Not yet knowing the Continental Army was established in Philadelphia just days beforehand , the Army of Observation in Boston engaged the British Army at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17 , 1775 . How did this battle take place ? What were the tactics used by the colonials and the British ? What was the impact of this battle on the American Revolution ? For answers to these questions and more army history insights . Stay tuned . Welcome to the US Army History and Heritage podcast , the official podcast of the United States Army's Center of Military History . The Center of Military History writes and publishes the Army's official history , manages the US Army Museum Enterprise , and provides historical support throughout the US Army . Hello everyone and welcome to the United States Army History and Heritage podcast . I'm Lee Reynolds , the strategic communications officer for the Center of Military History . In this episode we're discussing the Battle of Bunker Hill in the American Revolution . Joining me for this discussion is Army historian Major Jonathan Bratton . Welcome Major Bratton . Thank you so much for having me . I'm happy to be here again . Yes , uh , uh , you've been a frequent guest here with our revolutionary War , and I know you're an expert in the area and um you've visited these sites many times , so I'm I'm anxious to get into the discussion , but before we do , let's give a little background on Major Bratton . So Major Jonathan Bratton is a command historian for the Maine Army National Guard and is assigned as the National Guard Bureau's Revolutionary War 250 liaison . To the center of military history , he holds a bachelor's and a master's degree in history , has served two company command tours , and served as an instructor in the department of history for the United States Military Academy at West Point from 2021 to 2022 . He's a combat veteran of Afghanistan and worked as a historical on-screen adviser for the Smithsonian Channel documentary Americans Underground Secrets of World War One . He has published articles in Army History Magazine , The Washington Post , and The New York Times and contributed chapters to several historical anthologies . In 2020 , he published to the Last Man , a National Guard regiment in the Great War 1917 to 1919 , for which he received the 2020 Army Historical Foundation's Distinguished Writing Award . Major Bratton has also contributed to the CMH Revolutionary War pamphlet series as a writer and managing editor . A lot of , a lot of work there , a lot of credibility , uh , to , to your , to you as a historian . So , uh , Major Bratton , let's just jump right into it . Um , by June of 1775 , a lot has already happened in the war . The battles of Lexington Concord , the capture of Fort Ticonderoga , and of course the establishment of the Continental Army on 14 June to which these folks in Boston still don't know has happened yet . Now 3 days later , a major battle takes place in Boston at Bunker Hill and Breeds Hill . So can you first explain how the events uh um led to this battle ? Yeah , so it's one of those things where uh . This is a battle that that probably shouldn't have taken place uh and and yet did uh you you've got these , these , these uh British forces cooped up in , in Boston , right ? You know , they've been hemmed in by , by uh provincial forces uh beginning with these Massachusetts troops right after Lexington and Concord , and then followed up with all these uh all the New England states then send troops . So you've got , you know . Depending on the day , between 15 to 20,000 troops surrounding , uh , Boston , what's called the New England Army of Observation . Now , uh , and as you mentioned , a lot of things happen and there's , there's little skirmishes and and things like that , um , and everyone's really trying to figure out kind of what this war is gonna be and the crown , the British have doubled down , um , they've they've not wavered since Lexington and Concord , in fact . Um , uh , General Thomas Gauge , who's the overall commander in Boston , receives reinforcements , uh , more , more infantry reinforcements , artillery reinforcements . He also receives additional reinforcements that he probably didn't want , and , uh , which are 33 more major . Generals , which is exactly what a major general in command of a theater wants . So you get , uh , you know , enter William Howe , Charles Cornwallis , and Henry Clinton , people who are going to have big names throughout the rest of the revolution . But are they subordinate to him at this time ? They are , they're not like equal commands or anything . They , they , they are subordinate , but they have big opinions . Um , and personalities , yes . So , um , when they arrive , they immediately begin to look at the situation around Boston and think about how do we get out of this . The first thing is we need to create some some breathing space , some mobility . So If you look at Boston , uh , you've really got two key points of terrain . One is the Boston neck , um , a very narrow spit of land that connects Boston with the surrounding countryside , um , so trying to force that would be very difficult , you know , it's a fatal funnel type situation . Uh , the other option would be to , um , clear out the Charlestown Peninsula and move into Cambridge and then move into the surrounding area from there . Uh , and so the , the British are are looking at , um , uh , an offensive that would seize the Charlestown Peninsula , uh , to be able to open Boston next , so sort of a shaping operation to a decisive operation , um , and of course , like everything that happens in Boston , this remains a