Commemorating Battle of Bunker Hill

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AMERICAN REVOLUTION BICENTENNIAL BUNKER HILL-THE BATTLE JOINED Bunker Hill 1775 by Trumbull US Bicentennial IOc FIRST DAY OF ISSUE 1975 02129 PIRIT 76 Commemorating Battle of BUNKER HILL 1975 philadelphio Fleetwood PHILADELPHIA'76 Official First Day Cover OWN.MA

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BUNKER HILL – THE BATTLE JOINED The first major confrontation between opposing American and British forces during the Revolutionary War took place at Charlestown, Massachusetts, on Saturday, June 17, 1775. To prevent British troops from seizing the strategically situated Bunker Hill, colonial patriots built a crude fortification near its crest during one moonlit night. Upon discovering its presence in the light of dawn, the British directed an immediate attack. Under covering artillery, 2300 Redcoats crossed the Charles River. Ranks of British regulars, 300 abreast, repeatedly charged the hill in the face of devastating fire. Suffering terrible losses, the British finally prevailed when Yankee powder was exhausted. British casualties numbered over 1000; Americans counted 450 dead and wounded. John Trumbull's heroic painting The Battle of Bunker's Hill, illustrated on this cachet is by the courtesy of the Yale University Art Gallery.