BROTHERS: You are hereby notified that the anniversary of the battle
of Bunker Hill will be observed by our Society on Monday, June 18,
1900 (the anniversary itself falling on Sunday, June 17).
Our programme will include the placing of a wreath on the memorial
tablets in Winthrop Square, Charlestown, at noon, an address by Mr.
Thomas F. O’Malley, of Somerville, Mass., a visit to and ascension
of the battle monument, and in the evening a dinner at 8 o’clock at
the United States Hotel, city proper.
Members and guests wishing to participate in the exercises at the
tablets will assemble there at the hour mentioned.
The after-dinner exercises at the United States Hotel in the evening
will include an historical address by Hon. John C. Linehan, state
insurance commissioner of New Hampshire, on: “The Irish in the
Patriot ranks at the Battle of Bunker Hill.”
There will also be addresses by members of the Society from
Worcester, Springfield, Providence, Hartford, New York and other
cities. Dinner tickets will be three dollars each, and are now
ready. Please notify the secretary as soon as possible if you intend
to be present at the dinner.
Fraternally,
THOMAS J. GARGAN,
_President-General_.
THOMAS HAMILTON MURRAY,
_Secretary-General_ (77 Main Street, Woonsocket, R. I.)
June 1, 1900.
In accordance with the foregoing notice, a number of members of the
Society assembled at the memorial tablets, in Charlestown, at noon, and
witnessed the placing of a laurel wreath to the memory of the patriots
of June 17.
Upon the wreath being placed in position, a card bearing the following
inscription was attached thereto:
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| THIS WREATH |
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| IS HERE PLACED BY THE |
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| AMERICAN-IRISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY |
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| AS A TRIBUTE TO THE PATRIOTS |
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| Who, on this Hill, |
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| JUNE 17, 1775, |
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| Nobly gave battle, in the cause of liberty, to the forces of the |
| British King. |
| ------------- |
| Dulce et Decorum est Pro Patria Mori. |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
Thomas F. O’Malley then addressed the gathering substantially as
follows:
To-day we meet in pious and patriotic commemoration of a great deed,
performed here 125 years ago. To-day we stand in the midst of a
great nation which is proud, strong and free. All is joy around us.
But let us turn back a century and a quarter in the book of time.
What a scene was enacted here! The hill crowned with a hastily
constructed redoubt and held by an undisciplined and untrained
yeomanry—farmers, with their fowling pieces and but little
ammunition.
A brilliantly appointed army advancing to the attack and storming
the works, supported by coöperating ships and batteries; the blaze
of the burning town, coursing whole streets or curling up the spires
of public edifices; the air above filled with clouds of dense black
smoke, and the surrounding hills, fields, roofs and steeples
occupied by crowds of spectators. What strange sounds came to the
ear—the shouts of the contending armies, the crash of falling
buildings, the roar of ship guns and mortars and the rattle of
musketry.
On one side we find the high courage of men staking their lives and
reputations on the uncertain issue of a civil war; and on the other,
the reflection that defeat meant the final loss to Britain of her
American empire.
You know the story of that battle—how the flower of England’s army
were repeatedly repulsed; how in the moment of desperation the
regulars laid aside their knapsacks, moved forward, relying on the
bayonet and their artillery to carry the day. The American fire
slackened, the ammunition was expended, there were no bayonets, and
the oncoming regulars were met with clubbed muskets and stones. The
fortunes of the day were reversed, and, technically speaking, it was
a British victory.
After speaking of the men of Irish blood who fought in the patriot ranks
that day, Mr. O’Malley continued:
The Americans are estimated to have lost in killed 140, and in
wounded 271; loss by capture 30. In all, 441. The English loss was
226 killed, 828 wounded. Total—1,054.
In comparison with other battles, so far as numbers go, Bunker Hill
was but a skirmish. But in results it was of the utmost importance.
Before the engagement there was some hope, perhaps some chance, for
a peaceful settlement of existing difficulties; but after that
memorable day, all were for war and independence. Bunker Hill was
the beginning of the end of British domination on the Western
continent.
Mr. O’Malley was frequently applauded and upon the conclusion of his
address was warmly congratulated. The banquet at the United States Hotel
in the evening was a most enjoyable affair.
President-General Gargan occupied the chair. Among those present were
Hon. John C. Linehan, treasurer-general of the Society, Concord, N. H.;
Secretary-General T. H. Murray, Woonsocket, R. I.; William Doogue, city
forester of Boston; Thomas F. O’Malley, the orator at the memorial
tablets; Joseph Smith, Lowell, Mass.; James Jeffrey Roche, Boston;
William P. Connery, Lynn, Mass.; M. E. Hennessy, Boston; Capt. Samuel
McKeever, U. S. A. (retired), Somerville, Mass.; E. O’Meagher Condon,
New York city; John T. F. MacDonnell, Holyoke, Mass., and others.
President-General Gargan said in his after-dinner address:
One hundred and twenty-five years have passed since the memorable
battle of Bunker Hill, commemorated by yonder tall gray shaft at
Charlestown, familiar to us all from early boyhood. We knew the
story of that fight before we knew the multiplication table.
Nominally a British victory, yet a victory purchased at such fearful
cost to the victors as to inspire the colonists to believe that
ultimately the triumph would be theirs.
We all know the story from the American standpoint; few read the
British accounts of that battle. I was interested to read, a few
days ago, some of the English accounts; one of them concludes in
these words:
“The action has shown the bravery of the king’s troops, who, under
every disadvantage, gained a complete victory over three times their
number strongly posted and covered by breastworks, but they fought
for their king, their law and constitution.”
That sounds like the account some of the emasculated Americans in
our day would give of the fight. But Gage wrote to Lord Dartmouth,
then minister for the colonies:
“The number of killed and wounded is greater than we could afford to
lose. The trials we have had show that the rebels are not the
despicable rabble too many may have supposed them to be.”
Burgoyne and Clinton, who saw the battle from Copp’s Hill, have also
written their impressions of the battle in 1775. There were two
English accounts, historical in their nature. One of these, it is
thought, was written by Edmund Burke, and was published in the
Annual Register of that year.
To all Americans, Bunker Hill was a battle cry and an inspiration
during the seven long years of war necessary to obtain our
independence. To-day its memories should rekindle our patriotism and
prompt us to recall the story of the men who there died that a new
republic might be born. We know that they believed in God and had
high ideals.
The historical paper of the evening was by Hon. John C. Linehan and was
of a high order of merit.
Brief addresses were made by Capt. Samuel McKeever, U. S. A., and by
several other gentlemen present, and the company adjourned, well pleased
with the celebration of the day and evening.