Breed's Hill

The Bunker Hill Monument is located on the highest point of Breed's Hill .

The Breed's Hill is a glacial drumlin in Boston district of Charlestown in the state of Massachusetts of the United States . The hill is essentially known as the location where much of the Battle of Bunker Hill took place in 1775, early in the American Revolutionary War . Today there are houses on the hill, but at its highest point there is the Bunker Hill Monument and other memorials to the fighting.

geography

The Breed's Hill is located in the southern part of the Charlestown Peninsula, had an oval shape originally, however, is more triangular in shape today and in colonial times still an artificial dam with Cambridge was connected that does not exist anymore. This is based on extensive interventions in the city and landscape design in the 18th and 19th centuries, which also affected the management of the Charles River .

The hill itself is 65  ft (19.8  m ) high and slopes relatively steeply to the east and west. At its highest point is Monument Square with the Bunker Hill Monument . In addition to the historical memorials and tourist facilities, there are also many residential buildings, as well as municipal facilities and retail outlets, on the hill.

history

→ Main article : Battle of Bunker Hill

This street sign that says Breeds Hill is in San Antonio , Texas instead of Massachusetts .

The Continental Army had learned of plans by the British to turn the Charlestown Peninsula into a fortress. She therefore decided to reach the peninsula first, to build a fortress herself, thus creating a sufficiently strong threat to force the British to leave Boston. On June 16, 1775, under cover of darkness, American soldiers, led by General Israel Putnam and Colonel William Prescott, sneaked onto the peninsula to establish defensive positions on Bunker Hill .

In fact, however, a redoubt , a small and usually only temporarily used defensive structure, was set up instead on the nearby Breed's Hill . This location was likely chosen because this hill was a little closer to Boston than Bunker Hill . The next morning, the astonished British saw the defenses built overnight by the rebels on the hill and immediately set out to recapture the site. The resulting conflict went down in history as the Battle of Bunker Hill - in contrast to the actual venue - because this was the place where Prescott originally intended, according to orders, to build the defenses. Some historians also consider Breed's Hill to be part of Bunker Hill , while others called it Charlestown Hill .

In 1825 the Bunker Hill Monument Association began building the Bunker Hill Monument and purchased 15 acres of land.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Richard M. Ketchum: Decisive day . the battle for Bunker Hill. Doubleday, New York 1991, ISBN 978-0-385-41897-3 .
2. ^ RJM: Bunker Hill . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 4 : Bishārīn - Calgary . London 1910, p. 799 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).

Coordinates: 42 ° 22 '34.9 "  N , 71 ° 3' 38.8"  W.