[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 118 (Monday, June 23, 2025)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 26725-26726]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-11555]
[[Page 26723]]
Vol. 90
Monday,
No. 118
June 23, 2025
Part III
The President
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Proclamation 10954--250th Anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 90 , No. 118 / Monday, June 23, 2025 /
Presidential Documents
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Title 3--
The President
[[Page 26725]]
Proclamation 10954 of June 17, 2025
250th Anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
On this day 250 years ago, a fearless band of American
patriots stood their ground against the mightiest
military power of the age at the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Outmanned, outgunned, and underestimated, these
ordinary men exemplified extraordinary courage and sent
a thundering message to Britain and the entire world
that the American people would never waver in their
fight for freedom.
A new revolutionary spirit had been awakened in the
American Colonies following the Battles of Lexington
and Concord in April 1775. In the weeks that followed,
thousands of Colonial militiamen from Massachusetts,
Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island--exhausted
and fed up with the escalating tyranny of the British
Crown--left behind their homes, farms, and families to
rally to the cause of independence. By June, they had
assembled around Boston--the center of British power in
New England--to contain nearly 5,000 Redcoats, protect
nearby towns, and prevent British forces from moving
beyond the city.
After learning of British plans to seize the
Charlestown peninsula to the north of Boston, Colonial
leaders acted swiftly. On the night of June 16, 1775,
over 1,000 American militiamen, led by Colonel William
Prescott, marched to Charlestown and constructed
fortifications atop Breed's Hill--ready to defend their
homeland at any cost necessary. The next day, on June
17, nearly 2,200 Redcoats arrived, initiating a direct
attack to drive the Americans off the hill.
Significantly outnumbered and low on ammunition,
Colonel Prescott gave the famous order to his fellow
soldiers: ``Don't fire until you see the whites of
their eyes!'' When the moment came and the British
advanced, the Patriots held firm. Wave after wave, the
Redcoats charged, only to be driven back as the
colonists inflicted massive casualties and held their
ground with unshakable grit and resolve.
After two failed assaults, the Redcoats launched a
third charge up the hill. The patriots, nearly out of
ammunition, met the British in brutal hand-to-hand
combat. Though ultimately forced to retreat, the
colonists inflicted staggering losses. More than 1,000
British soldiers were killed or wounded, compared to
450 Americans. Charlestown was left in ruins, but the
American spirit stood taller than ever. Though the
British claimed the ground that history would remember
as Bunker Hill, it was the patriots who claimed the
victory of morale--etched not in territory but in
valor--proving that the cause of freedom, once
awakened, is an unstoppable force.
Today, we celebrate the courage, determination, and
selflessness of the patriots who fought at Bunker Hill.
They sent a message to Britain and the entire world
that the Americans would not be ruled by fear and that
a free people, united in purpose, is the most powerful
force on Earth. The spirit of Bunker Hill lives on in
every soldier who defends this land, in every citizen
who loves their country, and in every patriot who
believes that America's best days are still ahead.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the
United States, do hereby proclaim June 17, 2025,
[[Page 26726]]
as a day in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of
the Battle of Bunker Hill.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
seventeenth day of June, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-five, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
ninth.
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 2025-11555
Filed 6-20-25; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P