Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1843-06-22
From the New YerA 7rib.se
Bunker Hill Celebration.
June lTfh. ls43.

4 u
tn day, the wind being slill Northeast
and the air damp and oh lly. At an ear
ly hour he sound of martial music rose
from the numerous compani' collected
in Boston during the preceding three
days, and the clustering uf military and
citizens towards The magnificent Common,
commenced at seven o'clock. and cnn,ns
ued till nearly ten; a, which hour there
must have been 100, 600 persons within
the enclosure. Al the same time the
streets through which the procession was
to pass were lined With eager expectan,s
the balconies ard windass glowing
with waiting faces. Already Bunker
Hill and the Apr ach TO II from B
ton were thronged by thousands.--
the military were generally uudrr arms
by 8 o'clock, and in position on the COM
mon before 81 The New England Socie-
" Of New York, some 400 strong, FORM
ed in Summer Street, near College CIR, en-
II was past 10 o'clock before the pro-
cession began TO move from the densely
throngtd Common, and neatly IL when
the Lancer Guards of Boston, forming
its advance, reached the superb glacis on
the North east or the Monument, which
had been chosen as the site for the cen
tire Of the Celebration-tne officers stand
beng on The outr side of the oblong
square facing The Monument. AT this
time, salute was fired from the Navy
Yard, and the bells of Boston and Charles
town rang out stirring peal. On the
Northeast steps ofthe Monument square
facing n: sicers' sisad, and The glacis,
seats had been reserved for fifteen hundred
lad es and were early occupied in good
part The Monument Square itseli, tie
waited some ten feet, computed 10 give
standing room 10 Is 600 persons, was
nearly filled before the PROCESSION made
It's appearance, while a mass of human
beings lined each end of the glacis, pre-
yiously cleared by the Norfolk and New
B, dford Guards. Hon. d mel Webster,
Orator Of the Day, though assigned a
place in the car,isg,s, came in by him
self n ally an hour b, fore the proce ssion,
and WAS welcomed with repeated cheers.
Precisely at balf past L., the head Of
the regular p ocession reached the
Ground, then cloud by the cannon
smoke from the Navy Yard. The Mill
tary hblied outside the area, formed in
double lines, faclng inward, TO let thu
CIVIC procession pass through and Into
the square ahead.
At 10 J o'clock, the head Of the Civ
Procession passed through and into The
oblong square betwe. The Officers stand
and the Monum, Mt, the Brigade b nd in
front, followed by the Executive Com
mitiee in carriage, escoiilng the Presl.
dent and suite in clrriage drawn by
four superb bays. The President was
CHI Erred as he rode lot t e ara, and.
lighting. to,k his place on the stand,
where Mr.. Webster had be for som-
tine solitary and one.' Messrs. S"n-
Ger, Porter, Wickhfie and Legare, ms
they cane on the Stand, gre ted Mr.. w.
y, ~ cordially, and were introduced TO the
genilen' n in attendance as officers Of the
day, committees, &c.
But the deepest manifest alton Of enlhu-
'iasm was reserved f r The appearance OF
lh, surviving SOLDIERS oE THE REvo-
LUTON. who arrived in The succeeding
ges, and alighting in the centre OF
the SQUARE, iottcred with feeble steps TO
their places IN the latform. They were
one hundred and eight in number,
twelve of whom had shared in the p Ills
and glo,ies of the bloody struggle on this
very ground sxty-elg' Ut years ago; three
Of them had fought also OF Lexington,
where the first blood " as SHED in tine Rev.
dictionary contest, two months before the
more determined strife on Bunker Hill.
Piineas Johnson. now 81 years Cd, was
in both these conflicts, and was r.pnted
The oldest man present; but we are as
sured that Mr.. Maynard. (father of Hon.
John Maynard, NJ. C. from this State,
now 90 years old, and also sharer IN
TIL Bunker hill struggle, vas present
we know that he reached Boston on tie
night before in good health and spirits, on
purpose to be there.
Earnest, profound, reiterated were the
bIrsts { cheering from the immense con-
course as these treasured relics OF glo-
IlOus uhy up W oS"tS w t'S
staging. Eighteen years ago, when the
conner stone Of the Monument was laid
by Lafayette in the presence Of sixty
Thousand { e'mrn, faI larger and stron-
ger band of them were pres, Mt, to rel ice
over the commemoration OF their h, role
struggle half century before. Eigh.
teen years hence, who can hope that even
one of them will be l-lt to tell the thrill.
ling story Of these three ,ras in their and
their country's ev, ntiul histo,yl
The Freemssons, who had doue much
toward the erection Of the Monument,
(having given the ground, on which they
had previously erected small monument
to Gen. Warren, their Gland Master,
who fell in the battIe,) were out 10 con-
siderable force, and made an imposing
appearance. They were greatly out
numbered, however, by the Odd-Fellows,
who must have mustered nearly one thou
sand. The sons of New England from
New York, escorted, by our superb Light
Guards, were warmly cheered as they ar
rived in the centre The Hbernisns, in
four different societies, wearing the Green
of their beloved native Isle, Were in great
force, and made an admirable appearance.
II was half past one o'clock when the
Bunker Hill Monument Association