Fought on June 17, 1775, the battle of Bunker Hill pitted an untrained American militia against a battle-hardened British army. Since the Americans had little gunpowder and ammunition, the famous line "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes" was uttered at this battle as a pragmatic order.
Out of the 2,200 British troops at the battle, almost half (1,034) were counted afterwards as casualties (both killed and wounded). The Americans lost between 400-600 combined casualties.
Also killed during this battle was the popular American patriot, Major-General Dr. Joseph Warren, who was killed during the third and final assault.
Today, Bunker Hill has a 221-foot granite obelisk to mark the first site of the first battle of the American Revolution, and is on the Boston Freedom Trail.