deep , dark secret , uh , to absolutely no one . Uh , the , um , the colonial leadership gets word and , and this is really what precipitates this , this troop movement towards the Charlestown Peninsula . The reason everybody knows it is , I mean , there's spies everywhere , yeah , you've got , I mean , it's the same thing with Lexington and Concord by now you've got a pretty well established underground , um . Uh , intelligence network in Boston of of Sons of Liberty , people sympathetic to the sort of patriot cause , disaffected British soldiers who are tired of being stuck in in in Boston , um , so there's , yeah , there's there's a lot of information that comes back very quickly , um . The sort of overall command of the army of observation is this um sort of council of New England generals Artemis Ward , um , being one of the more prominent and senior Massachusetts generals , uh , and they make the decision on uh on the 16th to . Sort of preclude the British from seizing the Charlestown Peninsula to be able to essentially use that as a as a movement corridor towards Cambridge and and sort of the the heart of the the uh the Patriot Army that's gathered there . So , so they know they understand the British are going to try to expand and they try to prevent that . So then on the night of 16 to 17 June , the colonials prepare a series of readout positions . Um , so can you talk about that and who led the operation and , and what their plan was ? Yeah , it's , I mean it's kind of crazy . Um , they send , um , uh , Colonel William Prescott , uh , who , who's sort of the operational overall commander with , uh , elements of about 3 different Massachusetts regiments , um , about 900 to 1000 men . Um , go up with yeah , with , uh , the , the army's chief engineer , Colonel Richard Gridley , um , they go up on the night of the 16th to survey the ground , um , and so Bunker Hill , well , well , well , with that said , because I wanted , I want to create that distinction , yeah , because Bunker Hill was , was what the tallest . Uh , hill in that area , and they , and they go to Bunker Hill , uh , they look around and this is where there a little bit of historical controversy comes in of of why they didn't stay in Bunker Hill . It is the it is the summit , um , on the Charleston Peninsula . It's the most commanding terrain , uh , and then . Further down the slope , about 2-300 yards is Breed's Hill , a lower elevation that looks directly on the water line . So if you were to be trying to stop an invasion sort of at the water's edge , this might be your spot , um , but where they build their first , their major fortification this this readout with 9 ft high , um , earthen walls , you know , very simple , it's a square fortification . Um , you can't affect the beach really with your , with your small arms , um , so . Is this an attempt to stop the British from from advancing , or is this an attempt to , I don't know , thumb your nose at the royal authorities and try to bring on a general engagement . We don't , we don't really know . Everyone got really cagey after the fact , um , because it , it , uh , you know , spoil . Alert it it turns out OK uh for the uh for the colonial side , um , but the , yeah , everyone , everyone looks at at the terrain on Bunker Hill and then they decide that nope , they're gonna move down to to breeds they through the night these men build this and extraordinary . I mean , yeah , and you have to imagine they're they're staring down at these ships of the Royal Navy mounting , you know , 36 , 44 , you know . Massive frigates filled with artillery just waiting for these things to start firing at any moment um and luckily throughout the night , uh , the , the ships remained quiet um and so by morning uh you've got uh the British Admiral waking up to find that uh there is a a fort overlooking his fleet , his squadron . Um , and then Gauge waking up and looking out and you can see directly from Gage's headquarters out towards Charlestown , you would be able to see this fort that suddenly sprang up in the middle of the night . Incredible . Yeah . Oh wow . And so they see this on the morning of the 17th and and and what's their reaction ? Well , you know , it's you've got a bunch of generals . Got to do something . Uh , so one , you know , the , the , the one , you know , course of action that's a throwaway is let's do nothing , right ? No one , no one's opting for that . Everyone opts for , uh , a , a , an offensive course of action , um , and probably , honestly , probably a little bit more aggressive than Gauge would have wanted to be . Um , precisely because he's got these 3 other major generals who are like , hey , we should , we should do this , and it's , uh , General Howe is the one who comes up with this plan , um , that they are going to move troops by boat , uh , do essentially an amphibious land amphibious landing on the Charlestown Peninsula , um , in , in one location or are they gonna try and come around the back . So they're gonna do a landing they're they're going to basically seize a landing . Site on the tip of the peninsula consolidate their forces there and then how um using the covering fire of the Royal Navy to suppress the enemy um is is going to want to plan a three pronged assault , really a double envelopment , so fixing the enemy in front with his um with his grenadiers making what was called at the time a demonstration , but just keeping , you know , everyone preoccupied looking forward . Uh , while he sends his light infantry around , uh , to the right along the , the bank of the , uh , the Mystic River to slip in behind the provincials and then another wing , uh , around the left into