The Battle for Bunker Hill by Richard M. Ketchum - Essay Example

One of the best and most popular works on the opening of the American Revolution, The Battle for Bunker Hill by Richard M. Ketchum explores the backgrounds and the results of the battle on the American Revolution and America In his breathtaking book, Ketchum provides a significant exploration of the Battle of Bunker Hill, which took place on June 17, 1775, on and around Breed's Hill, and the author gives an interesting account of the ensuing fight. This excellent, fast-moving account of the first great set-piece battle of the American Revolution has been recognized as one of the most popular narratives related with the Revolution and the book makes an everlasting imprint on the literature on Bunker Hill.

Whereas the distorted and overdramatized story in the book is very much familiar, the treatment given by the author surpasses all its similar accounts. "Less the story of a battle, more a study of its backgrounds and its results on the American Revolution and on America, this is a gratifying addition to the literature on Bunker Hill, by the author of The Historic Places, etc. The story, often distorted and overdramatized is a familiar one; the actual facts are less romantic." (Editorial Review, 1962).

Therefore, the author deals with the background of the Battle of Bunker Hill in detail as well as he provides the results of the battle on the American Revolution and on America. In a reflective analysis of the book by Richard M. Ketchum, it becomes lucid that the author has been careful about providing the historical events of the battle a narrative celebration. As the writer deals with the Battle of Bunker Hill in an interesting way by providing various excellent details of weather, sounds, ground conditions, and the surroundings, the reader is highly engaged in the unfolding of the events in a successive manner.

This paper undertakes a reflective analysis and critical review of the book The Battle for Bunker Hill by Richard M. Ketchum in order to comprehend the narrative and historical merit of the account on the Battle of Bunker Hill. Richard M. Ketchum has been one of the most significant writers to have dealt with the events concerning the Battle of Bunker Hill and his book The Battle for Bunker Hill provides an exceptional and enthralling account of the first great set-piece battle of the American Revolution.

Ketchum has been widely recognized as a high-quality writer with genuine skills in the various techniques of narration. The Battle for Bunker Hill provides an important illustration of the narrative skills of the author who places the reader highly engaged in the event narrated by giving various important details of the surroundings, weather, sounds, and ground conditions. Whereas the events narrated in the book are very familiar to the readers, the author's treatment of these events gives them a new narrative vigor.

A careful reading of the book reveals the important events concerning the Battle of Bunker Hill. The Colonists besiegedMore General Gage and his inadequate force in Boston, subsequent to Lexington and Concord in April, 1755. As a supporter and admirer of the Americans, General Gage was disinclined to fight them. However, tension increased with the arrival of British reinforcements from England in May and the invasion of thousands of armed Colonists into Cambridge with an intension to increase the distress of that peaceful village.

The Americans planned to build up Bunker Hill on the night of June 16-17, learning that the British meant to seize the American position on Dorchester Heights. However, they fortified the lower Breed's Hill instead, by error in the darkness. "Even then the British, who discovered this move before dawn, postponed attack until three the next afternoon, when they burned Charlestown and sent the flower of the British army in full campaign dress on the famous "slow walk" up the hill, with appalling casualties from the murderous rifle fire of the Colonists.

Both sides fought with incredible bravery, but the British reluctance to believe