Battle+of+Bunker+Hill

The Battle of Bunker Hill By: Zafir

On the night of June 15, 1775 and the early morning of June 16, The Battle of Bunker Hill began and ended. The colonial militiamen (volunteer army) lined themselves up on Breeds Hill (a peninsula across the bay from Boston. Each side was using a different war strategy. Britain was using the ground attacking tactics trying to break the colonial militiamen's line on Breeds Hill. The colonial militiamen were using defensive tactics trying to stop the British army from reaching Massachusetts and then the rest of the colonies. The British came prepared but the colonial militiamen survived 2 waves of British soldiers before they ran out of ammunition, and had no reinforcements coming to help them. On the British side reinforcements arrived and they charged the colonial militiamen again and finally broke their ranks and forced them to retreat to Massachusetts where the battle ended. Though it seemed Britan won this battle. It was declared a colonial victory because 1,054 British soldiers were killed and only 441 colonial militiamen were killed in this battle. The effects of this battle really changed the war. The battle made both the colonies and Britain realize they needed bigger army's. Britain increased their army by paying almost 17,000 German soldiers to join their army. Mean while to try to turn the war to their advantage the Second Continental Congress decided to create a Continental army and appointed General George Washington its leader. This battle had a very big effect on the war.