Charlestown itself under , um , Brigadier General Robert Piggott , um , thus , you know , being able to come at the come at the fortifications from , um , from , from both sides . This plan is , it's , it's great , looks really well good on paper , um . As long as you know the terrain isn't there and uh the enemy isn't there because what happens um that morning is that you've got you've got Prescott there sort of going , OK , well here I am in my little fort uh the British Navy , every gun in the Royal Navy is like firing at me . What do we do from here ? Um , and they make this decision to hold and reinforce and so elements of more and more units are showing up to the morning of the 17th . Uh , which is a pretty hot day , and the , so you've got , uh , Massachusetts troops primarily in the readout . The , there , there's a , uh , a realization that hey , we need to protect our flanks . So there's this , uh , this . Um , That's right . Uh , there's this wooden fence that runs down to , uh , to the water line that that that they reinforced . This is reinforced with , um , uh , Connecticut and New Hampshire troops , and then , uh , New Hampshire troops also extend all the way down to the water's edge , build a little rock wall there to protect the flank , so they're tying in with . Natural obstacles they're they're using the terrain that's on the hill . Um , they're they're digging in wherever possible . Um not a lot of shovels and entrenching tools around is the thing that a lot of people right ? Well , well , you know , uh , war means that everything gets picked clean pretty much immediately . So did they have any cannon there ? They do . They , they bring up a couple field pieces . The the army's artillery is not . Uh , is not yet professional . Um , there , there , there's a few guns that are brought in inexplicably after firing two shots , like one detachment of two guns just picks up and leaves . Uh , and , and everyone's like , wait , what ? Um , there are some that that stay there , um , and , and are used to decent effect through the fight , but they're they're they're light , they're they're field guns , they , they can't really affect the the ships . Um , they , they're more designed to be anti-personnel . They don't play a huge role . Um , what , what will play a huge role is masked musketry , or sorry , masked musketry too many Ms there . Um , mask , mass , you know , at that at that at that really close killing distance , you know , that that 20 to 30 yards , like the the deadly zone , um , as we call it . Um , and so that's the , that's that's sort of the , that's the morning into the afternoon because it takes the British until , until the mid-afternoon to begin even ferrying troops over . So the warmest part of the day too warmest part of the day and , and by now also everyone knows what's going on . So like literally everybody in Boston is sitting on their roofs like everybody in the surrounding area is watching because they see this massive showdown . This isn't like Lexington and Concord where no one knew what was gonna happen . Happen this is very public , very much in the open , um , that's possibly one of the reasons that the that you've got Prescott and his guys pushing down to Breed's Hill is to make this really an open flagrant defiance of the crown and force a reaction . Yeah , don't allow the British to get that foothold and that's that might be one of the reasons too they went to Breeds Hill , right ? And , and also because there was this idea that something needed to happen , um . Because public opinion is really out on what this revolution means also , is this a true , uh , you know , continental revolution . They don't know that the continental Army has been created just a few days ago and that they'll have it have aid from other troops right now . This is just New England fighting the British Empire . And and so Prescott , he now he was a veteran of the French and Indian War . Right , so he had worked with the British beforehand . He understood their tactics , um , how much of the British plan did he anticipate ? I think from looking at the troop deployment , most of the regimental commanders had a pretty good understanding of what the British were gonna do , um , if . You've got uh John Stark from New Hampshire who's a colonel of a New Hampshire regiment . He's down on the water line . um , the way that he actually lays out his defense shows that he knows exactly what he's up against , you know , he , he's also a veteran of the French and Indian War , uh , fought it with the Rangers and um . He , what he does is he puts his men in 3 rows behind this stone wall , uh , 3 ranks , uh , and then about 30 paces away , he places um white birch stakes in the , in the ground , and he instructs soldiers that when you see the British gators , their leggings , their white leggings , pass these white birch stakes , that's when you open fire and you aim at the leggings . Not because he realizes that with the , these are all green troops , new soldiers . The tendency is always to fire high even , even for professionals . The British soldiers that day are going to be firing high a lot . So why aim at the gators because the natural point of aim is then going to drift center mass , um , and we'll see how this plays out in the , uh , with how's attack . But but that shows you a veteran of of conflict know exactly what they're doing . Before we move on to how the battle uh laid out , there was also another general there . Um , but you had , you had Colonel Prescott who was in charge , but you had General Warren , or Doctor Joseph War General Joseph Warren . So can we talk just a little bit about him before we get