The Battle of Bunker Hill (1775)
On June 17, 1775, British regulars stormed up the slopes of Breed's Hill near Boston in the blazing summer heat — twice driven back by withering fire from entrenched colonial militiamen, and carrying the hill only on a third assault when the Americans ran out of gunpowder. The Battle of Bunker Hill (fought mostly on Breed's Hill, a naming confusion that has persisted for 250 years) was a British tactical victory and a strategic shock: the Redcoats suffered more than 1,000 casualties taking a single hill from amateur soldiers with no formal military training. The battle convinced both sides that the conflict ahead would be long and costly.
The Siege of Boston
The battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, had set the colonies ablaze. Within days, thousands of militiamen from Massachusetts and neighboring colonies converged on Boston, where British General Thomas Gage commanded a garrison of about 6,500 regulars. The colonists laid siege to the city — a curious reversal in which the besieged had the fort and the harbor, and the besiegers controlled the countryside. By June, colonial forces controlled the high ground surrounding Boston, including the Charlestown Peninsula to the north. Gage planned to seize that peninsula to strengthen his position. Colonial commanders learned of the plan and moved first. On the night of June 16–17, Colonel William Prescott led approximately 1,200 men onto the peninsula and fortified Breed's Hill — slightly lower and closer to Boston than Bunker Hill, which gave the position better tactical value but also made it more exposed to British fire from the harbor.
Did You Know?
The famous order "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes" — variously attributed to Colonel William Prescott, General Israel Putnam, or others — was almost certainly not delivered as a single inspirational command but rather reflects a common military instruction of the era: hold fire until the enemy is so close that your volley will have maximum effect and leave no time for the enemy to recover before you must charge or retreat. Colonial muskets were inaccurate and slow to reload; the instruction was practical, not theatrical. The colonists did hold their fire until the British were extremely close, and the results of those opening volleys were devastating.
Three Assaults Up the Hill
The British response was methodical and professional — and underestimated the American defenders. General William Howe landed approximately 2,200 British regulars on the Charlestown Peninsula at midday on June 17. The soldiers were loaded with full packs in the summer heat and ordered to march up the slopes in formation, a standard European battle tactic intended to overawe less disciplined opponents. The first assault was met by a devastating volley from behind the colonial redoubt when the British were within 50 yards; the British line broke and fell back down the hill. A second assault met the same fate. On the third assault, Howe reorganized his forces and sent them up the steepest face of the redoubt; by then the Americans were nearly out of ammunition. Fighting hand-to-hand with musket butts and fists, the colonists were driven from the position. Dr. Joseph Warren — one of the most prominent political leaders of the Massachusetts patriot movement — was killed in the retreat, shot through the head at close range.
A Costly Victory and Its Lessons
The British took the hill but at a staggering cost: 226 killed and 828 wounded — approximately 40% of all forces engaged. The Americans suffered about 450 casualties, including 115 killed. General Gage wrote to London that "these people show a spirit and conduct against us they never showed against the French," and warned that the war would require far more troops and far more time than anticipated. The battle had an immediate effect on military appointments: it helped persuade Congress to appoint George Washington as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, rather than the older and more cautious generals who had commanded at Bunker Hill. The colonists drew a different lesson: if militia fighters behind earthworks could inflict those casualties on professional British regulars, the war was winnable. The bunker Hill Monument, completed in 1843, stands on Breed's Hill in Charlestown — a 221-foot granite obelisk visible from much of Boston Harbor, marking the place where American military self-confidence was born.