Local News

Battle of Bunker Hill reenactment will move to Gloucester, partly because of lack of parking

Due to the tight space in Charlestown, the 250th anniversary of the revolutionary battle will be commemorated on the Gloucester waterfront.

Sons of the American Revolution Color Guard at Bunker Hill Day during the official battle of Bunker Hill commemorative exercises service at monument in 2014. David L. Ryan

By Morgan Rousseau

December 21, 2024

2 minutes to read

As the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution begins next year, hundreds of history buffs will reenact the Battle of Bunker Hill in Gloucester instead of the Charlestown battlefield where the clash originally took place.

More than 700 people are expected to participate in the battle reenactment, which will take place at Stage Fort Park on June 21 and 22. The commemoration will happen at the Gloucester waterfront park due to urban congestion and National Park Service restrictions, according to a Boston Globe report.

Organizers said they decided to seek out a larger oceanside venue on a hill due to space constraints and a lack of parking in Charlestown.

“Though we would love to have Bunker Hill 250 happen in Charlestown, there just isn’t a location in the city where it would be geographically possible to hold such a program. We encourage all participants to visit the Bunker Hill monument and museum,” organizers said on the event’s website.

Amanda Zettel, cofounder of Bunker Hill 250 and president of the Charlestown Preservation Society, said a smaller battle reenactment may happen earlier in June near Bunker Hill Community College.

“We are now an urban site, so it’s kind of hard to do anything in its full glory,” Zettel told the Globe. “I will say that the community is very much looking forward to and hoping that there also will be a reenactment in Charlestown.”

On its website, Bunker Hill 250 organizers describe the revolutionary battle as “one of the nation’s most significant events on the road to American Independence.”

The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775, and is considered one of the bloodiest battles of the Revolutionary War. More than 1,000 British casualties and 450 colonial casualties occurred.

Though the British won the battle, historians say the encounter proved the colonials could hold their own against the British army.

“The stubborn defense of the fortifications atop Breed’s Hill demoralized the British and accelerated the movement toward American independence,” Bunker Hill 250 organizers said on the event’s website. “The destruction of Charlestown, one of the oldest settlements of Massachusetts, proved to the other colonies that the fight in Massachusetts was the fight for ‘Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness’ throughout America.”

The Battle of Bunker Hill reenactment will be free and open to the public. However, participants must be affiliated with the Brigade of the American Revolution, the Boston Garrison, the Continental Line, or the British Brigade. Walk-on reenactors won’t be allowed to participate.