“Bunker Hill” Foretells Greater Struggles in America’s History

By Len Abram

The fact slips by you like a road sign at sixty miles-per-hour, hardly noticed because you are enjoying the ride. Nathaniel Philbrick’s book of one of America’s famous battles, “Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution,” (Penguin, 2013. 396 pages)  is not about an American victory, but an American  defeat.

Victory has many fathers, to paraphrase John F. Kennedy, while defeat is an orphan. Massachusetts and the nation readily adopted this defeat. Bunker Hill was a Pyrrhic victory for the British, that is, much too costly. The British might still win the war, but not as easily as they anticipated.

The colonists were prepared for war because they had practice in its blood-spattered school. First, they fought in the King Philip War against Native Americans, in which a third of the settlements in New England were torched. Secondly, as British allies in the French and Indian War, the colonists learned the arts of attack and siege, the predicament the English found themselves in Boston in 1775 with their backs to the sea.

Philbrick traces the painful separation between colony and mother country. The transition from colonist to patriot, from subject to citizen, happened with the colonists’ growing frustration over laws and taxes passed by a legislature three thousand miles away. The colonists were used to self-government and local militias. When the disputes between England and the colonies moved beyond negotiation, one side or the other would use force to compel compliance.

The fighting started in Lexington and Concord. British regulars left the safety of Boston to deny the colonists the ability to resist. Confiscating gunpowder, in short supply, was the surest way to end the fighting. The regulars never got that far as they met resistance, even if the militia had fortified their courage with visits to the neighborhood tavern. These were skirmishes where terrain, such as the long road back to Boston, nullified British strength. The first real battle, Philbrick shows, where British army discipline, equipment and skill were at their best, would take place at Breed’s Hill and at Bunker Hill in Charlestown.

Unless the British broke out of the siege in Boston, eventually they would have to evacuate. British strategy, in fact, favored the central part of the colonies, New York and New Jersey, as more important than New England. Control there split the colonies. Boston was not critical.

To stay in Boston, however, the British would have to keep their enemy off the heights overlooking the city. Cannon on hilly Charlestown or Dorchester threatened the occupation and the ships supplying it. When American forces fortified Breed’s Hill in Charlestown, they challenged the British to battle, which the British welcomed to put an end to the insurrection.

The British launched three attacks on the 110-foot rise of the Charlestown hills. With the third, the  British overwhelmed the Americans.  The oft-quoted command about not firing until the patriots saw the whites of British eyes was really the whites of the gaiters British troops wore.

British General Howe and his staff expected to face an American mob easily routed. Howe brought with him his valet and a bottle of wine to celebrate the victory. Both the wine and valet were hit. British forces suffered over a thousand dead or wounded, about 40 percent of the troops and officers. American losses were a third of the Regulars. The death of Dr. Joseph Warren, patriot leader, the hero of Philbrick’s history, was an irreplaceable loss.

Philbrick writes like a novelist. Historical figures, a traitor like Benjamin Church or a leader like George Washington, are complex. Church is disloyal to his own wife, but loyal to the British Crown. He spies on the patriots because he believes them to be the real traitors. As for Washington, Philbrick treats the legend as a man with well-known virtues but neglected flaws. Philbrick suggests that Dr. Joseph Warren, had he lived, would have replaced Washington as commander. Warren could have been our first President.

Another outstanding patriot is Henry Knox. Knox led the group, which took cannon by oxen from Fort Ticonderoga in New York to Dorchester Heights overlooking Boston, forcing the British evacuation, still celebrated.

Philbrick frames his history with symmetry. In 1775, John Quincy Adams as a boy watches the Bunker Hill battle from Braintree. The book ends in 1843, as the distinguished Adams, former President, is invited to the dedication of the monument  in Charlestown. Adams refuses to take much joy in the event because he is so opposed to slavery, still lawful.

Slavery in America cast shadows on the American Revolution. Fighting for liberty means liberty for all men, Adams would suggest.  The Civil War was in the offing, where battles, far greater than what Adams witnessed at Bunker Hill, lay ahead.

