USPS Bicentennial Anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill

 

USPS on 17 June 1975 issued a bicentennial first day cover stamp of the Battle of Bunker Hill. This 10 cent stamp was postmarked with a cancellation originating from  Charlestown, Massachusetts. A total of 139,928,000 stamps were printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, using the photogravure method. It was a multicoloured stamp with 11 perforations.

This historic battle is actually misnamed, as the ensuing altercation occurred elsewhere on another hill in Massachusetts. Place name aside, the Battle of Bunker Hill was fought between British forces under General William Howe and New England militiamen under General Israel Putnam and Colonel William Prescott on 17 June 1775. When the Americans received intelligence that the British intended to capture certain strategic heights outside Boston, General Artemus Ward ordered the fortification of Bunker Hill. Inexplicably, the forces under his command took position on nearby Breed’s Hill. After several hours of bloody fighting the Americans were dislodged. But the British paid a terrible price: 228 were dead and 826 were wounded – 42 percent of their total strength.