Friday 8 February 2013

The Battle of Bunker Hill (Breed's Hill)


Back in December 2010 I put this article on the General de Brigade Forum but decided it would be a good idea to have all my work under one roof, so apologies to anyone who may have already seen this.

BUNKER HILL (BREED’S HILL)
17th JUNE 1775

Having read the excellent Osprey Campaign Series ‘BOSTON 1775’ by Brendan Morrissey, I was inspired to recreate the battle of Bunker Hill (Breed’s Hill) in miniature.
I have attempted to tell the story letting my camera do most of the talking, taking pictures in sequence of the battle as it unfolded. Any inaccuracies will be down to my miss interpretation of this book.

BRIEF BACKGROUND.

During the American War of Independence, the British army, which was being besieged in Boston, had to act fast when an American Council of War ordered Bunker Hill on the Charlestown Peninsula to be occupied. This site would allow the Americans the ability to set up cannon to bombard the British in Boston.

General Gage, the Commander in Chief, on hearing of the peninsula being occupied, ordered General Howe with a force of British regulars to cross Boston Harbour and drive the enemy off.

The British arrived in several waves, disembarking on the North East of the peninsula at a place called Moulton’s Point.

PICTURE 1
Looking West across the Charlestown Peninsula from the East. Outskirts of Charlestown on the left, Moulton’s Point on the right, Breed’s Hill straight ahead.


PICTURES 2 – 8
Redoubt/Breastworks/Fleches/














PICTURE 9
Trevett’s battery.

PICTURES 10 and 11
The British deploy their 12 pdr battery on Moulton’s Hill to cover the initial landings and to bombard the redoubt at Breed’s Hill.




PICTURES 12 – 14
owe organised his force into two divisions with the heavy guns remaining on the hill, the lighter 6 pdr battery advancing with the infantry.
Howe leads the right division ( Light Infantry, Grenadiers, 5th and 52nd) against the rail fence, whilst Pigott on the left ( 38th, 43rd, 47th and 1st Marines) would attack Charlestown and the redoubt to pin down their garrison.






PICTURES 15 and 16
Pigott arrives with the 38th and 43rd along Moulton point road.


PICTURES 17 – 23
As Piggott’s men deployed, marksmen in Charlestown opened fire. Howe ordered the town to be burned and by 1600 hrs, it was blazing fiercely. (The British Navy’s ‘Lively’ bombards Charlestown starting fires in the town)














PICTURES 24 and 25
Stark filled the yawning gap on Prescott’s left where he joined Knowlton at the rail fence and spilled down onto the beach where they built a wall of stones.




PICTURES 26 - 29
Howe’s Light Infantry advanced in column along the beach to outflank Stark’s rail fence, unaware of the recently built wall on the beach.








As this is only halfway through and already rather large, I will post the second part next week.

If your reading this, I would just like to say hello and thanks to Tango01 on TMP and all the chaps over there who have been following my posts. As much as I would like to, I don't post on 'The Miniatures Page' as I already spend too much time on the Internet, which takes me away from painting my figures.

Thanks once again Tango01 for your time and effort posting various bits over on TMP , much appreciated.

Pat.

My apologies for the small writing which had been cut and paste.

31 comments:

  1. Hi Pat,
    Thanks for sharing! Those pictures are really impressive, we live in total immersion your fabulous story! To my mind, pictures 19,20 and 21 are even better than the others, great, great work!
    And you're right, Tango01 is a precious and sympathetic man!
    Regards,
    Phil.

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  2. An excellent report, beautiful pics, and the writing has killed my eyes, I really need new glasses!

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  3. Thanks Chaps.

    Really sorry about the small writing Ray, try standing further back from the screen.

    Cheers,
    Pat.

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  4. Cor! Very impressive Pat. Lovely buildings...

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  5. Amazing figures, terrain and photos Pat!

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  6. I remember being gobsmacked when I first saw these on the GdB site and I'm gobsmacked again. Simply the best recreation of Bunker Hill I've seen. Terrific painting, terrain and photos, Pat, as always....

    Best wishes

    Giles

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  7. How to make the writing bigger..hold down the control key and roll the mouse wheel forward (remember to reset it afterwards, control and wheel backwards)...it also make the pics bigger which is well worth doing here :-D With the pics as big as the screen it gives the effect of a mini film.
    I´ll second giles..the best representation of Bunker hill ever.
    Cheers
    paul

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    1. Thanks Chaps.
      Paul, thanks for trying to help, unfortunately I tried this and nothing changed. I am a bit of a dinasaur with computers mind, so I think everyone will have to suffer with the small print for this and the next post.