into that ? Who was he ? And yeah , even though he was there , he decided not to be a general . Yeah , Joseph Warren is one of the more fascinating individuals of the revolution . Nathaniel Philbrick thinks that he would be . You know , he , he would be Washington , um , had he lived , uh , oops , spoiler . He's very , very prominent physician in Boston , uh , very well liked by everybody , including the British , um , he kept very good relations , which was good because he was , you know , responsible for running sort of the the spy network inside Boston , um , as part of the Committee of Safety . Uh , and so he's prominent politically , uh , he's , he's prominent socially , and he's , he is this figure who is charismatic enough and is and is good at planning to the point where he could really be this . Senior , uh , army commander , um , and in fact he is uh he is a general , um , but when he he shows up , um , mid morning uh to the to the readout , uh , and , and offers his services to Prescott , um , as a private because he says basically you need , you know , here you don't need generals you need you need more muskets , um , and this becomes true as the day goes on because what's happening is . This isn't a static battlefield . Um , you have the Royal Navy is just pounding these , these fortifications . Uh , there's a psychological aspect to it . They actually have ships and and floating batteries on either side of the peninsula and they're sweeping the entryway to the peninsula with fire . So troops that are coming onto the peninsula are coming running this gauntlet of artillery , uh , and you know , these are , these are volunteers who just , you know , they just sort of showed up and throughout the day . Um , Prescott and the and the colonial strength is gonna dwindle because more and more men are gonna leave the battle line going , you know what , I didn't sign up for this . This is and , and so this the , the strength will begin to sort of winnow away , especially as casualties are produced , um , you know . Instead of one guy helping someone off the battlefield , maybe it's 2 or 3 guys , uh , you know , and then that's 4 muskets off the line . So this is , it's a very dynamic , uh , difficult situation . One of the , one of the uh colonial generals , Rufus Putnam from , uh , Connecticut , is trying to sort of funnel troops onto the peninsula and also get more ammunition to them because he's aware that there's an ammunition they're gonna have an ammunition shortage . But again , that British fire is so effective , it's very difficult to push more troops out there . Yeah , literally being tested on fire here . So , all right , so , um , everything's laid out ready to go . Describe the battle , how , how did it actually take place ? So you know , best laid plans , right , never survive first contact and that's , and that's general how , you know , he gets his first taste of combat in uh . In uh in in this war in North America , he is a veteran of uh of , of , of wars and in fact his , his older brother , the other Howe brother because he's got another Howe brother who's the commander in the Royal Navy , uh , Richard Howe , um , and , uh , who , who's on station and then their their older brother was killed um at at um . Uh , Ticonderoga , then go carry on , um , and attacking the French in the , in the Seven Years' War . So , um , a lot of , a lot of family connections to North America , um , but he believes that he can with his , with his , uh , double envelopment , he can , he can break this position without too many casualties . So , uh , he sends the light infantry column around to the right . Remember , these are the these are the light infantry companies , most of whom had suffered the most heavily at Lexington and Concord just a few months prior . They're already pretty well attrited , um , and now they run into into Stark's New Hampshire line , and when I say that we're talking about World War 1 levels of of uh of casualties , the , the first company , the fourth foot , takes 85% casualties in about 30 seconds . Um , the light infantry are absolutely decimated from this rolling fire along the beach , um , and , and , and they are , they're absolutely , um , you know , you've got , you've got sergeants and privates leading companies after this , uh , so they are taken out of the fight with about 65% casualties in total of this of this essential battalion that goes in . Um , so just as this fighting is beginning , Howe is realizing it's not gonna go the way he wants . Uh , Piggott's line goes against Charlestown . There's skirmishers in these buildings . Uh , Piggott is reluctant to begin an urban battle , so he asks how if he can earn the town . Oh wow , which is a very good indicator of where we've gotten in the war , uh , that already there's this discussion of , yeah , we'll burn towns and so Royal Navy , um , opens up with red hot shot , um , there's , there's cannons in Char in uh Boston that are firing and Charlestown is set ablaze . So now you added to this whole scene there's like this pall of black smoke as this town is burning . Um , and now how sends his , he , he sends his first line forward his grenadiers , his , his main battle , uh , line regiments , uh , right up the center , um , and immediately they're confronted with the fact that they're advancing through farms , uh , farm fields , so filled with fences and you have to . Negotiate all these obstacles , um , and then there's uh you know , a few Americans begin opening fire without orders uh and no one likes to get shot at without shooting back so a lot of the grenadiers halt a lot of the British soldiers halt and return fire . Now the problem