Romans' inscription on his battle scene continues: “In which an advanced party of about 700 Provincials stood an Attack made by 11 Regiments and a Train of Artillery and after an Engagement of two hours Retreated to their Main body at Cambridge Leaving Eleven Hundred of the enemy Killed and Wounded upon the field.” This may be the earliest published picture of the battle, a version of it being advertised in the Pennsylvania Gazette, 20 Sept. 1775. Despite Romans' claim, the relative positions of Charlestown, Boston, and Breed's Hill are inexact.

Romans, born in the Netherlands, was an engineer, surveyor, cartographer, naturalist, and author, who had worked for some years in Georgia and Florida. In the 1770's he moved to the north, settling in Connecticut. He supervised construction of fortifications for the army in several places (P. Lee Phillips, Notes on the Life and Work of Bernard Romans, Publication of the Florida State Historical Society, 2 (1924):83–85; DAB ).