The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17th 1775, 249 years ago on this day.
The Colonial Revolutionary forces learned that the British in Boston were planning to occupy the hills that would allow them to command Boston Harbour to keep it safe for the Royal Navy. In a stealthy move 1,200 colonials occupied Bunker hill and the adjacent Breed’s hill. They constructed a stout redoubt on Breed’s hill.
The British mounted an assault and were repulsed twice suffering heavy casualties. But on the third attempt they took the redoubt because the colonials ran out of ammunition. The Americans withdrew to Bunker hill and slipped away. The British claimed the ground and the victory. But they learned a hard lesson. American colonial militia were tough, and could shoot, and were able to stand up to a frontal attack by the British Army regulars.
Between 1825 and 1843 the 67 metre granite obelisk was erected, the Bunker Hill Memorial. It is located on Breed’s hill where the majority of the fighting took pace. The obelisk replaced an earlier wooden column erected to the memory of General Joseph Warren who fell during the battle.
The Marquis de Lafayette, on a 50 year anniversary tour of the war, laid the foundation stone. Built at the same time as the Wellington Monument in Dublin, the Bunker hill monument came in 5 metres taller making it the tallest obelisk in the world until the construction of the Washington Monument.
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