The Battle of Bunker Hill

John Trumbull captured the death of General Joseph Warren at the Battle of Bunker Hill, one of the bloodiest engagements of the Revolutionary War. The scene shows the moment British forces overwhelm the American position, with Warren falling at the center while a British officer attempts to save him from a bayonet.

Trumbull based his composition on accounts from survivors and his own military experience. Though the Americans lost the hill, they inflicted devastating casualties on the British. The painting transforms military defeat into heroic sacrifice, establishing the visual language of American patriotism.

The original hangs at Yale University Art Gallery, with a large replica in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.