William Prescott William Prescott ( February 20 , 1726 – October 13 , 1795 ) was an American colonel in the Revolutionary War who commanded the rebel forces in the Battle of Bunker Hill . Prescott is known for his order to his soldiers , " Do not fire until you see the whites of their eyes " , such that the rebel troops may shoot at the enemy at shorter ranges , and therefore more accurately and lethally , and so conserve their limited stocks of ammunition . It is debated whether Prescott or someone earlier coined this memorable saying . Life . Prescott was born in Groton , Massachusetts , when East Pepperell was considered Groton , to Benjamin Prescott ( 1696 – 1738 ) and Abigail Oliver Prescott ( 1697 – 1765 ) . He married Abigail Hale ( 1733 – 1821 ) on April 13 , 1758 , and they had one child , also named William . Prescott owned a house in Pepperell , Massachusetts , on Prescott Street . Prescott served in the provincial militia in King George ' s War where he served in the 1745 Siege of Louisbourg under William Pepperrell . He may have played a role in the naming of the town of Pepperell , Massachusetts , after his commander when it was separated from Groton in 1753 . In 1755 , when the French and Indian War widened , he saw action at the Battle of Fort Beausejour . He turned down an offer to join the Royal Army for his service in that war . American Revolutionary War . In 1774 , when Massachusetts towns began forming militia companies , Prescott was made a colonel commanding the Pepperell company . The alarm that was raised on the evening of April 18 , 1775 , that British troops were marching on Concord reached Pepperell about 10 a . m . on April 19 . Prescott immediately alerted the companies of Pepperell , Hollis , and Groton , and rode toward Concord . The companies arrived too late to participate in the day ' s battles , but they became part of the small army that laid siege to Boston afterward . When the American military commanders were alerted to British plans to capture undefended high ground at Dorchester Heights and Charlestown , Prescott was chosen to lead 1 , 200 men onto the Charlestown peninsula and erect defenses on Bunker Hill on the night of June 16 , 1775 . The actual defenses were built on Breeds Hill , as it was lower and closer to the harbor . The next day , his troops , who were tired from working to construct a redoubt and other defensive works , and had only limited ammunition , formed the centerpiece of the American defenses when the British attacked the position . The British began firing from the ship " Lively " at 4 a . m . attacked at 3 p . m . In spirited battle , Prescott ' s men twice threw back British assaults on the redoubt . When the British made a third attempt , his men were almost out of ammunition ; after an initial volley , he ordered a retreat from the redoubt . He was one of the last men to leave the redoubt , parrying bayonet thrusts with his ceremonial saber . While the British successfully captured Bunker Hill , the poorly organized colonial forces inflicted significant casualties , and the British were unable to capitalize their victory . They lost 50 percent of the force commanded by General Howe , that were killed or wounded . Prescott is widely seen as having played a key role in the battle , keeping the relatively poorly trained militia under his command well - disciplined . When the Second Continental Congress established the Continental Army it sent George Washington to take command of the forces besieging Boston . Prescott received a colonel ' s commission , and his unit became the 7th Continental Regiment . The regiment saw service in the 1776 defense of New York . While he appears to have given up command of the regiment after that campaign , he apparently participated in some capacity in the 1777 Saratoga campaign , for he is depicted in the painting of the " Surrender of General Burgoyne at Saratoga " by John Trumbull , which hangs in the U . S . Capitol Rotunda . His departure from military service may be due to injuries sustained in an accident on his farm . Later life . Prescott served in the Massachusetts General Court in later years . He also served in the militia called out in 1786 to suppress Shays ' Rebellion . His brother Oliver Prescott was said to be influential in the suppression of that outbreak . William died in 1795 in Pepperell . Legacy . Prescott ' s likeness was made into a statue for a memorial for the Battle of Bunker Hill . The former town of Prescott , Massachusetts , was named in his honor . The town was disincorporated in 1938 as part of the building of the Quabbin Reservoir , and the land now makes up Prescott Peninsula , which divides the main branches of the reservoir . Prescott ' s house is located in North Pepperell , Massachusetts . Prescott appears as a character in Thomas Wm . Hamilton ' s science fiction novel " Time for Patriots " , ISBN 978 - 1 - 60693 - 224 - 7 . 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 General Prescott and Harvard President Langdon , before their march to Bunker and Breed ' s Hills . See footnote for picture of its inscription . This monument is located on the lawn west of Harvard ' s Littauer Center , itself west of Harvard ' s Science Center , just outside Harvard Yard . See footnote for location map . However , Prescott Street , two blocks from Harvard Yard in Cambridge is " not " named after General William Prescott , but after his grandson , William Hickling Prescott ( May 4 , 1796 – January 28 , 1859 ) . This grandson became a noted historian and author , who ( in a remarkable moment of historical reconciliation ) married the granddaughter of Captain John Linzee , captain of the " HMS Falcon " , one of the British ships that fired on Bunker Hill Patriots . The city of Prescott , Arizona , is also named in honor of his scholarly grandson .