The Handy Boston Answer Book. Samuel Willard Crompton
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What did General Gage and his three major-generals see the following morning?
On June 17, 1775, the four British generals awoke to find that the rebels, as they called them, were atop Breed’s Hill in force and were digging in. Somehow, the American movement passed unnoticed during the night, but at 8 A.M., the HMS Lively began firing cannon shot at the earthworks atop the hill. The Americans were there, and it was plain to the British that they must be dislodged.
General Gage was never one to move quickly, but even he saw this was do-or-die. Give the Americans just forty-eight hours, and they would have cannon atop Breed’s Hill, and the town would be at their mercy. Gage gave command of the enterprise to General Sir William Howe. The middle son of a family that provided three notable eighteenth-century British leaders, General Howe was not only experienced, he was a specialist in the development and use of light infantry. This meant he was skilled in the deployment of fast troops, the kind needed to seize the heights on the Charlestown peninsula.
Why wasn’t Breed’s Hill reinforced?
In retrospect it seems criminal that this was not done. Generals William Prescott and Israel Putnam sent numerous messages to the leadership at Cambridge, but no one really seemed in command that morning. Only General Joseph Warren, who was better known as a physician and an inspired member of the Sons of Liberty, was on hand in Cambridge. Despairing of rousing a true reinforcement, Warren simply seized a musket and declared he was headed for the heights. Friends attempted to dissuade him, but Warren declared he could not allow those men to fight, knowing that he was not at risk.
There were disagreements, too, between General Israel Putnam and General William Prescott. Both men were veterans of the French and Indian War, but they did not get along. One of the few things on which they agreed was their surprise when Colonel Seth Pomeroy arrived. He had commanded the American artillery at the Siege of Louisbourg (1745), and he had led Massachusetts men at the Battle of Lake George (1755). Now, thirty years after Louisbourg’s fall, Pomeroy hastened to Charlestown and got there just before the action commenced. Tradition has it that Prescott greeted him with: “Pomeroy, you here? Why, a musket ball would waken you from the grave!”
Didn’t the Americans realize the British would attack?
Both sides underestimated the other. The Americans did not anticipate the British would move rapidly, and the British did not understand that the Americans had already achieved great things, throwing up earthworks overnight.
The Americans were reinforced, and they had more than one thousand men on the peninsula, but they could send no more because British cannon, aboard the Royal Navy ships, controlled access to the peninsula.
How tough was it to climb the steep slope of Breed’s Hill?
Anyone who ascends the hill today can testify as to its steepness. The British, though, were carrying equipment that was in excess of forty ponds. Given that June 17 was the warmest day of the season to that point, the British performed some heavy labors.
How quickly did the British move into action?
By 2 P.M. more than two thousand British troops were on the Charlestown peninsula. At this time, Admiral Graves gave the order to fire on the town itself, and within one hour, roughly four hundred homes were burned. For many patriots, the burning of Charlestown was the bitterest part of the Battle of Bunker Hill.
The British battery on Copp’s Hill was already hurling cannon balls at the position; so were British ships in the harbor. American General William Prescott delighted in acting as if the cannonballs made no difference: he marched up and down the parapet, almost taunting the British to hit him.
When did the British make their move?
At around 2:30 P.M., General Howe ordered his men to the attack, and in typical style he went right with them. One British column came up the east side of the peninsula to confront the New Hampshire men of General John Stark; a second column was near the town, and the third, heaviest concentration of British went straight up, aiming for the crown of Breed’s Hill.
When did the Americans open fire?
Tradition has it that General Prescott told his men not to fire till they could see the whites of the eyes of their opponents, but most research suggests it was a bit closer than that, perhaps in the neighborhood of forty yards. The Americans poured accurate fire from all three defensive positions, but their deadliest aim was concentrated in the center. Taking special pains to pick off the British officers, the Americans poured one musket volley after another, and the British reeled.
An undated illustration shows General Israel Putnam rallying his men for the final defense during the Battle of Bunker Hill.
No one has ever been able to make a firm declaration of how many British fell in those first few minutes, but it may have been four hundred men in all. Whole regiments withstood American fire for minutes and then turned to run. To do otherwise was simply suicide.
Having been repulsed in this manner, why did General Howe try a second time?
He had no choice. His honor, reputation, and the success of the British army in America depended on his actions at that moment. To give up the fight for Bunker Hill with the eyes of the Americans and the civilians of Boston upon him, was simply unthinkable.
Half an hour later, General Howe and his men came back for the second assault. The Americans were perilously short of gunpowder, but they poured forth a second blast of smoke and flame that devastated the British lines to an even greater degree. If four hundred men were killed and wounded in the first assault, it’s possible that five hundred went down in the second. For perhaps two minutes, General Howe stood completely alone: his close officers and even his orderly had fallen. Amazingly, he went unscathed.
Having failed twice, how on earth did General Howe persuade his men to make a third attempt?
This was not as difficult as we imagine. The British were maddened by the loss of so many of their fellows, and the loss propelled them to get atop Breed’s Hill and chase the Americans out. Shouts of “victory or death” were heard in the British ranks. And at 3:30 P.M., General Howe led his men in the third and final assault.
Both of the Americans wings began to cave in, but the crisis was at the center point, at the crown of Breed’s Hill. The Americans were nearly out of gunpowder, and though they felled quite a few more of their opponents, the British were soon atop the earthen parapet, where some furious fighting ensued. In this hand-to-hand conflict, the British lost Major John Pitcairn, while the Americans mourned the loss of Major-General Joseph Warren, the physician-turned-patriot/legislator.
What was the final stage, or the net result, of the battles at Breed’s Hill and Bunker Hill?
Chased from Breed’s Hill and then Bunker Hill, the patriots escaped the Charlestown peninsula. The British gained the high ground and would hold it for months to come, but they did so at a terrible price. General Howe had 1,054 men killed, wounded, or missing that afternoon, and he had precious little to show for it. The Americans suffered between 400 and 450 men killed, wounded, or missing.
Given these terrible casualty figures, who really won the Battle of Bunker Hill?
Neither side won. The Americans made an excellent stand and proved their worth as military men, but they did not succeed in the objective of driving the British from Boston. The British displayed their valor to the tenth degree, but lost so many good men that it was some time before they were willing to sally forth again. And the single greatest casualty of the Battle of Bunker Hill may have been General Howe’s confidence. Though he would rise to become commander-in-chief, and though he would win several important battles, Howe never again risked so much on a direct attack against entrenched Americans.
Was there any follow-up to the Battle of Bunker Hill?
No. Both sides lay low for weeks. The most important action was not in the field, but in the