An Exact View of the Late Battle at Charlestown, June 17th, 1775

Art Historical Context

Behold *An Exact View of the Battle at Charlestown June 17th, 1775*, a vivid etching with hand coloring by Bernard Romans, created around 1775. This print captures the chaos of the Battle of Bunker Hill—one of the earliest major clashes of the American Revolution—depicting British ships bombarding colonial positions, cannons blazing, and soldiers locked in fierce combat along the Charlestown shore. As a near-contemporary eyewitness account turned into art, it offers a rare window into the raw intensity of the fight, where patriot forces under leaders like Israel Putnam held off repeated British assaults before ammunition ran low. Romans, a Dutch-American engraver known for his detailed maps and views, employed etching—a precise intaglio technique where acid bites designs into metal plates—to produce this 11⅞ × 16⅝-inch sheet. The added hand coloring brings dramatic life to the smoke-filled scene, heightening its emotional impact and making it accessible as a affordable print for patriotic audiences. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department, this work exemplifies 18th-century printmaking's role in shaping public memory of revolutionary events, blending factual topography with propagandistic fervor to rally support for the colonial cause.