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The Battle of Bunker Hill was a battle fought on June 17, 1775, during the Siege of Boston in the early stages of the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named for Bunker Hill, which was peripherally involved in the battle, and was the original objective of both the colonial and British troops, though the vast majority of combat took place on the adjacent Breed's Hill. On June 13, 1775, the leaders of the colonial forces besieging Boston learned that the British were planning to send troops out from the city to fortify the unoccupied hills surrounding the city, giving them control of Boston Harbour. In response, 1,200 colonial troops under the command of William Prescott stealthily occupied Bunker Hill and Breed's Hill. The colonists constructed a strong redoubt on Breed's Hill, as well as smaller fortified lines across the Charlestown Peninsula. When the British were alerted to the presence of colonial forces on the Peninsula, they mounted an attack against them. After two assaults on the colonial positions were repulsed with significant British casualties, the third and final attack carried the redoubt after the defenders ran out of ammunition. The colonists retreated to Cambridge over Bunker Hill, leaving the British in control of the Peninsula. While the result was a victory for the British, the massive losses they encumbered discouraged them from any further sorties against the siege lines; 226 men were killed with over 800 wounded, including a large number of officers. The battle at the time was considered to be a colonial defeat; however, the losses suffered by the British troops gave encouragement to the colonies, demonstrating that inexperienced militiamen were able to stand up to regular army troops in a pitched battle. ==Geography== Boston, situated on a peninsula,〔18th century Boston was a peninsula. Primarily in the 19th century, much land around the peninsula was filled, giving the modern city its present geography. See the history of Boston for details.〕 was largely protected from close approach by the expanses of water surrounding it, which were dominated by British warships. In the aftermath of the battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, the colonial militia, a force of about 15,000 men〔Chidsey, p. 72 New Hampshire 1,200, Rhode Island 1,000, Connecticut 2,300, Massachusetts 11,500〕 had surrounded the town, and effectively besieged it. Under the command of Artemas Ward, they controlled the only land access to Boston itself (the Roxbury Neck), but, lacking a navy, were unable to even contest British domination of the waters of the harbor. The British troops, a force of about 6,000 under the command of General Thomas Gage, occupied the city, and were able to be resupplied and reinforced by sea.〔Alden, p. 178〕 In theory, they were thus able to remain in Boston indefinitely. However, the land across the water from Boston contained a number of hills, which could be used to advantage.〔Visitors to Boston, upon seeing the nearby hills, may conclude that they are too low. The hills were once higher, but were lowered by excavations to obtain landfill used to expand Boston in the 19th century.〕 If the militia could obtain enough artillery pieces, these could be placed on the hills and used to bombard the city until the occupying army evacuated it or surrendered. It was with this in mind that the Knox Expedition, led by Henry Knox, later transported cannon from Fort Ticonderoga to the Boston area. The Charlestown Peninsula, lying to the north of Boston, started from a short, narrow isthmus (known as the Charlestown Neck) at its northwest, extending about southeastward into Boston Harbor. Bunker Hill, with an elevation of , lay at the northern end of the peninsula. Breed's Hill, at a height of , was more southerly and nearer to Boston.〔Chidsey p. 91 has an historic map showing elevations.〕 The town of Charlestown occupied flats at the southern end of the peninsula. At its closest approach, less than separated the Charlestown Peninsula from the Boston Peninsula, where Copp's Hill was at about the same height as Breed's Hill. While the British retreat from Concord had ended in Charlestown, General Gage, rather than immediately fortifying the hills on the peninsula, had withdrawn those troops to Boston the day after that battle, turning the entire Charlestown Peninsula into a no man's land.〔French, p. 220〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Bunker Hill」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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