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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/29199-8.txt b/29199-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f30ded8 --- /dev/null +++ b/29199-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8045 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Siege of Boston, by Allen French + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Siege of Boston + +Author: Allen French + +Release Date: June 21, 2009 [EBook #29199] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SIEGE OF BOSTON *** + + + + +Produced by The Bookworm, <bookworm.librivox AT gmail.com>, +Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team +at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned +images of public domain material from the Google Print +project.) + + + + + + +THE SIEGE OF BOSTON + + +[Illustration: Logo] + +THE MACMILLAN COMPANY + +NEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO +ATLANTA SAN FRANCISCO + +MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED + +LONDON BOMBAY CALCUTTA + +MELBOURNE + +THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. + +TORONTO + + +[Illustration: OLD STATE HOUSE] + + + + +THE SIEGE OF BOSTON + +BY + +ALLEN FRENCH + +New York + +THE MACMILLAN COMPANY + +1911 + +_All rights reserved_ + + +COPYRIGHT, 1911, +BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. + +Set up and electrotyped. Published February, 1911. + +Norwood Press +J. S. Cushing Co.--Berwick & Smith Co. +Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. + + +TO C. E. S. + + + + +PREFACE + + +In writing this book I have endeavored to produce a brief and readable +account of the Siege of Boston, and of the events which brought it +about. These were, of course, parts of a larger history, the connection +with which I have carefully indicated. My main endeavor, nevertheless, +has been to treat my subject as a single organic series of events. To +select the more interesting and significant masses of detail, and +properly to coördinate them, has not been an easy task. The minor +incidents were conditioned by the scale of the book; the result, I hope, +is fluency and a more evident connection between the larger events. + +So far as possible, I have relied upon contemporary statements. But no +writer on the Siege can fail to acknowledge his deep obligations to the +"History of the Siege" by Richard Frothingham. This acknowledgment I +gladly make. Since 1849, however, the date of the publication of the +book, there has come to light interesting new material which I have +endeavored to incorporate here. The other authorities upon which I have +chiefly depended will be found by referring to the footnotes. + +ALLEN FRENCH. + +CONCORD, MASSACHUSETTS, +January, 1911. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER PAGE + + I. BEGINNINGS AND CONDITIONS 1 + + II. WRITS OF ASSISTANCE AND THE STAMP ACT 21 + + III. CHARLES TOWNSHEND, SAM ADAMS, AND THE MASSACRE 41 + + IV. THE TEA-PARTY AND ITS CONSEQUENCES 71 + + V. THE OCCUPATION OF BOSTON 91 + + VI. THE POWDER ALARM AND THE WINTER OF 1774-1775 123 + + VII. MILITARY PREPARATIONS 161 + +VIII. THE NINETEENTH OF APRIL 187 + + IX. BOSTON BELEAGUERED 216 + + X. THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL 256 + + XI. WASHINGTON TAKES COMMAND 288 + + XII. EVENTS IN BOSTON FROM JUNE TO DECEMBER, 1775 331 + +XIII. WASHINGTON'S DIFFICULTIES 361 + + XIV. THE WINTER IN BOSTON 392 + + XV. THE EVACUATION 415 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +OLD STATE HOUSE _Frontispiece_ + + PAGE +THE HUTCHINSON HOUSE 35 + +FANEUIL HALL _facing_ 58 + +SAMUEL ADAMS _facing_ 69 + +THE INVESTMENT OF BOSTON _facing_ 127 + +REVERE'S PICTURE OF BOSTON IN 1768 175 + +THE OLD NORTH CHURCH _facing_ 181 + +THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON _facing_ 193 + +PLAN OF THE SIEGE 235 + +THE MINUTE MAN _facing_ 303 + +THE OLD NORTH BRIDGE _facing_ 303 + +WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS _facing_ 374 + +DORCHESTER TOWER 407 + +GOLD MEDAL COMMEMORATING WASHINGTON'S VICTORY 434 + + + + +THE SIEGE OF BOSTON + + + + +CHAPTER I + +BEGINNINGS AND CONDITIONS + + +The Siege of Boston was the culmination of a series of events which will +always be of importance in the history of America. From the beginning of +the reign of George the Third, the people of the English colonies in the +new world found themselves at variance with their monarch, and nowhere +more so than in Massachusetts. Since the New England people were fitted +by their temperament and history to take the lead in the struggle, at +their chief town naturally took place the more important incidents. +These, which were often dramatic, had nevertheless a political cause and +significance which link them in a rising series that ended in a violent +outbreak and the eleven months' leaguer. + +As to the siege itself, it varies an old situation, for Boston was beset +by its own neighbors in defence of the common rights. Previously the +king's troops, though regarded as invaders, had been but half-hearted +oppressors; it was the people themselves who persistently provoked +difficulties. The siege proper is of striking military interest, for its +hostilities begin by the repulse of an armed expedition into a community +of farmers, continue with a pitched battle between regular troops and a +militia, produce a general of commanding abilities, and end with a +strategic move of great skill and daring. It is the first campaign of a +great war, and precedes the birth of a nation. Politically, the cause of +the struggle is of enduring consequence to mankind. Socially, the siege +and its preliminaries bring to view people of all kinds, some weak, some +base, some picturesque, some entirely admirable. The period shows the +breaking up of an old society and the formation of a new. A study of +the siege is therefore of value. + +It will be observed that the siege cannot satisfactorily be considered +as a distinct series of military or semi-military events, abruptly +beginning and still more abruptly ending. Such a view would reduce the +siege to a mere matter of local history, having little connection with +the larger movements of the American Revolution, and appearing almost as +an accident which might have happened at any other centre of sufficient +population.[1] On the contrary, neither the siege nor the Revolution +were accidents of history. That the Revolution was bound to come about, +and that its beginnings were equally bound to be at Boston, these were +conditioned in the nature, first of the colonists in general, and second +of the New Englanders in particular. However striking were certain of +the occurrences, they were of less importance than their causes and +consequences. + +Accordingly I shall consider as an organic series the more important of +those events which happened in Boston during the reign of George the +Third, and which ended when the last of his redcoats departed from the +town. In fact, in order to be perfectly intelligible I must first devote +a few pages to a consideration of previous conditions. + +"Any one," wrote George E. Ellis in the "Memorial History of Boston,"[2] +"who attempts to trace the springs, the occasions, and the directing +forces of the revolt ... cannot find his clew a year short of the date +when the former self-governed Colony of Massachusetts Bay became a Royal +Province." He is right in pointing out that in 1692 the struggle took +open form. Yet even then the controversy was not new. In other form it +had been carried on for more than half a century previous. Its ultimate +origin lay in the fact that the very charter under which the colony was +planted differed from all other documents granted by any English king. + +This difference lay in the omission of the condition, usual in such +charters, that its governing board should meet in London practically for +the purpose of supervision by the king. That the omission of this +condition was the result of wisdom on the part of the founders, and +stupidity on the part of the officers of the king, seems undeniable. The +founders, unhappy and alarmed at the political and religious situation +in England under Charles the First, were seeking to provide for +themselves and their families a refuge from his oppressions. Secure in +their charter, they presently left England for good. When they sailed +for America they did all that could be done to cut themselves off from +interference by the crown. + +At intervals, extremely valuable for the future of America, the +Massachusetts colony certainly was free of all restraint. Charles's +benediction seems to have been "Good riddance!" From the crown the +colonists received no assistance whatever, and it was long both their +boast and their plea that they had planted the colony "at their own +expense." They were left to work out their own salvation.[3] As a +result, their passionate desire for freedom from interference by the +king grew into the feeling that they had earned it as a right. +Englishmen they were still, and subjects of the king; but to the +privileges of Englishmen they had added the right to manage their own +affairs. The English king and the English law were to help them in their +difficulties and to settle cases of appeal. In return they would grant +money and fight for the king when necessary; but in the meantime they +would live by themselves. + +Taking advantage of the clause in their charter which authorized them +"to ordain and establish all manner of wholesome and reasonable orders, +laws, statutes, and ordinances," they speedily took to themselves +everything but the name of independence. They instituted courts for all +purposes, set up their legislative government, raised their own taxes, +whether general or local, and perfected that wonderful instrument of +resistance to oppression, New England town government. They even coined +money. And, different from most of the other colonies, they chose their +governor from among their own number. + +Distance and home difficulties--for the Stuart kings usually had their +hands full of trouble with their subjects--favored the non-interference +which the colonists craved. When, however, the Stuarts had any leisure +at all, they at once devoted it to quarrelling with their subjects in +New England. Even to the easy-going Charles II the cool aloofness of the +colonists was a bit too strong; to his father and brother it was +intolerable. + +The invariable methods of the colonists, when facing a demand from the +king, were evasion and delay. "Avoid or protract" were Winthrop's own +words in 1635. In 1684 the General Court wrote advising their attorney, +employed in England in defending the charter, "to spin out the case to +the uttermost."