The Battle of Bunker Hill

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The Battle of Bunker Hill traces back to December 1773, when a group of Colonists dressed as Mohawk Indians boarded three ships from the East India Company. These rebels led by Sam Adams proceeded to dump chests filled with tea into the Boston Harbor. This act, known as the Boston Tea Party, was the result of years of exploitation and mistreatment from the British; it was the breaking point for the Colonists and symbolized a shift in their loyalty. As punishment the British imposed the Intolerable Acts, which set the stage for the Boston Massacre, and the Battle of Lexington and Concord. At Lexington and Concord the British were unprepared for an ensuing American militia and were forced to retreat to the Charlestown peninsula where they were reinforced by their navy. The American forces then decided to suffocate the British by building a defensive position at a nearby hill, Bunker Hill. The Battle of Bunker Hill soon followed, and it was a pyrrhic victory for British General Gage. Gage demonstrated poor mission command that stemmed from his overconfidence and impaired his ability to understand, visualize, describe, and direct during the battle.
At Charlestown, Gage found the reinforcements and combined arms he needed to regain control of the Colonists and defeat the rebels. He also found an unwelcoming population of Colonists and soon Gage sensed that the tensions between them and the surrounding cities were becoming too high. So on 16 June 1775 Gage ordered a meeting with his two Generals, Clinton and Howe. They discussed a plan to move off the peninsula and strengthen their position by taking Dorchester Heights. Word of their plan quickly spread and the Colonists had no choice but to take immediate preventative actio...

... middle of paper ...

...rect. Overall, Gage’s poor mission command swelled his losses and created hope in the Colonists that turned the tide of the War.

Works Cited

Battle of Breed’s Hill and Bunker Hill. http://www.wpi.edu/academics/military/bhill .html (accessed Decemer 10, 2013).

Ketchum, Richard M. Decision Day: The Battle for Bunker Hill. Doubleday and Company Inc, 1974.

Lockhart, Paul. The Whites of their Eyes, Book Design and Media Inc, 2011.

The Battle of Bunker Hill. http://www.cr.nps.gov/NR/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/42bu
Nker/42lrnmore.html (accessed December 10, 2013).

The Battle of Bunker Hill. http://www.revolutionarywararchives.org/bunkerhillbat tle.html (accessed December 13, 2013).

The True Story of the Battle of Bunker Hill. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/ history-archaeology/The-True-Story-of-the-Battle-of-Bunker-Hill-204119581.html (accessed December 15, 2013).

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