It is January 8th. Welcome to Episode 8 of History in a Year. Today, the “Ragtag” army proves it can bite. We witness the first offensive strike of the war as Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen storm Fort Ticonderoga. Then, we return to Boston for the bloodiest day of the entire Revolution. We stand on Breed’s Hill, smell the smoke of burning Charlestown, and hear the order that defined American grit: “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes.”
STEPHEN: Welcome to History in a Year: America’s First 250 Years.
LEAH: Join us every single day as we journey from the Revolution of 1776 to the 250th anniversary of the United States.
STEPHEN: You can find every episode and join the discussion at PointedWords.com. I’m Stephen.
LEAH: And I’m Leah.
STEPHEN: It is January 8th. Welcome to Episode 8. Yesterday, the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” was fired. The British retreated from Concord, leaving a trail of bodies, and were bottled up inside Boston.
LEAH: This brings us to the “Siege of Boston.” Overnight, about 15,000 militia men from all over New England surrounded the city. They controlled the land, but the British controlled the harbor. It was a stalemate.
STEPHEN: The Americans had a huge problem. They had plenty of men and muskets, but they had no heavy artillery. They couldn’t drive the British ships out of the harbor because they didn’t have any cannons big enough to reach them.
LEAH: But there was a solution. Hundreds of miles away, on Lake Champlain in New York, sat Fort Ticonderoga. It was an old French fort, now held by the British. And it was known to be packed with heavy guns: cannons, mortars, and howitzers.
STEPHEN: Two men, independently, came up with the idea to seize it. And they could not have been more different.
LEAH: First, there was Benedict Arnold. At this point in 1775, he wasn’t a traitor; he was a wealthy, successful shopkeeper from Connecticut. He was also arguably the best soldier America ever produced. He was brave, athletic, and obsessed with honor.
STEPHEN: He convinced the Massachusetts Committee of Safety to give him a Colonel’s commission and authorized him to raise men to capture the fort.
LEAH: But when Arnold arrived in Vermont, he found someone else had beaten him to it. Ethan Allen.
STEPHEN: Ethan Allen was a giant of a man—loud, rough, a hard drinker, and the leader of a paramilitary group called the “Green Mountain Boys.” They weren’t exactly an army; they were more like a frontier gang who fought New York land speculators.
LEAH: When Arnold showed up in his fancy uniform and demanded to take command, the Green Mountain Boys laughed at him. They said, “We fight for Ethan Allen, or we go home.”
STEPHEN: It was an incredibly awkward moment. Arnold and Allen argued furiously. Finally, they agreed to an uneasy truce. They would walk side-by-side at the head of the column.
LEAH: In the pre-dawn darkness of May 10, 1775—less than a month after Lexington—they crossed Lake Champlain. They only had enough boats for 83 men. But they decided not to wait for the rest.
STEPHEN: They stormed the fort while the British garrison was asleep. It wasn’t a battle; it was a raid. The lone sentry tried to fire, but his gun misfired.
LEAH: Arnold and Allen rushed up the stairs to the commander’s quarters. Lieutenant Feltham, the British officer in charge, came to the door holding his breeches in his hand, looking confused.
STEPHEN: Ethan Allen reportedly shouted, “Come out of there, you old rat!” When the officer asked by whose authority they were acting, Allen roared, “In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!”
LEAH: It was a bloodless victory. They captured dozens of massive cannons. But for now, those cannons were stuck in New York. There was no way to get them to Boston through the wilderness. We’ll meet Henry Knox later, who solves that problem.
STEPHEN: But back in Boston, the situation was heating up. In late May, three new British Generals arrived to help General Gage. They were the “Cerberus of War”: William Howe, Henry Clinton, and John Burgoyne.
LEAH: They looked at the rebel army surrounding them—farmers in dirty shirts—and they were insulted. General Burgoyne famously said, “What! Ten thousand peasants keep five thousand king’s troops shut up! Well, let us get in, and we’ll soon find elbow-room.”
STEPHEN: The British formed a plan. They decided to break out of the city and seize the high ground surrounding Boston: Dorchester Heights to the south and the Charlestown peninsula to the north.
LEAH: But the Americans had spies. They learned the plan. On the night of June 16, 1775, about 1,200 Americans led by Colonel William Prescott marched silently onto the Charlestown peninsula to build a fort before the British could get there.
