Following the action at Lexington and Concord in April the colonies were preparing for war. British reinforcements were arriving in Boston and both the nascent Continental Army and the Minutemen bolstered their numbers with volunteer patriots.
While the British occupied Boston they were surrounded by rebellious colonists who happened to hold the high ground. Whoever controlled the hills encircling Boston could also control the harbor. It was a matter of time before the opposing forces came to blows.
Maj. Gen. John Burgoyne of His Majesty's Army famously declared - What! Ten thousand peasants keep five thousand of the King's troops shut up! Well, let us get in and we'll soon find some elbow room!
General Thomas Gage was the Commander-in-Chief of British forces in the colonies. While he did not lead the forces in the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775 he was the commander who gave the orders for a costly frontal assault on patriot positions on Breed's Hill.
Gage's Council of War, including William Howe, Henry Clinton and John Burgoyne, drafted the initial plans. Their army would land on Dorchester Neck south of Boston and sweep around the capital in a broad arc. Nevertheless, colonial spies learned of Gage's plans and set-about to thwart them. On June 16, several thousand militiamen converged at Charlestown and overnight constructed crude fortifications of earth and timbers atop Breed's Hill; which unlike Bunker Hill was not as high yet closer to Boston. Fast Fact: This last minute change persists to modern times contributing to confusion over the battle's name.
The British generals debated their options with General Henry Clinton advocating for a flanking maneuver that would land troops to the rear of American forces thereby preventing any American retreat. However, Gage and the other commanders overruled Clinton and settled-upon General Howe's recommendation for a direct, frontal assault on the well-defended American positions.
Gage ordered the attack in which Major General Howe would lead 2,400 British soldiers in three successive assaults up the hill.
As dawn broke on the 17th of June the appearance of the American earthworks surprised the British forces. Gage was of the opinion that the Yankee rabble was no match for Britain's Finest. Consequently, Gage's forces took their time packing for a three day campaign to take Charlestown and sweep through the countryside. The redcoats sweated in the hot sun shouldering heavy packs with blankets, rations and kit. By mid afternoon the colonial militia has been reinforced and firmly ensconced behind their fortifications.
As gunpowder was in short supply Colonel Prescott ordered his militia not to fire - 'til you see the whites of their eyes - orders that were decisive in the outcome of the battle. In close order formation the British troops advanced through the tall grass and up the hill. Further and further they marched. Why did the militia not fire they wondered? Were they gutless cowards? Had they retreated? Suddenly and without warning the command came to FIRE!
The British were decimated as row upon row were mowed-down. Some British units suffered losses of 75 to 90 percent. Casualties were greatest among the officers who were singled-out as targets.
Regrouping and forcing their men forward at the tip of a sword a second assault was mounted a half hour later with similar results. An hour later, with fresh reinforcements and artillery support the third assault chased the rebels from the hill. They had run out of gun powder and skedaddled.
Technically, this was a British victory but at great cost. Losses to the redcoats amounted to 1,054 dead or wounded - nearly half of those who fought. Colonial losses were 441 of a much larger force. Privately, General Gage admitted that: The loss we have sustained is greater than we can bear. Brigadier General Nathaniel Greene of the Rhode Island Militia summed it up: I wish I could sell them another hill at the same price.
In the aftermath General Howe ordered Charlestown to be burned. Gage was recalled to England and Howe was made commander of all British forces in America.
The beloved Colonial Major General Joseph Warren was killed by a musket ball through the head. The British stripped his body of clothing, mutilated his face with bayonets, urinated on and otherwise defiled his corpse as Warren was viewed as a principal instigator of the rebellion. He was buried in a shallow mass grave on the hill with other patriots. Months later, and after the British had fled Boston, the colonists exhumed their dead for identification and repatriation to their kin. Warren was identified by his dental work fashioned by patriot, silversmith and erstwhile dentist, Paul Revere. This was likely one of the earliest examples of forensic dental identification in America.
Martial
law and the government of a well regulated city are so entirely
different, that it has always been considered as improper to quarter
troops in populous cities, as frequent disputes must necessarily arise
between the citizen and the soldier, even if no previous animosities
subsist.
- Joseph Warren
Today the monument is a proper urban park and bears little resemblance to the hilly pasture of 1775. Preservationists originally hoped to save all of the battlefield but much of the land was sold to finance the cost of the monument's obelisk. In 1825 the cornerstone was laid by Lafayette on the 50th anniversary of the conflict and orator Daniel Webster spoke. Webster returned more than 17 years later in 1843 to speak at the dedication following completion of the monument. St. Francis de Sales Church stands atop the true Bunker Hill.
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