A Plan of Boston, and its Environs, shewing the true Situation of His Majesty's Army. And also those of the Rebels. Drawn by an Engineer at Boston. Octr. 1775.

An important plan of the Siege of Boston, based on a survey by a British officer present during the Siege, with details relating to fortifications, the disposition of forces, and the Battle of Bunker Hill.

This map depicts the siege from April to October. The positions of the British troops and their fortifications are shown, with numerous tents on Boston Common representing the encampment of the 6th Regiment. The “Headquarters of the Rebels” at Cambridge and American installations at Roxbury, the mouth of the Charles, and elsewhere, encircle the town. The details provided at Charlestown and Bunkers Hill are of particular interest and attempt to put the best face on the British situation, showing where the “Troops Landed 17 June under General Howe,” a “Redoubt taken from ye Rebels by Genl. Howe,” and at Charlestown Neck the “Lines & Redoubts thrown up by our Troops after ye Victory on ye 17th June 1775.”

A key at the right provides further details, including a note acknowledging American prowess: “a Strong Post of the Enemy, Fortified in appearance with great Judgment.”

According to the legend at the upper left “The principal part of this Plan was Survey’d by Richard Williams, Lieutenant at Boston and sent over by the Son of a Nobleman to his Father in Town, by Whose Permission it is Published.” Commissioned into the Royal Welsh Fusiliers in August of 1768, Lieutenant Richard Williams joined British forces in Boston in June of 1775. Williams kept a journal during this period, a portion of which was later published under the title Discord and Civil Wars (Buffalo, 1954). He also painted a watercolor panorama of Boston which is owned by the British Library. Williams died of unknown causes in Nova Scotia in May of 1776.A plan of Boston with references to points of military and general interest. Oriented with north toward the upper right. Williams' remarkable contemporary work illustrates the Siege of Boston, which commenced in 1775, shortly after the skirmishes of Lexington and Concord forced the British troops under the Command of Colonel Francis Smith to retreat to Charlestown, all the while pursued by American militia. With the arrival of reinforcements under the command of Brigadier General Hugh Percy, Smith's forces were saved from total defeat.

The map is filled with military detail about the Battle of Bunker Hill, and the installations of both the American and British armies, including camps, forts and batteries. The "Headquarters of the Rebels" at Cambridge is located, and a compliment is even paid to the prowess of the Americans. In a lengthy key at right, the American positions at Roxbury are identified, with the comment that they were "Fortified in appearance with great Judgment". Ironically, the map was published just five days before the British Army evacuated Boston.

A legend in the upper left corner notes that "The principal part of this Plan was Surveyed by Richard Williams Lieutenant at Boston, and sent over by the Son of a Nobleman to his Father in Town, by whose Permission it is Published." Richard Williams, of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, also constructed a series of watercolor panoramas of Boston, now at the British Library. He returned to London in early 1776 and died the following May. The nobleman's son was probably Earl Lord Percy, commander of the British relief force at Lexington and Concord, April 19, 1775, and son of the Duke of Northumberland.

Reference: Nebenzahl, Kenneth. A Bibliography of Printed Battle Plans of the American Revolution, 16; Nebenzahl, Kenneth. Atlas of the American Revolution, pp. 48-49; Guthorn, Peter J. British Maps of the American Revolution, pp. 40, 62.