Battlefield Atlas
American Revolution · 1775 Members only

Bunker Hill, 17 June 1775

On 17 June 1775, two months after Lexington and Concord, New England militia fortified Breed's Hill on the Charlestown peninsula overlooking besieged Boston. General Howe's regulars made three frontal assaults; the first two were thrown back with heavy losses before the defenders, out of powder, were driven from the redoubt. The British took the peninsula but lost more than 1,000 of some 2,400 men engaged. Though a British victory, the battle showed that colonial militia could stand against professional troops, hardened both sides, and made a negotiated settlement far less likely.

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This battle is part of the full atlas, open to Patreon members. Free battles include Yorktown, Waterloo, The Alamo, Antietam, Little Bighorn, Belleau Wood, Omaha Beach, Ia Drang.

"The Death of General Warren" (Trumbull)
"The Death of General Warren" (Trumbull) — John Trumbull, 1786 — Public domain

The battle, stage by stage

  1. Dawn, 17 June 1775

    The redoubt on Breed's Hill

    Overnight about 1,200 Massachusetts and Connecticut men under Col. William Prescott have thrown up an earthen redoubt on Breed's Hill — not Bunker Hill as ordered — with a breastwork running north toward the Mystic. At first light HMS Lively opens fire; the Copp's Hill battery in Boston and the warships in the Charles join in. Gen. Gage orders Howe to land on the peninsula and take the works.

  2. 1 PM

    Howe lands at Moulton's Point

    Some 1,500 regulars land unopposed at Moulton's Point, later reinforced to about 2,200. While Howe waits for more troops, Knowlton's Connecticut men and the New Hampshire regiments of Stark and Reed extend the American line along a rail fence and a stone wall to the Mystic beach, closing the gap Howe had hoped to turn.

  3. About 3 PM

    First attack

    Howe's light infantry advance in column along the Mystic beach to turn the American left, while the grenadiers attack the rail fence and Pigot's wing moves against the redoubt. Stark's men behind the stone wall hold their fire to close range: the light infantry are shattered and the grenadiers fall back. Carcasses from Copp's Hill set Charlestown ablaze.

  4. About 3:30 PM

    Second attack

    The British re-form and attack again, this time directly against the redoubt and breastwork with a supporting push at the rail fence. Again the volleys at 30–50 yards drive them back with heavy losses; Howe's entire personal staff is killed or wounded.

  5. About 4 PM

    Final attack

    Reinforced by 400 Marines and the 63rd under Clinton, Howe makes only a demonstration at the rail fence and throws everything at the redoubt. Its defenders, nearly out of powder, fight with musket butts and stones as the British swarm over the walls from three sides. Dr. Joseph Warren is killed in the redoubt.

  6. Late afternoon

    The Americans withdraw

    Prescott's men retreat over Bunker Hill toward Charlestown Neck, covered by the rail-fence troops, who fall back in good order. The British take the peninsula but at a cost of 1,054 killed and wounded — nearly half the force engaged — against about 450 American casualties. "A dear bought victory," wrote Clinton; "another such would have ruined us."

Paintings and photographs

"The Death of General Warren" (Trumbull)
"The Death of General Warren" (Trumbull) John Trumbull's painting of the final British assault on the redoubt and the death of Dr. Joseph Warren. Trumbull watched the battle from Roxbury, across the harbour. John Trumbull, 1786 — Public domain · source
Attack on Bunker Hill, with the burning of Charlestown
Attack on Bunker Hill, with the burning of Charlestown An engraving after a contemporary British view of the battle, with Charlestown in flames from the carcasses fired by the Copp's Hill battery and the warships. Engraving, 1775 (attributed to Paul Revere on Commons) — Public domain · source
"The Battle of Bunker Hill" (Pyle)
"The Battle of Bunker Hill" (Pyle) Howard Pyle's painting of the British regulars advancing up the slope toward the American lines. Howard Pyle, 1897 — Public domain · source

Sources and method

Battle of Bunker Hill, 17 June 1775. Positions are drawn from the US Military Academy (West Point) Department of History maps of the three attacks (via Wikimedia Commons), georeferenced to Breed's Hill (the monument marks the redoubt), Bunker Hill and Copp's Hill. The source maps are schematic and the 1775 shoreline has since been filled in, so positions are good to about 100 m. British unit blocks are placed along the attack arrows on those maps; the force names follow the standard accounts.

How to use: pick one entry under "The battle". Tall blocks moved since the previous map, flat yellow outlines show where they came from, arrows join them, low grey blocks are everyone else. Red = British, blue = American.