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[View of the country round Boston taken from Beacon hill]

View from Boston looking south-west, with the Common and John Hancock's mansion near the Dragoons' camp in the foreground, and the Boston Neck isthmus, the enemy lines, Roxbury Meeting House and the road to Cambridge seen across Charles River in the background.

Richard Williams, a British lieutenant stationed in Boston during the siege, created these watercolor landscapes of the Boston countryside. In his journal, he described Boston as "well built." But he observed that Boston suffered from neglect and had "grass growing in every street." Williams drew five landscape views providing a panoramic perspective from Beacon Hill. The second features Declaration of Independence signer John Hancock’s house.