Siege of Boston

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American Revolutionary War
Northern Campaign

The siege of Boston from April 19, 1775 to March 17, 1776 was the opening phase of the active American Revolutionary War , in which militias from New England besieged the city of Boston to prevent the British army from moving into it . Although the siege was only moderately successful, the American troops under George Washington managed to force the British to withdraw from the city after eleven months. The most significant single event of the siege was the Battle of Bunker Hill, while it is itself considered to be the longest conflict within the war. She played an important role in the formation of the Continental Army and promoted the unity of the colonies.

Siege of Boston

The siege began the night after the Battle of Lexington and Concord , when American forces pursued the British as far as Boston and occupied the isthmus of the peninsula on which Boston is located.

Initially, General Artemas Ward, as commander of the Massachusetts militia, was in charge of the siege. He established his headquarters in Cambridge and positioned his armed forces in Charlestown Neck, Roxbury and the heights of Dorchester. Initially, the 6,000 to 8,000 American rebels faced about 4,000 British soldiers under General Thomas Gage , who was also governor of the province of Massachusetts, who were trapped in the city.

According to the narrower definition, the British were not besieged , as the British Royal Navy controlled the port and supplies could be delivered by ship. Nevertheless, the city and the army were on emergency rations, for example, cured pork was on the menu and prices rose quickly. By occupying the hills in front of the city, the Americans had a good idea of ​​what was going on inside the city, while General Gage did not receive any reliable information about the activities of the rebels.

On May 25, Gage received more than 4,500 reinforcements and three new generals: Major General William Howe and Brigadier Generals John Burgoyne and Henry Clinton . Thereupon he began to plan to break the siege. On June 15, the American Security Committee learned of the plans to attack Dorchester Heights and the base on the Charlestown Peninsula. The committee ordered General Ward to fortify Bunker Hill and the heights. Ward passed the order on to William Prescott , but British forces under General Howe managed to occupy the Charlestown Peninsula at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17. Although the British were able to achieve their goal, they failed to break the siege because the Americans were able to hold the isthmus of the peninsula. The British losses were so severe that there were no more direct attacks on the American armed forces, resulting in a stalemate .

On July 3, George Washington arrived to serve in the new Continental Army. Armed forces and supplies came from Maryland , among others . Trenches were dug on the Isthmus of Dorchester and widened towards Boston. Washington retook Bunker Hill and Breed's Hill without resistance. However, these activities had little effect on the British occupation.

In the winter of 1775-1776, Henry Knox and his engineers used sleds to transport the heavy cannons that had been locked in at Fort Ticonderoga to Boston. They were brought across the frozen Connecticut River and arrived in town in March. The British fleet, which had been so important until now, was no longer advantageous during the winter, as it had to anchor in a shallow harbor, had limited navigation and was under American cannon fire from the Dorchester Heights, which had been fortified under General John Thomas .

The siege ended when the British set sail for Halifax on March 17, 1776 . The militias returned home and in April Washington used most of the Continental Army to fortify New York City .

memorial

The Longfellow House - Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site in Cambridge, the house in which Washington established its headquarters from July 1775 to April 1776, commemorates the battle . It later became the home of the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and has been a national memorial for the siege of Boston and the life and work of Longfellow since 1966.

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