Bloody Butchery by the British Troops, 1775
“Bloody Butchery by the British Troops,” broadside by Ezekiel Russell, 1775 (The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History)
Americans immediately understood the momentous significance of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Ezekiel Russell, a printer in Salem, Massachusetts, quickly produced this broadside entitled “Bloody Butchery by the British Troops,” which describes in detail the battles and the American casualties (complete with a coffin memorializing each death).
Bloody Butchery by the British Troops, 1775
BLOODY BUTCHERY BY THE BRITISH TROOPS OR THE RUNAWAY FIGHT OF THE REGULARS.
Being the PARTICULARS of the VICTORIOUS BATTLE fought at and near CONCORD, situated Twenty Miles from Boston, in the Province of the Massachusetts-Bay, in New-England, between Two Thousand Regular Troops, belonging to his Britannic Majesty, and a few Hundred Provincial Troops, belonging to the Province of Massachusetts-Bay, which lasted from sunrise to sunset, on the 19th of April, 1775, when it was decided greatly in favor of the latter. These particulars are now published in this cheap form, at the request of the friends of the deceased WORTHIES, who died gloriously fighting in the CAUSE OF LIBERTY and their COUNTRY, and it is their sincere desire that every Householder in the country, who are sincere well-wishers to America, may be possessed of the same, either to frame and glass, or otherwise to preserve in their houses, not only as a Token of Gratitude to the memory of the Deceased Forty Persons, but as a perpetual memorial of that important event, on which, perhaps, may depend the future Freedom of Greatness of the Commonwealth of America. To which is annexed, a Funeral Elegy on those who were slain in the Battle.
Source: Ezekiel Russell, “Bloody Butchery by the British Troops,” Salem, Massachusetts, 1775, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC04810.
Bloody Butcher by the British Troops, 1775
BLOODY BUTCHERY BY THE BRITISH TROOPS OR THE RUNAWAY FIGHT OF THE REGULARS.
Being the PARTICULARS of the VICTORIOUS BATTLE fought at and near CONCORD, situated Twenty Miles from Boston, in the Province of the Massachusetts-Bay, in New-England, between Two Thousand Regular Troops, belonging to his Britannic Majesty, and a few Hundred Provincial Troops, belonging to the Province of Massachusetts-Bay, which lasted from sunrise to sunset, on the 19th of April, 1775, when it was decided greatly in favor of the latter. These particulars are now published in this cheap form, at the request of the friends of the deceased WORTHIES, who died gloriously fighting in the cause of liberty and their country, and it is their sincere desire that every Householder in the country, who are sincere well-wishers to America, may be possessed of the same, either to frame and glass, or otherwise to preserve in their houses, not only as a Token of Gratitude to the memory of the Deceased Forty Persons, but as a perpetual memorial of that important event, on which, perhaps, may depend the future Freedom of Greatness of the Commonwealth of America. To which is annexed, a Funeral Elegy on those who were slain in the Battle.
Source: Ezekiel Russell, “Bloody Butchery by the British Troops,” Salem, Massachusetts, 1775, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC04810.
Regulars - British foot soldiers, or red coats
Particulars - specific details
Provincial - belonging to a province or colony
perpetual - never ending
elegy - mournful poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead
Background
Americans immediately understood the momentous significance of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Ezekiel Russell, a printer in Salem, Massachusetts, quickly produced this broadside entitled “Bloody Butchery by the British Troops,” which describes in detail the battles and the American casualties (complete with a coffin memorializing each death).
Transcript
Bloody Butchery by the British Troops, 1775
BLOODY BUTCHERY BY THE BRITISH TROOPS OR THE RUNAWAY FIGHT OF THE REGULARS.
Being the PARTICULARS of the VICTORIOUS BATTLE fought at and near CONCORD, situated Twenty Miles from Boston, in the Province of the Massachusetts-Bay, in New-England, between Two Thousand Regular Troops, belonging to his Britannic Majesty, and a few Hundred Provincial Troops, belonging to the Province of Massachusetts-Bay, which lasted from sunrise to sunset, on the 19th of April, 1775, when it was decided greatly in favor of the latter. These particulars are now published in this cheap form, at the request of the friends of the deceased WORTHIES, who died gloriously fighting in the CAUSE OF LIBERTY and their COUNTRY, and it is their sincere desire that every Householder in the country, who are sincere well-wishers to America, may be possessed of the same, either to frame and glass, or otherwise to preserve in their houses, not only as a Token of Gratitude to the memory of the Deceased Forty Persons, but as a perpetual memorial of that important event, on which, perhaps, may depend the future Freedom of Greatness of the Commonwealth of America. To which is annexed, a Funeral Elegy on those who were slain in the Battle.
Source: Ezekiel Russell, “Bloody Butchery by the British Troops,” Salem, Massachusetts, 1775, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC04810.
Excerpt
Bloody Butcher by the British Troops, 1775
BLOODY BUTCHERY BY THE BRITISH TROOPS OR THE RUNAWAY FIGHT OF THE REGULARS.
Being the PARTICULARS of the VICTORIOUS BATTLE fought at and near CONCORD, situated Twenty Miles from Boston, in the Province of the Massachusetts-Bay, in New-England, between Two Thousand Regular Troops, belonging to his Britannic Majesty, and a few Hundred Provincial Troops, belonging to the Province of Massachusetts-Bay, which lasted from sunrise to sunset, on the 19th of April, 1775, when it was decided greatly in favor of the latter. These particulars are now published in this cheap form, at the request of the friends of the deceased WORTHIES, who died gloriously fighting in the cause of liberty and their country, and it is their sincere desire that every Householder in the country, who are sincere well-wishers to America, may be possessed of the same, either to frame and glass, or otherwise to preserve in their houses, not only as a Token of Gratitude to the memory of the Deceased Forty Persons, but as a perpetual memorial of that important event, on which, perhaps, may depend the future Freedom of Greatness of the Commonwealth of America. To which is annexed, a Funeral Elegy on those who were slain in the Battle.
Source: Ezekiel Russell, “Bloody Butchery by the British Troops,” Salem, Massachusetts, 1775, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC04810.
Regulars - British foot soldiers, or red coats
Particulars - specific details
Provincial - belonging to a province or colony
perpetual - never ending
elegy - mournful poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead
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