An engraving of the Battle of Bunker Hill by John Godfrey from a painting by Alonzo Chappel (1828-1887). This American Revolutionary battle occurred in 1775 and, despite its subsequent name, most of the fighting took place on Breed's Hill, a rise close to Bunker Hill. The Americans lost to the British, but the British suffered so many casualites that the battle became a symbol of American revolutionary zeal.