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  8. I forgot to add, with the pics bigger the small details like, among others, the fired cannon balls that have skidded to rest can be seen.

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  9. Stunning pictures, minis and terrain Pat !

    I hadent seen them before so m glad you put them here to, looking forward to part 2 of the story:)

    Back in 2010 I to run a Bunker Hill Scenario fro my club mates using the Black Powder rules, compared to your stunning set-up mine was not even worth mention, but we had a realy nice game, so if you have a rest in the mini painting please have quick look of the same battle but in a quite diffenten look from yours... http://dalauppror.blogspot.se/2010/06/aar-bunker-hill-17-june-1775.html

    Best regards Michael

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Michael, I have just checked out your excellent Bunker Hill game that you did on your blog and have left feedback.
      Pat.

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  10. Hi Pat,

    a great report and a lot of nice pictures of your excellent terrain. Awesome!
    Thanks for sharing them with us.

    Cheers
    Monty

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  11. That is one of the nicest looking game tables and scenics that I have ever seen. I have an iPad so I just "stretch" the screen to make the pictures and writing larger

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  12. Another stunning game! I especially like your earthworks and the little details all throughout your game! I was wondering when you were going to post the rest of your pics from your AWI header pic. I have also had problems with cutting/pasting on blogspot and I haven't found the best solution yet.

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  13. Awesome photos Pat! Lovely troops and terrain.

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  14. Fabulous shots and figures. Museum quality (actually better) work. Best, Dean

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  15. Wow excellent report fabulous pictures and stunning terrain keep up the good work

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  16. WOW the scenery is amazing love the trenches stunning!

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  17. Thanks Chaps for your wonderful praise and support, very kind.
    Cheers,
    Pat.

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  18. Hi, Pat, great work as always, beautiful figures manuvering atop gorgeous-looking, yet also versatile & game-friendly terrain!

    I grew up in Brooklyn, New York, at the spot where "The Battle of Long Island," AKA "The Battle of Brooklyn," was fought by the Brits under General Howe & Washington's American Provincials, in August, 1776. My Junior High School was next door to the "Old Stone House" which was one of the centerpieces of the battle (actually a 19th Century re-creation built after the original 18th Century version burned to the ground), so I've always wanted to raise armies and build the terrain needed to refight the battle on the tabletop. I've always recognized the pic from your blog's masthead as being from "Bunker Hill," but seeing your American War of Independence armies and terrain here for the first time in all their wonderous detail may be the last shot of inspiration I need to dive in and get to work -- though it will have to wait until I finish up a couple of other ongoing projects first! Still, everything has to start somewhere! Speaking of which... are your AWI troops Perrys, or another manufacturer, or are they from a mix of companies...?

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    1. Hi MG and thanks. You are a lucky man having all that on your doorstep, it is on my bucket list to get over there and visit all those battle sites and points of interest one day. The figures are mostly Perry, with some Foundry(Perry), a couple of OG and Front Rank. With the release of Perry Plastic AWI British next month and your local knowledge, it is a perfect time to dip your toe in.

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  19. Thank you for reposting. Great looking battle, nice report, and very inspirational stuff all in all.

    As for the small type, I used to have the same problem when I used to put together my "This Week in Military History" posts on Der Feldmarschall. Simply go into edit post, highlight the text, and then click on the "Remove Formatting" button at the far right (right next to the "Check Spelling" button on the end). When you do this, additional line spaces might appear, but you just clean them up and move on. :-)

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    1. Thanks Jason, I might try what you suggest, when I have a bit more time but there is always the risk with me, that I will wipe the whole blog off the system.

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    2. Who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Larger print in the text now, thanks Jason for your advice and tips.
      Pat.

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    3. You're welcome Pat. Glad it worked.

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  20. Great looking set up Pat glad you posted this here as I hadn't seen this before looking forward to the next installment!

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  21. Just absolutely stunning comes to mind Silver!

    Christopher

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  22. Thanks Chaps, I will try and pay your blogs a visit tomorrow but off to bed now for a 4am start in the morning and its bloody snowing out there again.

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  23. Just when I started work on some Minutemen...Looks awesome and really inspiring. Cheers, Michael

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  24. wonderful pics as usual!
    Silver, could you please contact me at losart AT libero DOT it ?

    Lorenzo

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