with this is that . In 18th century combat , the goal is not to stand 30 paces away and just blaze away at each other . That's a really good way to lose a bunch of people . Everyone knows this . The goal is for one side to close with the enemy with the bayonet and either force them to , to run away . Usually most people are , are , you know , risk averse when it comes to facing 500 people charging at them with uh with pointy steel , but you have to close that distance and that's very hard to do psychologically . And so the British failed this test and immediately begin trading volleys and it's not an equal contest . You've got , you've got British soldiers who are standing in waist-high grass . Uh , it's a hot day . They're weighed down with all their equipment . They're firing high versus these guys who are in their shirt sleeves and they're they're fighting from behind cover and they're just laying into them . And so how immediately is taking massive losses and is pushed back . Um , he's going to , he's going to reset and make this assault 3 times . Wow , the same assault , the same the same , the same assault , um , he , what he's going , the second assault goes pretty much as the same as the first , um , he can't , he can't manipulate his right and left to converge on the readout at the same time . The American , uh , volume of fire is just so heavy . That they they cannot advance . uh , he gets reinforcements , um , from General Henry Clinton comes across narrowly misses getting shot just as he gets off the boat . It's like , hey , welcome to warfare in North America . Um , and it's , uh , it's , it's really turning into this like grudge match , this bloodbath , um , on , on Breed's Hill . And so two assaults have failed . 2 assaults fail , and at the second one , how is left standing , you know , he accompanies his troops , you know , he's not a , these are not , these are not cowardly men , you know , they go forward , they lead by example and here's this major general surrounded by his staff who are all dead and wounded . And he's the only one left who's standing there and this is really important for us to remember when we're gonna look down the road at what how is gonna do as the overall commander of forces in North America , which he will be coming up in in the next few months , um , because he's gonna be very reluctant to attack fortified American positions , you know , they did not think that the Americans would be able to stay and fight . Um , but , uh , how pulls back , they reconsolidate . He tells the British soldiers to drop their packs , drop , drop their heavy jackets , really get , um , down to their shirt sleeves , and then again it's reiterated to them close with the enemy , get within bayonet , um , distance so to speak , uh , and . They're aided in this by the fact that the Americans are running out of ammunition . Um , but do they know that ? They don't know that . No , they don't know that . And but the Americans are down to they're really down to their last 2 to 3 cartridges uh per soldier . As I mentioned , this , this force has been gradually shrinking throughout the day , so it's not the same volume of fire . So now , um , very late afternoon , How is ordering his , uh , your orders his , his third assault . Um , and now with the instructions that both wings just focus on the readout , you know , ignore the , ignore the fence , ignore anything else , just really come in , uh , close in mass and concentration on the readout and . They're met with the same volley of musketry that's just as deadly as before , um , to , to really savage volleys and then kind of just a spattering of musketry and that's all it needs for the those uh those walls of , um , British . Soldiers to surge over the parapet and then they begin hand to hand combat and and most of the , most of the American soldiers do not have bayonets , uh , some of them do . It's very hard to actually fight , do bayonet , do hand to hand fighting , uh , when you're just like trying to hit somebody with the end of your musket when they've got like , you know , uh , 3.5 ft of steel with a pointy end on it , um . Yeah , and , and this is where when you talk about professionalization of an army , um , you know , later on we'll talk about how , you know , uh , Steuben will come in and professionalize the continental Army . Um , the what , what makes the British troops professional on on June 17th ? Well , one , that they make that attack three times and you know , by that third assault , they're walking over the the bodies of of the dead and wounded . Because you're talking about the casualties , the British are taking tremendous amount of are they this is one of them their their bloodiest battles in the in the revolution . What were the casualties on the colonial side ? Really , um , up until the readout fight , not , not many , um , you're , you're mostly looking at , uh , casualties from from artillery fire with the the hand to hand fighting and the readout . Where you've got these professionally trained British soldiers who know how to use the bayonet , um , who , who this is what they're trained to do up against , uh , guys who are really trying to get out of there . Colonel Prescott gives the order pretty much you know , every man for themselves , you know , get out , get out of this death trap , um , that's where they take , uh , the , the most of their casualties and you're looking at , um . You know it's , it's , it's hard to , uh , it's , it's hard to always get the the right numbers , but you're looking around 75 to 85 American dead , um , up , up against it's around like 160 , 100 , close on 200 British dead . Um , but the , the highest