In my last blog I shared a few newspaper articles published in the early 19th century relating to the Battle stories from Bunker Hill. As mentioned before, I started my research with 27,000 hits and I’m just over halfway through them all now. I try to go through as many as I can a night depending on my schedule, which has been quite busy and has slowed me down a little bit. But by the time this blog comes out it will be just after the 249th anniversary of the battle, so I think it’s important to continue on and share a bit more. This time, building the Bunker Hill monument.
By and large, in the years after the battle, the Breeds “Bunker” Hill area was still being farmed and did not have a significant monument like we know today, but a much smaller one specifically for General Warren, a hero of the battle. It wasn’t considered for a larger memorial and built upon until after the land came up for auction in the spring of 1822. An article mentions “A lot of ground, including the monument erected to the memory of General Warren and the remains of the “Brest-work” thrown up on the eve of the battle fought on that spot on the 17th June 1775, is advertised, to be sold at auction the first day of May. As a site so memorable should not be covered with buildings, it is hoped some patriotic gentleman of wealth, in the town of Charlestown will purchase this American Marathon, and have it enclosed with a stone or iron fence, to be held sacred, as the spot, where the defenders of the republic first met the shock of battle, in times, that tried men’s souls. No stranger from others states visits this part of the Union, who does not wish to stand, where fought the champions of Liberty. Future generations will hold that blood stained height in proud remembrance. There repose the ashes of the brave; there was planted the tree of Liberty. Let not the glorious sepulcher of our revolutionary warriors be profaned.”
On May 1, the auction did take place and the land was sold: “The spot of Ground, upon which stands the monument erected in commemoration of the Battle of Bunker Hill, was yesterday knocked off to Dr. John C. Warren of this city for $650. As Dr. Warren is a nephew of the lamented Gen. Warren, who fell in Bunker Hill battle, we presume that he has made this purchase with a view of preserving uninjured the few remaining traces of that important event.”
Soon after the purchase, the Bunker Hill Monument Association was formed to build a monument and preserve the site “It is intended to erect at MONUMENT, which shall be consecrated to the great leading characters and events, both civil and military, of the American Revolution, up to the 17th of June, 1775, to bear appropriate inscriptions of the names and dates.”
While erecting a monument to the battle was being discussed, doing so would damage the site that they sought to preserve. How big was the monument going to be? Would it disturb more of the sacred ground? These are just some of the questions I will answer in my next article!
