American victory New England colonies(before May 1775) George Washington Artemas Ward Israel Putnam William Prescott John Thomas Henry Knox John Stark Thomas Gage Sir William Howe Sir Henry Clinton Samuel Graves The Boston campaign was the opening campaign of the American Revolutionary War, taking place primarily in the Province of Massachusetts Bay.

The entire British expedition suffered significant casualties during a running battle back to Charlestown against an ever-growing number of militia.

The main action during the siege, the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775, was one of the bloodiest encounters of the war, and resulted in a Pyrrhic British victory.

On March 4, 1776, the colonial army fortified Dorchester Heights with cannon capable of reaching Boston and British ships in the harbor.

Francis Bernard, then Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, requested military forces to protect the King's personnel.

General Thomas Gage, already the commander-in-chief of British troops in North America, was also appointed governor of Massachusetts and was instructed by King George's government to enforce royal authority in the troublesome colony.

[5] However, popular resistance compelled the newly appointed royal officials in Massachusetts to resign or to seek refuge in Boston.

Gage commanded four regiments of British regulars (about 4,000 men) from his headquarters in Boston,[6] but the countryside was largely controlled by Patriot sympathizers.

[8] Although it proved to be a false alarm, this event—known as the Powder Alarm—caused all concerned to proceed more carefully in the days ahead, and essentially provided a "dress rehearsal" for events seven months later.

Partly in response to this action, the colonists carried off military supplies from several forts in New England and distributed them among the local militias.

Several riders — including Paul Revere — alerted the countryside, and when the British troops entered Lexington on the morning of April 19, they found 77 minutemen formed up on the village common.

By the time the "redcoats" or "lobster backs" (as the British soldiers were called) began the return march to Boston, several thousand militiamen had gathered along the road.

[12] The need for building materials and other supplies led Admiral Samuel Graves to authorize a Loyalist merchant to send his ships from Boston to Machias in the District of Maine, accompanied by a Royal Navy schooner.

Their resistance and that of other coastal communities led Graves to authorize an expedition of reprisal in October whose sole significant act was the Burning of Falmouth.

[22][23] Congress officially adopted the forces outside Boston as the Continental Army on May 26,[24] and named George Washington its commander-in-chief on June 15.

[29] By early March 1776, heavy cannons that had been captured at Fort Ticonderoga were moved to Boston, a difficult feat engineered by Henry Knox.

[36] While the British continued to control the seas, and had military successes on the ground (notably in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania), their actions that led to these conflicts had the effect of uniting the Thirteen Colonies in opposition to the crown.