Putnam made one final effort at Bunker Hill, but in vain, and the army
retired to Prospect Hill, which Putnam had already fortified in advance.
The British did not pursue, Clinton urged upon General Howe an immediate
attack upon Cambridge; but Howe declined the movement. The gallant
Prescott offered to retake Bunker Hill by storming if he could have
three fresh regiments; but it was not deemed best to waste further
resources at the time.
Such, as briefly as it can be clearly outlined, was the battle of Bunker
Hill.
Nearly one third of each army was left on the field.
The British loss was nineteen officers killed and seventy wounded,
itself a striking evidence of the prompt response to Prescott's orders
before the action began. Of rank and file, two hundred and seven were
killed and seven hundred and fifty-eight were wounded. Total, ten
hundred and fifty-four.
The American loss was one hundred and forty-five killed and missing, and
three hundred and four wounded. Total, four hundred and forty-nine.
Such is the record of a battle which, in less than two hours, destroyed
a town, laid fifteen hundred men upon the field, equalized the relations
of veterans and militia, aroused three millions of people to a definite
struggle for National Independence, and fairly opened the war for its
accomplishment.