[4] Once and once only until the Revolution--in the case +of the seizing of Andros--did the men of Massachusetts proceed to +action. Their habitual policy was safe, and, on the whole, successful. +Slow communication (one voyage of commissioners from Boston to England +took three months), and the existence in England of a strong party of +friends, helped powerfully to obscure and obliterate the issues. Yet +Charles I in 1640, and James II in 1689, made preparations to reduce the +colony to proper subjection, by force if necessary. + +It was doubtless well for Massachusetts that both Charles and James were +presently dethroned, for against the power of England no successful +resistance could then have been made. New England, indeed, might have +been united against the king, but it is very unlikely that the other +colonies would have given their help. Some generations more were needed +before the aristocrats of Virginia could feel themselves at one with the +Puritans of New England. + +Yet it is interesting to notice the spirit of Massachusetts. On the news +of Charles's intentions the colony prepared for resistance. In James's +time it went a step further. When the news came of the expedition of +William of Orange, Massachusetts cast in its lot with him. Without +waiting to learn the result of the struggle, Boston rose against James's +unpopular governor, and imprisoned him in the Castle. The act was +heroic, for the Bloody Assizes had taught the world what punishment the +cowardly king meted out to rebels. + +It will be noticed that the political status of Massachusetts was +already changed. After many delays Charles II had abrogated the charter. +His death followed almost immediately, and Andros had been appointed at +the head of a provisional government. Doubtless the resistance to him +had been inspired by the hope that the old charter might be restored. +Instead, William, when once secure on the throne, issued a new charter. +Under its provisions the colony, now a province, lived until the +Revolution. In order that the events leading up to the siege may be +understood, it will be well to consider the provisions of the new +governmental machinery. + +At the head of the province were to be a governor and a +lieutenant-governor, both appointed by the king. Their powers were +executive, with the right of veto over legislation, and also over +certain appointments by the legislature. Laws passed by this legislature +and not vetoed by the governor or the king were to go in force three +years after their enactment. The legislature had two houses, the lower a +popular chamber, called the Assembly, elected by the towns. The upper +branch was called the Council. The first Council was appointed by the +king; later members were to be nominated by the Assembly for the +approval of the governor. The Assembly and Council formed together the +Great and General Court. Judges were to be chosen by the governor and +Council, but all officers were to be paid by the General Court. As will +be seen later, in the case of the Writs of Assistance, appeal could be +taken to the English courts. + +And now for the first time became evident the fact that three +generations of practical independence had bred in America a race of +men--or it may be better to say had fostered a school of thought--that +never could agree in submitting to a distant and arbitrary authority. In +the seventy years which followed, New England showed this spirit in many +ways. The most prominent cause of disagreement was the question of the +governor's prerogatives, resulting in constant bickerings with the +crown. + +The principle, of course, lay deeper still. On the one side were +sovereigns whose powers were not yet definitely restricted, and who +were likely to resent any apparent tendency to make them less. On the +other side was a people who had progressed far in self-government, and +who resisted any limitation of their rights. It is not the purpose of +this book to trace the earlier unification of the colonies under +pressure from without. By the year 1760 that process was approaching +completion; there was, therefore, in America a stronger feeling than +ever, while across the water was that new ruler into whose youthful ears +his mother had continually dinned the words, "George, be king!" + +It is well to understand the status of a colony in those days, and the +difficulties with which its inhabitants struggled. Yet it is hard for +the modern man to conceive the restrictions upon freedom. From earliest +days there had been discontent with the king's claim to the finest trees +in the public forests, the "mast trees" which, reserved for the king's +navy, no man might lawfully cut.[5] Exportation of lumber, except to +England and the British West Indies, was long illegal. Trade with the +French and Spanish islands was prohibited entirely, and trade in many +products of home manufacture (tobacco, sugar, wool, dye-stuffs, furs, +are prominent examples) was forbidden "to any place but Great +Britain--even to Ireland."[6] Certain merchandise might be imported at +will, subject to duty; but most articles could be bought, and sold, only +through Great Britain. + +Further, internal commerce and manufacture were severely hampered. No +wool or woollen product might be carried from one province to another. +The Bible might not be printed. The making of hats was almost entirely +suppressed. The manufacture of iron, on a scale sufficient to compete +with English wares, was practically prohibited--as a "nuisance."[7] + +Under all these restrictions the colonies were not as yet restive. To be +sure there were smuggling and illicit trade, and grievances in plenty; +yet the stress of colonial life, the continual danger from the north and +west, had kept the provincials satisfied as a body. And now, at the +opening of the reign of George III, with the French driven out of Canada +and the Mississippi Valley, and the Indians subdued, there should have +been concord between the colonists and the king. + +The comparison between the two is very striking, while at the same time +it is not easily brought home to the city dweller of to-day. City +government gives the individual a chance to bury himself in the mass, +and to avoid his duties; further, our cities are now many, and very +large, while we are notoriously patient under misrule. In 1760, on the +other hand, few towns had as yet adopted city government. Boston was the +largest town, and its population was little more than fifteen thousand. +So well did its enemies understand one reason for its truculence, that +they even considered means to force upon the town a city charter. The +question came, however, to no definite proposition. The town therefore +proceeded with its open discussion of all public questions, with its +right of free speech in town meetings extended even to strangers, and +with its _viva voce_ vote letting each man know where his neighbor +stood. "The town" was an entity of which each man felt himself a part. +As a whole, its self-consciousness was like that of an individual: it +could feel a trespass on its privileges as quickly as could the +haughtiest monarch of the old world. And all New England was filled with +towns whose feelings, on all essential points, were one and the same. + +Against the town-meetings of America stood George III, as determined to +assert his prerogatives as was any member of the house of Stuart. Still +comparatively young, he had not yet learned that there are limitations +of power, even to a king. And it was to the misfortune of his empire +that there were few in England to teach him. + +For the old Puritan middle class of the Stuart days was gone. Its fibre +had softened; the class itself had disappeared in the easier-going +masses of a more prosperous day. For seventy-five years England had had +no internal dissensions, and her foreign wars had added to her wealth +and contentment. To her well-wishers it seemed as if the people had +given itself to sloth and indulgence. "I am satisfied," wrote Burke, +"that, within a few years, there has been a great change in the national +character. We seem no longer that eager, inquisitive, jealous, fiery +people which we have been formerly, and which we have been a very short +time ago."[8] England was the country of Tom Jones, hearty and healthy, +but animated by no high principles and keyed to no noble actions. It +needed the danger of the Napoleonic wars to bring out once more the +sturdy manliness of the nation. Through all the earlier reign of George +III there was, to be sure, a remainder of the old high-minded spirit. +Chatham and Rockingham, Burke, Barre, and others, spoke in public and +private for the rights of the colonists, to whom their encouragement +gave strength. But the greater part of the English people was so +indifferent to the moral and political significance of the quarrel that +the king was practically able to do as he pleased. + +He proceeded on the assumption that every man had his price. The +assumption was unhappily too correct, for he was able to gather round +him, in Parliament or the civil service, his own party, the "King's +Friends," who served him for the profit that they got. No tale of modern +corruption can surpass the record of their plundering of a nation. With +this goes a story of gambling, drinking, and general loose living which, +while the attention is concentrated on it, rouses the belief that the +nation was wholly degenerate, until the recollection of the remnant, +Chatham and the party of the Earl of Rockingham, gives hope of the +salvation of the country. + +At any rate, for more than fifteen years of his reign the king was in +the ascendant. There was no party to depose him, scarcely one strong +enough to curb him, even at times of popular indignation. He was, +therefore, as no other king had been before him, able to force the issue +upon the colonies, in spite of the protests of the few friends of +liberty. In complete ignorance of the strength of the colonists, both in +resources and in purpose, he proceeded to insist upon his rights. When +it is remembered that those rights, according to his interpretation of +them, were to tax without representation, to limit trade and +manufactures, and to interfere at will in the management of colonial +affairs, it will be seen that he was playing with fire. + +The danger will appear the greater if it is considered that the +population of the colonies had not progressed, like that of England, to +days of easy tolerance. The Americans, and especially the New +Englanders, were of the same stuff as those who had beheaded Charles I, +and driven James II from his kingdom. They had among their military +officers plenty of such men as Pomeroy, who, destined to fight at Bunker +Hill, wrote from the siege of Louisburg: "It looks as if our campaign +would last long; but I am willing to stay till God's time comes to +deliver the city into our hands."[9] Many besides himself wrote, and +even spoke, in Biblical language. There were still heard, in New +England, the echoes of the "Great Awakening"; the preaching of +Whitefield and others had everywhere roused a keen religious feeling, +and the people were as likely as ever to open town-meeting with prayer, +and to go into battle with psalms. + +Such, then, were the contestants in the struggle. On the one side was +the king with his privileges, backed by his Parliamentary majority, and +having at command an efficient army and navy, and a full treasury. There +was at hand no one to resist him successfully at home, none to whose +warnings he would listen. And on the other side were the colonists, +quite capable of fighting for what they knew to be the "rights of +Englishmen." Both hoped to proceed peaceably. In ignorance, each was +hoping for the impossible, for the king would not retreat, and the +colonists would not yield. As soon as each understood the other's full +intention, there would be a rupture. