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JJDESIGNS NEWS UPDATE 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] JUNE 2024
THE AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE
THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL, 17[SUP]th[/SUP] JUNE 1775.
THE ASSAULT ON THE REDOUBT AT BREED’S HILL
Boston was the third largest town in North America, and stood on a Peninsula connected to the mainland by a neck just wide enough to cross at high tide. The harbour, large enough to be strategically significant, and central to the town’s economy, was formed by a chain of islands stretching out to sea, guarded by reefs and ledges.
North west of Boston was Charlestown, a largely rural peninsula one and a half miles long. Charlestown stood at the south east corner with three hills behind it. Bunker’s Hill, nearest the neck of the Peninsula, Breed’s Hill 200 yards above the town and Moulton’s Hill to the north east.
On the 16th June 1775, 3 detachments from Massachusetts regiments under the command of Colonel William Prescott and engineer Captain Richard Gridley, crossed the Charlestown neck and arrived at Bunker Hill.
Captain Richard Gridley and Prescott disagreed as to where they should locate their defense. Some work was performed on Bunker Hill, but Breed’s Hill was closer to Boston and viewed as being more defensible, and they decided to build their primary redoubt there.
Prescott and his men began digging a square fortification about 130 ft a side with ditches and earthen walls. The walls of the redoubt were about 6 feet high.
Work began at midnight, and around 4am one of the British warships spotted the earthworks on Breed’s Hill and opened fire.
The British command agreed that the works posed a significant threat, but were at this time sufficiently incomplete and isolated to offer a chance of a successful attack.
The original British plan was to bypass the redoubt to the north and capture Bunker’s Hill and the neck of the peninsula, thus isolating the redoubt on Breed’s Hill.
The Americans repulsed two British assaults, with significant British casualties. The British captured the redoubt on their third assault, after the defenders had run out of ammunition. The colonists retreated over Bunker Hill, leaving the British finally in control of the Peninsula.
The battle was a tactical victory for the British, but it proved to be a sobering experience for them; they incurred many more casualties than the Americans had sustained, including many officers. The battle had demonstrated that inexperienced militia were able to stand up to regular army troops in battle. Subsequently, the battle discouraged the British from any further frontal attacks against well defended front lines. American casualties were much fewer, although their losses included General Joseph Warren, and Major Andrew McClary, the final casualty of the battle.
BRITISH MARINES
The Marines, which only became “Royal Marines” in 1802, were the Royal Navy’s private army, administered by the Admiralty and controlled by senior naval officers. The rank and file were volunteers and wore army style uniforms and equipment. However they were trained to serve on warships and undertake amphibious operations. The 50 companies, shared between Chatham, Portsmouth and Plymouth, were not regimented, and detachments, or in some cases individual replacements were assigned on an ad hoc basis.
The first Marines sent to Boston were to form a battalion of 600 men under Major Pitcairn, but by March only 336 were present, as they soon became an object of inter service rivalry over pay, food and conditions. Although initially physically inferior to their army comrades, and short of essential equipment for service on land, incessant drilling and regular marches into the countryside soon
created a fine unit.
Another group of over 700 men arrived in May, and the whole force formed two battalions, with grenadier and light companies.
The 1[SUP]st[/SUP] and 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] Marines were to play an important part in the assault on the southern defences of the Breed’s Hill redoubt.
It was during one of the assaults by the 47[SUP]th[/SUP] Regiment and the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Marines, that the American commander Prescott ordered his men to hold their fire until the British were within 30 yards. This action supposedly gave rise to the order, “Don’t fire till you see the whites of their eyes”!
The volley forced the Marines and regulars back out of range to regroup.
Adjutant, Lieutenant Waller, managed to reform two companies, and with the 47[SUP]th[/SUP] Regiment on their left, the two battalions finally swarmed over the defences and into the redoubt, probably being the first troops to enter.
This third attack was made at the point of the bayonet and successfully carried the redoubt. However the final volleys of fire from the colonists cost the life of Major Pitcairn. The defenders had run out of ammunition, redusing the battle to close combat. The advantage turned to the British as their troops were equipped with bayonets on their muskets, while most of the colonists were not.
Colonel Prescott, one of the last men to leave the redoubt, parried bayonet thrusts with his normally ceremonial sabre.
