Bunker Hill Monument!

What Is the Bunker Hill Monument?

The Bunker Hill monument is a 221-foot tall granite obelisk atop Breeds Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts!

What Makes It Historical?

The British soldiers stationed in Boston were not expecting to get beaten by a bunch of Minute Men they’d meant to disarm and arrest in Lexington and Concord. By June of 1775, they moved to fortify all of the hills surrounding Boston and crush the rebellion once and for all! The only problem was, as with Lexington and Concord, someone had blabbed to the Massachusetts Provincial government! That sent about 1,000 soldiers from Massachusetts and Connecticut, under command of William Prescott and Israel Putnam, racing for the top of Breed’s Hill in Charlestown!

On the night of June 16, 1775, they built a fort on top of the hill, giving it its nickname of “Bunker,” and British Generals Howe and Gage weren’t having it! They strategized a two-part attack, a feint up the front and a flank from the side, but the Provincial forces were ferocious! They held off the attack for two hours until they ran out of ammunition and had to retreat. About 300-500 Provincial soldiers were killed or wounded, including leader, Dr. Joseph Warren, but the Brits had lost over 1,000 to musket fire! It was bittersweet for sure. The British would continue to hold Boston until 1776, but they were forced to realize that these colonial militias were no pushovers!

The monument here was one of America’s first, sponsored by the Bunker Hill Monument Association (BHMA), who bought 15 acres of the battlefield and a granite quarry in Quincy. Inspired by the Lateran Obelisk in Rome, they spent fifteen years off and on, from 1827 until 1842, building Boston’s enormous obelisk. A quarter of the $20,000 cost ($3.6 million today) was funded by the Bunker Hill Monument Fair (“Ladies’ Fair”) organized in Quincy Market by activist, Sarah Josepha Hale! The Marquis de Lafayette attended the cornerstone laying, and John Tyler presided over the dedication ceremony of over 100,000, but only Daniel Webster was around long enough to co-host both events!

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