y, but at no time
exceeded about 1500 men. The village of Charlestown, from which a galling
musketry fire was directed against the British, was by General Howe's
orders almost totally destroyed by hot shot during the attack. Instead of
attempting to cut off the Americans by occupying the neck to the rear of
their position, Gage ordered the advance to be made up the steep and
difficult ascent facing the works on the hill. Whether or not in
obedience--as tradition asserts--to an order to reserve fire until they
could see the whites of their assailants' eyes, the American volunteers
with admirable steadiness waited till the attack was on the point of being
driven home, when they delivered a fire so sustained and deadly that the
British line broke in disorder. A second assault, made like the first, with
the precision and discipline of the parade-ground met the same fate, but
Gage's troops had still spirit enough for a third assault, and this time
they carried the position with the bayonet, capturing five pieces of
ordnance and putting the enemy to flight. The loss of the British was 1054
men killed and wounded, among whom were 89 commissioned officers; while the
American casualties amounted to 420 killed and wounded, including General
Joseph Warren, and 30 prisoners. (See AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.)

The significance of the battle of Bunker Hill is not, however, to be gauged
by the losses on either side, heavy as they were in proportion to the
numbers engaged, nor by its purely military results, but by the moral
effect which it produced; and when it is considered from this standpoint
its far-reaching consequences can hardly be over-estimated. "It roused at
once the fierce instinct of combat in America ..., and dispelled ... the
almost superstitious belief in the impossibility of encountering regular
troops with hastily levied volunteers ... No one questioned the conspicuous
gallantry with which the provincial troops had supported a long fire from
the ships and awaited the charge of the enemy, and British soldiers had
been twice driven back in disorder before their fire."[1] The pride which
Americans naturally felt in such an achievement, and the self-confidence
which it inspired, were increased when they learnt that the small force on
Bunker Hill had not been properly reinforced, and that their ammunition was
running short before they were dislodged from their position.[2] Had the
character of the fighting on that day been