STEPHEN: They were supposed to fortify Bunker Hill, which was the highest point. But in the dark, they made a mistake—or maybe a bold choice. They moved further forward to a smaller hill: Breed’s Hill.
LEAH: This was aggressive. Breed’s Hill was right in the face of the British. It was practically shouting distance from Boston. When the sun came up on June 17th, the British sailors on the warships rubbed their eyes. A 6-foot earthen fort had appeared overnight.
STEPHEN: The British captain of the HMS Lively immediately opened fire. The Battle of Bunker Hill—which was actually fought on Breed’s Hill—had begun.
LEAH: General Gage held a council of war. They could have just used their ships to land troops behind the Americans and starve them out. It would have been easy.
STEPHEN: But General William Howe argued against it. He wanted to crush the rebellion psychologically. He wanted a frontal assault. He wanted to march his redcoats right up that hill and show these peasants that they couldn’t stand against the British Army. It was arrogance, pure and simple.
LEAH: It took them all day to ferry the troops across. It was a sweltering hot day, over 80 degrees. The British soldiers were wearing thick wool coats and carrying 60-pound packs.
STEPHEN: While they waited, the Americans watched. They were tired, hungry, and thirsty. They had been digging all night. And they were terrified.
LEAH: To make it worse, the British ships began firing “hot shot”—heated cannonballs—into the town of Charlestown. The town caught fire. 400 houses burned to the ground. The Americans watched their neighbors’ homes turning to ash.
STEPHEN: This is where we meet Dr. Joseph Warren. He was the President of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress. He had just been appointed a Major General. But he grabbed a musket and walked to the fort as a private.
LEAH: Colonel Prescott offered him command. Warren refused. He said, “I come as a volunteer. I wish to learn from a soldier of experience.”
STEPHEN: Around 3:00 PM, the attack began. 2,200 British soldiers marched up the hill in perfect lines. The grass was tall, reaching their knees.
LEAH: Inside the fort, the Americans were low on gunpowder. They had maybe 5 or 6 shots per man.
STEPHEN: Colonel Prescott—or perhaps Israel Putnam, the history is a bit fuzzy—walked the lines and gave the famous order to conserve ammunition: “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes!”
LEAH: It wasn’t a slogan; it was a necessity. They had to make every shot count.
STEPHEN: The British got to within 50 yards. 40 yards. Still silence from the fort. The British thought the Americans had fled.
LEAH: Then, at the last second, a sheet of flame erupted from the earthworks.
STEPHEN: The British front line was annihilated. Entire companies were wiped out. The survivors broke and ran back down the hill.
LEAH: General Howe couldn’t believe it. He rallied his men. He ordered them to fix bayonets and march up again.
STEPHEN: And again, the same thing happened. The Americans waited. They fired. The British officers were picked off by American sharpshooters. Howe was standing there alone; every member of his staff had been shot. The British retreated again.
LEAH: But now, the Americans were out of powder. They were firing nails, glass, and rocks.
STEPHEN: The British reformed for a third assault. They threw off their heavy packs. This time, they didn’t stop to fire. They just charged with bayonets.
LEAH: The Americans had no bayonets. It became a hand-to-hand slaughter inside the fort. They fought with clubbed muskets.
STEPHEN: This is where Joseph Warren died. He was the last man to leave the fort, covering the retreat. A British officer recognized him and shot him in the face. It was a devastating loss for the patriot cause. He was the “Founding Father” who never got to grow old.
LEAH: The British took the hill. Technically, they won. But the cost was staggering.
STEPHEN: Over 1,000 British soldiers were killed or wounded. That was nearly half their attacking force. A huge number of officers died.
LEAH: General Henry Clinton remarked in his diary: “A few more such victories would have shortly put an end to British dominion in America.”
STEPHEN: It was a “Pyrrhic Victory.” The British captured a hill, but they lost their confidence. They realized the Americans weren’t just a rabble. They would stand and fight.
LEAH: And for the Americans, despite losing the ground and losing Joseph Warren, it was a morale booster. They proved they could go toe-to-toe with the best army in the world.
STEPHEN: But they were still a disorganized mess. They were separate militias from different colonies, squabbling over command. They needed a leader. They needed a General.
LEAH: And down in Philadelphia, the Continental Congress knew exactly who that man should be.