Things to Do Today: One Book One Belmont Author Speaks, Madrigal Singers at the Beech

• The Belmont Public Library welcomes author Nathaniel Philbrick for a talk on his award-winning book, “Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution” at 7:30 p.m. at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St. Winner of the 2013 New England Book Award for Nonfiction, “Bunker Hill” was selected as the 2014 One Book One Belmont selection. Philbrick’s presentation marks the conclusion of this year’s events. Refreshments will be served, and a book signing will be hosted at the end.

• Belmont High’s Dr. Jeff Shea will be presented the Massachusetts Teacher of the Year Award at an all-school assembly at the school at 9 a.m.

• Just back from their spring trip to Austria, the Madrigal Singers of Belmont High School will be giving a free concert on Tuesday, May 6 beginning at 3:30 p.m. at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St. The concert is open to the community so swing on by.

Varsity Boys’ Track and Field (vs. Lexington) and Boys’ Tennis (against Burlington) will be at home with the action starting at 3:30 p.m.

Down Early, Belmont Girls’ Lacrosse Now in Playoff Hunt

After getting off to a slow start with four loses and a tie, it appeared a run for the place in the Div. 2 North sectional playoffs was out of sight for the 2014 Belmont High Girls’ Lacrosse team.

But in the past two weeks, the team has won four straight including a 17-11 win over Wakefield on Friday, May 2, to get right back into the playoff hunt at 4-4-1.

The turnaround is credited to a large dose of practicing the basics, said Head Coach Aimee Doherty.

“We were having trouble catching and passing agh the beginning, So when we got a hang of that and our midfield transition down, that’s when it started getting together,” Doherty said.

In addition, the defense is playing better with better communication that closes gaps in front of sophomore goaltender Anastasia MacEwen.

Leading the way of the Marauders over the past four games are MacEwen, junior three-sport standout Sophia Eschenbach-Smith (who had eight verses Wakefield and 12 in the past two matches), junior Lizzie Frick and freshman Kayla Kaloostran who had a hat-trick against Wakefield.

And a playoff spot in the future?

“It’s possible,” said Doherty.

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Belmont Club Rugby Enters Final Game with Home Win Over BC High

Last Wednesday, April 30, on a night full of wind (15 mph coming off the Atlantic), rain and cold – while the official temperature was 43, it felt like 34 degrees – the Belmont High School Rugby Club team dominated a strong Boston College High School squad to win its final home game of the year going away, 31-5, giving up a try in the final seconds.

“BC High came in one of the top teams in the league,” noted Head Coach Greg Bruce after the game.

“The team has been coming together for the past few weeks and it’s watching an engine being tuned up, they are getting better and better,” said Bruce.

Senior Nick Pearson scored twice while junior Paul Campbell and seniors JD Niles and Barrett Lyons each crossed the goal line for a try.

“We asked them to focus on protecting the ball and really playing an aggressive style of defense and they put BC High under a lot of pressure,” said Bruce.

“It’s their team. The coaches facilitate what they are looking for and the past few years they have been asking more and more and more.

The defending Div. 1 state champions will travel to Davners on Wednesday, May 7, to take on perennial powerhouse St. John’s Prep who the Marauders defeated last year. The game is at 4 p.m.

Belmont High Rugby Club vs. Boston College High at Belmont's Harris Field on April 30, 2014.

Belmont High Rugby Club vs. Boston College High at Belmont’s Harris Field on April 30, 2014.

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Housing Trust’s CPA Affordable Housing Plan Gets Mixed Results

For the majority of articles being brought before the Belmont Town Meeting tonight, Monday, May 5, the Warrant Committee and the Board of Selectmen are of one mind; they will be nodding in sync approvingly with nearly all the proposals facing the approximate 300 representatives.

But there is one article where the two groups have decided to take diverging paths on the Community Preservation Committee’s $375,000 grant to the Belmont Housing Trust’s first-time homebuyer’s proposal.

The plan will help three homebuyers –  it would target those making less than 80 percent of the area median household income which is approximately $92,000 – to lower their mortgages by approximately $125,000 each to make them affordable. In return, the three units will remain affordable “in perpetuity” due to a deed restriction that limits the amount the homeowner can receive in a resale.

“There are six units of this same housing in Belmont, on Oakley and B Street,” noted Gloria Leipzig, the Housing Trust’s vice chair at a Warrant Briefing meeting in April.

