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Somerville and New England History Collection
 
This is a replica of a map drawn in 1775 by a British soldier
showing the American fortifications built on Winter Hill and
Prospect Hill in what is now Somerville. At the time, Boston
was occupied by British troops, and the new Continental Army
had surrounded the city. Using the close-ups below, we can see
what sort of information was encoded in eighteenth-century military
maps. According to Ronald Grim, map curator at the Norman B.
Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library, the brown
outer areas signify earthworks sloping at roughly a 45 degree
angle. The pink band indicates a flat area at the top of the
earthworks. The green bars indicate a further, higher barrier
at he top. The black v-shaped marks indicated gun ports. And
the bi-colored bars subdivided diagonally indicate a specific
number of troops (see left inset). The row of upright lines
on the left hand side of the Prospect Hill fortifications (in
the inset at right) probably signify a row of wooden stakes.
 
Close
up # 1 Close
up # 2 |
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