter Brown decide to enlist and become a clerk in the army?

2. Why does he write (page 2) "I must say and will say that there was treachery [,] oversight or presumption in the conduct of our officers"? What reasons does he give for his assertion?

3. Why did some of the Americans desert? Why were others so "beat out"?

4. To what does Brown attribute his escape from the "arrows of death"?

5. Brown tells his mother to send his letters to Col. Prescott's Chambers in "the South College". Where is that? Why are the American officers quartered there? Where are the students?

6. What aspects of Brown's narrative might have been put in or left out because he was writing to his mother and why?

J. "the tears of multitudes"

Letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams, 18-20 June 1775

From the Adams Family Papers The transcription of this letter is featured on the Adams Family Papers: An Electronic Archive website.

This is one of the many letters Abigail Adams writes to her husband while he serves as a delegate to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. She has just witnessed the battle in the distance the day before from the shoreline of Braintree (now Quincy) -- just south of Boston. She is accompanied by her eight year old son, John Quincy Adams, who describes the scene many years later in a different document. (Online presentation of JQA's letter.) The Adamses feel the cost of the battle on a personal level: Abigail's letter opens with the news that they've lost one of their dearest friends.

Questions to Consider

1. Why does Abigail Adams say, "The Day; perhaps the decisive Day is come on which the fate of America depends"?

2. According to Abigail, what are the characteristics of Dr. Warren that made his death such a great loss to America?

3. Why is it difficult for Abigail to eat, drink, or sleep? In addition to the battle-related worries, what other worries does she have?

Further Exploration

4. What does she mean by "ten thousand reports are passing vague & uncertain as the wind"? What evidence have you seen of this in other documents you have read? Provide specific examples.

5. Why did Abigail Adams sign her letters to John Adams "Portia"?

K. "the poor and ignorant"

Songs play an important role in the American Revolution. Ballads such as this one published in England serve several purposes: to rouse the troops, ridicule the enemy, and play on the emotions of the listeners in a way that only music can. General Howe, who commanded the assault on Bunker Hill is depicted here as "brave", "considerate", "beloved by many"; one whose very name "the Yankees dread". What American could command that same kind of allegiance and respect from soldiers and civilians alike?

Questions to Consider

1. For what audience is the song intended and what is its purpose?

2. How are the Yankees portrayed in this song? How are the British portrayed? Show specific examples of how this is done.

3. What is the meaning of this line: "There's some in Boston pleas'd to say,/As we the fields were taking,/We went kill their countrymen,/While they their hay were making/For such stout whigs I never saw,/To hang them all I'd rather,/For making hay with musket balls/And buck-shot mix'd together." What does the songwriter mean by implying that the Yankees were "making hay with musket balls"?

4. Why is John Hancock referred to as "King Hancock"? What is that "hill call'd Bacon"? What is its actual name and where is it located?