While the Warrant Committee – which is the Town Meeting’s financial watchdog – voted overwhelmingly against the plan by 10-3 in April, the Belmont Board of Selectmen, in a two to one vote, will be supporting the proposal when it comes before the Town Meeting likely at Monday’s first night.

The disagreement between backers of the Housing Trust’s initiative and those opposed is not based on support of affordable housing as all members believe that Belmont should push to increase the supply of this housing – Belmont has about 300 units or 3.8 percent of the total housing stock.

Rather it’s the approach the Housing Trust hopes to use to increase affordable housing that has come under fire. According to several Warrant Committee members and Selectman Sami Baghdady, using nearly $400,000 to move a limited number of people into moderate-rate housing is simply not cost effective.

With Belmont nearly 600 units away from reach the state’s goal of 10 percent affordability in housing (which will also prohibit developers from using the Chapter 40B law allowing developers of affordable housing to override most town zoning bylaws and other requirements), the money would better be spent as part of a larger expenditure to build a great number of units or on other causes. 

“[The Community Preservation Act] is all tax money and it shouldn’t be used as a slush fund” for ineffective programs, said Baghdady at a May 1 Selectmen’s meeting.

Supporters of the CPA request contend that any increase in housing is better than staying pat on this societal problem.

“Our goal is to increase the number of affordable housing in Belmont, just to show the state we are trying to meet its requirements,” said Leipzig. 

For Selectman Mark Paolillo, the realization that the town may “never” meet the 10 percent goal doesn’t mean that the town should seek the perfect at the expense of doing nothing.

“It’s not perfect but I support the concept,” said Paolillo.

“We need to show our commitment to affordability and this is a fairly easy way to do it,” said Selectmen’s chair Andy Rojas.

Three Words: Belmont Town Meeting

Regulating dog day care, removing the snow removal bylaw, financing a new pool and grants to several organizations will be debated and voted on in the first part of the Belmont annual Town Meeting beginning tonight at 7 p.m. in the Belmont High School auditorium.

As with recent custom, the first part of this year’s Town Meeting – now in its 155th edition – will take up non-budgetary issues such as voting on bylaws, changes to the zoning regulations and the approval of funds through the Community Preservation Act.

To view the articles, head to this PDF page on the Town Clerk’s website.

If Town Meeting can not finish its business tonight, it will continue on Wednesday, May 7 and then Monday, May 12 and Wednesday, May 14.

The approximately 290 representatives, moderated by Michael Widmer, will debate the fiscal year 2015 budget on Monday, June 2 when Town Meeting will reconvene.

According to Town Clerk Ellen Cushman, the articles will be called in the following order:

1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 12, 16, 17, 15, 7, 6, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 3, 14.

The Week to Come: One Book One Belmont Author to Speak, Mother’s Day Flowers

• The Belmont Public Library welcomes author Nathaniel Philbrick for a talk on his award-winning book, “Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution” on Tuesday, May 6 at 7:30 p.m. at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St. Winner of the 2013 New England Book Award for Nonfiction, “Bunker Hill” was selected as the 2014 One Book One Belmont selection. Philbrick’s presentation marks the conclusion of this year’s events. Refreshments will be served, and a book signing will be hosted at the end.

Belmont High’s Dr. Jeff Shea will be presented the Massachusetts Teacher of the Year Award at an all-school assembly at the school on Tuesday, May 6 at 9 a.m.

• On Wednesday, May 7, the Daniel Butler Elementary School will be celebrating Bike & Walk to School Day by forming walking groups led by exemplary cyclists and walkers to travel by foot or pedal to the Butler. Co-sponsored by Sustainable Belmont and state and national Safe Routes to School organizations, walkers will depart from their various locations around Butler at 8:15 a.m. to arrive at school no later than 8:25 a.m.

• Beginning this Friday, May 9 and running through Sunday, May 11, the Friends of Belmont Softball will be hosting its annual Mother’s Day Flower Sale at the Lions Club at the MBTA commuter rail station at Common Street and Royal Road.

• It’s the annual Belmont Pops Concerts where the Belmont High School cafeteria is transformed into a “Pops”-style arrangement with table seating where audience members will be entertained by Belmont High musicians while having light snacks and other refreshments. There are two concerts, on Friday, May 9 and Saturday, May 10 both starting at 7 p.m. Sales from tickets benefit POMS, Parents of Music Students.

