George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 7, 4th edition.

[407] meets an arm of the sea. Near its northeastern ter-

Chap. XXXVIII.} 1775. June.

mination rose the round smooth acclivity of Bunker Hill, one hundred and ten feet high, commanding both peninsulas. The high land then fell away by a gradual slope for about seven hundred yards, and just north by east of the town of Charlestown, it reappeared with an elevation of about seventy-five feet, which bore the name of Breed's Hill. Whoever should hold the heights of Dorchester and Charlestown, would be masters of Boston.

About the middle of May, a joint committee from that of safety and the council of war, after a careful examination, recommended that several eminences within the limits of the town of Charlestown should be occupied, and that a strong redoubt should be raised on Bunker Hill. A breastwork was thrown up across the road near Prospect Hill; and Bunker Hill was to have been fortified as soon as adequate supplies of artillery and powder should be obtained; but delay would have rendered even the attempt impossible. Gage, with the three major-generals, was determined to extend his lines north and south, over Dorchester and Charlestown; and as he proposed to begin with Dorchester, Howe was to land troops on the point; Clinton in the centre; while Burgoyne was to cannonade from Boston Neck. The operations, it was believed, would be very easy; and their execution was fixed for the eighteenth of June.

This design became known in the American camp, and such was the restless courage of the better part of the officers, such the confidence of the soldiers, that it seemed to justify a desire to anticipate the movement. Accordingly, on the fifteenth of June, the Massachusetts committee of safety informed the council of war,