Bunker Hill

Bunker Hill, an elevation (112 feet) on the peninsula of Charlestown, now part of Boston, Massachusetts, connected by a ridge, 700 yards long, with Breed's Hill (75 feet). The two heights were the scene of the first hard-fought battle of the American Revolution (June 17, 1775), in which the Americans, from behind some works hurriedly constructed during the preceding night, repulsed two attacks by General Gage's forces, and were dislodged only after reinforcements had been brought up, and their ammunition was spent. The British loss was 1054, that of the Americans 449. A granite obelisk, 221 feet high, marks the site of the redoubt. See UNITED STATES.