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] It may appear to a hasty consideration that Frothingham's "Siege of +Boston" treats the siege as an isolated military event. It must, +however, be remembered that Mr. Frothingham had treated previous events +in a preliminary volume, his "Life of Joseph Warren." + +[2] "Memorial History of Boston," ii, 31. + +[3] "They nourished by your indulgence? They grew up by your neglect of +them!" Barre's speech in Parliament, February, 1765. + +[4] "Memorial History of Boston," i, 340, 376. + +[5] See, on this point, Sabine's "American Loyalists," 7. + +[6] Bancroft's "United States," ed. 1855, v, 265. References to Bancroft +will at first be to this edition. + +[7] Bancroft's "United States," v, 266. + +[8] Trevelyan, "American Revolution," Part i, 21. + +[9] "Memorial History of Boston," ii, 116. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +WRITS OF ASSISTANCE AND THE STAMP ACT + + +The men who, whether in America or England, took sides with the king or +the colonies as Tories and Whigs, or as "prerogative men" and "friends +of liberty," fall naturally into two classes. A line of cleavage could +be seen at the time, and can even be traced now, among the supporters of +either side, according as they followed principle or self-interest. +There were those who sought profit in supporting the colonies, as well +as those who knowingly faced loss in defending the king. It is well for +Americans to remember, therefore, that while many sided with the king +for what they could get, there were others whose minds could not +conceive a country without a king, or a subject with inalienable rights. +The best of the Tories honestly believed the Whig agitation to be +"unnatural, causeless, wanton, and wicked."[10] Such Americans were, in +the inevitable struggle, truly martyrs to their beliefs. + +Nevertheless, just as there was naturally more profit or prominence (and +the two were often the same) on the king's side, so his party had the +more self-seekers. "The cause is not worth dying for," said Ingersoll, +facing the Connecticut farmers, and spoke the sentiment of all the +stamp-officers who resigned their positions at the demand of the people. +The cause, however, did seem worth working for. There were many, in +England and America, who, like those whom Otis saw around him, "built +much upon the fine salaries they should receive from the plantation +branch of the revenue." Position, pay, and the chance to exploit the +revenues as this was done in England, were the temptations which brought +many to the side of the king, and which made men unite to urge upon him +the acts which he desired for less selfish reasons. + +Urged by principle, then, or excited by self-interest, the proposers of +new measures were strong. The earliest act of the king's reign showed +what could and what would be done, and brought upon the Boston stage the +first of the actors in the drama. On the one hand were the governor, the +justices, and the minor officials, on the other the people's +self-appointed--but willingly accepted--leaders. + +Francis Bernard was the first Massachusetts governor under George III. +Bernard arrived August 2, 1760; the old king died on October 25; and in +November the customs officials, stimulated by orders from home to +enforce the provisions of the Sugar Act of 1733, petitioned for "writs +of assistance," to empower them to summon help in forcible entries in +search of smuggled goods. Now there can be no doubt that there was +smuggling in the colony, even in Boston itself. On the other hand, the +officials were inquisitorial and rapacious. Once they were armed with +writs of assistance, no dwelling would be safe from entry by them. The +struggle was at once begun, and in the council chamber of the old Town +House was fought out before the eyes of the province. + +The scene is pictured on the walls of the modern State House. Chief +among the justices sat Thomas Hutchinson, a man of property and +education, and an excellent historian, but the very type of +office-holder, and by prejudice and interest a partisan of the king. +Against him stood James Otis, the first of the Massachusetts orators of +liberty, a man of good family, and, like so many of the patriot leaders, +a lawyer. His speech was the first definite pronouncement for a new +order of things. + +"I am determined," he said, "to sacrifice estate, ease, health, +applause, and even life, to the sacred calls of my country." He referred +to the "kind of power, the exercise of which cost one king of England +his head and another his throne." Such language, publicly spoken, was +new. His argument was, to Englishmen, irrefutable. No precedent, no +English statute, could stand against the Constitution. "This writ, if +declared legal, totally annihilates" the privacy of the home. +"Custom-house officers might enter our houses when they please, and we +could not resist them. Upon bare suspicion they could exercise this +wanton power.... Both reason and the Constitution are against this +writ.... Every act against the Constitution is void."[11] The speech, +continued for four hours, was a brilliant example of keen logic combined +with burning eloquence. + +This is Otis's great service to the cause of the Revolution. Fiery and +magnetic, but moody and eventually unbalanced, he gave place in the +public confidence to men perhaps of lesser talents, but with equal zeal +and steadier purpose. Yet his service was invaluable. His speech +expressed for his countrymen the indignation of the hour, and it pointed +the way to younger men. To one at least of his hearers, John Adams, it +was "like the oath of Hamilcar administered to Hannibal."[12] To many it +was the final appeal that settled them in their patriotism. For history +the scene has been called the beginning of the Revolution. + +Yet it had no immediate results, for Hutchinson--and the service was +forgotten by neither his friends nor his opponents--secured delay of +judgment in the case until the English courts could uphold him against +his wavering associates. Nevertheless, it is safe to assume that the +public indignation secured moderate measures on the part of the customs +officials, since we hear of few complaints. And the affair had its +influence on the public attitude toward the Stamp Act, five years later. + +The Stamp Act was the first definite assertion of the right to tax +America. In 1763 the Sugar Act had been reënacted, but its provisions, +taxing only importations from foreign colonies, yielded little revenue. +The king's treasury was already feeling the drains upon it, and a pack +of eager office-seekers was clamoring to be let loose upon the revenues +of the colonies. Together the king and his friends pushed through +Parliament the legislation which was to secure their purposes. To meet +any such danger as in the recent French and Indian wars, ten thousand +soldiers were to be quartered on the colonies, which were to pay for +their maintenance. Certain sops to public sentiment were given, in the +shape of concessions, yet new restrictions were laid on foreign trade. +And finally and most important, a stamp-tax, the easiest to collect, was +laid on business and legal formalities of all kinds. After its passage +no land title might be passed, no legal papers issued, no ship might +clear from a home port, without a stamp affixed to the necessary +documents. Not even inheritances might be transferred, nor marriages be +legalized. + +This was the first internal taxation laid by England on America. A word +is necessary as to the meaning of the phrase in those days. An external +tax, perhaps merely an export duty, was levied and paid in England; its +effect was seen in higher prices in the colonies. Internal taxation +would include all taxes actually paid in America on goods coming from +England. The provisions of the Sugar Act were regarded as "trade +restrictions," and not as intended to raise an English revenue. + +There is perhaps no better place to discuss the justice of the +Revolution than right here. Even to-day the illegality, the utter +wrongfulness of the American position, is occasionally raised among us +by those who see the great obligations to the mother country under which +the colonies lay, and who recall the needless hardships suffered by the +wretched Tories, the martyrs of a lost cause. Doubtless wrongs were +inflicted in the course of the struggle, and the great expenditures of +England were in large part unrequited. But it must be remembered that +the world had not yet reached the point where the losers in a war were +gently treated, and that no amount of financial obligation will ever +compel to the acceptance of political servitude. By habit of mind and +force of circumstances America had developed a political theory +puzzlingly novel to the old world and as yet not thoroughly understood +by the new. It was upon this unformulated theory that all future +differences were to arise. It interfered in all affairs in which the +question arose: Should the colonies be governed, and especially should +they be taxed, without a voice in their own affairs? + +No one in England doubted that Parliament had a right to tax America +without its consent. Customs restrictions were long familiar. As to +internal taxation, why, it was asked, should the colonies have a voice +in Parliament? Birmingham and Manchester, great centres of population, +were not represented, while that uninhabited heap of stones, Old Sarum, +sent a member to the Commons. Resting on these abuses, even Pitt and +Burke were content to argue that taxation of America was just. For them +it was a question whether that right should be exercised. + +With the best will in the world to be on good terms with the mother +country, America could not agree in such reasoning. The case had nothing +to do with obligations. As for these, the colonists knew that England +would never have won against the French in Canada without their aid. But +that was not the question. Should those who for a hundred and +thirty-five years had paid no tax to England pay one now? Were the +people who for seventy years had drawn a fine distinction between paying +their governor of their own accord and paying him at the command of the +king, and who in every year of royal governorship had made their +contention plain--were they to be satisfied to pay taxes because +Birmingham did? + +Undoubtedly there were other causes for discontent. "To me," says +Sabine, in the preface to his "American Loyalists," "the documentary +history, the state papers of the period teach nothing more clearly than +this, namely, that almost every matter brought into discussion was +practical, and in some form or other related to LABOR, to some branch +of COMMON INDUSTRY." He reminds us that twenty-nine laws limited +industry in the colonies, and concludes that "the great object of the +Revolution was to release LABOR from these restrictions." Undoubtedly +these restrictive laws had their effect upon the temper of the people. +Undoubtedly also there was much fear lest there should be established in +the colonies a bureaucracy of major and minor officials, corruptly, as +in England, winning fortunes for themselves. Yet the question of +taxation, a matter of merely theoretical submission, which produced no +hardship and would not impoverish the country, was the main cause of +trouble. The two branches of the race had long unconsciously parted +their ways, and the realization of it was upon them. + +Upon the proposal of the Stamp Act the colonies did everything in their +power to prevent the passage of the bill. They urged that internal +taxation had never been levied before. Protests, arguments, and +petitions were sent across the water, but in vain. The Commons fell +back upon its custom "to receive no petition against a money bill," and +would listen to nothing. "We have the power to tax them, and we will tax +them."