Patriots of the Revolution: Joseph Warren,John Trumbull,and the Battle of Bunker Hill

Abstract

On June 17, 1775, 250 years ago, the British Army assaulted American forces occupying Bunker Hill. Doctor and Major General Joseph Warren led the American army, both in rank and in spirit. In addition to his successful medical practice, his political activities alongside Sam and John Adams propelled him to the forefront of the Patriot movement. Treating casualties from the Boston Massacre, organizing the Boston Tea Party, and ordering Paul Revere’s famous ride, Warren embodied and propelled America’s independence from England. On the morning of 17 June, he asked to be placed in the center of American lines. Connecticut militia officer John Trumbull witnessed the attack, serving a short but distinguished career in the Continental Army. Pursuing his passion for painting, he trained with Benjamin West and completed a series of works that portrayed and later defined the American Revolution. His 1786 Death of General Warren, the first and arguably the greatest in his oeuvre, showcased the British Army overrunning the Americans on Bunker Hill, with Warren fatally falling to a British bullet. Relying on the contemporary realism West pioneered, Trumbull successfully captured the essence of the battle: the chaos of the moment, the courage of the participants, and the pathos of Warren’s martyrdom.