Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution

Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution
Nathaniel Philbrick (Author)

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Colonial Period

Nathaniel Philbrick, the bestselling author of In the Heart of the Sea and Mayflower, brings his prodigious talents to the story of the Boston battle that ignited the American Revolution.

Boston in 1775 is an island city occupied by British troops after a series of incendiary incidents by patriots who range from sober citizens to thuggish vigilantes. After the Boston Tea Party, British and American soldiers and Massachusetts residents  have warily maneuvered around each other until April 19, when violence finally erupts at Lexington and Concord.  In June, however, with the city cut off from supplies by a British blockade and Patriot militia poised in siege, skirmishes give way to outright war in the Battle of Bunker Hill. It would be the bloodiest battle of the Revolution to come, and the point of no return for the rebellious colonists.

Philbrick brings a fresh perspective to every aspect of the story. He finds new characters, and new facets to familiar ones. The real work of choreographing rebellion falls to a thirty-three year old physician named Joseph Warren who emerges as the on-the-ground leader of the Patriot cause and is fated to die at Bunker Hill. Others in the cast include Paul Revere, Warren’s fiancé the poet Mercy Scollay, a newly recruited George Washington, the reluctant British combatant General Thomas Gage and his more bellicose successor William Howe, who leads the three charges at Bunker Hill and presides over the claustrophobic cauldron of a city under siege as both sides play a nervy game of brinkmanship for control.

With passion and insight, Philbrick reconstructs the revolutionary landscape—geographic and ideological—in a mesmerizing narrative of the robust, messy, blisteringly real origins of America.

• Rank: #78909 in eBooks
• Published on: 2013-04-30
• Released on: 2013-04-30
• Number of items: 1

Description #1 by Zazzle:

Postcard. AssetID: 92573303 / {Thinkstock} / Fireworks over downtown Boston landmark Boston (pronounced /bstn/ ( listen ) ) is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts , and is one of the oldest cities in the United States . The largest city in New England , Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper , covering just 48.43 square miles, had a population of 617594 according to the 2010 US Census . Boston is also the anchor of a substantially larger metropolitan area called Greater Boston , home to 4.5 million people and the tenth-largest metropolitan area in the country. Greater Boston as a commuting region is home to 7.6 million people, making it the fifth-largest Combined Statistical Area in the United States. In 1630, Puritan colonists from England founded the city on the Shawmut Peninsula . During the late 18th century, Boston was the location of several major events during the American Revolution , including the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party . Several early battles of the American Revolution, such as the Battle of Bunker Hill and the Siege of Boston , occurred within the city and surrounding areas. Through land reclamation and municipal annexation , Boston has expanded beyond the peninsula. After American independence was attained Boston became a major shipping port and manufacturing center, and its rich history now helps attract many tourists, with Faneuil Hall alone attracting over 20 million every year. The city was the site of several firsts, including America's first public school, Boston Latin School (1635), and the first subway system in the United States (1897). With many colleges and universities within the city and surrounding area, Boston is an international center of higher education and a center for medicine. The city's economic base includes research, manufacturing, finance, and biotechnology . As a result, the city is a leading finance center, ranking 12th in the Z/Yen top 20 Global Financial Centers. The city was also ranked number one for innovation, both globally and in North America, for a variety of reasons. Boston has one of the highest costs of living in the United States, though it remains high on world livability rankings , ranking third in the US and 36th globally. Description above from the Wikipedia article Boston, Massachusetts , licensed under CC-BY-SA full list of contributors here . This page is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, anyone associated with the topic.

Description #2 by Walmart:

Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution

Description #3 by Zazzle:

Square Magnet. British and American troops at The Battle of Bunker Hill during the American Revolutionary War. (Photo by Time Life Pictures/Mansell/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images). The location of this image is Charlestown, MA United States. Copyright: Time & Life Pictures The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775, mostly on and around Breed's Hill , during the Siege of Boston early in the American Revolutionary War . The battle is named after the adjacent Bunker Hill, which was peripherally involved in the battle and was the original objective of both colonial and British troops, and is occasionally referred to as the "Battle of Breed's Hill." On June 13, 1775, the leaders of the colonial forces besieging Boston learned that the British generals were planning to send troops out from the city to occupy the unoccupied hills surrounding the city. In response to this intelligence, 1200 colonial troops under the command of William Prescott stealthily occupied Bunker Hill and Breed's Hill, constructed an earthen redoubt on Breed's Hill, and built lightly fortified lines across most of the Charlestown Peninsula. When the British were alerted to the presence of the new position the next day, they mounted an attack against them. After two assaults on the colonial lines were repulsed with significant British casualties, the British finally captured the positions on the third assault, after the defenders in the redoubt ran out of ammunition. The colonial forces retreated to Cambridge over Bunker Hill, suffering their most significant losses on Bunker Hill. While the result was a victory for the British, they suffered heavy losses: over 800 wounded and 226 killed, including a notably large number of officers. The battle is seen as an example of a Pyrrhic victory , because the immediate gain (the capture of Bunker Hill) was modest and did not significantly change the state of the siege, while the cost (the loss of nearly a third of the deployed forces) was high. Meanwhile, colonial forces were able to retreat and regroup in good order having suffered few casualties. Furthermore, the battle demonstrated that relatively inexperienced colonial forces were willing and able to stand up to regular army troops in a pitched battle . Description above from the Wikipedia article Battle of bunker hill , licensed under CC-BY-SA full list of contributors here . This page is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, anyone associated with the topic.