BUNKER HILL, BATTLE OF. When General Wash ington was told that there had been a battle at Bunker Hill he immediately asked : " Did the militia fight?" On being told that they had fought he remarked : "Then the liberties of the country are safe." By that one sentence Washington showed that he realized the importance of the battle of Bunker Hill, the first real battle of the American Revolution.
This famous battle was fought on June 17, 1775, before Washington took command of the army. The colonial forces had been holding the British shut up in Boston, but they learned that the enemy was plan ning to occupy some of the hills about the city. On the night of June 16, Colonel Prescott and his men started out to prevent this by occupying Bunker Hill, but they changed their plans and fortified Breed's Hill instead.
On the morning of June 17, the British were amazed to see trenches crowning the hill. The vessels in the harbor immediately began bombarding the forti fication, and later in the day the British troops attacked it. Twice they advanced to the attack.
All was silent as they marched up the hill, for General Putnam had given the command : " Don't fire until you can see the whites of their eyes." When they were within a few yards of the fortifications a sheet of flame swept down from the redoubt. The men in the front ranks were mowed down. The others beat a hasty retreat. A third time the British charged. This time the redoubt remained silent, for the powder of the colonial forces was exhausted. The patriots fought with clubbed muskets, but they were slowly forced to retreat to Bunker Hill, leaving the battlefield in the hands of the British.
It was a victory which had been dearly bought, how ever, for the British had lost 226 men killed and 828 wounded, while the loss of the Americans had been 145 killed and 304 wounded. The sentiment of the colo nists toward the defeat was expressed by Nathanael Greene when he said : " I wish we could sell them another hill at the same price." Today a granite shaft 221 feet high stands near the spot where the gallant General Warren fell just as the retreat began. The cornerstone of this "Bunker Hill Monument" was laid by Lafayette in 1825, the 50th anniversary of the battle, and the monument was dedi cated in 1843, Daniel Webster delivering the oration.