Bad Ends · STOP 02 · North End
The 1851 record puts the bullet holes on a different grave.
The pockmarks on Daniel Malcom's slate at Copp's Hill are Boston's favorite bullet story: British soldiers, 1775, target practice. Even the city's own sign starts with 'Legend states.' An 1851 book that copied the epitaphs on the hill says soldiers did shoot at gravestones, then names a different stone. Both stones are still standing, a short walk apart. Go compare them.
This is stop 2 of Bad Ends. Walk it - any two stops are free.
The plate
Collected on site
Inside Copp's Hill Burying Ground; enter from Hull Street. City marker places the stone at D-86.
Directions
Argue about it
Which gravestone did the British use for target practice?
Both sides, with their sources, are on the story card in the app.
In these collections: Legends Busted, Wrong Signs
Near North Station · Near Haymarket
Sources (7)
- Epitaphs from Copp's Hill Burial Ground, BostonThomas Bridgman (compiler) · 1851
- Capt. Daniel MalcolmOld North Church and Historic Site (blog) · n.d.
- Copp's Hill Burying GroundCity of Boston, Parks and Recreation / Historic Burying Grounds Initiative · accessed 2026-10-10
- Copp's Hill and the American Revolution (marker no. 3)HMdb.org marker 191826; erected by City of Boston · photos 2009 and 2023
- Unusual Gravestones (marker)HMdb.org marker 18977 · accessed 2026-10-10
- Copp's Hill Burying GroundClio, entry 22493
- Capt. Daniel Malcolm, Copp's Hill Burying Ground, Boston, Mass.Leon H. Abdalian (photographer), Boston Public Library, via Digital Commonwealth · ca. 1920-1960