The Siege of Boston and the Battle of Bunker Hill
Rebel militia then converged on Boston from all over New England, while London attempted to formulate a response. Generals Sir William Howe, Sir Henry Clinton, and John Burgoyne were dispatched at once with reinforcements, and Charles Cornwallis followed later. Those four commanders would be identified with the conduct of the principal British operations.
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The Continental Congress in Philadelphia, acting for the 13 colonies, voted for general defensive measures, called out troops, and appointed George Washington of Virginia commander in chief. Before Washington could take charge of the 15,000 colonial troops laying siege to the British garrison in Boston, Gage ordered Howe to drive the Americans from the heights in Charlestown.
The Americans provoked the assault by entrenching on Breed’s Hill, the lower of two hills overlooking the British position. The placement of American artillery on the heights would have made the British position in Boston untenable, so on June 17, 1775, Howe led a British frontal assault on the American fortifications.
In the misleadingly named Battle of Bunker Hill (Breed’s Hill was the primary locus of combat), Howe’s 2,300 troops encountered withering fire while storming the rebel lines. The British eventually cleared the hill but at the cost of more than 40 percent of the assault force, and the battle was a moral victory for the Americans.