British casualties are in the officer ranks . Um , they , I think there's an estimate of something like 10% . Of the these are always hard because in dealing with personnel numbers in the 18th centuries is is rough when rosters don't always personnel lists don't always survive um but you're looking at something like 10% of British officers in North America become casualties that day . Oh wow . And is that because they were , they were out front or is it a um um purposeful . Um , targeting of the officers or is it a mixture of both I think it's a mixture of both . I mean by virtue of the fact that you know these units are being led by example from by their officers , uh , and so of course Americans are gonna be looking to to shoot at the people giving orders . That is also , I mean that's not just a oh , you know , target the officers because they're officers , it's also a function of how do you get command and control in a in a regular unit to break down . Shoot the person giving the order . These are orders based , you know , these are not people who are advancing with the , yeah , yeah , they're not , they're not , they're not operating off of their own , you know , the individual initiative they're operating off of a given set of or you know , forward march and that's something a little bit off topic difference between the American army in modern times and like the the Russians or the Chinese , you know , we always said we have commander's intent . So you know if you if you lose your officers at least you know what the intent was and you can you can continue on something that um the communist forces , the Russians the Chinese don't have and was that the way with the British army um did they . They lose their officers , um , did they still understand commander's intent and and need to move on or were they gonna wait for orders ? So I mean the idea of commander's intent is very much a 19th 19th century idea . Um , all professional armies are going to be , uh , including , including the continental Army will , will be fighting , you know , by orders from their officers . Simply because it's the easiest way to create um or or to keep a large group of of people from being an armed mob , uh , you know , it's discipline and discipline that that keeps an armed mob or turns an armed mob into an army , um , and so . Having that ability to to stand under fire and wait for the orders of an officer or a non-commissioned officer , usually your non-commissioned officers are the ones keeping , you know , responsible for keeping soldiers in the ranks called file closers , literally just staying in line , ensuring that the lines are dressed , um , that's very difficult . There's a reason that , you know , um , I think it's Chippewa in 181814 where you've got um . You know , Americans advancing and and doing the thing of just standing under fire and taking it and not running and causing the British to say those are regulars by God um because it it defies all common sense um but that's also how you win um is is by taking that hammering and then . Uh , and then , and then finding that weak spot , finding the flank , finding a break in the line , closing , and then hopefully , you know , one side or the other is gonna give way . Um , not a lot of bayonet fighting that happens because one side or the other is like , yeah , I'm out , um . And , and so that's the goal . So when we look at sort of how command relationships work , you know , the Americans are looking to get on the same level as the British and and we'll do , you know , we , we're we're always like uh we treat , we treat uh doctrine like a buffet , like we'll take a little from the Germans , we'll take a little from the French , we'll take a little from the British , and what are the Russians do ? We'll take a little of that . Uh , and that's when , you know , when Schuben puts together his blue book , that's what he's doing is he's he's amalgamating and and throwing a few like uniquely American ideas in there , but it's essentially like this , this hodgepodge smorgasbord thing that is this , this new blue book . Yeah , that's funny , you know , moving up in years , I think it was in the 80s when um Uh , uh , a Russian general said the problem with the Americans is they don't read their own manuals , so I see this happening century after century with the American army is we have this doctrine we have these tactics , but and we'll we'll we'll do what we want , you know , and Bunker Hill is uh it's unfortunately to . Successful for the Americans . Yes , it's a tactical defeat , um , but it's , it's such a high cost for the British . uh , Nathaniel , uh , American general , uh , Nathaniel Green says , you know , I wish , I wish we had 100 such hills to , to , to , to give them at that price . Um , and , and it , it , it is such a shocking . Uh , loss , you know , to have these hundreds and hundreds of wounded soldiers , uh , that they have to go back to Boston , um , and then at the end of the day , the British just say , well , we got this hill . And then , and from the American side , it's this huge propaganda piece . These farmers , these rabble just defeated , you know , this isn't a Lexington and Concord , a hit and run , you know , ambushes and route type thing . This is an open battle . Everyone saw it , you know , everyone in the surrounding area saw it . Um , so it becomes this very big rallying cry , but the problem is it's too successful . Um , people begin to think , well , Anyone can , you know , fight , you know , any American is is somehow gifted enough to be able to , to fight the British professionals without much training . So when Washington's like , no , hey , states