October 2, 2021 - Bunker Hill
We made the short walk through Charlestown from the USS Constitution to the Bunker Hill Monument.
   
The 221-foot granite obelisk was erected between 1825 and 1843.
   
A statue of Colonel William Prescott who commanded the patriot forces in the Battle of Bunker Hill.  Prescott is credited with making the famous statement:  "Do not fire until you see the whites of their eyes".
   
We lucked out.  A Park Ranger had just started giving a talk about the battle when we arrived.  The Ranger did a great job describing the battle.
   

A placard near the monument shows an exceptional artist conception of the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775.

You are looking south.  Boston is at top across the Charles River.  Charlestown is at right (burning).  The British tried an amphibious assault on the left (east).  Breed's Hill (not Bunker Hill) is center right.  In 1775 both Boston and Charlestown were on peninsulas, practically islands.
   
The Park Ranger's briefing aid.  As you can see, the battle really took place on Breed's Hill, not Bunker Hill.
   
They fortified the wrong hill!
   
The red brick outlines the fortification on top of Breed's Hill.
   
The British took Breed's Hill but at terrible cost.  It was the classic phyrric victory.
   
 
   
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