hugehistorynerd

[hugehistorynerd]

Day Two!

It probably wasn’t obvious, but I’m going to be continuing the battles of the American Revolution before moving onto another aspect of history. Today’s focus is going to be the Siege of Boston, also called the Fortification of Dorchester Heights.

The picture above is a depiction of the Siege of Boston. This battle was actually one of my favorites to learn about. Colonel Henry Knox that was also lovingly called “Knox the Ox” was General George Washington’s right hand man, and the backbone of this skirmish. 

Seriously outnumbered and outgunned by General Thomas Gage’s British forces in Boston, Knox the Ox and Washington wondered what to do. Fort Ticonderoga that had been captured by the colonists in the weeks beforehand had no stripped of its artillery because of its difficult terrain. Knox decided that he would be the one to go and get all of the weaponry that was at the fort, and bring it back - he and Washington had a plan. 

As General Gage and General Washington look at each other from across the Boston Neck, Gage is confident that no change will happen, and that he and his British troops have got a secure hold on Boston. Knox, however, had a different idea. After returning with the goods from Fort Ticonderoga, he and Washington set up dozens of tents, and aimed all of their weaponry at Boston - this of course was done after nightfall. 

General Gage looked out at the colonial opposition, and saw a field of tents and cannons aimed right at him and his men. Gage and his men were not blockaded in via water because of a lack of a colonial Navy (spoiler alert - kind of - for Yorktown), so Gage and his men fled after some short, unsuccessful skirmishes.

[hugehistorynerd]

First Post!

I’m excited to be on Tumblr sharing what I love with you all. I’m going to try and upload daily as I learn more about the world and everything that’s happened before we��ve gotten to this very moment. 

Right now I’m going through the American History sequence at my school, and will be branching into Asian and European History in the coming semesters.

The picture above depicts the Battles of Lexington and Concord - the first battles of the American Revolution. British Redcoats march towards a massive collection of arms that John Hancock (Massachusetts) collected and hid after General Thomas Gage (Great Britain) disbanded the Massachusetts government and started monitoring all colonial rebels - Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Thomas Hutchinson - by planting Redcoats in their homes or in their neighbors homes. These first two battles, as mentioned, were the official start to the American Revolution. These two battles were where the “shot heard round the world” happened. 

Paul Revere’s famous “Midnight Ride” in which he yelled “THE BRITISH ARE COMING!” is only slightly true - Paul Revere, Samuel Prescott, and William Dawes very quietly rode towards Lexington and notified everyone on the way that “The Regulars are coming,” until they were caught. This was a means to get to Samuel Adams and John Hancock, and encourage them to get the heck out of Massachusetts so they wouldn’t be caught and tried by the British. It was successful. 

These two battles were won by the colonists. It was an encouraging start to the war, even though they had a much smaller army, much worse aim, and much less power than that of the British Army and Navy. In fact, our Navy was nonexistent at the time, and our Continental Army at it’s strongest was no more than 48,000 troops - spread out across the colonies of course. 

These battles were what colonists needed to choose whether or not to remain loyal to the crown, or to jump into the unknown and uncertainty that comes with a revolution. 

Thank you for checking my page out, I’ll be back tomorrow!

C.M. 4/1/20