Delightful walk through the North End of Boston after which we walked the bridge over the Charles River to Charleston where we walked up to Bunker Hill. Now, where was the Battle of Bunker Hill fought? If you said Breed’s Hill - you are correct. Yep, the battle was fought on Breed’s Hill but called the Battle of Bunker Hill, which is where the Americans had been ordered to build a redoubt. The commander decided that Breed’s Hill would be better and built it there - and that’s where the battle was actually fought.
After the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the British retreated to the city of Boston and the Americans besieged them there. The Battle of Bunker Hill was their attempt to break out. Here’s a map to show the relative locations. The British are in Boston, towards the bottom of the map and have their batteries on Copp’s Hill. Bunker Hill in where Israel Putnam, a American militia leader, and his troops are and Breed’s Hill is in the center of the map. The Committee of Public Safety in Boston decided that the militias should occupy Bunker Hill. But what do these civilians know about military defenses? The militias, led by William Prescott, looked the area over and decided that Breed’s Hill was the best and fortified this since it was closer to Boston. Thus, the Battle of Bunker Hill was actually fought on Breed’s Hill.
Who won? The British, but they lost so many more men that it considered an American moral victory. The Americans repulsed the British attack twice and only retreated back to Cambridge after they had run out of ammunition.
Here’s a famous painting of the British ascending the hill. How would you like to march up a hill like this?
And, here’s the Americans defending it.
Results:
The British had lost so many men that they never attempted to break out of the siege lines again.
The Americans had lost fewer men, had fought hard and, though they retreated back to Cambridge only after they had run out of ammunition, knew that their amateur militia could fight the British Regulars and take them on. They just needed more ammunition.
Who want to climb 296 steps? Lots - we were not the only ones climbing - and huffing and puffing and stopping for rests sometimes.
Ooh, we have a long way to go
Getting closer. Huff, Puff.
The views were great but they did have a plastic sheet over the window to prevent anyone tossing something down. But these plastic sheets partly obscured the view. Here’s the view of Boston with Charleston in front.
Rooftop views are fun because you can see all the patios and gardens that people have built on their roofs.
When we got down we could see the security camera view of everyone at the top of the Monument looking out.
We then hiked over to see the USS Constitution which, unfortunately, was in dry dock getting repaired. It looks a little short since the tops of the masts have been removed. It will be in dry dock until 2016. I actually got on the ship long ago when I visited Boston with some friends. But we were disappointed that we couldn’t get on to explore today.
After the Revolution, America realized the need for a Navy and one of the first ships was the USS Constitution which is still a ship in the Navy today. She fought in the War of 1812 and it was there that she got the nickname ‘Old Ironsides’ when cannon balls bounded off her in a battle with the ship Guerriere. She won 42 battles, lost none, captured 20 vessels and was never boarded by an enemy. There have been several times when it looked as if she might be scrapped but in 1830 Oliver Wendell Holmes penned the poem ‘Old Ironsides’ which rallied public support. Then in 1930, schoolchildren held rallies and drives and saved their pennies to salvage her.
On July 4th every year, she is taken out into the harbor every year to turn around to reverse her position in the Navy yard to insure equal weathering on her sides.
Nice Museum and explanation of all the battles the Constitution fought in. It also traced the history of the Constitution even when it wasn’t in battle. Here it is as a ‘barn’ which housed recruits. Poor old ship. How degrading to have its graceful lines spoiled this way.
They had lots of models and one even had some ‘heads’ on them.
But the day is over now and it’s time to head back to the train for the ride back home.
But I did get some sunset pictures through the trees which surrounded the campground.
‘A friend told me once, “put ‘eat chocolate’ at the top of your ‘to do’ list every day; then eat some. That way you accomplish at least one thing every day’
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