A Plan of the Action at Bunker’s Hill

Shortly after the battle, Thomas Hyde Page, a British military engineer who witnessed the fighting, attempted to capture the fighting with more military precision. This 1793 edition of A Plan of the Action at Bunker’s Hill illustrates the battle in striking detail. First rendered by Page, who served as aide de campe to British General William Howe during the battle, it depicts the fierce fighting of June 17, 1775, when British troops stormed American fortifications on Breed’s Hill, just below the more famous Bunker Hill. The first edition of Page’s map is one of the most famous and widely reproduced maps of the American Revolution. This version appeared in Charles Stedman’s 1783 History of the American War. The map also includes a printed overflap, illustrating the battle in two phases. The first phase of the battle is depicted on the flap itself, with the second phase illustrated beneath, allowing viewers to visualize the progress of the battle.