EARTH SCIENCE AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION: INSIGHT TO THE BLOODY ANGLE BATTLE ACHIEVED THROUGH LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS, LINCOLN, MA

This study integrates earth science, GIS analysis, and history to reconstruct the events that occurred at the Bloody Angle battle site during the onset of the American Revolution within Minute Man National Historical Park in Concord, Lincoln, and Lexington, Massachusetts. The engagement at the Bloody Angle battle site is well represented within the historic record, but the location and action of the battle is not well established. Through the application of a KOCOA analysis in ArcGIS, this study connects geologic features to tactical decisions and outcomes with the goal of providing insight to the potential firing locations of approximately 700 British soldiers and 1,400 Militiamen within the 0.25 km² study area. KOCOA is a military acronym that relates terrain features to battlefield operations and stands for: (K) key terrain, (O) observation and field of fire, (C) cover and concealment, (O) obstacles, and (A) avenues of approach and egress. An exhaustive analysis of the current landscape, obtained through Lidar and ortho imagery, is combined with primary and secondary source material to reconstruct the 1775 landscape. Features such as hillslopes, glacial erratics, water bodies, vegetation, and stonewalls are mapped and related to the components of KOCOA. Information gained through this analysis will be used to identify areas of high archaeological significance, and will help preserve the integrity of the Minute Man National Historical Park landscape by limiting the extent of ground surveys and excavations.