Katie Turner Getty
The Bloody Battle of Bunker Hill… or Was it Breed’s?
This session will discuss the Battle of Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts. On June 17, 1775, provincial soldiers fortified a virtually unknown hill in a bucolic pasture overlooking Boston. Later that day, the pastureland would transform into a battlefield as the provincials inflicted devastating casualties on advancing British forces, particularly on officers. The British won the battle, but at what cost?
We will cover in depth different geographic areas of the Charlestown peninsula – the redoubt, the rail fence, Charlestown Neck, and Mystic beach – and explore what happened there. We’ll discuss the experiences of both British and American soldiers using firsthand accounts, how the topography of the Charlestown affected both American positions and British strategy, and the burning of the town of Charlestown.
We will also tackle enduring mysteries such as the Bunker’s Hill vs. Breed’s Hill question and consider why the British attempted an uphill frontal assault against an entrenched enemy in the first place.
This talk will lay a firm foundation under audiences who might be unfamiliar with the Battle of Bunker Hill and the opening phase of the Revolutionary War, but also address complexity and nuance enough to satisfy more advanced participants.
Katie Turner Getty (katieturnergetty.com | Twitter) is a historical writer and speaker, and a contributor to the Journal of the American Revolution. A lifelong Bostonian, she holds degrees from New England Law, Wellesley College, and Bunker Hill Community College, located in the shadow of the Bunker Hill monument, in historic Charlestown, Massachusetts. Katie’s research focuses on the extraordinary experiences of everyday individuals during the American Revolution. She loves sharing her passion for the Revolution with audiences and she is currently at work on a social history of the Siege of Boston.