Bunker Hill
In the early morning light, shapes and shadows of the men and the redoubt were seen by sentries on the H.M.S. Sloop of War Lively. The ship opened fire, but to no effect. In four hours the patriots had thrown up a redoubt that was practically invulnerable to the cannon shot of the British ships. The British than rallied more troops and open fired on the hill. The effects of their musket fire was terrifying. The British kept on coming. Then, the American fire let up, most of the Patriots had expended their powder. They did not retreat, but stood their ground prepared to meet bayonet with musket butt. The British swarmed into the redoubt from both sides. A desperate hand-to-hand combat took place on the ramparts and in the redoubt. Thirty of our ancestors were killed in the redoubt. Among them was Dr. Joseph Warren. Colonel Prescott, leading a group of survivors, fought their way out of the redoubt and retreated toward Bunker Hill.