Major John Pitcairn (28[SUP]th[/SUP] December 1722 – 17[SUP]th[/SUP] June 1775) was a Scottish military officer. He enlisted in the Marines at the age of 23, and was stationed in North America during the French and Indian War, serving at the rank of Captain.
Arriving in Boston in 1774 as part of a British occupation of the city, he fought in the 1775 battles of Lexington and Concord.
At the Battle of Bunker Hill, Major Pitcairn commanded a reserve force of about 300 Marines.
They landed at the south end of the Charlestown peninsula. When the first assaults failed, Pitcairn led his men up the hill toward the American position. Although already being wounded by two gunshots, he led his men through the rebel trenches. When he entered the trenches, he was shot four times, including the final blow, which was a wound to the head, said to have been fired by a former slave named Peter Salem.
He toppled into the arms of his son, Thomas, also a Marine officer, who cried out, "I have lost my father!" Some Marines tried to console the son, while others, overcome with emotion, openly wept. Pitcairn was carried back to Boston, where he died of his wound within hours.
He is buried at the Old North Church in Boston.
After the battle, several marines said they “had all lost a father”.
BREEDS HILL REDOUBT
On the night of June 16[SUP]th[/SUP], Colonial Colonel William Prescott led about 1,200 men onto the Peninsula in order to set up positions from which artillery fire could be directed into Boston.
At first , Putnam, Prescott and their engineer Captain Richard Gridley disagreed as to where they should locate their defense. Although they started some work on Bunker Hill, it was decided that Breeds Hill was a closer location to Boston, and could be easier to defend.
Although after completing the basic redoubt they realized that could easily be flanked on both sides. Prescott decided to construct a breastwork running down the hill to the east.
The attached picture shows a 12 piece redoubt model, which will be able to represent the Breeds Hill Redoubt.
The approximate dimensions are, width 22“ and maximum length with additional breastwork on the eastern flank 28 ½”.
Monday 10[SUP]th[/SUP] June there will be a preview of the American Defenders.
The first of the Bunker Hill sets will be available from September 2024.
Best wishes,
john jenkins
THE AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE
THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL, 17[SUP]th[/SUP] JUNE 1775.
THE ASSAULT ON THE REDOUBT AT BREED’S HILL
Boston was the third largest town in North America, and stood on a Peninsula connected to the mainland by a neck just wide enough to cross at high tide. The harbour, large enough to be strategically significant, and central to the town’s economy, was formed by a chain of islands stretching out to sea, guarded by reefs and ledges.
North west of Boston was Charlestown, a largely rural peninsula one and a half miles long. Charlestown stood at the south east corner with three hills behind it. Bunker’s Hill, nearest the neck of the Peninsula, Breed’s Hill 200 yards above the town and Moulton’s Hill to the north east.
On the 16th June 1775, 3 detachments from Massachusetts regiments under the command of Colonel William Prescott and engineer Captain Richard Gridley, crossed the Charlestown neck and arrived at Bunker Hill.
Captain Richard Gridley and Prescott disagreed as to where they should locate their defense. Some work was performed on Bunker Hill, but Breed’s Hill was closer to Boston and viewed as being more defensible, and they decided to build their primary redoubt there.
Prescott and his men began digging a square fortification about 130 ft a side with ditches and earthen walls. The walls of the redoubt were about 6 feet high.
Work began at midnight, and around 4am one of the British warships spotted the earthworks on Breed’s Hill and opened fire.
The British command agreed that the works posed a significant threat, but were at this time sufficiently incomplete and isolated to offer a chance of a successful attack.
The original British plan was to bypass the redoubt to the north and capture Bunker’s Hill and the neck of the peninsula, thus isolating the redoubt on Breed’s Hill.
The Americans repulsed two British assaults, with significant British casualties. The British captured the redoubt on their third assault, after the defenders had run out of ammunition. The colonists retreated over Bunker Hill, leaving the British finally in control of the Peninsula.
The battle was a tactical victory for the British, but it proved to be a sobering experience for them; they incurred many more casualties than the Americans had sustained, including many officers. The battle had demonstrated that inexperienced militia were able to stand up to regular army troops in battle. Subsequently, the battle discouraged the British from any further frontal attacks against well defended front lines. American casualties were much fewer, although their losses included General Joseph Warren, and Major Andrew McClary, the final casualty of the battle.
