The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on 17 June 1775, during the early stages of the American Revolutionary War. Although named after Bunker Hill, most of the fighting occurred on Breed’s Hill in Charlestown, near Boston, Massachusetts. The battle was fought between the British Army, commanded by General William Howe and General Thomas Gage, and American colonial forces led primarily by Colonel William Prescott. Around 2,400 colonial militiamen faced approximately 3,000 British troops.
The British aimed to break the colonial siege of Boston by taking control of the strategic hills surrounding the city. However, the American forces, though less trained and poorly supplied, had fortified Breed’s Hill overnight. As British troops launched frontal assaults up the hill, the Americans held their ground fiercely, repelling two major attacks. It was only on the third assault—when the colonial defenders ran low on ammunition—that the British succeeded in taking the hill. The Americans then retreated, but not before inflicting over 1,000 casualties on the British, including many officers. American losses were significantly lower, around 400 to 500.
Though technically a British victory, the Battle of Bunker Hill demonstrated that colonial forces could stand up to the professional British army. It gave a significant morale boost to the Patriot cause and marked a turning point in how both sides viewed the conflict. The battle is also remembered for the iconic (though possibly apocryphal) command: “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes,” meant to conserve the colonists’ limited ammunition.
