It's June 16th, 1775. American Independence is 384 days away. Under the cover of darkness a group of 1,000 Massachusetts provincial militiamen have marched across the Charlestown neck. In addition to the usual baggage of muskets and gunpowder, this small army of Patriots have brought with them unexpected supplies - dozens of shovels, pickaxes, small cages filled with rocks, and empty barrels.

Their mission is to use the four hours remaining until daylight to construct a makeshift fort that could act as a defense of the stretegic settlements of Charlestown and Cambridge to the south.

A few hours later at daybreak, when it became clear to see what fortifications had been hastily constructed by the band of Patriots in the night, the the full force of the British Army stationed in Boston would cross the water and march on the Patriot defenses.

This episode is the first half of a two-part season finale telling the lead up to the battle of Bunker Hill, and the fateful choices made by a few individuals that changed the battle and revolution forever.

Sources:

Liberty Is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution by Woody Holton

American Insurgents, American Patriots by T.H. Breen

The Last King of America: The Misunderstood Reign of George III by Andrew Roberts

The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire by Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy

Paul Revere's Ride by David Hackett Fischer

Lexington and Concord: The Battle Heard Round the World By George C. Daughan

Founding Martyr: The Life and Death of Dr. Joseph Warren, the American Revolution's Lost Hero by Christian Di Spigna

Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick

Those Turbulent Sons of Freedom: Ethan Allen's Green Mountain Boys and the American Revolution by Christopher S. Wren