[13] And following this utterance of one of the ministry, the bill +was passed. + +It is interesting to note that no resistance to the tax was expected. +Its operation was automatic; there was no hardship in its provisions; of +course the colonists would yield. Even Franklin, who should have known +his countrymen better, expected submission. "The sun is down," he wrote, +but "we may still light candles. Frugality and industry will go a great +way toward indemnifying us." His correspondent, Charles Thomson, had in +this case the truer foresight, and predicted the works of darkness.[14] + +Throughout the colonies there was not only sorrow, but anger. When even +Hutchinson had protested against the Stamp Act, it can be seen how the +Whigs would feel. Non-importation agreements were widely signed, and +people accustomed to silks and laces prepared to go into homespun. But +the act, passed in February, 1765, was not to go into effect until +November. Before that date, much could be done. + +What was done came from the lower as well as the upper classes. The +people acted promptly. One colony after another sent crowds to those who +had accepted, in advance, the positions of stamp-officers. One by one, +under persuasion or intimidation, the officers resigned until none were +left. In New York the governor fled to the military for protection, and +from the parapet of the fort looked helplessly on while the people burnt +before his eyes his own coach, containing images of himself and the +devil. But before this happened, Boston, first of all the capitals to +take a positive stand, began to draw upon itself the particular +resentment of the king. + +Early in August came to Boston the news of the nomination of its +stamp-collector, Andrew Oliver, long prominent upon the Tory side. The +lower class of the inhabitants, after a week of delay, stirred itself to +action. On the 14th the image of Oliver was seen hanging on the bough of +a large elm, then known as the Great Tree. Hutchinson ordered the image +down, but as the sheriff did not act, Bernard summoned his council, and +until evening fruitlessly endeavored to urge them to action. Then the +populace, having themselves removed the image, came to the Town House, +and, passing directly through it, shouted to the council, still sitting +upstairs, "Liberty, property, and no stamps!" Proceeding with perfect +order, the crowd next tore down the frame of a building which Oliver was +suspected of raising to use as his office, and, carrying the beams to +Fort Hill, burnt them and the image before Oliver's house. + +Hutchinson, who never lacked personal courage, called on the militia +colonel to summon his men and disperse the crowd, but the colonel +replied that his drummers were in the mob. Hutchinson then went with +the sheriff to order the crowd to disperse, but was himself forced to +depart in order to escape violence. The next day Bernard, the governor, +whose courage left him at the very thought of another such night, fled +to Castle William, behind whose ancient walls he considered himself +safe. Oliver hastily resigned his office, lest the mob should visit him +again. + +[Illustration: THE HUTCHINSON HOUSE] + +The people were not satisfied with the conduct of Hutchinson, who, +although he had actually opposed the passage of the Stamp Act, was +under suspicion of secretly abetting and profiting by it. After twelve +days there was a second outbreak; the mob began by burning the records +of the vice-admiralty court, went on to invade the house of the +comptroller of customs, and finally, worked to the usual pitch of a +mob's courage, attacked Hutchinson's house. With his family he escaped, +but the mob broke into the handsome mansion, and sacked it thoroughly. +His library, with priceless manuscripts concerning the history of the +colony, was scattered in the mud of the street. + +This was the most disgraceful event that happened in Boston during all +the long period preceding the Revolution. It was due to popular feeling, +wrongly directed; and to new working-men's organizations, not as yet +understanding the task that was before them. These organizations, as yet +almost formless, and never so important that records were kept, called +themselves the Sons of Liberty, after a phrase used by Isaac Barre, in a +speech in Parliament opposing the Stamp Act. The tree on which they had +hung the image of Oliver was from this time called Liberty Tree. + +The better class of Boston citizens at once, in a town meeting called +the following morning, declared their "detestation of these violent +proceedings," and promised to suppress them in future. We shall see that +one more such outbreak, and one only, was made by a Boston mob. There is +here suggested an unwritten, perhaps never to be written, chapter of the +history of this time. By what means did the Boston leaders, Samuel Adams +chief among them, manage to control the Boston workmen? However it was +done, by what conferences and through what reasoning, it is safe to say +that the loose organizations of the Sons of Liberty, and still another +set of clubs, the caucuses which met in various parts of the town, were +utilized to control the lower classes. We know the names of a few of the +leaders of the workmen: Edes the printer, Crafts the painter, and, most +noted of them all, Paul Revere the silversmith. These sturdy men, and +others in different trades, were the means of transmitting to the +artisans of Boston the thoughts and desires of the upper-class Whigs. +The organization was looser than that of a political party of to-day, +but as soon as it was completed, it produced a subordination, secrecy, +and self-control which cannot be paralleled in modern times. + +The opposition to the Stamp Act continued. More formidable than mobs +were the actions of the town meetings and legislatures. Protests and +declarations were solemnly drawn up; for the first time was heard the +threat of disaffection. Representatives from nine provinces met in the +Stamp Act Congress, and passed resolutions against the new taxation. + +It was impossible for England to ignore the situation. Reluctantly--it +was an act which the king never forgot nor forgave--more than a year +after its passage, when it was proved that its enforcement was +impossible, the Stamp Act was repealed. + +This was the time for England to change her whole policy. Not Boston +alone, but all America, had declared against American taxation. The +principles of liberty had again and again been clearly pointed out. +Further, there would have been no disgrace in admitting a mistake. The +whole colonial question was new in human history, for Roman practice was +inadmissible. "The best writers on public law," reasoned Otis, "contain +nothing that is satisfactory on the natural rights of colonies.... Their +researches are often but the history of ancient abuses."[15] The natural +rights of man should have been allowed to rule, as in the course of +time, with England's other colonies, they came to do. + +But, for better or for worse, sides had been taken. Few thought of +turning back. In England there were no breaks in the ranks of the king's +supporters; in America the office-holding class, the "best families," +the people of settled income and vested rights, were as a rule, +selfishly or unselfishly, for the king. Already "mobocracy," "the +faction," "sedition," were familiar terms among them. England was ready +to take, and the American Tories were ready to applaud, the next step. +And Boston was being marked down as the most obnoxious of the towns of +America.[16] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[10] The adjectives are those of _Massachusettensis_, the ablest Tory +pamphleteer, as quoted in Frothingham's "Siege," 33. + +[11] "Memorial History of Boston," iii, 5. + +[12] "Memorial History of Boston," iii, 7. + +[13] Bancroft's "United States," v, 247. + +[14] Fiske, "American Revolution," illustrated edition, i, 17. + +[15] Bancroft's "United States," v, 203. + +[16] The Castle, or Castle William, referred to in this chapter, was the +old fort on Castle Island. It was never put to any other use than as a +barracks and magazine. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +CHARLES TOWNSHEND, SAM ADAMS, AND THE MASSACRE + + +Unfortunately, when the Stamp Act was repealed, the way had been left +open for future trouble. The Rockingham ministry, the most liberal which +could then be assembled, even in repealing the Stamp Act thought it +incumbent upon them to assert, in the Declaratory Act, the right to tax +America. The succeeding ministry, called together under the failing +Pitt, was the means of reasserting the right. Pitt, too ill to support +the labor of leading his party in the Commons, entered the House of +Lords as Earl of Chatham, thus acknowledging the eclipse of fame and +abilities which in the previous reign had astounded Europe. It was +during one of his periods of illness, when he was unable to attend to +public affairs, that a subordinate insubordinately reversed his public +policy by proceeding once more to tax America. + +Charles Townshend was Chancellor of the Exchequer. It was he who had +urged the reënactment of the Sugar Act in 1763, and he now saw +opportunity to put through a more radical policy. In violation of all +implied pledges, disdaining restraint from his colleagues, this +brilliant but unstable politician introduced into Parliament a new bill +for raising an American revenue. "I am still,"[17] he declared, "a firm +advocate of the Stamp Act.... I laugh at the absurd distinction between +internal and external taxation.... It is a distinction without a +difference; if we have a right to impose the one, we have a right to +impose the other; the distinction is ridiculous in the sight of +everybody, except the Americans." + +"Everybody, except the Americans!" The phrase, from an important speech +at a critical moment, marks the fact that a world of thought divided +the two parts of the Empire more truly than did the Atlantic. But not as +yet so evidently. It is only in unconscious acknowledgments such as +these that we find the English admitting the new classification. In +studying the years before and after this event we find the Americans +often called Puritans and Oliverians, while the possible rise of a +Cromwell among them is admitted. Yet the parallel, though unmistakably +apt, and containing a serious warning, was never taken to heart, even in +America. + +Americans were very slow in approaching the conclusion that colonists +had irrefragable rights. Caution and habit and pride in the name of +Englishman kept them from it; the colonist, visiting England for the +first time, still proudly