The Battle of Bunker's Hill (June 17, 1775)
The soldier lying wounded at center is Joseph Warren, a Massachusetts physician who had served as second president of Massachusetts's revolutionary Provincial Congress. In 1775 he joined the colonial force that fought the British first at Lexington and Concord, then on Bunker's (or Breed’s) Hill. Even though a commissioned officer, he volunteered to fight as a private soldier. On the heights above Charlestown, across the river from Boston, the American troops repulsed two British attacks before their ammunition ran low and their lines were broken. Warren was struck by a musket or pistol ball during the battle and killed.
Trumbull also belonged to the colonial army and watched this battle through field glasses from a camp at Roxbury. He immortalized the event in 1786 in a painting, now in the University Art Gallery at Yale, which served as the basis for this engraving. After the war, Trumbull traveled to London and studied painting with Benjamin West, then created a series centered on significant American battles. Following the dictates of "history painting," the most elevated genre of thet time, these compositions often describe noble behavior. Here, the death of a young patriot is honored together with the compassion shown by a British major, John Small–the latter had fought with the colonial general Israel Putnam in the French and Indian War and, standing hre at center, prevents another British soldier from bayoneting the fallen Warren. This print was published in London in 1798.
Trumbull also belonged to the colonial army and watched this battle through field glasses from a camp at Roxbury. He immortalized the event in 1786 in a painting, now in the University Art Gallery at Yale, which served as the basis for this engraving. After the war, Trumbull traveled to London and studied painting with Benjamin West, then created a series centered on significant American battles. Following the dictates of "history painting," the most elevated genre of thet time, these compositions often describe noble behavior. Here, the death of a young patriot is honored together with the compassion shown by a British major, John Small–the latter had fought with the colonial general Israel Putnam in the French and Indian War and, standing hre at center, prevents another British soldier from bayoneting the fallen Warren. This print was published in London in 1798.
Artwork Details
- Title: The Battle of Bunker's Hill (June 17, 1775)
- Engraver: Johann Gotthard Müller (German, Bernausen 1747–1830 Stuttgart)
- Artist: After John Trumbull (American, Lebanon, Connecticut 1756–1843 New York)
- Publisher: Antonio Cesare Poggi (Italian, Florence 1744–1836 Paris)
- Subject: Joseph Warren (American, Roxbury, Massachusetts 1741–1775 Boston, Massachusetts)
- Published in: London
- Date: 1798
- Medium: Engraving; sixth state of seven (Rümelin)
- Dimensions: plate: 23 1/8 x 31 9/16 in. (58.7 x 80.2 cm)
sheet: 27 1/2 x 40 9/16 in. (69.9 x 103 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Bequest of Charles Allen Munn, 1924
- Object Number: 24.90.1512
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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Multiple artists/makers
after 1798
Multiple artists/makers
1788–98
Multiple artists/makers
1783–85
Multiple artists/makers
1788–98
Johann Gotthard Müller
Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre
1767–1800
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