Last updated: February 13, 2026
Article
The Burning of Charlestown
strait before us a large and a noble town in one great blaze; the church steeples, being of timber, were great pyramids of fire above the rest
Foundations
Founded in 1629 on the Mishawum peninsula, Charlestown was one of the oldest English settlements in Massachusetts and, for a brief time, the center of colonial government. By 1775, the town had grown into a thriving community of about 1,600 people including merchants, craftsmen, laborers, shipbuilders, farmers, and their families. Wooden homes, workshops, and warehouses lined the town’s narrow streets, and ferries carried people, goods, and news across the river to Boston.
The former Great House, later known as the Three Cranes Tavern, served as a lively gathering place where travelers and residents alike met to share meals and exchange conversation amid the surrounding marketplace, meetinghouse, and courthouse. The foundations of this early building, still visible today in City Square Park, mark the heart of the Charlestown residents knew on the eve of war, before events set in motion on April 19, 1775, brought conflict to their doorstep.
Conflict Comes to Charlestown
Everything changed on April 19, 1775, as fighting broke out in Lexington and Concord. As British troops retreated toward Boston under constant fire from colonial militia, they passed directly through Charlestown. The town turned into a place of confusion and fear. Many residents had heard rumors about the violence earlier in the day, but by evening British troops had reached the town. As one Charlestown resident recalled, "when the soldiers came through the street… they begged for drink, which the people were glad to bring them, for fear of their being ill-treated." The British troops proceeded to occupy the Three Cranes Tavern and cause a commotion.[1]
In an October 1775 letter to the Massachusetts legislature, Charlestown resident Jacob Rogers recounted the scramble of the townspeople to avoid the danger:
"A line-of-battle ship lying before the town; a report that Cambridge bridge was taken up; no other retreat but through Charlestown: numbers of men, women, and children, in this confusion, getting out of town. Among the rest, I got my chaise, took my wife and children; and as I live near the school-house, in a back street, drove into the main street, put my children in a cart with others then driving out of town, who were fired at several times on the common, and followed after."[2]
While Rogers’ wife and children made it to safety, he learned later that night that his brother-in-law, fourteen-year-old Edward Barber, had been shot and killed by a British regular while he was looking out the window of his home near the Charlestown Neck.
The events of the day left the townspeople shaken and scared. Over the next several weeks, as thousands of British soldiers arrived in Boston and colonial forces surrounded the city, tightening the siege, Charlestown lay outside the established siege lines. British troops had withdrawn fully into Boston, leaving the town unoccupied and vulnerable in the midst of an escalating conflict. In this atmosphere of uncertainty, many residents who had fled during the British retreat returned briefly to pack what belongings they could carry, hiding or burying what they could not to be recovered later.
By early June, most of Charlestown’s population had left. Only approximately one to two hundred people remained behind.[3] Some of those who fled found refuge with relatives in nearby towns while others resettled throughout New England.[4] Many never returned to Charlestown, and those who did come back found their homes and belongings destroyed.
A Town in Ruin
On the morning of June 17, colonial militia took up positions on Bunker Hill, overlooking Charlestown. They had been ordered to fortify the Charlestown heights in an effort to deny the British control of the high ground before British troops could seize it themselves. From the town below, the few remaining residents saw colonial soldiers building defenses, preparing for a fight, and fled "with all haste."[5] British troops soon launched an attack, beginning a two-hour long confrontation now known as the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Library of Congress
During the battle, colonial soldiers hid among the empty buildings of Charlestown, firing on British troops from windows and rooftops. In response, British General William Howe ordered the town set on fire.[6] There are varying accounts of at what point in the fighting the fire started, where, and for how long the blaze lasted. Some witness reports and local newspapers claimed it started with the Meeting House and that it burned for two days or more. Timber church steeples stood as "great Pyramids of Fire above the rest," British General John Burgoyne recounted in a letter to his nephew shortly after the battle.[7]
All could agree that little of Charlestown remained. Warehouses, workshops, churches, homes, and the old Three Cranes Tavern were reduced to ashes. British troops had destroyed a town that had stood for almost 150 years, leaving "a scene of Ruin unparalell’d [sic] before in America,"[8] as William Tudor lamented in a June 1775 letter to Continental soldier Stephen Collins.
