Is James Swan Featured in Trumbull’s ‘Bunker’s Hill’ – Probably Not

Thumbnail image for Is James Swan Featured in Trumbull’s ‘Bunker’s Hill’ – Probably Not

Commentary: Previously we published Frederick C. “Rick” Detwiller’s assertion, accompanied by compelling circumstantial evidence, that controversial Patriot James Swan (1751-1830) is depicted as the heroic protector of the mortally wounded Dr. Joseph Warren in the central vignette of John Trumbull’s iconic historical painting Bunker’s Hill. The painting begs understanding on several levels, as it was, […]

Read the full article →

The Peripatetic Life of James Swan

Thumbnail image for The Peripatetic Life of James Swan

Commentary: In the previous entry, I expounded on Mr. Frederic C “Rick” Detwiller’s assertion that controversial patriot James Swan appears as a key, and heretofore unidentified, figure in John Trumbull’s iconic painting Bunker’s Hill. The shirtless and shoe-less blonde young man in the painting bravely wards off an aggressive bayonet thrust by a menacing British […]

Read the full article →

Is James Swan Featured in Trumbull’s Bunker’s Hill?

Thumbnail image for Is James Swan Featured in Trumbull’s Bunker’s Hill?

Commentary:  Recently Frederic C. “Rick” Detwiller called to my attention to his belief that James Swan (1754-1830) may well be a key, and heretofore unrecognized figure depicted in John Trumbull’s iconic painting of the Battle of Bunker Hill.  In the central vignette of Trumbull’s painting a supine Joseph Warren stares upward at the moment of […]

Read the full article →

Remarks for Bunker Hill Day

Thumbnail image for Remarks for Bunker Hill Day

Date: June 17, 2014 Bunker Hill Monument, Charlestown, MA Samuel A. Forman In many of our annual commemorations, dating back at least to 1857, representatives of the United Kingdom have joined us as here at the Bunker Hill Monument as honored guests. I have heard wits remark on this presence as the British indulging, doubtless […]

Read the full article →

Inlist from their Respective Towns and Districts with Good and Sufficient Blankets

Thumbnail image for Inlist from their Respective Towns and Districts with Good and Sufficient Blankets

 Massachusetts Provincial Congress Resolution In Provincial Congress, at Watertown, April 23, 1775. RESOLVED, That the following Establishmet of Forces now immediately to be raised for the Recovery and Preservation of our undoubted Rights and Liberties, be as follows, viz per Month. To each Colonel of a Regiment of 598 Men £.15 0 0 To 1 […]

Read the full article →

An Imprudent Degree of Warmth in Some Instances

“In Committee of Safety, Cambridge, April 26, 1775.             Doctor Nathaniel Bond, of Marblehead, having been charged before this Committee with having acted an unfriendly part to this Colony, the said Committee appointed Joseph Warren, Esq., Colonel Thos. Gardner, and Lieut. Colonel Joseph Palmer, as a Court of Inquiry, to examine witnesses in the case, […]

Read the full article →

First News of the Capture of Ticonderoga

Thumbnail image for First News of the Capture of Ticonderoga

“Extract of a Letter from Joseph Warren to John Scholly Esq:r Dated Watertown May 17:th 1775 Colonel Castor [Arnold?] is now giving his Account in the Congress of the Reduction of the Fort Ticonderoga by a Body of Troops from Connecticut and the Western parts of this Province, Commanded by himself and Colonel Allen. The […]

Read the full article →

Not Fifty People In The Whole Colony Ever Expected Any Blood Would Be Shed

 “Committee of Donations Cambridge, May 15, 1775. Dear Sir, – I received your very kind letter, enclosing a bill of exchange of four hundred and twenty dollars, in favor of the distressed poor of Boston, upon Mr. Rotch, which I shall take the first opportunity of sending to him, not doubting but it will be […]

Read the full article →

Appealing to Heaven for the Justice of Our Cause, We Determine to Die or Be Free

Thumbnail image for Appealing to Heaven for the Justice of Our Cause, We Determine to Die or Be Free

“In Provincial Congress, Watertown, April 26, 1775. To the Inhabitants of Great Britain:             Friends and fellow-subjects: Hostilities are at length commenced in this Colony by the Troops under command of General Gage; and it being of the greatest importance that an early, true, and authentick account of this inhuman proceeding should be known to […]

Read the full article →

Conducted in Safety and Returned to Boston Unmolested

Thumbnail image for Conducted in Safety and Returned to Boston Unmolested

 “Cambridge April 21, 1775. May it please your Excellency, A number of Officers and Soldiers under your command were wounded on Wednesday last: they now lie in Cambridge and one or two adjacent Towns. They have had proper assistance from Surgeons, and are treated in every aspect with much humanity; but as they are desirous […]

Read the full article →