STEPHEN: Join us tomorrow for Episode 9. A tall Virginian in a blue uniform walks into the Congress. We are going to meet George Washington and watch him take command of the most impossible job in history.
LEAH: I’m Leah.
STEPHEN: And I’m Stephen.
STEPHEN: You can find every episode at PointedWords.com. And this… is our story.
Click to Read Transcript
Stephen: Welcome to History in a Year: America’s First 250 Years.
Leah: Join us every single day as we journey from the Revolution of 1776 to the 250th anniversary of the United States.
Stephen: You can find every episode and join the discussion at PointedWords.com. I’m
Leah: And I’m
Stephen: It is January 8th. Welcome to Episode 8. Yesterday, the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” was fired. The British retreated from Concord, leaving a trail of bodies, and were bottled up inside Boston.
Leah: This brings us to the “Siege of Boston.” Overnight, about 15,000 militia men from all over New England surrounded the city. They controlled the land, but the British controlled the harbor. It was a stalemate.
Stephen: The Americans had a huge problem. They had plenty of men and muskets, but they had no heavy artillery. They couldn’t drive the British ships out of the harbor because they didn’t have any cannons big enough to reach them.
Leah: But there was a solution. Hundreds of miles away, on Lake Champlain in New York, sat Fort Ticonderoga. It was an old French fort, now held by the British. And it was known to be packed with heavy guns: cannons, mortars, and howitzers.
Stephen: Two men, independently, came up with the idea to seize it. And they could not have been more different.
Leah: First, there was Benedict Arnold. At this point in 1775, he wasn’t a traitor; he was a wealthy, successful shopkeeper from Connecticut. He was also arguably the best soldier America ever produced. He was brave, athletic, and obsessed with honor.
Stephen: He convinced the Massachusetts Committee of Safety to give him a Colonel’s commission and authorized him to raise men to capture the fort.
Leah: But when Arnold arrived in Vermont, he found someone else had beaten him to it. Ethan Allen.
Stephen: Ethan Allen was a giant of a man—loud, rough, a hard drinker, and the leader of a paramilitary group called the “Green Mountain Boys.” They weren’t exactly an army; they were more like a frontier gang who fought New York land speculators.
Leah: When Arnold showed up in his fancy uniform and demanded to take command, the Green Mountain Boys laughed at him. They said, “We fight for Ethan Allen, or we go home.”
Stephen: It was an incredibly awkward moment. Arnold and Allen argued furiously. Finally, they agreed to an uneasy truce. They would walk side-by-side at the head of the column.
Leah: In the pre-dawn darkness of May 10, 1775—less than a month after Lexington—they crossed Lake Champlain. They only had enough boats for 83 men. But they decided not to wait for the rest.
Stephen: They stormed the fort while the British garrison was asleep. It wasn’t a battle; it was a raid. The lone sentry tried to fire, but his gun misfired.
Leah: Arnold and Allen rushed up the stairs to the commander’s quarters. Lieutenant Feltham, the British officer in charge, came to the door holding his breeches in his hand, looking confused.
Stephen: Ethan Allen reportedly shouted, “Come out of there, you old rat!” When the officer asked by whose authority they were acting, Allen roared, “In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!”
Leah: It was a bloodless victory. They captured dozens of massive cannons. But for now, those cannons were stuck in New York. There was no way to get them to Boston through the wilderness. We’ll meet Henry Knox later, who solves that problem.
Stephen: But back in Boston, the situation was heating up. In late May, three new British Generals arrived to help General Gage. They were the “Cerberus of War”: William Howe, Henry Clinton, and John Burgoyne.
Leah: They looked at the rebel army surrounding them—farmers in dirty shirts—and they were insulted. General Burgoyne famously said, “What! Ten thousand peasants keep five thousand king’s troops shut up! Well, let us get in, and we’ll soon find elbow-room.”
Stephen: The British formed a plan. They decided to break out of the city and seize the high ground surrounding Boston: Dorchester Heights to the south and the Charlestown peninsula to the north.
Leah: But the Americans had spies. They learned the plan. On the night of June 16, 1775, about 1,200 Americans led by Colonel William Prescott marched silently onto the Charlestown peninsula to build a fort before the British could get there.
Stephen: They were supposed to fortify Bunker Hill, which was the highest point. But in the dark, they made a mistake—or maybe a bold choice. They moved further forward to a smaller hill: Breed’s Hill.
