May to July 1775
Ticonderoga, the Second Congress and Bunker Hill
On 10 May Ethan Allen’s Green Mountain Boys and Benedict Arnold take Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain, with its artillery, without a fight. The same day the Second Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia. In June it adopts the New England army outside Boston as the Continental Army and names George Washington of Virginia its commander.
Ethan Allen demanding the surrender of Fort Ticonderoga, 10 May 1775, illustration by John Steeple Davis, 1875Wikimedia Commons, John Steeple Davis (1844-1917), Public domain (EthanAllenTiconderogaByJSDavis.jpeg)
Before he arrives, Gage moves against the militia entrenched on the Charlestown peninsula. On 17 June the British take Breed’s Hill, remembered as Bunker Hill, at the third assault. They lose over a thousand men, about 40 percent of the attacking force. Washington takes command at Cambridge on 3 July. In August the king declares the colonies in open rebellion.
The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker's Hill, 17 June 1775, painting by John Trumbull, 1786Wikimedia Commons, John Trumbull, Public domain (The Battle of Bunker's Hill Bridgeman Images.jpg)
A sketch of the action on the Charlestown peninsula, 17 June 1775, engraved by Jefferys and Faden, London, August 1775Wikimedia Commons, Jefferys and Faden, Public domain (Sketch of the Battle of Bunker Hill, printed in August 1775.jpg)
Sources
- Robert Middlekauff, The Glorious Cause (2005).
- David McCullough, 1776 (2005).
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