Continental ArmyBritish Army Compare and Contrast

After the Second Continental Congress, George Washington made his way to Boston to take control as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. But before he could get there, a MAJOR battle took place.

Boston is located on a peninsula. Because water surrounds the city, the British navy was able to easily provide the British army on land with supplies and more soldiers. At this point the British army is stationed in Boston and the Continental army is trying to figure out how to defeat them and kick them out of the city.

Because Boston was so highly populated with British soldiers, the Continental Army couldn’t set up an attack directly in the city, so they looked at land near by. Charlestown is made up of many hills. The Continental Army thought that perhaps they could use the hills to help them create a good defense and will the battle.

In mid-June of 1775, the Continental Army began to hear rumors that the British Army was planning a sneak attack on them. The Continental Army wanted to remove the British from Boston and the British also wanted to remove the Continental Army. The Continental Army decided that Breed Hill at the base (bottom) of Bunker Hill would be a perfect place to set up a fortification.

On the night of June 16, 1775, the Continental Army worked for 12 straight hours constructing a fort on Breed’s Hill. Early in the morning as British General Howe began preparing his troops to attack, he was surprised to see a newly constructed fort on the hill. The fort was 6 feet high. "The rebels," he exclaimed, "have done more work in one night than my whole army would have done in one month." The British tried to fire cannons from their boats at the Continental Army who was finishing the fort, but did not hit them. By mid-afternoon, British General Howe ordered his troops to begin marching on land toward the fort. The Continental Army remained silent. By mid-afternoon, British General Howe ordered his troops to begin marching on land toward the fort. The Continental Army remained silent. They were told, “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes” When that moment came, the word, “FIRE!” was shouted and nearly everyone in the first British platoon (group of soldiers) was killed. Those that were not killed quickly retreated back down the hill. General Howe rallied his troops and the next platoon marched up the hill. Those that were not killed quickly retreated back down the hill. General Howe rallied his troops and the next platoon marched up the hill. Again, the platoon was almost completely destroyed and hundreds were killed. Howe rallied his troops one more time and ordered them to use their bayonets in hand-to-hand combat with the Continentals. By this point, the Continental Army had run out of bullets and while the British Army had bayonets, most Continental soldiers did not. Because of their lack of defense, the Continentals had to quickly retreat to Cambridge. Though they put up a good fight, the Continental Army lost the battle and the British took control of Charlestown. The British however suffered 1,024 casualties. The Continental Army suffered 450 casualties.