Long lost photos reveal Bunker Hill hero was shot in the face, not from behind

By adamg on Mon, 04/04/2011 - 10:14am

Derek Beck, writing a book about the events of 1775, digs up photos taken of Joseph Warren's skull when his body was being moved in 1855 to Forest Hills Cemetery and uses them to show how Warren was not shot from behind while retreating, but rather facing the enemy front first:

Due to the low muzzle velocity of the musket, as evidenced by their extremely limited range, one can deduce that in order for a ball to pass entirely through the skull, the fatal shot was fired from close range.

Also explained: How Warren's relatives were able to identify his body a year after the British had dumped it in a shared grave in Charlestown by some of Paul Revere's dental work.

Via J.L. Bell.

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Comments

It looks like it went through

By anon on Mon, 04/04/2011 - 11:46am.

It looks like it went through the white of his eye.

Disinterred

By anon on Mon, 04/04/2011 - 3:02pm.

They had to move his body, to make room for more condos in Charlestown.

Condo Property was Hot

By anon on Mon, 04/04/2011 - 8:05pm.

... in Charlestown in 1855.

I imagine that . . .

By Chris Dowd on Mon, 04/04/2011 - 5:28pm.

. . . if you were gonna be shot back then - it might be best to get it in the head and die quick. Anywhere else that didn't kill you right off back then- was more than likely going to be a slow painful death.

Side note- shouldn't there be a New England flag on Warren's grave as well? There was no American flag when he was killed. He fought under the red flag pine tree banner of New England pictured in Trumbull's famous painting of the battle of Bunker Hill. Massachusetts was alone in its fight in 1775 and at Bunker Hill.

side note

By J. L. Bell on Wed, 04/13/2011 - 10:50am.

There were also New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island men in the Battle of Bunker Hill. And just a couple of days before, the Continental Congress in Philadelphia had voted to adopt that army, appoint George Washington as Continental commander, and pay for troops from Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia to go north. That news hadn't reached New England yet, but Massachusetts was no longer alone.

A correction on the article above...

By Derek Beck on Tue, 04/12/2011 - 1:43am.

It was Joseph Warren’s grandnephew, Dr. Jonathan Mason Warren, who took the photos, not "Warren's school". -Derek Beck (the researcher that discovered the photos, and the author of the forthcoming book "1775").