The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-06-17
Ths na,tls Of punLer Hill.

the battle of Bunker Hill is the most impor-
tant event of the Revolution, and
in popular interest it is hardly eclipsed
by the Declaration itself, which was
the mere drafting and signing Of
I paper, whereas heroic fighting against great
odds makes a more powerful impression on
the imagination and takes a stronger hold on
human sensibilities. we'll fought battle Is a
subject which admits of eloquence; but the
feelings cannot be deeply moved by references
to the composition of State paper. The
grardest bursts in the eloquence of our first
orator are the passages in Webster's hrst
Bunker Hill address, in which he unseals the
deepest fountains of emotion, as in the apos-
trophe to Warren, his affecting words TO the
survivors of the battle then present and the
noble and touching address to Lafayette, who
was also present The eloquence OF the Mas
sachusetts orators of the last age, particu-
larly Webster and Everett embellished and
emblazoned the Bunker Hill battle. Their
most admired passages passed into
the school books, and have been
acclaimed by the youth in all our seminarIes
OF learning on their gala days until they are
more familiar than anything else in htera-
ture. The consequence is that no event of the
American Revolution has had such a bright
halo OF patriotic sentiment cast about 1t as the
battle of Bunker Hill. There is no other
American battle ground which has been SO
worthily and proudly marked by an imposing
appeal to the eye, as well as powerful appeals
to imagination and sentiment There is no
other American monument which compares in
impressive grandeur with the massive column
on Bunker Hill-a monument which is as
solid in its structure the pyramids A
hundred centuries will look down from its
summit, if the earth should last SO long. The
unrivalled eloquence which has been uttered
on that spot will endure as long as the monu-
ment itself, and the battle, like the great
achievements of ancient Greece, will live in
human memory by other titles as splendid as
its own heroic grandeur.
But the blazonry of eloquence and monu-
mental fame is not disproportioned to the
event, which deserves to rank, not merely as
one of the important battles of the
Revolution, but the most important and fruit
full of them all The other battles were mere
incidents in the varying fortunes of the
struggle; this grandly opened the struggle
and made its continuance inevitable. 1t
nerved the public heart, infused manly
confidence into the whole country and taught
the patriots that they were q full match for
British soldiers, when the conditions were at
all equal The terrible destruction they
dealt upon the advancing foe, until their
powder gave out suddenly changed contempt
into respect and caused the war to be waged
on the British side with a halting timidity
which made 1t the most inglorious contest in
history of English military enterprise and
the records Of English valor. This point is
strikingly put by Mr.. Edward E. Hale in the
preface to his recent interesting pamphlet.
For many years, he says, ''the defeat Of the
Americans at Bunker Hill was to the people
of New England q sore matter We
know now what they could not guess, that
that battle virtually affected the tactics Of the
English generals through the war, and, in
certain sense, may be said to have decided
the war The respect for the American
troops which was learned in the horrible car
mage of that day accounts for Howe's remain
ing quiet within his lines in Boston for nearly
year afterward; it accounts tor the reserve
or shyness Of all his movements after he made
New York his centre it accounts, in short,
for the languid way in which the war was
carried on by every English leader excepting
Lord Corvallis This result Of the battle Of
Bunker Hill has made 1t one OF the decisive
battles of history; but OF that our fathers had
no idea, while they were trying TO discover
who wns responsible for their failure" Moth
ing of greater breadth and sagacity than these
remarks has ever been written on the battle
of Bunker HILL In q few hours of June
afternoon 1t completely revolutionized the
English opinion Of the fighting qualities Of
the Yankees. General Gage, writing to
Lord Dartmouth the next week, said:-
THE trials we have had show the rebels are
not the despicabe rsbble too many have sup
posed them 10 be- Horace Walpole, writ
ing after the news had been received in
England, said 1--WE are a little disap-
pointed, indeed, at their fighting at all, which
was not in our calculation" song COM
posed by the British soldiers in Boston after
the fight contained these lines -
Like reoels stout they stood IL out
And thought we meier could peat them.
We need not % into the details Of the
battle or the mooted points connected with its
history. They have been fully presented in
our columns by able correspondents within
the last week. 1t is more natural and appro-
pirate on this centennial day to surrender
ourselves to the spirit Of the occasion and
join 10 the commemorative rejoicing. The
heart Of New York, the heart Of the whole
country, is with the assembled multitudes in
Boston and Charestown to-day, and every
pusation beats responsive to their more real
izing sense Of that battle, awakened on the
ground where il was fought and under the