The book, "1776," covers almost everything in depth from the declaration of war on the American colonies by King George III in 1775, to the American victory at Trenton in late 1776. General George Washington led an army of everyday men, untrained, inexperienced, and out manned. The British redcoats, led by General William Howe, were the best fighters in the world. They were the best trained, had a lot of experience, and had the largest army. .
The battle of Bunker Hill is talked about early in the book. This battle was a costly British victory, with 1,054 casualties. The British leader was General Howe. The first attackers for the British were not so lucky, as many of them died. Eventually, the British would take control and take Breed's Hill. The Americans led by Colonel William Prescott were about 1,200 soldiers strong. Before the battle Colonel Prescott led the troops onto Breed's Hill to set up artillery positions. These positions were set up aiming directly at Boston. At first Colonel Prescott and the rest of the leaders were arguing over where they should locate their defense. Some work was done on Bunker Hill, but Breed's Hill was closer to Boston so they decided to put most of their defenses on that. Against orders, they decided to put their main fort on Breed's Hill, rather than Bunker Hill. The men started digging a square fortification about 130 feet on the sides with ditches at the bottom. However, the British did notice the work on Breed's Hill. One British General, General Clinton, tried to convince General Howe that they should attack at daylight the next morning. The next morning a British soldier aboard the HMS Lively notified his captain, about the defenses on top of the hill. The Lively opened fire on Breed's Hill temporarily halting the colonists work. Admiral Samuel Graves awoke from his ship the HMS Somerset, and told everybody to stop shooting. His orders were countermanded by General Thomas Gage second in command to General Howe at the time.