Only in Boston by Duncan J.D. Smith

18 Charlestown & East Boston Bunker Hill is a 110 foot-high mound on Bunker Hill Street, which in the 1770s jutted into Boston Harbor. The Americans, however, by- passed it and instead began fortifying Breed’s Hill, a smaller mound closer to Boston – and to the British. Why they did this is unclear but it was probably deliberate. The Americans’ inexperience with cannon perhaps meant they could do more damage from Breed’s Hill; addition- ally their closeness may have been designed to goad the British into attacking before they were fully prepared. Either way, Breed’s Hill has been synonymous with Bunker Hill ever since. On the morning of June 17th the British under General Thomas Gage (1718–1787) began their bombardment from Copp’s Hill (see no. 12). The well-trained Redcoats quickly torched Charlestown and began as- cending Breed’s Hill. There, however, they faced an obstacle course of long grass, boulders, and pitfalls, and were successfully driven back. The claim that Colonel Prescott told his soldiers not to fire on the Brit- ish “until you see the whites of their eyes” is probably hearsay but if true may have referred to their white breeches. Remarkably the British were rebuffed twice and only at a third at- tempt were they able to snuff out the Americans “like an old candle”. De- spite their defeat, however, the outnumbered and outgunned Americans felt emboldened by their performance. The bloodied British realised they were no longer punishing a mob but waging a war (see no. 60). Not everything is all it seems with the Bunker Hill Monument either. Although the cornerstone was laid in 1825, the 221-foot tall obelisk was not completed until 1843. Its construction necessitated the building of America’s first commercial railroad, which bankrupted the project early on. It was only completed when further funds were raised by magazine editor and author of the nursery rhyme Mary Had a Little Lamb , Sarah Josepha Hale (1788–1879) (see no. 18). Inside the obelisk is an 18 foot-high column topped with an urn erected in 1794 to mark where brave Dr. Joseph Warren (1741–1775) fell during the battle. From here 294 steps wind up to a viewing plat- form, where it can be appreciated just how compact the battlefield must have been and why the British losses were so high. The bloody scene is recreated in the Bunker Hill Museum at the bottom of the hill. Also visible from the viewing platform is the real Bunker Hill over on Bunker Hill Street, crowned today by the St. Francis de Sales Church. Since 1786 the battle has been celebrated with a lively street parade on the Sunday nearest June 17th. Other locations nearby: 1, 2, 3, 5