Battle of bunker hill
...ian War not only took North America from France, it also caused Britain to change its relationship with the colonies. This change led to the Revolutionary war. (Ohio History Central) A few of the reasons this war had an impact on the Revolutionary War is because the British were in terrible dept after the war. Because of this dept, they decided to tax the colonies and the colonies refused to pay these taxes. Also the colonies did not help the British fight the war against France. One of the reasons the Americans won the Revolutionary War is because the French wanted revenge against the British. So they helped the American Rebels by giving them money and military aid to help the Americans in the Revolution. (MSN Encarta 2003) The Battle of Lexington and the Battle of Concord were the beginning of the Revolutionary War. It was during this long war that the American colonies won their independence from British taxation and rule. In 1775 the British said that the colony of Massachusetts was rebellious and told the British soldiers to use force if they went against Britain. This made the relationship between them very bad. The people in the colonies decided that they needed to carry weapons and be prepared for war. In Massachusetts the Rebels were called the “Minute Men.” The Americans lost the battle at Lexington, but won a victory at North Bridge in Concord. (MSN Encarta 2003) In 1775 the British had control of Boston. In Massachusetts, the Patriot army was growing. Thousands of Rebels were ready to drive the British out of the colonies, and more specifically, out of Boston. The British commanders for this battle were General Thomas Gage and General Sir William Howe. These two generals were highly skilled in leading legions of British troops in battle. The American commanders were Colonel William Prescott, General Israel Putnam and Joseph Warren. These generals were only fairly skilled in combat and strategy. (Middlekauff 281) After the American’s received word that the British were going to secure the two hills on the peninsula across from Boston and Boston Harbor, the American’s decided to invade that area and take control first. Colonel Prescott led two regiments and an artillery company plus a large work detail to Bunker Hill. But Prescott made an error when he chose Breeds Hill to build his fort instead of Bunker Hill. He chose Breeds Hill because it was in a good position to fire their cannons into Boston. Breeds Hill was a mistake because it was an easier target for the British troops to attack because they could attack from both sides. (Middlekauff) “If the enemy is taking his ease, harass him; if quietly encamped, force him to move; if well supplied with food, starve him out. Appear at points that the enemy must hasten to defend; march swiftly to places where you are not expected.” (Sun Tzu) This is exactly what the Rebels did. They went in the night and positioned themselves on Breeds Hill. At daybreak, the British Commander, General Gage saw the Americans occupying the two hills and he ordered the British ships to start firing at the Americans positions with their cannons until the British troops could arrive. Gage did this because he was “furious” that the Rebels were right across from Boston. (Howard, Smith and Smith) If the Rebels could take Boston and the fort they could block British ships from re-supplying the British Troops. Also, Gage was worried that if the American’s had control of the two hills, Bunker and Breeds Hill, they would also be in danger of losing control of Boston. Soon after the order was given by General Gage, the British started moving troops to the east of Breed's Hill from Boston. Colonel Prescott's men would be the first attacked. This was the first charge with British army on the east side of the hill with the secondary doing a straight attack. General Howe's men (British forces) lead the attack wit...