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Residents Seek Compensation
In the months after the fire, the people of Charlestown struggled to rebuild their lives. Many had lost not only their homes but also their livelihoods, tools, livestock, family heirlooms, and treasured personal possessions. The extent of the destruction left many of the town’s former residents destitute. In response, Charlestown residents formed a committee of town leaders in 1776 to seek restitution for their losses. The committee called for residents to submit lists of what they had lost, along with estimated values. In total, more than 450 families filed claims for losses caused by the destruction of the town by British troops.
Together, these claims totaled £117,882, or roughly £25 million today. Many of the original documents have since been painstakingly catalogued and transcribed by the City of Boston’s Archaeology Program. These claims reveal more than itemized lists of property; they also capture the profound personal impact of the destruction. For example, Ebenezer Austin recorded not only the loss of his house, but also the loss of his "legacy in said House" and the hope of passing it on to future generations. [9] Similarly, Willson Chamberlain began his list but ran out of space on the paper, ending the note by saying, "in short I Lost most all that I had."
These claims also provide insight into local attitudes towards the British troops. Several residents described the troops "unnatural," "savage," and "cruel"[10] or referred to them simply as the enemy. Residents David Newell and Elizabeth Johnson went further, calling the soldiers the "troops of George the Tyrant"[11] and "ministerial butchers."[12] Benjamin Mirick emphasized the violence of the attack, writing that British troops entered Charlestown "by force of Arms, fire, and sword"[13] on June 17, 1775, while Jonathan Fowle mourned property "destroyed by our most cruell [sic] enemys [sic]."[14] Collectively, these claims transform records of loss into expressions of anger, grief, and a sense of betrayal.
City of Boston Archaeology Program
In 1777, the committee of town leaders submitted the compilation of claims and wrote a letter petitioning the Continental Congress for restitution. Their letter described "the suffering by the conflagration of Charlestown," and they reminded Congress that "2,000 inhabitants…rose in the morning with house and home and all the conveniences of life, and before night knew not where to lay their heads."[15] Congress responded saying that while they "lament the distress,"[16] they could not provide financial relief. The young nation was at war and had no resources to spare.
Despite repeated appeals, the residents of Charlestown never received compensation for their losses. Yet the people of Charlestown showed remarkable determination. Even without restitution, they slowly yet steadily repaved the roads, constructed new homes, established new churches and schools, and rebuilt their lives. Today, the landscape is largely unrecognizable from how it appeared in 1775. Only the foundations of the Three Cranes Tavern remain visible as a reminder of the community that stood here before the flames of June 17, 1775, and of the residents whose lives were forever altered.
Footnotes
[1] J. L. Bell, "Lt. Jacob Rogers and the 'Confusion' in Charlestown," Boston 1775, April 19, 2020, accessed January 22, 2026.
[2] Bell, "Lt. Jacob Rogers and the 'Confusion' in Charlestown."
[3] James Frothingham Hunnewell, A Century of Town Life (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1888), 5.
[4] City of Boston, “Charlestown Diaspora Map,” Boston 250 Archaeology. City of Boston Archaeology Program. Accessed January 22, 2026.
[5] Richard Frothingham, History of the Siege of Boston, and of the Battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1851), 203.
[6] Frothingham, History of the Siege of Boston, 203.
[7]"A Plan of the Battle, on Bunkers Hill," London: Printed for R. Sayer & J. Bennett, 1775. Massachusetts Historical Society Collections Online. Includes published letter from John Burgoyne to Lord Stanley, June 25, 1775. Accessed January 22, 2026.
[8]The Historical Magazine, and Notes and Queries Concerning the Antiquities, History, and Biography of America. Vol. 3, no. 6 (June 1868): 376. New York: Open Court Publishing Co.
[9] "Claim of Ebenezer Austin (1776)," Boston 250 Archaeology, City of Boston Archaeology Program, accessed January 26, 2026.
