Battle of Bunker Hill

After the battles at Lexington and Concord, the Massachusetts militia set up a siege around Boston, where the British army had fled. The siege blocked land access to the British troops and limited their access by sea.

Less than a month later it was discovered that the British were going to send troops from Boston to fortify the surrounding hills. Overnight, under the command of William Prescott, 1,200 colonial troops built a strong fort on Breed’s Hill. When the British awoke on June 17, 1775, they discovered the colonial army and mounted an attack against them.

It took the British three attacks before the colonists retreated over Bunker Hill. In the end the British won, but it was a hollow victory. They took over Breed and Bunker Hills, but they had suffered tremendous losses, much more than the Americans. They now understood that even thought the colonists were inexperienced they could hold their own against the British troops in battle. In the future they used much more caution.

After 11 months (April 19, 1775 – March 17, 1776) of being sieged in Boston the British abandoned the city and moved north to Nova Scotia.