The last stop on Boston's Freedom Trail is a shrine to the fog of war.
“Breed's Hill,” a plaque reads. “Site of the Battle of Bunker Hill.” Another plaque bears the famous order given American troops as the British charged up not-Bunker Hill. “Don't fire 'til you see the whites of their eyes.” Except, park rangers will quickly tell you, these words weren't spoken here. The patriotic obelisk atop the hill also confuses visitors. Most don't realize it's the rare American monument to an American defeat.
In short, the nation's memory of Bunker Hill is mostly bunk. Which makes the 1775 battle a natural topic for Nathaniel Philbrick, an author drawn to iconic and misunderstood episodes in American history. He took on the Pilgrim landing in Mayflower and the Little Bighorn in The Last Stand. In his new book, Bunker Hill, he revisits the beginnings of the American Revolution, a subject freighted with more myth, pride and politics than any other in our national narrative.
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