Breed's Hill - Bunker Hill

Breed's Hill - Bunker Hill

Breed's Hill - Bunker Hill
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 6 to 8
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	6.06

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		well-fortified, rebellion, bayonets, gunfire, command, battlefield, militia, camps, rebellious, commission, ammunition, wounded, rifles, better, confidence, mainland
	content words:		Revolutionary War, Second Continental Congress, George Washington, Continental Army, Boston Harbor, Charles River, Bunker Hill, Each British, General Howe, General Gage

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Breed's Hill - Bunker Hill
By Jane Runyon

¹     In April of 1775, the "shot heard ‘round the world" started the Revolutionary War. The Massachusetts militia was able to push the British army back to Boston from Lexington and Concord. The British commanders had convinced themselves that it would take only a small battle or two to convince the rebellious colonists to stop their foolishness and welcome British rule. How wrong they were!

²     In June of 1775, the Second Continental Congress appointed George Washington to command the Continental Army. Two days later, the British and colonials were engaged in the first major battle of the war. The British realized the importance of the city of Boston to the colonists. The city itself was on a peninsula in Boston Harbor. Across the Charles River, just across from Boston, were two hills on another peninsula. The colonists feared that the British would be able to capture Boston and take control of the harbor there. The colonists believed that they could take control of the two hills across the river and keep the British from doing just that. The two hills were named Breed's Hill and Bunker Hill.

³     On the night of June 15, 1775, members of the Massachusetts militia very quietly moved to take control of these two hills. During the night they were able to dig trenches and pile dirt into walls to protect themselves. The job they did that night was nothing short of a miracle. When the British troops woke up the next morning and saw the well-fortified hills, they were astounded. These builders were the same men the British couldn't get to build camps for them. The British had decided that all Americans were lazy. The job they did that night was not what would be done by lazy men.

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