The Battle of Bunker Hill (Revolutionary War Battles)

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Summary: Explaining the first battle of the Revolution to young kids
Review: After what happened on Lexington Green in Massachusetts on an early April morning in 1775 when the first shots of the American Revolution were fired, not much happened the rest of that year in terms of military engagements. The exception was the Battle of Bunker Hill in Boston on June 17, 1775. In this volume for the Triangle Histories series on The Revolutionary War, Scott Ingram tells the story of the first true battle of the American Revolution.

This juvenile history begins with a preface on the American Revolution and an introduction "As Thick as Sheep in a Field" (General William Howe's descripton of how the Britisih dead and wounded lay on the battlefield that day), which set the moment when the patriots in the position on Breed's Hill repulsed the first wave of British troops. Ingram then goes back to the spring of 1775 when hostilities first broke out, establishing the importance of Boston as both a port of commerce and the hotbed of patriotic sentiment. After laying out the British stragedy in moving on Boston, Ingram details how the patriots fortified Breed's Hill and the debate among the British commanders as to how to attack. The three British assaults are covered, with Ingram explaining how running out of powder and the arrival of British reinforcements compelled the Amercians to retreat in the face of the final charge. The main part of the book ends with an epilogue covering what happened to the leaders on both sides of the engagement.

The strength of this book is that young readers will understand both the strategy and tactics of this first major battle of the American Revolution. The only thing really missing would be an explanation of the circumstances under which the British would eventually abandon Boston, but readers will understand why the "defeat" of the colonial troops at Bunker's Hill was much more than a moral victory. "The Battle of Bunker Hill" is illustrated with paintings, etching and engravings. Ingram also provides informative sidebars on key related topics on things like what the rules of war were in 1775 and Dr. Joseph Warren, the patriot who died at Bunker Hill. The Triangle Histories series consists of a series of titles that interweave, intersect, and overlap with others by providing different perspectives on the same broad subject. Titles in the Revolutionary War series consists of both battles (e.g., Long Island, Trenton, Yorktown) and Leaders (e.g., John Adams, Charles Cornwallis, Thomas Paine).