Reference Entry
BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL
The day after Washington accepted his new burden, militiamen outside Boston met the British army in one of the Revolution’s most famous early battles. Though remembered as the Battle of Bunker Hill, most of the fighting raged on nearby Breed’s Hill, where colonial forces hastily fortified a position overlooking the harbor. British commanders, determined to break the rebel grip on the peninsulas around Boston, launched repeated frontal assaults up the slopes in tight formations.
Dated Historical Context
A RECORDED MOMENT IN HISTORY
Battle of Bunker Hill
The day after Washington accepted his new burden, militiamen outside Boston met the British army in one of the Revolution’s most famous early battles. Though remembered as the Battle of Bunker Hill, most of the fighting raged on nearby Breed’s Hill, where colonial forces hastily fortified a position overlooking the harbor. British commanders, determined to break the rebel grip on the peninsulas around Boston, launched repeated frontal assaults up the slopes in tight formations. The defenders, short on powder and shot, held their fire until the attackers were close and then cut into the ranks with devastating volleys. Eventually the militia positions were overrun when their ammunition ran low, making the fight technically a British victory. The price, however, was staggering in officer and infantry casualties, and the battle convinced many in London that the war would be neither short nor easy, while in America it proved that citizen soldiers could stand toe to toe with professional regulars.
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