[10] "Charlestown 1775 Claims," including those of Jonathan Fowle, John Chamberlain, David Wait, Isaac Kidder, and others. City Archaeology Program, City of Boston, accessed January 29, 2026.
[11] "Claim of David Newell (1776)," Boston 250 Archaeology, City of Boston Archaeology Program, accessed January 26, 2026.
[12] "Claim of Elizabeth Johnson (1776)," Boston 250 Archaeology, City of Boston Archaeology Program, accessed January 26, 2026.
[13] "Claim of Benjamin Mirick (1776)," Boston 250 Archaeology, City of Boston Archaeology Program, accessed January 26, 2026.
[14] "Claim of Johnathan Fowle (1776)," Boston 250 Archaeology, City of Boston Archaeology Program, accessed January 26, 2026.
[15] "Estimates and Accounts of Losses in Battle of Bunker Hill," transcription, linked as "Link to Letters to the Vice President, Secretary of State, and Massachusetts State Representative requesting restitution for Charlestown losses," Boston 250 Archaeology, City of Boston Archaeology Program, accessed January 26, 2026.
[16] Hancock, John: Letter Denying Relief, 1777, I, Box: 4, Folder: 3. City of Charlestown records, 1200.001. City of Boston Archives.
Sources
"A Plan of the Battle, on Bunkers Hill." London: Printed for R. Sayer & J. Bennett, 1775. Massachusetts Historical Society Collections Online. Includes published letter from John Burgoyne to Lord Stanley, June 25, 1775. Accessed January 22, 2026.
Austin, Ebenezer. "Claim of Ebenezer Austin (1776)." Unpublished manuscript. Accessed via compiled claims list created by the City of Boston Archaeology Program.
Bell, J. L. "Lt. Jacob Rogers and the 'Confusion' in Charlestown." Boston 1775 (blog), April 2020. Accessed January 22, 2026.
"Charlestown and the Revolution – the Origin Story." Charlestown Preservation Society, April 14, 2025. Accessed January 29, 2026.
City of Boston. “Boston 250 Archaeology.” City of Boston Archaeology Program. Accessed January 22, 2026.
City of Boston. "Charlestown 1775 Census." Boston 250 Archaeology. Compiled by the City of Boston Archaeology Program. Accessed January 22, 2026.
City of Boston. "Charlestown Diaspora Map." Boston 250 Archaeology. City of Boston Archaeology Program. Accessed January 22, 2026.
City of Boston. "Charlestown 1775 Claims." Boston 250 Archaeology. City of Boston Archaeology Program. Accessed January 29, 2026.
City of Boston. "Great House Historical Marker." Physical historical marker, Charlestown, Massachusetts.
City of Boston. "Redoubt and Soldiers." In Boston 250 Archaeology. City of Boston Archaeology Program. Accessed January 22, 2026.
"Estimates and Accounts of Losses in Battle of Bunker Hill." Transcription, linked as "Link to Letters to the Vice President, Secretary of State, and Massachusetts State Representative requesting restitution for Charlestown losses." Boston 250 Archaeology. City of Boston Archaeology Program. Accessed January 26, 2026.
Frothingham, Richard. History of the Siege of Boston, and of the Battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1872.
The Historical Magazine, and Notes and Queries Concerning the Antiquities, History, and Biography of America. Vol. 3, no. 6 (June 1868): 376. New York: Open Court Publishing Co. Accessed via Internet Archive.
Hunnewell, James Frothingham. A Century of Town Life. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1888.
Hancock, John: Letter Denying Relief, 1777, I, Box: 4, Folder: 3. City of Charlestown records, 1200.001. City of Boston Archives.
Johnson, Elizabeth. "Claim of Elizabeth Johnson (1776)." Unpublished manuscript. Accessed via compiled claims list created by the City of Boston Archaeology Program.
Newell, David. "Claim of David Newell (1776)." Unpublished manuscript. Accessed via compiled claims list created by the City of Boston Archaeology Program.