We are the Bunker Hill Society

This Society honors the Patriots who participated in the Colonial Ranks at the Battle of Bunker Hilll on June 17, 1775. These men, women and children inflicted grievous harm on the British forces occupying Boston and set the spirit of the American Revolution. Their patriotic participation is celebrated by the Bunker Hill Society

You can Email us at: Bunkerhillsociety@gmail.com

For information and an application please contact :

bunkerhillsociety@gmail.com

Bunker Hill Society  

March 2025

 President’s Message

Dear Fellow Descendants,

Well, it is finally here. The 250th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill. The 250th anniversary of, well, our Country. For if not for this battle, the Colonials may have always had doubts about standing up for themselves against anyone. The enlightenment, if you will, from this battle against the world’s strongest fighting force, was something which would carry with it the legacy of sacrifice and service to these new United States. It would provide evidence that we all must protect our country against threats.

The following is taken from a timely article in New England.com:

Every American battle is connected to the battle fought here, and that every American who’s served their country is connected to the men who fought here. Tell your children to only ask one thing from the country, and that is to serve and nothing else. It is our responsibility to protect the country and everything that it represents, defend the Constitution, defend the liberty of this nation. Today, one must battle historical illiteracy, the greatest evil to our freedom.

The Battle of Bunker Hill was fierce; the losses were among the worst of any battle in the Revolution. The colonists’ defiance surprised King George III and impressed Europe. The king would send more men, tens of thousands of troops. It can be argued that the American Revolution, the fight that lasted from 1775 to 1783, started on this hill. It was “perhaps the decisive Day … on which the fate of America depends,” Abigail Adams wrote to her husband, John Adams, the day after the battle. In Charlestown, hundreds and hundreds of lives were erased in a matter of minutes. This shock is evident in statements by both British and American leadership. In two hours of combat, the British suffered a nearly 50 percent casualty rate, with 1,054 soldiers killed or wounded. The New England militia lost an estimated 441 soldiers—dead, wounded, or captured.

Just up that hill, 30 men were bayoneted to death. General Joseph Warren, Boston’s favorite doctor, took a musket ball in the face; he was memorialized as one of the Revolution’s first martyrs. As the redcoats charged uphill on their third and final assault, the militia, out of ammunition, threw rocks and swung their muskets like clubs before they retreated. The British navy shelled Charlestown, setting it ablaze.

Men died here. Let us not forget their sacrifice 250 years ago, one from which sprung this nation. The architect, Horatio Greenough, chose an obelisk, an Egyptian form considered the proper way to proclaim the eternal memory of the dead. His design, as built, is spare—there are no names, no laurels in stone, no urns, no statues or busts. Plain stone was thought to be a better collective tribute.

 We hope to see you all in Boston June 17th! The Bunker Hill Monument Association will be represented also, as well as the AHAC (Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company).

Revolutionarily Yours, Dr. Peter L. Sheerin

President, The Bunker Hill Society

Become a member and have your Patriot ancestor featured.

Rev Michael Denney’s ancestor is FIRST LIEUTENANT DAVID CHANDLER of Andover, MA. He was a Lieutenant in Captain Benjamin Ames Company of Minute Men in Colonel James Frye's Regiment on the Lexington alarm, April 19 , 1775 . His name appears in a return list dated May 7, 1775. He was in the battle of Bunker Hill and lost articles there. He served through the year. In 1776 he was First Lieutenant in Colonel Paul Dudley Sargent's 16th Continental Regiment. He died in camp, in Cambridge, Feb. 11, 1776, of smallpox, aged fifty-two.

https://www.masshist.org/revolution/bunkerhill.php#

DAR Ancestor Search

Searchhttps://services.dar.org/Public/DAR_Research/search/?Tab_ID=1

SAR Patriot Search

https://sarpatriots.sar.org/patriot/search/

New Hampshire Soldiers in the Battle of Bunker’s Hill. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/roster-of-new-hampshire-soldiers-in-the-battle-of-bunker-s-hill.htm

The Massachusetts Magazine. Here are links to Col Frye’s Regiment but search this magazine for other commanders and their officers.  https://archive.org/details/massachusettsmagv3sale/page/162/mode/1up?view=theater

https://archive.org/details/massachusettsmagv3sale/page/246/mode/1up?view=theater

Index Of Continental Army Enlisted Men’s Diaries Compiled by Bob McDonald, © 2001, 2021, 2024. https://revwar75.com/library/bob/diaries2.htm There are 34 diaries from enlisted men on this page.

http://files.usgwarchives.net/ma/worcester/military/revwar/lancaster.txt

https://www.town.pepperell.ma.us/144/Bunker-Hill-Memorial-Bench

Dr. Peter L. Sheerin - President

Dawn M. Darche - Vice President and Secretary

Mary F. Brown - Registrar and Treasurer

Rev. Michael R Denney - Webmaster

Please check out our advertisement in the Fall 2024 Vol. 119, No, 2 issue of the SAR Sons of the American Revolution Magazine. It is on page 37. and on Page 43 of Winter 2024-2025 Vol. 119, No.3 issue.