like we need to have , we need more , you know , you need to enlist your soldiers for , for , for more than just one year , um , you need , you know , multiple year to the end of the war , they need to be , we're gonna have standards of training . You have a lot of people who just will point at Bunker Hill and say , well , no , the militia are just fine , they can carry the war . And this actually becomes a huge problem in American history writ large American military history and specifically the size of the army , uh , the . The United States is uh has this hereditary angst about a large standing army that we get from the British and uh it it keeps the regular army small until really the 20th century to World War One really . Really , really , I mean , post World War 2 is when we actually get anything comparable to the size of the army that we have today . This is relatively unknown in American history . Um , and , and the argument is always , well , why do we need a regular force ? Look at Bunker Hill and Bunker Hill is an anomaly . It's a one-off . Um , it's , it's one of these things that you , you can't really repeat and also . Because of Howe's experience uh at Bunker Hill , he's not gonna do that again . He's not going to attack dug in American positions unless he's got overwhelming firepower , overwhelming superiority , and has opened a flank as you'll see in in New York 1776 . So not only did the colonial's mindset get affected by um Bunker Hill , but the British too , yes , yeah , very much so , yeah , and , and you've got . Um , you , you have a bunch of , well , one , it , it , it dispels a lot of notions . One , it dispels the notion that this is going to be a quick war , um , always needs to happen in the 1st 90 days of a conflict . There is , uh , the Americans can see , wow , uh , the British are willing to take a lot of casualties , uh , and the British say , wow , the Americans can fight . They have put together a field army . Um , this is going to be a longer contest than we probably thought . We now need to begin thinking about options , um , and , and this is where , so you know , in 1776 , um , they'll they'll abandon Boston , um , in favor of a push on New York . and also a push on Charleston , South Carolina . Charleston will be a failure for the British in '76 , but New York um is , is going to be where uh General Howe has his , his , his big win except he can't , you know , can't get at that completely destroy that continental army . Um , probably because he's very averse to attacking it when it's dug in , which is I think a thing Washington realizes , uh , and uses to his advantage . So we talked about , you know , tactical victory for the British , but it's kind of a strategic los . So what is the overall strategic impact of this battle on the American Revolution ? So by um by beginning of July uh on the American side , this new guy shows up to take command of this uh army of observation which is now the continental Army , um , this guy called George Washington yep , yeah , uh , and . He looks at Bunker Hill a little bit as sort of what I mentioned of this is , it was almost too successful . These guys think they're really good . They don't think they need to get any better . Um , and he's like , guys , we , we , uh , you know , Washington is the only guy in the seven , the only American in the French and Indian War to have commanded at the brigade level , um , and so he's going , look , uh , we need to do a lot of things . One , our sanitation is terrible , our , our fortifications are not like we need to , we need to do a lot of discipline , uh , needs to be improved , uh , at , at the lowest level , um , and . And , and he sees Bunker Hill as almost a a detriment to his mission of trying to get this army better because these New Englanders don't think that they need to get any better because they already beat these the British twice as they see it . Um , but in the , in the national psyche , it's a huge boost . It shows that , um , for all these states that were sitting on the edge , like do I should say colonies at this point and not states yet , um , do we join , do we not ? Um , Bunker Hill brings a lot of them to the yes , I think we can do this side , uh , and then for the British . It's uh it's a national punch in the gut . It's a huge public disgrace . um , as I said , everyone watched this happen . There's no hiding it , um , this bloodbath , and so it causes the um the British sort of war ministry to change their plans for the course of . The war in North America through the next the next coming years one they're looking at this as a as a year's uh projection and not just , you know , by the fall we'll have this all under wraps , yeah , home by Christmas , right right yeah exactly . So , uh , does Colonel Prescott survived the battle ? He does . Prescott survives the battle , um , who does not survive , as I mentioned earlier , is Joseph Warren . uh , Joseph Warren is shot in the redoubt and um . He , it's it's hard to kind of hard to talk about because he was such a well loved man that the British felt his betrayal . I mean not just the fact that he was on the colonial , you know , on this rebellious side but . Bearing arms against them , he was , his body was bayoneted about 20 to 30 times after he was killed , um , uh , he was pretty much mutilated , um , by , by the British , uh , and it shows this again this breakdown just like the burning of Charlestown and it becomes this breakdown of norms , um , that are beginning to characterize this this new conflict very early on , um , and it's only gonna get worse as as the war goes on , um . Prescott survives , but , but Warren dies there