• The Chenery Middle School’s 7th and 8th Grade Band Concert will take place on Thursday, May 8 at 7 p.m. at the Chenery’s auditorium.

• Belmont Against Racism will discuss the book “The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration” by Isabel Wilkerson on Thursday, May 8 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

• Just back from their spring trip to Austria, the Madrigal Singers of Belmont High School will be giving a free concert on Tuesday, May 6 beginning at 3:30 p.m. at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St. The concert is open to the community so swing on by.

Belmont Week in Review: Loading Dock Granted Full-Liqour License, Shea Named State Teacher of the Year

• Brighton Street’s The Loading Dock is granted by the Belmont Board of Selectmen a sole full-liqour retail license, beating out two other applicants. The license will come with conditions including that the anticipated renovations at the convenience store (as it transforms into an “international cafe/bistro” according to owner Faud Nicolas Mukarker) are completed and the store will no longer sell tobacco or lottery tickets.

• Belmont High School social studies teacher Dr. Jeff Shea was named the 2014 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year. Shea will be recognized in a ceremony at Belmont High School this Tuesday.

• The Belmont School District is running an $220,000 deficit for the fiscal 2014 budget due to the need for additional instructors in responses to the rapid increase in student enrollment, a rise in expense for special education and unanticipated costs such as the repairs to the Higginbottom Pool. 

• Less than six months since it was passed by November’s Special Town Meeting, a resident discussed before a public forum on the upcoming Town Meeting articles his citizen’s petition to strike the residential snow removal bylaw from the books.

• After a recount of the ballots cast at Precinct 3 – the first election recount in Belmont in more than a dozen years – it turned out that long-time Town Meeting member Marty Cohen lost his re-election bid by a single vote.

DPW Open House Saturday Until 2 PM

The Belmont Department of Public Works is inviting the public to an open house to celebrate National Public Works Week today, Saturday, May 3 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the DPW yard at the end of C Street.

Please join us and bring the family to meet Public Works employees, see heavy equipment, ask questions, collect recycling and water conservation information. There will be raffles, cold drinks, balloons and coloring books for the kids!

 

Brighton Street’s Loading Dock Lands Full-Liqour License … with Conditions

Citing a chance to bring economic development to Brighton Street, the Belmont Board of Selectmen unanimously approved a full liquor license to The Loading Dock at 11 Brighton St. during a public meeting held before 90 residents and applicants at the Beech Street Center last night, Thursday, May 1.

“This is what I wanted for the store since I [first] arrived seven years ago,” said The Loading Dock’s owner and Belmont resident Faud Nicolas Mukarker after the vote.

Mukarker beat out applications from Waltham-based D&L Liquors and the Craft Beer Cellar of Belmont Center for the coveted full-liqour license, the only one to be presented.

The Belmont Board of Selectmen; (from left) Mark Paolillo, Andy Rojas and Sami Baghdady.

The Belmont Board of Selectmen; (from left) Mark Paolillo, Andy Rojas and Sami Baghdady.

While granting the license, the Selectmen placed a number of conditions on their approval, the most significant is that Mukarker must end the sale of tobacco and lottery tickets at the location as he transforms it into an “international bistro and cafeteria,” according to the Park Road resident.

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Drawings of the proposed beer, wine and liquor area in an anticipated renovated The Loading Dock on Brighton Street.

In addition, the store can not sell individual cans of beer or “nips” – a tiny taster bottle of liquor usually 50 milliliters which is about a shot of liquor – employees must under go training on controlling sales to minors, the portion of the store reserved for liquor can not exceed 750 square feet and the business must hold a certification of occupancy from the town when the long-anticipated renovation of the site is completed. 

Mukarker said he will complete renovations at the site – which is another condition the Board is requiring of the owner before he can operate with the license – by August, dedicating between 500- to 750-square feet (about a third of the store’s footprint) to beer, wine and liquor.

In a separate vote, the Board declined an application for a wine and beer license to LC Variety on Trapelo Road due to space, cleanliness and management issues.

The native of Jerusalem left a position at Fleet Bank to become the manager of the then-White Hen Pantry at the location in 2006 before buying the location in 2011.