BRITISH MARINES
The Marines, which only became “Royal Marines” in 1802, were the Royal Navy’s private army, administered by the Admiralty and controlled by senior naval officers. The rank and file were volunteers and wore army style uniforms and equipment. However they were trained to serve on warships and undertake amphibious operations. The 50 companies, shared between Chatham, Portsmouth and Plymouth, were not regimented, and detachments, or in some cases individual replacements were assigned on an ad hoc basis.
The first Marines sent to Boston were to form a battalion of 600 men under Major Pitcairn, but by March only 336 were present, as they soon became an object of inter service rivalry over pay, food and conditions. Although initially physically inferior to their army comrades, and short of essential equipment for service on land, incessant drilling and regular marches into the countryside soon
created a fine unit.
Another group of over 700 men arrived in May, and the whole force formed two battalions, with grenadier and light companies.
The 1[SUP]st[/SUP] and 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] Marines were to play an important part in the assault on the southern defences of the Breed’s Hill redoubt.
It was during one of the assaults by the 47[SUP]th[/SUP] Regiment and the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Marines, that the American commander Prescott ordered his men to hold their fire until the British were within 30 yards. This action supposedly gave rise to the order, “Don’t fire till you see the whites of their eyes”!
The volley forced the Marines and regulars back out of range to regroup.
Adjutant, Lieutenant Waller, managed to reform two companies, and with the 47[SUP]th[/SUP] Regiment on their left, the two battalions finally swarmed over the defences and into the redoubt, probably being the first troops to enter.
This third attack was made at the point of the bayonet and successfully carried the redoubt. However the final volleys of fire from the colonists cost the life of Major Pitcairn. The defenders had run out of ammunition, redusing the battle to close combat. The advantage turned to the British as their troops were equipped with bayonets on their muskets, while most of the colonists were not.
Colonel Prescott, one of the last men to leave the redoubt, parried bayonet thrusts with his normally ceremonial sabre.
Major John Pitcairn (28[SUP]th[/SUP] December 1722 – 17[SUP]th[/SUP] June 1775) was a Scottish military officer. He enlisted in the Marines at the age of 23, and was stationed in North America during the French and Indian War, serving at the rank of Captain.
Arriving in Boston in 1774 as part of a British occupation of the city, he fought in the 1775 battles of Lexington and Concord.
At the Battle of Bunker Hill, Major Pitcairn commanded a reserve force of about 300 Marines.
They landed at the south end of the Charlestown peninsula. When the first assaults failed, Pitcairn led his men up the hill toward the American position. Although already being wounded by two gunshots, he led his men through the rebel trenches. When he entered the trenches, he was shot four times, including the final blow, which was a wound to the head, said to have been fired by a former slave named Peter Salem.
He toppled into the arms of his son, Thomas, also a Marine officer, who cried out, "I have lost my father!" Some Marines tried to console the son, while others, overcome with emotion, openly wept. Pitcairn was carried back to Boston, where he died of his wound within hours.
He is buried at the Old North Church in Boston.
After the battle, several marines said they “had all lost a father”.
BREEDS HILL REDOUBT
On the night of June 16[SUP]th[/SUP], Colonial Colonel William Prescott led about 1,200 men onto the Peninsula in order to set up positions from which artillery fire could be directed into Boston.
At first , Putnam, Prescott and their engineer Captain Richard Gridley disagreed as to where they should locate their defense. Although they started some work on Bunker Hill, it was decided that Breeds Hill was a closer location to Boston, and could be easier to defend.
Although after completing the basic redoubt they realized that could easily be flanked on both sides. Prescott decided to construct a breastwork running down the hill to the east.
The attached picture shows a 12 piece redoubt model, which will be able to represent the Breeds Hill Redoubt.
The approximate dimensions are, width 22“ and maximum length with additional breastwork on the eastern flank 28 ½”.
Monday 10[SUP]th[/SUP] June there will be a preview of the American Defenders.
The first of the Bunker Hill sets will be available from September 2024.
Best wishes,
john jenkins
