The Battle of Dorchester Heights in Boston

The Battle of Dorchester Heights is a Revolutionary War battle that is unfortunately little known. Perhaps that is because there were no battlefield heroics, or, for that matter, any battlefield casualties. General George Washington was able to liberate the town of Boston from British occupation without a single shot being fired in what is today known as the Battle of Dorchester Heights.

As a result of what we call the Boston Tea Party in 1773, the port of Boston was closed and martial law was declared. This had the affect of shutting the town down. Many people fled the city, John Hancock and Samuel Adams being two of the more important exiles. And it wasn't long before the peninsula of Boston would look more like a British Army encampment than a large colonial town. Out in the outlaying areas, however, Hancock and Adams and others were preparing for war. And after the war officially broke out in April, 1775, the Continental Army was established and George Washington's first piece of business was to go to Massachusetts and to save the town of Boston.