<P> Following the taking of the peninsula, the British arguably had a tactical advantage that they could have used to press into Cambridge . General Clinton proposed this to Howe; having just led three assaults with grievous casualties, he declined the idea . The colonial military leaders eventually recognized Howe as a tentative decision - maker, to his detriment; in the aftermath of the Battle of Long Island (1776), he again had tactical advantages that might have delivered Washington's army into his hands, but again refused to act . </P> <P> Historian John Ferling maintains that had General Gage used the Royal Navy to secure the narrow neck to the Charleston peninsula, cutting the Americans off from the mainland, he could have achieved a far less costly victory, but he was motivated by revenge over patriot resistance at the Battles of Lexington and Concord and relatively heavy British losses, and also felt that the colonial militia were completely untrained and could be overtaken with little effort, opting for a frontal assault . </P> <P> The famous order "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes" was popularized in stories about the battle of Bunker Hill . It is uncertain as to who said it there, since various histories, including eyewitness accounts, attribute it to Putnam, Stark, Prescott, or Gridley, and it may have been said first by one, and repeated by the others . It was also not an original statement . The idea dates originally to the general - king Gustavus Adolphus (1594--1632) who gave standing orders to his musketeers: "never to give fire, till they could see their own image in the pupil of their enemy's eye". Gustavus Adolphus's military teachings were widely admired and imitated and caused this saying to be often repeated . It was used by General James Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham, when his troops defeated Montcalm's army on September 13, 1759 . The earliest similar quote came from the Battle of Dettingen on June 27, 1743, where Lieutenant - Colonel Sir Andrew Agnew of Lochnaw warned his Regiment, the Royal Scots Fusiliers, not to fire until they could "see the white of their e'en ." The phrase was also used by Prince Charles of Prussia in 1745, and repeated in 1755 by Frederick the Great, and may have been mentioned in histories the colonial military leaders were familiar with . Whether or not it was actually said in this battle, it was clear that the colonial military leadership were regularly reminding their troops to hold their fire until the moment when it would have the greatest effect, especially in situations where their ammunition would be limited . </P> <P> A significant number of notable people fought in this battle . Henry Dearborn and William Eustis, for example, went on to distinguished military and political careers; both served in Congress, the Cabinet, and in diplomatic posts . Others, like John Brooks, Henry Burbeck, Christian Febiger, Thomas Knowlton, and John Stark, became well known for later actions in the war . Stark became known as the "Hero of Bennington" for his role in the 1777 Battle of Bennington . Free African - Americans also fought in the battle; notable examples include Barzillai Lew, Salem Poor, and Peter Salem . Another notable participant was Daniel Shays, who later became famous for his army of protest in Shays' Rebellion . Israel Potter was immortalized in Israel Potter: His Fifty Years of Exile, a novel by Herman Melville . Colonel John Paterson commanded the Massachusetts First Militia, served in Shays' Rebellion, and became a congressman from New York . Lt. Col. Seth Read, who served under John Paterson at Bunker Hill, went on to settle Geneva, New York and Erie, Pennsylvania, and was said to have been instrumental in the phrase E pluribus unum being added to U.S. coins . George Claghorn of the Massachusetts militia was shot in the knee at Bunker Hill and went on after the war to become the master builder of the USS Constitution, a.k.a. "Old Ironsides", which is the oldest naval vessel in the world that is still commissioned and afloat . </P>

How long did the battle of bunker hill last