Front:
AMERICAN REVOLUTION BICENTENNIAL
PATRIOTS PREPARE DEFENSES
BUNKER
HILL
Bunker Hill 1775 by Trumbull
US Bicentennial 1Oc
FIRST DAY OF ISSUE
1975
PIRIT
OF
02129
76
Commemorating
Battle of
'BUNKER HILL
1975
philadelphia
Fleetwood
PHILADELPHIA76
Official First Day Cover
OWN.MA
Back:
PATRIOTS PREPARE DEFENSE
Working swiftly and quietly by moonlight, patriot farmers and
militiamen built a crude fortification atop what is known today
as Bunker Hill. That point of high ground, together with
Dorchester Heights to the south of Boston, afforded command-
ing vantage points of the city. The patriots, under Colonel
William Prescott, aware that the British occupying Boston
planned to defend these strategic positions, moved first. They
toiled feverishly, emplacing their few weapons, and storing their
pitifully meager supplies of powder and musket balls. The first
light of Saturday, June 17, 1775, revealed the results of their
overnight efforts, and the British were incensed. General Gage
ordered an immediate artillery barrage and a frontal assault of
infantry. Shown in combination with the new stamp is the 2/20
Bunker Hill issue, first released on June 17, 1959. Illustration
courtesy of the New York State Historical Association.
