邦克山战役

介绍

第二天, 沃德命令威廉·普雷斯科特上校, 在一千殖民地军队的帮助下, 占领并加固邦克山. Unknown to the British, Prescott and his troops arrive at the Charlestown peninsula that same night. Prescott and other officers ultimately decide to bypass Bunker Hill, rising 110 feet and situated near the only route back to Cambridge, 而是给予 “行军命令” 到布里德山, a smaller mount further south and within cannon range of Boston and British ships in the harbor. The 殖民者 toil industriously throughout the night and early morning to construct an earthen fort 160 feet long and 30 feet high atop the hill, with breastworks and a rail fence all the way down to the Mystic River.

Astonished British generals wake on the morning of 17 June to discover the newly erected defenses. 随着时间的推移, British ships bombard the untrained militia as they work, and Colonel Prescott walks the bulwarks to raise morale. 士兵们又渴又累，只好接受 “没有点心." 回到波士顿，盖奇召集了一个战争委员会.

下午三点, / 2,000英国士兵, commanded by General Howe and wearing flashing red coats, 在查尔斯敦海岸登陆. Continental snipers fire at the British as they march, and General Howe orders a combustible shell launched on Charlestown. Amid smoke and flames, local inhabitants flee their homes in order to escape 查尔斯顿的悲惨命运." From rooftops and hilltops, spectators watch Charlestown burn. The clear day affords views to residents as far off as Braintree, including Abigail Adams and an eight-year-old John Quincy Adams who later recalls living in “unintermitted危险."

British troops head uphill, where they are frustrated by fences, pits, and tall grass. In dust and heat, the continental militia wait behind their walls. They hold fire until the British are in within 150 feet of the redoubt. “严重火灾” 摧毁了英军的庞大队伍. Recoiling from the first attack, General Howe relies on 《og体育官网》 and immediately orders his stumbling and disordered soldiers to make a second charge, 这次只在山和栅栏处. Again the 殖民者 slaughter the King's troops with their fire.

An hour passes as the British recover from the two attacks. 他们从波士顿接收了400名新兵. 第三次, 豪将军命令他的士兵, 在援军的帮助下, 用来攻击防御工事和围栏. 与 “勇敢和决心，” Prescott's men again wait until the last minute to open fire. 这一次, 然而, they are running short on ammunition and are soon overrun by the British, whom they fight with rocks and the butts of their muskets as they dodge the "死亡之箭"."

再也抵挡不住英国人的进攻了, Prescott's men retreat north over the road to Cambridge, as General Stark's New Hampshire troops cover them in the rear. One of the last to abandon the fort on Breed's Hill, 约瑟夫·沃伦在撤退时被杀, 人们哀悼他 “众人的眼泪." In total, 140 殖民者 are dead and 271 are wounded. 在天黑前, the British again command the Charleston peninsula, 尽管有226名英军阵亡，828人受伤.

Despite renewed British control of the peninsula, colonial forces still trap the British in Boston. 因为供应问题和短缺困扰着他们, the British prepare for further military commitment to defeat the “又穷又无知” 殖民者. Meanwhile, the colonies scramble to assemble more soldiers. Britain replaces 一般规 with General Howe in early October 1775, 布里德山战役结束两周后, 1775年7月2日, George Washington arrives in Cambridge to take command of the Continental Army.

Click here to read a related essay on Bunker Hill by historian Bernard Bailyn.