What was the first battle of the Revolutionary War?

Bunker Hill

Though Lexington and Concord came first, they were merely skirmishes. The first Battle of the Revolution was the battle of Bunker Hill, which was fought on Breed's Hill outside Boston on June 17, 1775. Confusion caused it to be named after Bunker Hill, which is where the colonists had some reserve troops.

The British were in Boston and the colonists held positions outside the city. On the night of June 17, 1775, some 1,200 colonists under William Prescott moved onto Breed's Hill and threw up earthworks.

In the morning, the British commander Lord Howe decided to attack. He did this in the proscribed method of the times--full frontal assault. Howe and most British leaders believed the colonists would break and run at the first sign of an attack.

Howe attacked the hill two times, and each time he was forced to fall back with heavy casualties. During his third assault, the colonists ran out of ammunition and were forced to fall back.

The British claimed victory as they held the hill at battle's end, but it was a moral victory for the colonists. It showed they could stand up to the British.

Joseph Warren, an early colonial leader was killed at this battle. Had he lived, he would be remembered today as one of the greatest of the Founding Fathers. Unfortunately, his early death in the war has left him all but forgotten.

Bunker Hill was one of the bloodiest battles of the Revolution.