Don't Shoot Until You See the Whites of Their Eyes!

The colonists were outnumbered and low on ammunition. Their commanders knew they had to make every bullet count, and ordered their inexperienced men to hold their fire as the British formed their neat battle lines. One of the colonial officers gave an order that would later become famous: "Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes." When the "redcoats" were less than 150 feet away, the men opened up "an incessant stream of fire," a British officer wrote later. "It seemed a continued sheet of fire for near thirty minutes."

The counterattack was devastating. British officers and enlisted men alike fell "as thick as sheeps in a field," another eyewitness wrote. The battle lasted an intense two and a half hours as British troops made charge after direct charge up the hill. On the third attempt, the exhausted colonial militia ran out of ammunition and the British swarmed over the barricades with bayonets. The colonists beat a hasty retreat, but the damage had been done: More than a thousand British troops were wounded or killed, twice the casualty count among the fledgling American army.

Though the battle was technically a defeat for the American colonists, Bunker Hill forced some tough conclusions on the British. It was suddenly clear to the proud British command that the American revolution was going to be a long, hard fight. The colonial militias learned tough lessons too – if they were going to prevail in their fight for freedom, they would need far better organization, training and supplies.