This celebrated monument, a view of which is given in the cut on the
next page, is in the town of Charlestown, Mass., on the hill where the
first battle was fought between the provincial and British troops in the
war of the revolution. The hill was originally called Breed’s hill,
Bunker hill being to the north of it, at the entrance of the peninsula
on which Charlestown is situated. On this hight a detachment of one
thousand men were directed to intrench themselves, on the night of the
sixteenth of June, 1775. By some mistake, they proceeded to Breed’s
hill, which is nearer Boston, and which has since been called Bunker
hill, as the name is associated with the battle. The men had worked with
such secrecy, that by the dawn of day they had, unperceived by the
enemy, thrown up a redoubt eight rods square. The incessant fire from
the shipping and a battery on Copp’s hill, in Boston, did not prevent
the Americans from completing by midday, with great labor and fatigue, a
slight breastwork from the redoubt to the bottom of the hill on the east
side. Between twelve and one o’clock, the British, to the number of
three thousand men, with a portion of artillery, under Generals Howe and
Pigot, landed in Charlestown, and having formed their men in two lines,
advanced slowly to the attack, frequently halting to allow their
artillery time to fire. The Americans, in their intrenchments, coolly
waited their approach. It is said that General Putnam, who was a leader,
though Colonel Prescott had the chief command, told the men that they
had not a charge of powder to waste, and exhorted them not to fire upon
the enemy till they could see the whites of their eyes. They were
suffered to approach to within ten or twelve rods, when these practiced
American marksmen fired with such deadly aim as to throw the British
ranks into confusion, and cause them to retreat precipitately to the
bottom of the hill. By the efforts of their officers they were formed a
second time and advanced to the attack. The Americans waited till they
were within five or six rods, when they again opened a destructive fire,
which brought them to a stand and threw them into confusion. At this
critical moment General Clinton arrived from Boston, and succeeded in
rallying his men, and in bringing them to a charge, while some cannon
were brought to a station that enabled them to rake the breastwork from
end to end. The works were now attacked with fixed bayonets, and as the
Americans were not furnished with them, and they found their ammunition
beginning to fail, they were obliged to retreat over Charlestown neck.
The British were victorious; but it was a dearly bought victory. Their
loss, by the acknowledgment of General Gage, was ten hundred and
fifty-four killed and wounded; while the engagement was particularly
fatal to the officers, as they were singled out by the American
marksmen. Nineteen commissioned officers were killed, and seventy
wounded. Of the men, two hundred and twenty-six were killed, and eight
hundred and twenty-eight wounded; while of the Americans, who had only
fifteen hundred men engaged, only one hundred and forty-five were
killed, and three hundred and four wounded and missing.
[Illustration: The Bunker Hill Monument]
On the site of this celebrated battle, sixty-two feet above the level of
the harbor, on ground purchased for the purpose, the Bunker hill
monument, a splendid obelisk, has been erected. The corner-stone was
first laid by La Fayette, on the fiftieth anniversary of the battle, in
the presence of an immense concourse of citizens, the seventeenth of
June, 1825, when an address was delivered by Daniel Webster. This
foundation, however, having been found insufficient, the corner-stone of
the present structure was laid, in a more substantial manner, in March,
1827; and the monument was completed the twenty-third of July, 1842. The
obelisk is thirty feet square at the base, and sixteen and one-third
feet at the top; and is substantially built of hewn Quincy granite. The
hight from the base to the top of the apex, is two hundred and
twenty-one feet; and the cost of the work was about one hundred and
twenty thousand dollars. The interior is circular, having a diameter of
ten feet and seven inches at the bottom, and of six feet and four inches
at the top, and is ascended by two hundred and ninety-four steps. The
top is an elliptical chamber, about eighteen feet high, with four
windows, the view from which is truly magnificent, embracing Boston, and
its harbor and environs, together with the mountain scenery in the
distance, and the adjacent towns nearer at hand. The monument consists
of ninety courses of hewn stone, eighty-four above the base, and six
below it. There are a number of windows in the sides, closed with iron
shutters, beside numerous apertures. The completion of the monument in
1842, was hailed by the firing of cannon, and other testimonials of
rejoicing. The monument itself, being the most elevated object in the
vicinity, will serve as a landmark to seamen, and will long stand in
commemoration of the brave men who here fought, and many of whom fell,
in defense of the rights of their country, nobly contributing to the
independence of the United States.