Front:
AMERICAN REVOLUTION BICENTENNIAL
BURNING OF CHARLESTOWN
Bunker
US Bicentennial IOc
JUN
17
1975
FIRST DAY OF ISSUE
02129
PIRIT
OF
76
Commemorating
Battle of
BUNKER HILL
1975
philadelphia
Fleetwood
PHILADELPHIA'76
Official First Day Cover
Back:
BURNING OF CHARLESTOWN
The British brought all of their available force to bear on the
defenders of Bunker Hill. Artillery on the Boston side of the
Charles River, together with British gunboats in the harbor,
poured thousands of rounds of shot on the Yankee fort and town.
Following the battle, British General Burgoyne described the
scene in a letter to his nephew, Lord Stanley: “Now ensued one of
the greatest scenes of war that can be conceived: if we look to the
height, [General] Howe's corps ascending the hill in the face of
entrenchments ... to the left the enemy pouring in fresh troops
by thousands ... in the arm of the sea our ships and floating
batteries cannonading them; strait before us a large and a noble
town in one great blaze ... a picture of horror and importance
beyond anything that ever came to my lot to be witness to.” The
cachet shows Attack on Bunker's Hill
, with the Burning of
Charles Town, courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington.
