Source: 19c engraving Commentary: Among the handful of historical genre paintings most frequently appearing in history texts on the period, Trumbull’s Bunker Hill, as it is now most frequently known, is the oldest of them. The heroic battlefield death of Dr. Joseph Warren, an incident mourned nationally during the Revolutionary War and for several generations […]
Battle of Bunker Hill
As Joseph Warren’s biographer I have been gratified by the number of people reaching out to me over the years in a collaborative and collegial fashion to flesh out, and make better known, the inspiring legacy of this Founding figure. Recently Mr. Closson – an architect with an eye for history and preservation – reached […]
Source: 19c engraving Commentary: Jonathan Trumbull’s Death of Major General Joseph Warren at the Battle of Bunker’s Hill, June 17, 1775 is an iconic image of the Revolutionary War. Among the handful of historical genre paintings most frequently appearing in history texts on the period, Trumbull’s Bunker Hill, as it is now most frequently known, […]
by Joseph Palmer “In Comtee of Safety, Watertown 25th July 1775… “…the Commanders of the New England Army, had about the 14th ulto received advice, that Genl: Gage had issued orders for a Party of Troops under his command to take possession, very soon, of a place [ ] by the Name of post themselves […]
Words by William Ross Wallace. Music by Bernard Covert Date: circa 1855 He lay upon his dying bed; His eyes were growing dim, When with a feeble voice he called His weeping son to him: “Weep not, my boy!” the vet’ran said, “I bow to Heaven’s high will — But quickly from yon antlers […]
Source: Massachusetts Historical Society artifact. Photograph by Boston Public Library, where the sword is currently on display through November 29, 2015. It is part of the “We Are One” exhibition at McKim Hall at the main library location. Commentary: This sword is believed to have been carried by Joseph Warren at the moment of his […]
by John Pierpoint Stand! the ground’s your own, my braves! Will ye give it up to slaves? Will ye look for greener graves? Hope ye mercy still? What’s the mercy despots feel? Hear it in that battle-peal! Read it on yon bristling steel. Ask it,–ye who will. Fear ye foes who kill for hire? Will […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
