This historic battle is actually misnamed. The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought between British forces under General William Howe and New England militiamen under General Israel Putnam and Colonel William Prescott on June 17, 1775. When the Americans received intelligence that the British intended to capture certain strategic heights outside Boston, General Artemus Ward ordered the fortification of Bunker Hill. Inexplicably, the forces under his command took position on nearby Breed’s Hill. After several hours of bloody fighting the Americans were dislodged. But the British paid a terrible price: 228 were dead and 826 were wounded – 42 percent of their total strength. The Bicentennial Series The U.S. Bicentennial was a series of celebrations during the mid-1970s that commemorated the historic events leading to America’s independence from Great Britain. The official events began on April 1, 1975, when the American Freedom Train departed Delaware to begin a 21-month, 25,338-mile tour of the 48 contiguous states. For more than a year, a wave of patriotism swept the nation as elaborate firework displays lit up skies across the U.S., an international fleet of tall-mast sailing ships gathered in New York City and Boston, and Queen Elizabeth made a state visit. The celebration culminated on July 4, 1976, with the 200th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.