said that he was going "home." There was no +reason why this feeling should ever change, if only the spirit of +compromise, the basis of the British Constitution, had been kept in mind +by Parliament. But the times were wrong. Hesitate as the colonists might +before the syllogism which lay ready for completion, its minor and +major premises were already accepted. That they were Englishmen, and +that Englishmen had inalienable rights, were articles of faith among +them. The conclusion would be drawn as soon as they were forced to it. +And Townshend was preparing to force them. + +Townshend proposed small duties on lead, paints, glass, and paper. +Besides this, he withdrew the previous export duty, one shilling per +pound, on tea taken from England to America, and instead of this he laid +an import duty of threepence per pound. This was ingeniously new, being +internal taxation in a form different from that of the Stamp Act. At the +same time was abandoned the ancient contention that customs duties were +but trade regulations. The new taxes were obviously to raise an English +revenue. For the execution of the new laws provision was made in each +colony for collectors to be paid directly by the king, but indirectly by +the colonies. The head of these collectors was a board of Commissioners +of the Customs, stationed at Boston. It will be seen that thus were +begun new irritations for the colonies, in the shape of duties for the +benefit of England, and of a corps of officials whose dependence on the +crown made sure that they would be subservient tools. + +While this was done, no change was made in the plan to maintain in +America an army at colonial expense. Indeed, New York was punished for +refusing to supply to the troops quartered in the city supplies that had +been illegally demanded. Its assembly was not allowed to proceed with +public business until the supplies should be voted. Thus every other +colony was notified what to expect. + +The Revenue Acts were passed in July, 1767. Upon receiving the news the +colonies expressed to each other their discontent. Concerning the +Customs Commissioners Boston felt the greatest uneasiness. "We shall +now," wrote Andrew Eliot, "be obliged to maintain in luxury sycophants, +court parasites, and hungry dependents." The strongest expression upon +the general situation was in Dickinson's "Farmer's Letters."[18] +"This," said he, "is an INNOVATION, and a most dangerous innovation. We +being obliged to take commodities from Great Britain, special duties +upon their exportation to us are as much taxes as those imposed by the +Stamp Act. Great Britain claims and exercises the right to prohibit +manufactures in America. Once admit that she may lay duties upon her +exportations to us, for the purpose of levying money on us only, she +will then have nothing to do but to lay those duties on the articles +which she prohibits us to manufacture, and the tragedy of American +liberty is finished." + +There was but one way to meet the situation. In October the town of +Boston resolved, through its town meeting, to import none of the +dutiable articles. The example was followed by other towns until all the +colonies had entered, unofficially, into a non-importation agreement. +The question arose, What further should be done? Otis was beginning his +mental decline. It was now that Samuel Adams, or Sam Adams, as Boston +better loves to call him, came into the leadership which he ever after +exercised. + +He was a man of plain Boston ancestry, whose father had interested +himself in public affairs, and who, like his son, was of doubtful +business ability. Sam Adams's interests were evident from his boyhood, +and when in 1743 he took his degree of Master of Arts at Harvard, he +presented a thesis on the subject: "Whether it be Lawful to resist the +Supreme Magistrate, if the Commonwealth cannot otherwise be preserved." +Although he inherited a little property from his father, and although +from the year 1753 he served constantly in public offices, up to the +year 1764 he had scarcely been a success. His patrimony had largely +disappeared; further, as tax-collector he stood, with his associates, +indebted to the town for nearly ten thousand pounds. The reason for this +is not clear; the fact has been used to his disadvantage by Tory +historians, the first of them being Hutchinson, who calls the situation +a "defalcation." But in order to feel sure that the state of affairs +was justified by circumstances, we need only to consider that in the +same year Adams was chosen by the town on the committee to "instruct" +its representatives, and a year later was himself made a legislator. +From that time on, his influence in Boston and Massachusetts politics +steadily grew. + +His political sentiments were never in doubt. In his "instructions" of +1764 are found the words: "If Taxes are laid upon us in any shape +without our having a legal representative where they are laid, are we +not reduced from the Character of free Subjects to the miserable State +of tributary Slaves?"[19] Throughout the Stamp Act agitation he was +active in opposing the new measures. He was found to be ready with his +tongue, but especially so with his pen. For this reason he was +constantly employed by the town and the Assembly to draft their +resolutions, and some of the most momentous documents of the period +remain to us in his handwriting. When at last, at the beginning of 1768, +some one was needed to express the opinion of Massachusetts upon the +Townshend Acts, Samuel Adams was naturally looked to as the man for the +work. + +He drafted papers which were, one after the other, adopted by the +Massachusetts Assembly. The first was a letter of remonstrance, +addressed to the colony's agent in London, and intended to be made +public. It protested, in words seven times revised by the Assembly, +against the proposed measures. Similar letters were sent to members of +the ministry and leaders of English opinion. Another letter was +addressed to the king. Of the success of this, Adams apparently had +little hope, for when his daughter remarked that the paper might be +touched by the royal hand, he replied, "More likely it will be spurned +by the royal foot." The final one of these state papers was a circular +letter addressed to "each House of Representatives or Burgesses on the +continent." This expressed the opinion of Massachusetts upon the new +laws, and invited discussion. That nothing in this should be considered +underhanded, a copy of the circular letter was sent to England. + +It is significant that at the same time the new revenue commission sent +a secret letter to England, protesting against New England town +meetings, "in which the lowest mechanics discussed the most important +points of government with the utmost freedom,"[20] and asking for +troops. + +This begins the series of misrepresentations and complaints which, +constantly sent secretly to England, became a leading cause of trouble. +The working of the old colonial system is here seen in its perfection. +Believing in the right to tax and punish, the Ministry appointed +officers of the same belief. These men, finding themselves in hot water +in Boston, were annoyed and perhaps truly alarmed, and constantly urged +harsher measures and the sending of troops. The ministry, listening to +its own supporters, and disbelieving the assertions of the American +Whigs, more and more steadily inclined toward severity. + +Perhaps no falser idea was created than that Boston was riotous. Says +Fiske: "Of all the misconceptions of America by England which brought +about the American Revolution, perhaps this notion of the turbulence of +Boston was the most ludicrous." One of the most serious also. The chief +cause was in the timorousness of Bernard, the governor. On the occasion +of the anniversary of the repeal of the Stamp Act, when, as Hutchinson +said, "We had only such a mob as we have long been used to on the Fifth +of November," Bernard wrote that there was "a disposition to the utmost +disorder." As a crowd reached his house, "There was so terrible a yell +it was apprehended they were breaking in. It was not so; however, it +caused the same terror as if it had been so." That such a letter should +have any effect on home opinion is, as Fiske says, ludicrous. Yet the +mischief caused by these reports is incalculable. "It is the bare +truth," says Trevelyan, "that his own Governors and +Lieutenant-Governors wrote King George out of America."[21] + +Another little series of incidents at this time shows the official +disposition to magnify reports of trouble. For some weeks the ship of +war _Romney_ had lain in the harbor, summoned by the commissioners of +customs. That the ship should be summoned was in itself an offence to +the town; but the conduct of the captain, in impressing seamen in the +streets of Boston, was worse. Bad blood arose between the ship's crew +and the longshoremen; one of the impressed men was rescued, but the +captain angrily refused to accept a substitute for another. Trouble was +brought to a head by the seizure, on the order of the commissioners of +customs, of John Hancock's sloop, the _Liberty_, on alleged violation of +regulations. Irritated by the seizure, and by the fact that the sloop +was moored by the side of the _Romney_, a crowd threatened the customs +house officers, broke the comptroller's windows, and, taking a boat +belonging to the collector, after parading with it through the streets, +burnt it on the Common. + +This was the second disturbance in Boston which can be called a riot. +But it was of small size and short duration; the influence of the Whig +leaders, working through secret channels, quieted the mob, and there was +no further trouble. Nevertheless, four of the commissioners of the +customs seized the occasion to flee to the _Romney_, and to request of +the governor protection in the Castle, declaring that they dared not +return. But the remaining commissioner remained undisturbed on shore, +and a committee of the council, examining into the matter, found that +the affair had been only "a small disturbance." A committee from the +Boston town meeting, going in eleven chaises to Bernard at his country +seat, secured from him a promise to stop impressments, and a statement +of his desire for conciliation. Nevertheless Bernard, Hutchinson, and +the various officers of the customs, used the incident in their letters +home to urge that troops were needed in Boston. + +This was but an interlude, though an instructive one, in the main course +of events. Massachusetts had protested against the new Acts. The next +issue arose when the Assembly was directed, by the new colonial +secretary, Lord Hillsborough, to rescind its Remonstrance and Circular +Letter. The debate on the question was long and important; the demand +was refused by a vote of seventeen to ninety-two. The curious can still +see, in the Old State House, the punch-bowl that Paul Revere was +commissioned to make for the "Immortal Ninety-two;" and there still +exist copies of Revere's caricature of the Rescinders, with Timothy +Ruggles at their head, being urged by devils into the mouth of hell. +These are indications of the feelings of the times. The immediate result +was that in June, 1768, Bernard dissolved the house, and Massachusetts +was "left without a legislature." Upon the news reaching England, it +was at last resolved to send troops to Boston. The crisis in +Massachusetts was now serious. Against the governor and the expected +troops stood only the council, with slight powers. Some machinery must +be devised to meet the emergency, and the solution of the difficulty was +found by Samuel Adams. His mind first leaped to the ultimate remedy for +all troubles, and then found the way out of the present difficulty. + +The ultimate solution was independence. Though in moments of despondency +and exasperation the word had been used by both parties, until now no +one had considered independence possible except Samuel Adams. From this +period he worked for it, in secret preparing men's minds for the grand +change. According to a Tory accusation made in a later year, Adams +"confessed that the independence of the colonies had been the great +object of his life; that whenever he met a youth of parts he had +endeavored to instil such notions into his mind, and had neglected no +opportunity, either in public or in private, of preparing the way for +independence."