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The Fortification of Dorchester Heights was a decisive action early in the American Revolutionary War that precipitated the end of the siege of Boston and the withdrawal of British troops from that city.
Dorchester is remembered in American history for an action in the American Revolutionary War known as the Fortification of Dorchester Heights.After the battles of Lexington and Concord, Revolutionary sentiment within New England reached a new high, and thousands of militiamen from the Northern colonies converged on Boston, pushing the British back within what were then relatively narrow city ...
The 11-month siege of Boston ended when the Continental Army under the command of George Washington fortified Dorchester Heights in early March 1776 with cannons captured at Ticonderoga. British General William Howe's garrison and navy were threatened by these positions, and they were forced to decide between attack and retreat.
The Dorchester Heights Monument stands on the spot where Putnam's fortifications were erected. The Americans held Boston for the rest of the war. The immediate response of the British was a two-hour cannon barrage at the heights, which had no effect because the British guns could not reach the American guns. [73]
The Dorchester Heights Monument is a large public monument in the Dorchester Heights area of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The monument, consisting of a 115-foot (35 m) marble tower , honors the evacuation of Boston during the American Revolutionary War , an early American victory in the conflict.
The turning point was the capture and fortification of Dorchester Heights on 5 March, allowing the Continental Army to bombard the British fleet in the harbor. The British evacuated Boston on 17 March under a truce, taking the ships carrying their army to Halifax, Nova Scotia .
The cannons and other armaments at Fort Ticonderoga were later transported to Boston by Colonel Henry Knox in the noble train of artillery and used to fortify Dorchester Heights and break the standoff at the siege of Boston. Capture of the fort marked the beginning of offensive action taken by the Americans against the British.
The guns were placed on Dorchester Heights in a swift, overnight action ranging the British positions. British forces, led by General Howe, evacuated the city on March 17, 1776, and sailed to Canada. In April, General Washington took most of the Continental Army to fortify New York City. [40]