Leah: This was aggressive. Breed’s Hill was right in the face of the British. It was practically shouting distance from Boston. When the sun came up on June 17th, the British sailors on the warships rubbed their eyes. A 6-foot earthen fort had appeared overnight.
Stephen: The British captain of the HMS Lively immediately opened fire. The Battle of Bunker Hill—which was actually fought on Breed’s Hill—had begun.
Leah: General Gage held a council of war. They could have just used their ships to land troops behind the Americans and starve them out. It would have been easy.
Stephen: But General William Howe argued against it. He wanted to crush the rebellion psychologically. He wanted a frontal assault. He wanted to march his redcoats right up that hill and show these peasants that they couldn’t stand against the British Army. It was arrogance, pure and simple.
Leah: It took them all day to ferry the troops across. It was a sweltering hot day, over 80 degrees. The British soldiers were wearing thick wool coats and carrying 60-pound packs.
Stephen: While they waited, the Americans watched. They were tired, hungry, and thirsty. They had been digging all night. And they were terrified.
Leah: To make it worse, the British ships began firing “hot shot”—heated cannonballs—into the town of Charlestown. The town caught fire. 400 houses burned to the ground. The Americans watched their neighbors’ homes turning to ash.
Stephen: This is where we meet Dr. Joseph Warren. He was the President of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress. He had just been appointed a Major General. But he grabbed a musket and walked to the fort as a private.
Leah: Colonel Prescott offered him command. Warren refused. He said, “I come as a volunteer. I wish to learn from a soldier of experience.”
Stephen: Around 3:00 PM, the attack began. 2,200 British soldiers marched up the hill in perfect lines. The grass was tall, reaching their knees.
Leah: Inside the fort, the Americans were low on gunpowder. They had maybe 5 or 6 shots per man.
Stephen: Colonel Prescott—or perhaps Israel Putnam, the history is a bit fuzzy—walked the lines and gave the famous order to conserve ammunition: “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes!”
Leah: It wasn’t a slogan; it was a necessity. They had to make every shot count.
Stephen: The British got to within 50 yards. 40 yards. Still silence from the fort. The British thought the Americans had fled.
Leah: Then, at the last second, a sheet of flame erupted from the earthworks.
Stephen: The British front line was annihilated. Entire companies were wiped out. The survivors broke and ran back down the hill.
Leah: General Howe couldn’t believe it. He rallied his men. He ordered them to fix bayonets and march up again.
Stephen: And again, the same thing happened. The Americans waited. They fired. The British officers were picked off by American sharpshooters. Howe was standing there alone; every member of his staff had been shot. The British retreated again.
Leah: But now, the Americans were out of powder. They were firing nails, glass, and rocks.
Stephen: The British reformed for a third assault. They threw off their heavy packs. This time, they didn’t stop to fire. They just charged with bayonets.
Leah: The Americans had no bayonets. It became a hand-to-hand slaughter inside the fort. They fought with clubbed muskets.
Stephen: This is where Joseph Warren died. He was the last man to leave the fort, covering the retreat. A British officer recognized him and shot him in the face. It was a devastating loss for the patriot cause. He was the “Founding Father” who never got to grow old.
Leah: The British took the hill. Technically, they won. But the cost was staggering.
Stephen: Over 1,000 British soldiers were killed or wounded. That was nearly half their attacking force. A huge number of officers died.
Leah: General Henry Clinton remarked in his diary: “A few more such victories would have shortly put an end to British dominion in America.”
Stephen: It was a “Pyrrhic Victory.” The British captured a hill, but they lost their confidence. They realized the Americans weren’t just a rabble. They would stand and fight.
Leah: And for the Americans, despite losing the ground and losing Joseph Warren, it was a morale booster. They proved they could go toe-to-toe with the best army in the world.
Stephen: But they were still a disorganized mess. They were separate militias from different colonies, squabbling over command. They needed a leader. They needed a General.
Leah: And down in Philadelphia, the Continental Congress knew exactly who that man should be.
Stephen: Join us tomorrow for Episode 9. A tall Virginian in a blue uniform walks into the Congress. We are going to meet George Washington and watch him take command of the most impossible job in history.
Leah: I’m
Stephen: And I’m
Stephen: You can find every episode at PointedWords.com. And this… is our story.