[22] + +Another Tory source, a deposition gathered when the Tories were +preparing an accusation against Adams, shows the agitator at work. +During the affair of the sloop _Liberty_, "the informant observed +several parties of men gathered in the street at the south end of the +town of Boston, in the forenoon of the day. The informant went up to one +of the parties, and Mr. Samuel Adams, then one of the representatives of +Boston, happened to join the same party near about the same time, +trembling and in great agitation.... The informant heard the said Samuel +Adams then say to the same party, 'If you are men, behave like men. Let +us take up arms immediately, and be free, and seize all the king's +officers. We shall have thirty thousand freemen to join us from the +country.'" + +The statement of the deposition is crude and overdone, yet there can be +no doubt that from this time Adams did work for the one great end. At +first he was alone, yet he recognized the temper of the continent, and +saw the way that the political sentiments of the country were tending. +The methods which he followed were not always open; for never did he +avow his true sentiments, while often protesting, on behalf of the town +or the province, loyalty to the crown. Doubtless he did train the young +men up as he saw them inclined. In one case we know that he failed. +"Samuel Adams used to tell me," said John Coffin, a Boston Tory, +"'Coffin, you must not leave us; we shall have warm work, and want +you.'"[23] But in other cases Adams succeeded: one by one John Hancock, +Josiah Quincy, Jr., John Adams, and Joseph Warren were by him brought +into prominence. And at the same time he began to accustom men's minds +to new methods of political activity. + +This Adams did in the present difficulty, when, in default of the +Assembly, he yet needed an expression of the opinion of the province. +Through his means was called a convention of the towns of Massachusetts, +which met in Faneuil Hall, on the 22d of September, 1768. + +The convention was self-restrained. It called upon the governor to +convene the Assembly, and approved all the acts which had caused the +Assembly's dismissal; it resolved to preserve order, and quietly +dissolved itself. "I doubt," said the British Attorney-General, "whether +they have committed an overt act of treason, but I am sure they have +come within a hair's breadth of it." + +Immediately afterwards arrived the ships with troops. These were landed +with much parade, to find a peaceful town, yet one which from the first +was able to annoy them. Demand was made for quarters for the soldiers; +the Selectmen and Council replied by referring to the law which forbade +such a requisition until the barracks at Castle William should be +filled. By neither subtlety nor threats could the town be induced to +yield; the troops camped on the Common until, at great expense, the +crown officials were forced to hire quarters. It was but the beginning +of the discomfort of the troops, openly scorned in a town where +three-quarters of the people were against them. Where few women except +their own camp-followers would have to do with the soldiers, where the +men despised them and the boys jeered, where "lobster-back" was the +mildest term that was flung at them, there was no satisfaction in +wearing the king's uniform. + +[Illustration: FANEUIL HALL] + +Eighteen months of this life wore upon the soldiers. The townsfolk +became adepts at subtle irritations, against which there was not even +the solace of interesting occupation; for except for daily drill there +was nothing to do. In time the more violent among the troops were ripe +for any affray; while the lower classes among the inhabitants, stanch +Whigs and sober livers, were sick of the noisy ribaldry which for so +long had made unpleasant the streets of the town. Out of these +conditions grew what has been called the Boston Massacre. + +The best contemporary, and in fact the best general authority for this +event is the "Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre in Boston." This +was published by the town for circulation in England, and is still +extant in Doggett's reprint of 1849, and in Kidder's of 1870. In a +report of a special committee the town rehearses both the events of the +Massacre and the proceedings which followed it. Seventy-two pages of +depositions are appended to the report of the committee: no other single +event of those days is made so vivid to us. + +The Massacre was preceded by minor disturbances. On the second of March, +1770, insults having passed between a soldier and a ropemaker, the +former came to the ropewalk, "and looking into one of the windows said, +_by God I'll have satisfaction!_ ... and at last said he was not afraid +of any one in the ropewalks. I"--thus deposes Nicholas Feriter, of +lawful age, "stept out of the window and speedily knocked up his heels. +On falling, his coat flew open, and a naked sword appeared, which one +John Willson, following me out, took from him, and brought into the +ropewalks." The soldier returned a second and a third time, each time +with more men from his regiment. At the last they were "headed by a tall +negro drummer, with a cutlass chained to his body, with which, at first +rencounter," says valiant Nicholas, "I received a cut on the head, but +being immediately supported by nine or ten more of the ropemakers, armed +with their wouldring sticks, we again beat them off." + +For three days there was, among the two regiments stationed in the town, +anger which the inhabitants endeavored to allay by the discharge of the +ropemaker who gave the original insult, and by agreements made with the +commanding officer, Colonel Dalrymple. But, as afterwards appeared, +there were warnings of further trouble. Cautions were given to friends +of the soldiers not to go on the streets at night. The soldiers and +their women could not refrain from dark hints of violence to come. It is +even possible that violence was concerted. On the night of the fifth a +number of soldiers assembled in Atkinson Street. "They stood very still +until the guns were fired in King Street, then they clapped their hands +and gave a cheer, saying, 'This is all that we want'; they then ran to +their barracks and came out again in a few minutes, all with their arms, +and ran toward King Street." "I never," so runs other testimony, "saw +men or dogs so greedy for their prey as these soldiers seemed to be." + +But the affray was of small proportions, and soon over. The actual +outbreak originated in a quarrel between a barber's boy and a sentry, +stationed in King Street below the east end of the Town House.[24] Boys +and men gathered, the sentry called out the guard, fire-bells were rung, +and the crowd increased. The captain of the guard was not the man for +the emergency. Said Henry Knox, afterward general and Secretary of War, +"I took Captain Preston by the coat and told him for God's sake to take +his men back again, for if they fired his life must answer for the +consequence; he replied he was sensible of it, or knew what he was +about, or words to that purpose; and seemed in great haste and much +agitated." The gathering still increased, there was crowding and +jostling, snowballs and possibly sticks were thrown; the soldiers grew +angry and the officer uncertain what to do. "The soldiers," testified +John Hickling, "assumed different postures, shoving their bayonets +frequently at the people, one in particular pushing against my side +swore he would run me through; I laid hold of his bayonet and told him +that nobody was going to meddle with them. Not more than ten seconds +after this I saw something white, resembling a piece of snow or ice, +fall among the soldiers, which knocked the end of a firelock to the +ground. At that instant the word 'Fire!' was given, but by whom I know +not; but concluded it did not come from the officer aforesaid, as I was +within a yard of him and must have heard him had he spoken it, but am +satisfied said Preston did not forbid them to fire; I instantly leaped +within the soldier's bayonet as I heard him cock his gun, which that +moment went off.... I, thinking there was nothing but powder fired, +stood still, till ... I saw another gun fired, and the man since called +Attucks, fall. I then withdrew about two or three yards.... During this +the rest of the guns were fired, one after another, when I saw two more +fall.... I further declare that I heard no other affront given them than +the huzzaing and whistling of boys in the street." + +After the firing, other soldiers were summoned to the spot, and more +townspeople appeared. The soldiers, says the official narrative, "were +drawn up between the State House and main guard, their lines extended +across the street and facing down King Street, where the town people +were assembled. The first line kneeled, and the whole of the first +platoon presented their guns ready to fire, as soon as the word should +be given.... For some time the appearance of things were dismal. The +soldiers outrageous on the one hand, and the inhabitants justly incensed +against them on the other: both parties seemed disposed to come to +action." + +Had the affair gone further, so that the soldiers fired again, or the +townspeople stormed the barracks, then the affray would have resembled +the riots not uncommon in Europe at that time, and known even in +England. In such a case the turbulence of Boston might have been proved. +But the good town was later able to claim that up to the actual breaking +out of hostilities not one soldier or Tory had been harmed in +Massachusetts. In the present case nothing further happened. The +stubborn people stood their ground, but the eager troops were restrained +and led away. The punishment of the offenders took place according to +law, with John Adams and Josiah Quincy, Jr., leaders of the Whigs, as +successful defenders of the captain. + +The important consequences were political. Though the people dispersed +that night, they assembled on the morrow in a crowded town meeting, +where Samuel Adams guided the actions of the assembly. Adjourning from +Faneuil Hall to the Old South, which itself could not accommodate