Cannonball

Cannonball
Boston, 1770s
Gift of the Massachusetts Historical Society 

During the Siege of Boston, British soldiers used Brattle Street Church as barracks. In 1776, the American army fired cannons at the church, and this cannonball hit the facade. 

After the British evacuated Boston, Samuel Cooper returned to find his church damaged but still standing. He continued to deliver sermons and wartime updates from the pulpit, including news of General Burgoyne’s surrender in 1777 and France’s alliance with America in 1778. The cannonball remained lodged in place until the church was demolished in 1871.