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Battle of Bunker Hill

Fact: The famous order "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes" was popularized in stories about the battle of Bunker Hill. It is uncertain as to who said it there, since various histories, including eyewitness accounts, attribute it to Putnam, Stark, Prescott, or Gridley, and it may have been said first by one, and repeated by the others.

Citation: Robert R. Provine. “Whites of the Eyes.” Curious Behavior, Harvard University Press, 2012, p. 94.

ISBN: 0674048512

Quote from book: “Don’t shoot until you see the whites of their eyes,” said Gen-eral Israel Putnam to his American militia when facing Brit-ish forces at Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775

Phase three

Robert R. Provine. “Whites of the Eyes.” Curious Behavior, Harvard

University Press, 2012, p. 94.

The Battle was a tactical victory for the British, but it proved to be a terrible experience involving more than twice the casualties than the Americans had incurred. The Battle did however demonstrate that inexperienced continental militia could stand up to regular British army troops in battle.

Withington, Robert. “A French Comment on the Battle of Bunker Hill.” The New

England Quarterly, vol. 22, no. 1, 1949, p. 235

This article talks a little more in detail about the Battle of Bunker Hill, while also mentioning the participation of more than 100 African Americans. These African American actually fought on the colonial side, which is something I have not seen mentioned in other articles.

First Paragraph

After the Battles at Lexington and Concord in April 1775, the victorious Patriot militiamen followed the retreating British army towards Boston. As the British sought protective cover inside the city, the colonists began to construct fortifications surrounding Boston to the north, west, and south. The Royal Navy, unmolested by any significant colonial naval force, supported the British army in the city from the east. To support their defenses, the British sought to place a force on the Charlestown peninsula across Boston Harbor to the north, as yet unoccupied by early June. On June 13th, the leaders of the colonial forces learned that the British were planning to send troops into Charlestown. In response, 1,200 colonial troops under the command of Col. William Prescott quickly occupied Bunker Hill on the north end of the peninsula and Breed's Hill closer to Boston. By the morning of the 16th, they had constructed a strong redoubt on Breed's Hill and other entrenchments across the peninsula. The next day, the British army under General William Howe, supported by Royal Navy warships, attacked the colonial defenses. The British troops moved up Breeds Hill in perfect battle formations. One of the commanders of the improvised garrison, William Prescott, allegedly encouraged his men “not fire until you see the whites of their eyes.” Two assaults on the colonial positions were repulsed with significant British casualties; the third and final attack carried the position after the defenders ran out of ammunition. The colonists retreated to Cambridge over Bunker Hill, leaving the British in control of Charlestown but still besieged in Boston.

Summary 1

The battle gave a chance for militia to stand up on their own.

Second Paragraph

The Revolutionary War actually took place on Breed’s Hill, across the river from Boston, Massachusetts. More Blacks than had previously been thought, fought with the colonial troops, according to a Revolutionary War historian, who says that 103 Blacks and Native Americans fought with the colonial force. Among them were Salem Poor, Peter Salem, Caesar Brown, Prince Estabrook, Grant Cooper, Prince Hall, and George Middleton.

Summary 2

African Americans fought with the colonial force.

By daybreak of June 17, the British became aware of the presence of colonial forces on the Peninsula and mounted an attack against them that day. 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 including over 100 African Americans, retreated over Bunker Hill, leaving the British in control of the Peninsula.