William Prescott (February 20, 1726 – October 13, 1795) was an American officer in the Revolutionary War best known for his service at the Battle of Bunker Hill.

A prosperous farmer in his adult years, Prescott first gained military experience after joining the provincial militia during King George's War, where he served in the 1745 Siege of Louisbourg under William Pepperrell.

During the French and Indian War widened, he was acclaimed for his leadership of allied American forces in the Battle of Fort Beausejour.

Col. Prescott hastened ahead with as many of his regiment as he could collect to Concord and thence to Cambridge but did not overtake the retreating British troops.

They arrived too late to participate in the day's battles, but they became part of the small army that laid siege to Boston afterward.

"On the 16th of June, 1775, Gen. Artemas Ward, the commander-in-chief, issued an order for placing three Massachusetts regiments (Col. Prescott's, Col. Frye's and Col. Bridge's) and one hundred and twenty men from a Connecticut regiment (under the brave command of Thomas Knowlton), about one thousand in all, all under the command of Col. Prescott, directing them to proceed to Bunker Hill and there erect a fortification.

Colonel Prescott being a very tall man, six feet and two or three inches in height, his head and shoulders and a considerable portion of his body must have been exposed during the whole of the engagement.

The British began firing from the ship Lively at 4 a.m. and attacked at 3 p.m. Prescott ordered the Connecticut men under Captain Knowlton to defend the left flank, where they used a crude dirt wall as a breastwork, and topped it with fence rails and hay.

Troops that arrived to reinforce this flank position included about 200 men from the 1st and 3rd New Hampshire regiments, under Colonels John Stark and James Reed.

Dr. O. Prescott Jr. saw the waistcoat and the ban-yan coat after the engagement, and they had several holes pierced by the bayonets of the British in their attempts at his life.”[citation needed] The Americans, although raw troops, fought with the bravery and obstinacy of veterans, until their ammunition was exhausted.

While the British successfully captured Bunker Hill, the poorly organized colonial forces inflicted significant casualties.

The British were unable to capitalize their victory and lost 50 percent (killed or wounded) of the force commanded by General Howe.

Prescott is widely seen as having played a key role in the battle, keeping the relatively poorly trained militia under his command well-disciplined.

Joseph Warren, a Massachusetts politician and member of the colony's Committee of safety (American Revolution), volunteered to serve under Colonel William Prescott in the defense of the redoubt as a private and wanted to be close to the battle.

When Shays' Rebellion broke out, he hastened to Concord, and assisted in protecting the courts of justice and of preserving law and order.

The following anecdote the writer had from Colonel Prescott himself: "While stationed with his regiment near New York in 1776, the out guards brought in a British deserter.

William died of dropsy of the chest, in Pepperell and was buried with military honors suitable to his rank, life and character at Walton Cemetery.

[6] Prescott's likeness was made into a statue for a memorial for the Battle of Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts and was dedicated in 1881.

Colonel Prescott's famous order, "Do not fire until you see the whites of their eyes," is a significant part of the Schoolhouse Rock video and song, "The Shot Heard round the World."

In 1856, the Prescott School, named in his honor, was built on the northeasterly portion of the Bunker Hill Burying Ground in Charlestown, Massachusetts.

Cambridge, Massachusetts, has a small granite monument to the place where, on the night of June 16, 1775, 1,200 Patriot men assembled and were addressed by Prescott and Harvard President Langdon, before their march to Bunker and Breed's Hills.