This is a copy of a letter from Lieutenant John Waller, written from Boston on 21 June 1775. Lieutenant Waller was the Adjutant of the 1st Battalion of Marines (later the Royal Marines) sent to Boston in the spring of 1775. His detailed account of the Battle of Bunker Hill, an action "very fatal to the 1st Battalion," clearly addresses a friend or fellow officer familiar with the officers of the battalion.

The Historical Society also holds Adjutant Waller's orderly book for the period March 1775–January 1776. The orderly book contains all the official orders received and issued by the Marines. After the battle, the 1st Battalion manned a fortification that the British built on Bunker Hill.