uh and and it's the end of a career that we don't know what that would have looked like he could have gone on to be , you know , president of the Continental Congress be first president could have been a great general under Washington might have had command of the Continental Army had he uh he had lived one day we don't know of potential , yeah a lot of what if . Yeah . Um , well , great . Well , thanks so much . Anything else about this battle that you wanted to touch on ? So this , there's some really interesting , um , I want to say trivia and one involves people's lives , but , um , Major Pitcairn , who , uh , John Pitcairn , who had who was second in command of uh the , the British expedition to Concord in April , um , he's involved in this uh this attack um with his , with his Marines , and he's actually , he makes it to the parapet of of the redoubt . Uh , when he is shot and killed , um , they're naturally with any big event , uh , there are multiple people who take credit for it . Um , there are 4 individuals who , who . Have credit with with uh eyewitness credit with shooting him , um , one of whom was a a uh a enslaved man of color who was uh in a Massachusetts regiment , uh , his , his uh master gave him his freedom and he served in the continental Army for the for the duration of the war , um , just , uh , you know , showing that these are Americans of all walks of life who are serving in these , in these , uh , colonial units . Um , and , and which is a thing that Washington will , you know , Washington with his background is gonna have to sort of contest with and then after a while I'll be like , man , they're really good soldiers . I need everybody to fight this war . Um , and , uh , yeah , it just shows that , uh , you know , we've got , uh , Americans of all background at these critical moments in our , in our army history and um , and before we close , it's time for huzzah trivia . So is there some piece of trivia that you can share about the Battles of Bunker Hill ? Yes , one of , uh , you know , I love logistics . I think it's one of the things that uh I nerd out over logistics , um , maybe as an engineer . It's critical to warfare . It's huge and , um , and no one would agree with you more than than William Howe who as part of his plan was to have a bat . Of of of uh of field guns advanced with his infantry to keep the Americans heads down with grape shot fired at close range . He was gonna have a 6 pounders brought forward and they were gonna just , um , you know , you have that suppressing fire . Well , when they go to open the limber chest , they find that they brought out 12 pound shot . Oh no , so . None of none of the ammunition that they have is actually usable for the guns . So kids , if you're going to war , make sure you've got the right ammunition for the job , uh , for , for the caliber of the weapons that you have . Uh , that that's interesting and and uh how I use that tactic before or after ? It was a very common , so most field artillery when we think about , you know , you as a good field artillery man with your background . Um , you know , we think of engaging the enemy with fires to disrupt , fix , blocks , you know , be able to affect them from distance , right ? Um , at the time you're looking at if you should think of artillery almost . Almost as a machine gun , as a suppression yeah , direct fire suppression area weapons . You do have some indirect from mortars , um , but most of the time it's most effective when used in conjunction with the infantry rolled forward , um , really as this this mobile attacking platform . Um , and so very common . Napoleon is going to sort of revolutionize , you know , Frederick the Great sort of begins it in the 1760s , and Napoleon's gonna take that and just create the grand battery . We're gonna take that idea and make mobile artillery in the 1840s during the Mexican War , these highly mobile . very effective , uh , field artillery , um , so you can see the sort of the development of the through line of the American , um , field artillery excellence , uh , through this period really coming to the fore in the Civil War when we have some of the best gunners , um , and then World War 1 and World War 2 , why they call us the king of battle . They do say that . All right , well , uh , thank you so much , uh , Major Bratton for your insights today about the Battle of Bunker Hill and if anyone wants to learn more about the American Revolution or learn more about Army history in general , that I encourage you to explore our website at history.army.mil and we've got a new series of pamphlets , monographs , uh , if you wanna call them short reads about the revolutionary War be a series of 13 . Uh , of these publications and the Battle of Bunker Hill is our very first one called Opening Shots which is available from our website , uh , as a free PDF download or there's instructions how you can order to , uh , get a hard copy as well , so check those out . They're great reads and , uh , Major Bratton was heavily involved in uh in uh in in writing and editing , uh , these volumes so . Um , and also if you want to explore our history every day , then I encourage you to check out our social media on Facebook , X and Instagram . So thanks for joining us today on the United States Army History and Heritage podcast for the center of military history , I'm Lee Reynolds , and until next time , we're history . The views expressed in this podcast reflect those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views , policies , or opinions of the US Army or Department of Defense . For more information about the Army's proud history and heritage , go to history.army.mil .