them +all, the throng passed the very spot of the Massacre and under the +windows of the State House, where the lieutenant-governor viewed them. +This man was Hutchinson, acting governor in the absence of Bernard, and +at last about to arrive at the goal of colonial ambition. + +Thomas Hutchinson has been too much condemned, and of late years almost +too much commended. He had spent thirty years in the service of the +colony, holding more offices, and more at the same time, than any man of +his generation. Now he was unpopular and misjudged, yet he was a man for +his day and party honest and patriotic; his end, in exile in England, +was one of the tragedies of American loyalty. But though a braver man +than Bernard and more public-spirited, his methods were equally +underhanded, and he fatally mistook the capacity of his countrymen to +govern themselves. A man who could wish for less freedom of speech in +England was not the man to sympathize with the spirit of Americans. + +He now, backed by a few councillors and officials, was to face Sam Adams +and the Boston town meeting. With a committee from the meeting, Adams +came to the State House to demand the withdrawal of the troops to the +Castle. Hutchinson answered that he would withdraw one regiment, but had +not the power to remove both. Retiring at the head of his committee, +Adams passed through a lane of people on his way to the Old South. "Both +regiments or none!" he said right and left as he passed, and every one +took up the word. "Both regiments or none!" cried the meeting. Voting +his report unsatisfactory, it sent him back to the governor to repeat +his demand. + +"Now for the picture," wrote John Adams many years after. "The theatre +and the scenery are the same with those at the discussion of the writs +of assistance. The same glorious portraits of King Charles the Second, +and King James the Second, to which might be added, and should be added, +little miserable likenesses of Governor Winthrop, Governor Bradstreet, +Governor Endicott, and Governor Belcher, hung up in obscure corners of +the room. Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson, commander-in-chief in the +absence of the governor, must be placed at the head of the +council-table. Lieutenant-Colonel Dalrymple, commander of his majesty's +military forces, taking rank of all his majesty's councillors, must be +seated by the side of the lieutenant-governor and commander-in-chief of +the Province. Eight-and-twenty councillors must be painted, all seated +at the council-board. Let me see,--what costume? What was the fashion of +that day in the month of March? Large white wigs, English scarlet-cloth +coats, some of them with gold-laced hats; not on their heads indeed in +so august a presence, but on the table before them or under the table +beneath them. Before these illustrious persons appeared SAMUEL ADAMS, a +member of the House of Representatives and their clerk, now at the head +of the committee of the great assembly at the Old South Church."[25] + +[Illustration: 1722--SAMUEL ADAMS 1803 By John Singleton Copley] + +It is this moment that Copley chose to represent Adams. Facing the +governor, the officers, and the councillors, Adams stood in his simple +"wine-colored suit," and appealed to the charter and the laws. "If you +have power to remove one regiment, you have power to remove both. It is +at your peril if you do not. The meeting is composed of three thousand +people. They are become very impatient. A thousand men are already +arrived from the neighborhood, and the country is in general motion. +Night is approaching; an immediate answer is expected."[26] + +Hutchinson was a man learned in the history of the province and the +people, and the occasion had impressed him already. As the meeting had +passed under his windows on the way to the Old South, a friend at his +side had remarked that this was not the kind of men that had sacked his +house. He had noted the resolute countenances of the best men of the +town, and had--to use his own words--judged their spirit to be as +strong, and their resolve as high, as those of the men who had +imprisoned Andros. Adams, narrowly watching him now, marked the tumult +in Hutchinson's mind. + +"I observed his knees to tremble," said Adams afterward; "I saw his face +grow pale; and I enjoyed the sight."[27] For Hutchinson, poorly +supported and irresolute, the strain was too great. He temporized and +parleyed, but he thought again of Andros, and gave way. It was a +complete triumph for the town. The troops, until their removal to the +Castle could be effected, were virtually imprisoned in their barracks by +a patrol of citizens. From that time they bore the name of the "Sam +Adams regiments." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[17] Bancroft, vi, 48. + +[18] Farmer's Letters, quoted in Bancroft, vi, 105. + +[19] Hosmer, "Life of Samuel Adams," 48. + +[20] Bancroft's "United States," vi, 128. + +[21] "American Revolution," Part 1, 43. + +[22] Hosmer's "Life of Adams." + +[23] Sabine's "Loyalists." + +[24] King Street is now State Street, and the Town House is the Old +State House. + +[25] Hosmer's "Samuel Adams," 172. + +[26] Bancroft, vi, 344. + +[27] Bancroft, vi, 345. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE TEA-PARTY AND ITS CONSEQUENCES + + +Step by step the mother country and its colonies were advancing to a +rupture. The first step was taken at the test concerning the writs of +assistance, the second at the passage of the Stamp Act and its repeal, +the third resulted in the Massacre and the withdrawal of the troops from +Boston. Each time the colonies gained the practical advantages which +they sought; each time the king's party, while yielding, became more +exasperated, and presently tested the strength of the colonies once +more; and each time it was Boston that stood as the head and front of +opposition. The town was marked for martyrdom. + +In the case of the Townshend Acts, the victory of the colonists was +temporarily complete. The movement had come to a head at Boston in an +actual outbreak, the Massacre, which obscured the greater issues; +nevertheless the issues were won. America would not submit to the new +revenue laws. Very calmly it had avoided them by refusing to import from +England. A thorough test of nearly two years showed that from north to +south the colonies were almost a unit in rejecting English and foreign +goods, and in relying on home manufactures. From importations of more +than a million and a quarter pounds, two-thirds fell clean away,[28] and +the merchants of England felt the pinch. There was but one thing to do, +and England grudgingly did it. The withdrawal of the troops from Boston +was acquiesced in, and the revenue acts, the cause of all the trouble, +were repealed, except for a duty still maintained upon tea. + +The response was such that England was relieved. New York began to +import those articles which had been made free of duty. The +non-importation agreement was broken, as the colonies perceived. "You +had better send us your old liberty pole," wrote Philadelphia scornfully +to New York, "since you clearly have no further use for it."[29] Whigs +and Tories both saw that, the agreement thus broken, other colonies +would follow the example of New York. + +The advantage was now clearly with the king, and he endeavored to make +the most of it, not by abiding in peace, but by taking a further step. +He ordered that colonial judges should in future be paid from the +English treasury. No one in the colonies could fail to see that the blow +was aimed directly at the independence of the judiciary. + +Massachusetts was alarmed. Boston sent resolutions to the governor, but +Hutchinson, now at last in the chair, refused to listen to the town +meeting. In this moment of indignation, Samuel Adams conceived a scheme +which was the longest step yet taken toward independence. + +This was the idea of Committees of Correspondence, to be permanently +maintained by each town and even by each colony. The idea of such +committees was not novel. It had been suggested years before by Jonathan +Mayhew, and had more than once been used in emergencies. But permanent +committees, watching affairs and at any time ready to act, were new. +Naturally composed of the best men in each town, they would at all times +be ready to speak, and to speak vigorously. The plan, when perfected, +eventually enabled the colonies to act as a unit. From the first it gave +strength to the Americans; in the present instance it spread the news of +the king's action and roused indignation, and before long it brought +about an act which startled the English-speaking world. + +This was the Boston Tea-Party. The king had a hand in making the fire +hot. He had been vexed by his unsuccessful tariff, and was now +especially irritated that his concessions had brought about no result in +one important particular. + +Until the present every shipmaster had been a smuggler, and all the +Whigs dealt in smuggled goods. This was according to old English +practice, but as a matter of fact illicit trade was more decorous in +America than in England. Whereas in Cornwall the forces of the smugglers +were so strong that they chased the revenue cutters into harbors and +landed their goods by bright moonlight, in America the appearances of +legality were gravely preserved. + +Nevertheless the result was the same, and in one quarter was actually +serious. The recent tariff had brought to the royal treasury scarcely +three hundred pounds from tea. The situation was no better now that the +tea-duty was the only one remaining. So completely did America, while +still drinking tea in quantity, avoid the duly imported article, that +the revenue of the East India Company fell off alarmingly. On pathetic +representations of the financial state of the company, the king gave +permission, through a subservient Parliament, for the company to export +tea to America free even of the English duty. The company had lost +hundreds of thousands of pounds since the Townshend Acts went in force; +now by favorable terms it was to be enabled to undersell in the colonial +market even the smuggled teas. Taking advantage of this new ruling, tea +was promptly shipped, in the autumn of 1773, to different consignees in +Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston. + +It was confidently expected that the colonies would buy the tea. No one +in the government supposed that the Americans would be blind to their +own interests. This much, indeed, was admitted by the leaders among the +Whigs, that once the tea was on sale Yankee principle might be sorely +tempted by Yankee thrift. Indignant at the insidious temptation, +determined that no such test should be made, and resenting the +establishment of a practical monopoly throughout the colonies, the +leaders resolved that the tea should not be landed. + +It is an odd fortune that connected the Chinese herb so closely with +the struggle of principle in America. To this day, while the issues are +obscured in the mind of the average American, he remembers the tax on +tea, and that his ancestors would not pay it. Picturesque tales of +ladies' associations depriving themselves of their favorite beverage, of +men tarring and feathering unpopular tradesmen, have survived the +hundred and thirty odd years which have passed since then; and the +impression is general that the colonists would not pay a tax which bore +heavy on them. But it will be noticed by those who have attentively read +this account that the colonists were refusing to pay less, in order that +they might have the satisfaction of paying more. They balked, not at the +amount of the tax, but at its principle. + +In the case of the tea-ships the duty of action fell upon Boston. +Charleston and Philadelphia had taken a positive stand resolving not to +receive the tea; but the ships were due at Boston first. The eyes of +the continent were upon this one town. Boston made ready to act, yet of +the preparations we know nothing. While the story as it is told is +interesting enough, there is no record of the secret meetings in which +the events were prepared. Hints are dropped, and it is asserted that +within the Green Dragon tavern, a favorite meeting-place of the Whigs, +were finally decided the means by which the workmen of the town should +carry out the plans of the leaders. But of these meetings nothing is +positively known; all we can say with certainty is that the plans worked +perfectly, and that Sam Adams must have had a hand in their making. + +The Sons of Liberty took the first step toward forcing the consignees of +the tea to resign. "Handbills are stuck up," writes John Andrews, +"calling upon Friends! Citizens! and Countrymen!" To Liberty Tree the +"freemen of Boston and the neighboring towns" were invited, by placard +and advertisement, "to hear the persons, to whom the tea shipped by the +East India Company is consigned, make a public resignation of their +office as consignees, upon oath."