Dorchester Heights

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Dorchester Heights

Dorchester Heights is the central area of South Boston. It is the highest area in the neighborhood and commands a view of both Boston Harbor and downtown.

hester Heights was and is remembered in American history for an action in the American Revolutionary War

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , also known as the American War of Independence, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and Thirteen Colonies on the North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers....
known as the Fortification of Dorchester Heights

Fortification of Dorchester Heights

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....
. After the battles of Lexington and Concord

Battles of Lexington and Concord

The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. They were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Massachusetts, Concord, Massachusetts, Lincoln, Massachusetts, Arlington, Massachusetts, and Cambridge...
, 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 the city limits.

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In the American Revolution

Dorchester Heights was and is remembered in American history for an action in the American Revolutionary War

American Revolutionary War

Fortification of Dorchester Heights

Battles of Lexington and Concord

Bunker Hill

Bunker Hill is the name of* A hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts** Battle of Bunker Hill, a battle American Revolutionary War fought near the hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts...
, but in the process sustained many losses. Following this encounter, the Continental Congress

Continental Congress

The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution....
in Philadelphia gave George Washington

George Washington

George Washington was the leader of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War and served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States of the United States of Americas ....
the title of commander-in-chief

Commander-in-Chief

A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function....
and sent him to oversee the efforts outside of Boston.

The stalemate in Boston lasted for months, only breaking when Colonel Henry Knox

Henry Knox

Henry Knox was an United States bookseller from Boston, Massachusetts who became the chief artillery officer of the Continental Army and later the nation's first United States Secretary of War....
returned from Fort Ticonderoga

Fort Ticonderoga

Fort Ticonderoga is a large eighteenth-century fort built at a narrows at the south end of Lake Champlain where a short traverse gives access to the north end of Lake George in the state of New York....
in New York, having led a team of sleds from the fort across hundreds of miles with tens of thousands of pounds of artillery to Boston. This added artillery gave Washington and his military council the firepower they needed to make a drastic move. Over the night of March 4, 1776, as 800 American soldiers stood guard along the river of Dorchester shores, 1200 American soldiers took Dorchester Heights uninhibited. They began working through the night to build structures suitable to defend against the British Army. A large portion of the artillery, pulled by oxen, was moved and installed, without being noticed by the British command, at Dorchester Heights, a point of strategic importance due to its elevation and commanding view of all of Boston and Boston Harbor.

In response, Howe planned on mounting a counter-offensive against the fortified positions on the Heights, but bad weather forced him to rethink his plan. In the end he fell back from the city. The Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British Armed Forces . From the mid-18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s....
evacuated British Army

British Army

The British Army is the Army branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707....
troops stationed there, as well as many Loyalists

Loyalist (American Revolution)

Loyalists were Thirteen Colonies who remained loyal to the Kingdom of Great Britain during and after the American Revolutionary War. They were often referred to as Tories, Royalists, or King's Men by the Patriot , those that supported the American cause....
.

Dorchester Heights Monument

The Dorchester Heights Monument was completed in 1902 to designs by Boston architects Peabody and Stearns

Peabody and Stearns

Peabody and Stearns was a premier architect in the eastern United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the firm consisted of Robert Swain Peabody and John Goddard Stearns, Jr....
. It is 115 feet in height, built of Georgia white marble capped with octagonal cupola and weather vane, and is generally reminiscent of a church steeple in the Federal style. The monument is now operated by the National Park Service

National Park Service

The National Park Service is the List of United States federal agencies that manages all List of areas in the United States National Park System, many U.S....
as part of Boston National Historical Park

Boston National Historical Park

The Boston National Historical Park is an association of sites that showcase Boston's role in the American Revolution. It was designated a national park on October 1, 1974....
.