Leading up to The Battle:
In Massachusetts, when Chandler painted this for his cousin, they were just getting over their first battle with the British troops. Before the battle of Bunker Hill there was the battles at Lexington and Concord, but those are not considered the first battles of the revolution because there wasn’t proper leadership or organization within the troops on either side. They just served to increase the already high tensions between the British troops and colonists.[4]
In the spring of 1775, the New England army was formed.[5] At this point, it was no longer just Massachusetts that was at war, all of New England had become involved in ridding Boston of the Redcoats. Men from all over New England came to help fight, however, if there wasn’t much action many of them went back to their families and homes. Slowly but surely the Americans were building an army capable of at least fighting the British troops.[6] They would be nowhere near the level of experience the British troops had, but it was a huge step in fighting for their freedom from Britain.
After months of growing their army and scrounging for ammunition, the rebels were wary of fighting the well prepared British troops. That didn’t stop them from trying though. When the Americans received information that British troops were planning on fortifying Bunker Hill and taking Charlestown, they had trouble reacting.[7] The Delegates in Philadelphia opted to do nothing about the problem and the only positive thing the Massachusetts men gained out of that meeting was the removal of a spy from their midst.[8]
In the spring of 1775, the New England army was formed.[5] At this point, it was no longer just Massachusetts that was at war, all of New England had become involved in ridding Boston of the Redcoats. Men from all over New England came to help fight, however, if there wasn’t much action many of them went back to their families and homes. Slowly but surely the Americans were building an army capable of at least fighting the British troops.[6] They would be nowhere near the level of experience the British troops had, but it was a huge step in fighting for their freedom from Britain.
After months of growing their army and scrounging for ammunition, the rebels were wary of fighting the well prepared British troops. That didn’t stop them from trying though. When the Americans received information that British troops were planning on fortifying Bunker Hill and taking Charlestown, they had trouble reacting.[7] The Delegates in Philadelphia opted to do nothing about the problem and the only positive thing the Massachusetts men gained out of that meeting was the removal of a spy from their midst.[8]
During the time the Continental Congress was debating, British reinforcements were arriving.[9] This meant that the Americans were losing the only advantage they had: numbers. However, the American army didn’t want to act without permission from the Continental Congress. The decided course of action that was agreed upon by the Continental Congress was to do nothing and hope that General Thomas Gage would peacefully take his troops and leave Boston.[10]
The more time that passed, the more the tensions grew. The army was tired of waiting around for the British troops to leave peacefully. They wanted them out of Boston and now knew they were going to have to fight for it. So that’s exactly what they did. Their solution to the problem was to take Bunker Hill and hold Charlestown so that the British couldn't. [11]
The idea was not a bad one for Bunker Hill was in a great position to protect the harbor from naval attacks.[12] It overlooked the Charles River and would make it easier to keep British troops out of Charlestown. William Prescott led the American troops up the road to the base of the hill. However, when they arrived there was a brief debate about which hill they should build the redoubt on. In the end, it was decided that they would build in on Breed’s Hill instead of Bunker Hill. This was a decision that would be costly for the Americans later on.[13]
The Battle of Bunker Hill:
The American men worked all through the night to build the fort because they knew that when the morning came the British ships sitting in the harbor would be able to see them. Later, it would become known that some of Gage’s men who were patrolling the shoreline did in fact hear the colonists building, but thought nothing of it and thus didn’t report it.[14] When the first light came and the British troops saw them, they started firing at the redoubt and the men building it.[15] The colonists had chosen a moderately hidden place to build the fort, so it was harder for the ships in the harbor to get good shots in at the colonists. Not many people were killed during the initial firing. However, British leaders saw all of the flaws in their positioning for a non-naval attack and used it to their advantage when they were making a plan for an attack by land.[16]
Meanwhile, the patriots in the redoubt were tired, hungry,thirsty, and worn out from digging through the night. They were awaiting reinforcements, food, water, and new supplies of ammunition.[17] Some of Prescott’s men started to question the
commands of their officers and whether or not building the fort was the greatest idea. They were just starting to realize what the consequences of their actions were. The conditions were so dire that some men tried to leave and after a while, Prescott had no choice but to let them go. He had a premonition that they were not going to come back, despite their promises, and in the end he was right; not one returned.
Back in Boston, Gage saw the redoubt as a challenge- which it was no doubt intended to be- and was determined to take it for himself. Instead of preparing to fight a skilled army that they might struggle to defeat, Gage and Howe thought that the Americans did not have any military experience necessary to beat them in the battle. After much debating, the British leaders finally decided that it would be a good idea to do a sneak attack from all sides of the hill.[18] Some troops
would stay on the boats and continue to fire, some would be led around the back and sides of the force, and the final group would attack the redoubt straight on. Howe was hoping that this method of attack would overwhelm the patriots because they had not completed or protected all sides of the redoubt yet.[19]
The British soldiers that were going to attack the Americans at the redoubt crossed the Charles River on boats. As they were doing this, some reinforcements had arrived at the American lines and made the executive decision to fight at the fences surrounding the hill, instead of at the redoubt, in order to prevent as many soldiers as possible from making it to the redoubt.[20] The fences were good fences that made it very hard for the British to cross. This held them up and allowed the Patriots some easy shots. In an attempt to save ammunition, the Patriots were ordered by Prescott to "not to fire until the could see the whites of their eyes".[21]Howe’s men were suffering and desperately needed to regroup. From his standpoint on Copp's Hill, in neighboring Boston, Howe was able to see the arrival of the New Hampshiremen. This was not good for him or his men.
Now that there were more Patriots to defend the redoubt, no matter how the British attacked, they would be walking right into the enemy’s line of fire. Even as the British were encroaching, more reinforcements were arriving for the Americans and they were able to stand their ground. Many of these reinforcements were coming from Charlestown. They had fled Charlestown because it had just gone up in flames and had decided to join the fight. However, there were others who fled to Boston, where people were sitting on their rooftops and watching the battle, instead of joining the fight for their liberty.[22] The Battle of Bunker Hill was one of the most watched battles of the revolution.[23]
The British troops lost many men and their organization during the initial fighting.[24] No one was in their formations anymore or listening to their officers as they tried to regain control. Howe’s men decided to regroup and as they made their way towards him, he could see just how badly a loss they had suffered at the hand of the Patriot’s infantile army.[25] It surprised him how much damage the Americans had done to his larger and superior army. While the British fled the rebels watched. They started cheering when the soldiers started to flee towards beach in order to cross the river and get away from the fighting.
After regrouping, the British soldiers came back even more determined to defeat the Americans. They forced their way up Breed’s Hill and with one final push, they made their way into the fort just as the Americans were running out of ammunition. With no other option left, Prescott gave the order and the Americans fled in the chaos that ensued. There was too much smoke and darkness in the redoubt for anyone to see clearly so most of the rebels were able to get away. However, some did not flee with the majority, they stayed and went down fighting. Joseph Warren was one of the few men who had stayed behind and fought with everything in him, but still ended up being killed. Many of the men who stayed behind were either shot or taken prisoner. The British were far too tired at this point to chase the fleeing Americans very far.[26]
Even though the British troops got the redoubt and, consequently. Charlestown, it was not a total victory for them. The British troops lost many more men than the Americans that day, which made the battle less of a success for them. The battle also taught them a lesson: never underestimate the Americans when fighting, they may not look like an army, but they have the drive it takes to win.[27]