Outbreak of the American Revolution
Okay, let’s rewind a bit and talk about how the American Revolution got started. It wasn’t just some random thing that happened overnight. It was more like a slow simmer that finally boiled over.
Basically, by the time we get to 1763, the folks living in the American colonies had grown up and become their own people. They had their own ideas and goals, and those didn’t always line up with what the bigwigs back in England wanted. The British government just didn’t seem to get it. Ironically, the British victory in the Seven Years’ War actually made the revolution more likely. It removed the threat of the French on the colonies’ borders, allowing the colonists to consider separating from the British.
Taxation Without Representation – Cue the Drama
So, after the Seven Years’ War, Britain was like, "Hey, we need to tighten our grip on the colonies and make them pay for their own defense." That’s when they came up with the idea of an "American Establishment" – a force of 10,000 British soldiers stationed in North America. And guess who was supposed to foot the bill? Yep, the Americans.
Parliament started slapping taxes on everything, like the Stamp Act and the Sugar Act. The colonists were NOT happy. They felt like they were being taxed without having any say in the matter. It all came to a head in December 1773 with the Boston Tea Party, when a bunch of patriots dressed up as Native Americans and dumped a whole shipment of tea into the harbor. Talk about a statement!
The Intolerable Acts – Britain Overreacts
The British government was furious about the Boston Tea Party. In response, they passed a series of laws that the Americans called the Intolerable Acts. These laws closed the port of Boston, shut down the civilian government in Massachusetts, and sent a bunch of troops to Boston under the command of General Thomas Gage.
The other colonies were like, "Whoa, this is way too much!" They decided to get together and form a Continental Congress – basically, an American parliament – to figure out how to defend their rights and interests.
The Powder Keg Ignites
The colonists believed that only their own elected assemblies had the right to tax them, not the British Parliament. They were worried that the British government would use the taxes to pay for soldiers who would suppress their freedoms, not protect them. Putting Massachusetts under military rule just confirmed their fears.
That’s when things started to get really tense.
Setting the Stage for a Fight
The First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in September 1774. They sent respectful petitions to the King and Parliament, but they also agreed to stop importing goods from Britain in an attempt to force the British government to back down. Committees popped up all over the colonies to enforce these agreements, and they quickly became the real local authorities.
These committees took control of the militias and other military resources, like armories and powder stores. They also started figuring out which militia officers were loyal to Britain and which ones could be trusted. In some colonies, they even formed rapid-response units like the Minutemen, who were supposed to be ready to fight "in a minute’s notice." By the spring of 1775, the patriot leaders were busy getting their military forces ready for a potential showdown with the British Army.
Concord and Lexington – The First Shots
Massachusetts, being the center of the conflict, was leading the way in military preparations. The Provincial Congress told town officials to enlist a third of their adult males as Minutemen. They also started planning to combine local militia companies into regiments and selecting generals to lead them. They began stockpiling ammunition, artillery, and other military supplies outside of Boston. One of the biggest supply depots was in Concord, about 20 miles inland.
General Gage found out about the military stores in Concord and decided to send a force of Redcoats to destroy them. He tried to keep it a secret, but there were too many patriot spies in Boston. When the British force of 700 men set out on April 18, 1775, Paul Revere and William Dawes rode ahead to warn the countryside.
The next morning, when the British arrived in Lexington, they found a group of militia waiting for them on the village green. Someone – nobody knows for sure who – fired a shot. The British soldiers, without clear orders, fired a volley and charged with their bayonets. The militiamen scattered, leaving eight dead and ten wounded.
The British column moved on to Concord, where they got into another skirmish and destroyed some of the military stores. But their return journey to Boston was a nightmare.
The Shot Heard ‘Round the World
By this time, the alarm had spread everywhere, and militias and Minutemen were gathering along the British route. They hid behind walls, rocks, and trees, and fired on the Redcoats. The British soldiers couldn’t find good targets, and they took heavy casualties. Only the arrival of reinforcements saved them from being wiped out.
By the end of the day, the British had suffered 273 casualties out of 1,800 men. The Americans had lost 95 men, including those killed in Lexington. It wasn’t just luck that the colonists won the day, but the colonists had a fierce determination to resist any attempt by the British to impose their will by force.
The news of the fighting at Lexington and Concord spread like wildfire through the colonies. It was portrayed as a savage, unprovoked attack by the British, and it inspired farmers to take up arms to protect their lives, families, and property.
The Revolution Begins
Lexington and Concord were like Fort Sumter, Pearl Harbor, or 9/11 – they provided the emotional spark that led the patriots to prepare for war. Militias from the other New England colonies rushed to join the Massachusetts men, and they formed a ring around Boston. Other forces, led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, seized the British forts at Ticonderoga and Crown Point, which were strategically important and contained valuable artillery and military supplies.
The Second Continental Congress, which met in Philadelphia in May 1775, had to shift from embargoes and petitions to organizing, directing, and supplying a military effort.
Bunker Hill – A Costly Victory
Before Congress could take full control, the New England forces around Boston fought another major battle. After Lexington and Concord, the New England colonies decided to replace the militias with volunteer forces, creating what you might call a New England army. Each of the four New England states raised and managed its own troops, and there was no unified command structure.
In late May, General Gage received reinforcements from England, bringing his total force to 6,500 men. He also got three new major generals: William Howe, Henry Clinton, and John Burgoyne. They decided to fortify Dorchester Heights, a high point south of Boston.
The Americans found out about the plan and decided to counter by sending a force to the Charlestown peninsula, where Bunker Hill and Breed’s Hill overlooked Boston from the north. The original plan was to fortify Bunker Hill, but the working party decided to move closer to Boston and build fortifications on Breed’s Hill instead. This was a mistake, because the British could easily cut them off.
The British decided to try to crush the rebellion with a show of force. On June 17, Gage sent about 2,200 men under Howe to attack the American positions. Howe assumed that the "rabble in arms" would break and run when faced with a disciplined British attack.
Twice the British attacked the American positions on Breed’s Hill, and twice the Americans, holding their fire until the British were at close range, mowed them down and forced them to retreat. On the third try, with reinforcements, Howe finally captured the hill, mainly because the Americans ran out of ammunition and didn’t have bayonets.
The American retreat was orderly, and Howe’s exhausted troops couldn’t stop them from escaping. British casualties totaled a staggering 1,054, almost half the force engaged. American losses were about 440.
The Aftermath
The Battle of Bunker Hill has been called a "tale of great blunders heroically redeemed." The American command structure was a mess, and moving onto Breed’s Hill was a strategic mistake. But Gage and Howe also made mistakes by attacking a fortified position from the front.
Bunker Hill was a victory for the British, but it came at a steep price. The strategic effect was minimal, but the consequences were significant. The battle showed the British that the Americans were not to be underestimated. It also gave the Americans a false sense of confidence, leading them to believe that citizen-soldiers could defeat trained professionals.
The Myth of the Citizen-Soldier
Bunker Hill, Lexington, and Concord created an American myth that the citizen-soldier, inspired by patriotism, is more than a match for the trained professional. This idea would influence American military policy for generations to come.