Bunker Hill Broadside

This Town was alarmed on the 17th Instant ... [Boston: John Howe, 1775]



Broadsheet (11 3/4 x 6 in.; 297 x 153 mm, sight); matted, glazed, and framed. A very fresh, bright copy.  

Evans 13842; Ford, W. C. Broadsides 1801; James S. Copley Library, First Selection (14 April 2010, lot 29) — Streeter Sale 2:760

Broadsheet (11 3/4 x 6 in.; 297 x 153 mm, sight); matted, glazed, and framed. A very fresh, bright copy.
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A rare broadside account in impeccable condition of the Battle of Bunker Hill from the British perspective. One week after the battle, this document which accurately describes the action, was printed and circulated by John Howe, the same loyalist printer who published General Gage's account of the events of 19 April 1775. Evans and Shipton-Mooney locate copies at the British Library, Library of Congress, and the Massachusetts Historical Society. Since the 1970s, eight copies have appeared at auction.

A Pyrhhic victory for the British. The casualty count, on the other hand, was pure propaganda to emphasize the fierce bravery and courage of the British forces. "The Loss they sustained, must have been considerable, from the vast Numbers they were seen to carry off during the Action ... About a Hundred were buried the Day after, and Thirty found wounded on the Field, some of which are since Dead. About 170 of the King's Troops were killed, and since dead of their Wounds; and a great many were wounded." According to Boatner, American strength was about 3,000 with an estimated 140 dead and 301 wounded. British strength was about 2,500, and they lost about 45 percent of their troops. Of the British officer casualties in the twenty battles fought during the Revolution, one eighth were killed and one sixth were wounded at Bunker Hill.

The broadside concludes: "The Action has shown the Bravery of the King's Troops, who under every Disadvantage, gained a compleat Victory over Three Times their Number, strongly posted, and covered by Breastworks. But they fought for their King, their Laws and Constitution."