Design of this stamp, taken from the left portion of the painting, The Battle of Bunker Hill, by John Trumbull, honored the 200th anniversary of the famed battle which was misnamed. When Americans learned that the British in Boston planned to take certain heights outside the city, Gen. Artemas Ward ordered the fortification of Bunker Hill on the Charlestown peninsula. His subordinates, without explanation, took positions on the nearby Breed's Hill. The British launched an attack on the hill and in several hours the Americans were forced to give up their positions. The British dead and wounded accounted for more than 1,150 of 2,500 men in the battle.