Ben's Revolution: Benjamin Russell and the Battle of Bunker Hill

Benjamin Russell is twelve years old in the fall of 1773.

He goes to school like the other boys in Boston, and he milks the family cow and returns her to the Boston Common every evening. He likes to hang out at the printshop of his father's friend, Isaiah Thomas, and watch the hundreds of tiny, metal letters fit together to make words.

Relations between Great Britain and her American colonies are full of unrest at this time; patriots disguised as Indians have boarded boats in Boston Harbor and thrown the cargo of tea from England into the harbor to protest the tax that England requires.

In 1774, Britain sends a general, Thomas Gage, to the colonies to be the new Massachusetts governor. General Gage closes Boston Harbor to shipping as retaliation for the “Boston Tea Party.” So the American colonists have to make a decision; ”Join or Die!” as Isaiah Thomas' paper announces.

In April of 1775, the colonists learn that more British troops are expected and that arrests of patriot leaders will begin soon. So Bostonians begin to evacuate in droves. And so, that fateful morning of April 19^th, Ben goes to school as usual, and he learns of the skirmish at Lexington and Concord.  His schoolmaster releases Ben and his schoolmates from their lessons because “the war's begun.”

As Ben and his friends get to the street outside, they are met with thousands of British soldiers marching along, sent to provide relief to the soldiers in Concord. Ben and his friends march right along behind them, over the Boston Neck and out of town. After spending the afternoon following and taunting the British soldiers, they decide to head back home to their suppers and warm beds.

But wait!

The British army has sealed off Boston to prevent additional militiamen from entering the city! Now the boys are stuck outside the city, with musket balls whizzing, no supplies, and no way of sending word to their families. For this reason, Ben and his friends are “on location” at Breed's Hill and Bunker Hill when those devastating battles break out two months later.

After the events related here, when Ben is finally reunited with his family, he is apprenticed to Isaiah Thomas. He grows up to become one of the leading newspapermen of his day, and later, a representative to the Massachusetts legislature, according to the author's note.

Unbelievable, but based on true events!

This author is an award-winning author of early American histories for adults, but I'm so glad he turned to children's histories. He relates the well-known events of the beginning of the American Revolution from a unique child's perspective. Even as a mother, this episode makes my heart shudder. For my 12-year-old child to be missing for four months as battles rage is practically unthinkable.

The narrative form will, I think, help to put the usually disjointed events of the American Revolution into a semblance of order. Some events caused reactions which led to other events, and history cannot be understood without an understanding of the relationships between events.

I also appreciate the balanced portrayal of British soldiers. Ben relates the story of he and his friends sledding in winter. When the boys want to sled down Beacon Hill and find the way has been spread with ashes by the British officer for safety's sake, Ben complains belligerently, and the officer sends a servant to pour buckets of water over the ashes so the boys can continue to sled!

This is technically a long picture book, that has chapter designations. It is the perfect chapter and book length for those older elementary students who need more detail, not too much. The author has included maps of the Boston area in the front and a historical note as a postscript.

The illustrator's watercolors are appropriately “vague” and help to soften the harsh events portrayed here. Scenes of battle are respectfully represented with a mist in front of soldiers to obscure any graphic details, or simply a fiery representation of battle, with no figures or very obscure silhouettes in the background.

CONTENT CONSIDERATIONS

Other than the “tasteful” battle pictures described above, none.