[30] + +But the consignees did not come, though the freemen did. The +townspeople, forming themselves into a "meeting," sent a committee to +the consignees, demanding that they refuse to receive the tea. But the +consignees believed themselves safe. They were merchants of family and +property, the governor's sons were among them, and it was rumored that +Hutchinson had a pecuniary interest in the success of the venture. They +refused to give the pledge. + +The official town meeting now took up the matter. Before the tea +arrived, and again after the appearance of the first ship, the town +called upon the consignees to resign. Each time the consignees refused. +The second town meeting, after thus acting in vain, dissolved without +the customary expression of opinion. Hutchinson himself records that +"this sudden dissolution struck more terror into the consignees than the +most minatory resolves." From that moment the matter was in the hands +of the Boston Committee of Correspondence. + +By means of the committee, at whose head was Adams, communication was +held with the towns throughout Massachusetts. The province was greatly +excited, and repeated demands for resignation were made upon the +consignees, but they clung to their offices and the hope of profit. +Delays were skilfully secured, and the first ship was entered at the +customs, after which according to law it must within twenty days either +clear for England or land its cargo. The governor was resolved not to +grant a clearance, and rejoiced over his opponents. "They find +themselves," he said, "in invincible difficulties." + +But everything was prepared. To the last minute of the twenty days the +Whigs were patient. Petition after petition, appeal after appeal, went +to the governor or the consignees. There was no success. On the last +day, the 16th of December, 1773, all three of the tea-ships were at +Griffin's Wharf, watched by the patriots. A town meeting, the largest in +the history of Boston, crowded the Old South, and again resolved that +the tea should not be landed. "Who knows," asked John Rowe, "how tea +will mingle with salt water?" The remark was greeted with cheers, yet +one more legal step might be taken, and the meeting, sending Rotch, the +master of the first tea-ship, to the governor at Milton to ask for a +clearance, patiently waited while he should traverse the fifteen miles +of his journey. During the hours of his absence there was no +disturbance; when he returned, the daylight had gone, and the Old South +was lighted with candles. Seven thousand people were silent to hear the +report. It was brief, and its meaning was clear: the governor had +refused; the last legal step had been taken. Then Samuel Adams rose. + +"This meeting," he declared, "can do nothing more to save the country." + +It was the expected signal. Immediately there was a shout from the +porch, and the warwhoop sounded out of doors. The meeting poured out of +doors and followed some fifty men in the garb of Indians, who suddenly +appeared in the street. They hurried to Griffin's Wharf. There they +posted guards, took possession of the tea-ships, and hoisting the chests +from the holds, knocked them open and emptied the tea into the water. +Under the moon the great crowd watched in silence, there was no +interference from the troops or the war-ships, and in three hours the +last of the tea was overboard. Nothing remained except what had sifted +into the shoes of some of the "Indians," to be preserved as mementoes of +the day. + +"They say," wrote John Andrews dryly two days later, "that the actors +were _Indians_ from _Narragansett_. Whether they were or not, to a +transient observer they appear'd as _such_, being cloath'd in Blankets +with the heads muffled, and copper color'd countenances, being each +arm'd with a hatchet or axe, and pair pistols, nor was their _dialect_ +different from what I conceive these geniusses to _speak_, as their +jargon was unintelligible to all but themselves. Not the least insult +was offer'd to any person, save one Captain Conner, a letter of horses +in this place, not many years since remov'd from _dear Ireland_, who had +ript up the lining of his coat and waistcoat under the arms, and +watching his opportunity had nearly fill'd 'em with tea, but being +detected, was handled pretty roughly. They not only stripp'd him of his +cloaths, but gave him a coat of mud, with a severe bruising into the +bargain; and nothing but their utter aversion to make _any_ disturbance +prevented his being tar'd and feather'd." + +Such was the Boston Tea-Party, "the boldest stroke," said Hutchinson, +"that had yet been struck in America." Much has been written about it. +It has been minimized into a riot and magnified into a deed of glory. As +a matter of fact, it was neither the one nor the other, yet if either it +was nearer the latter. Carried out by Boston mechanics, but doubtless +directed by Boston leaders, it was a cool and deliberate law-breaking, +the penalty for which, could the offenders but have been discovered, +would have been severe. But none of the actors in the affair were +betrayed at the time, though hundreds in the town must have had positive +knowledge of their identity. Names, like those of the burners of the +_Gaspee_ eighteen months before, were not given out until after the +Revolution, and even to-day the list of them is not complete. + +The project of the king and the East India Company was a failure. In one +way or other the other three seaports either destroyed or sent back +their tea. But Boston was the first and most violent offender. It was on +her that punishment was to descend. + +The news of the Tea-Party came to England at a time when king and +Parliament were less amiably disposed than usual toward Massachusetts. +Some weeks before had happened the affair of the Hutchinson letters. +Benjamin Franklin, then Postmaster-General of England, and agent for +Massachusetts, had secured possession of certain letters written by +Governor Hutchinson and by others in office in the colony. These letters +proved beyond doubt that the Massachusetts officials had been secretly +urging upon the home government repressive measures against the colony. +This was but what Bernard had done, and what had been suspected of his +successor; yet the actual proof was too much for Franklin. He sent the +letters, under pledge of secrecy, home to be read by the leaders among +the Massachusetts Whigs. But the pledge of secrecy could not be kept. +The letters were read in the Assembly and then published. "He had +written," says Bancroft of Hutchinson, "against every part of the +Constitution, the elective character of the Council, the annual choice +of the Assembly, the New England organization of the towns; had advised +and solicited the total dependence of the judiciary on the Crown, had +hinted at making the experiment of declaring Martial Law, and of +abrogating English liberty; had advised to the restraint of the +commerce of Boston and the exclusion of the Province from the +fisheries."[31] Hutchinson's defence was that he "had never wrote any +public or private letter that tends to subvert the Constitution." But he +was thinking of the Constitution rather than the Charter. The province +was thoroughly roused, and sent to England a firm yet respectful +petition demanding his dismissal. + +But Hutchinson had been serving the king as the king wished to be +served. The wrath of the government fell upon Franklin. In a crowded +meeting of the Privy Council, with scant respect for the forms of law, +Franklin was subjected to elaborate abuse. There were none to defend him +who could gain a respectful hearing; he stood immovable under the +tongue-lashing of the Solicitor-General, and made no reply. "I have +never," he said afterwards, "been so sensible of the power of a good +conscience, for if I had not considered the thing for which I have been +so much insulted, as one of the best actions of my life, and what I +should certainly do again in the same circumstances, I could not have +supported it."[32] The suit which he wore that day he put carefully +away, and did not wear it again until as Commissioner for the United +States he signed in Paris the treaty of alliance with France. + +Franklin was deprived of his office under the crown, and the king who +directed the punishment, the council who condemned him, and the +Parliament which cheered them both on, were not yet satisfied. When the +news of the Tea-Party came, they felt that their chance had come to +strike at the real culprit. The king consulted General Gage, who was +fresh from Boston, and listened eagerly to his fatally mistaken account +of the situation. "He says," wrote the king to Lord North, "'They will +be lions while we are lambs; but if we take the resolute part they will +undoubtedly prove very meek.' Four regiments sent to Boston will, he +thinks, be sufficient to prevent any disturbance."[33] On such a basis +the king and his prime minister planned the laws which should punish the +town of Boston. + +The first act was the Boston Port Bill. It closed the port to all +commerce until the East India Company should be paid for its tea, and +the king satisfied that the town was repentant. Nothing except food and +fuel was to be brought to the town in boats; in fact, as Lord North +promised the Commons, Boston was to be removed seventeen miles from the +ocean. For Salem was made the port of entry, and there the governor and +the collector, the surveyor and the comptroller, and all underlings were +to go. It was planned to station war-ships in Boston Harbor to enforce +the law. + +The second law was the "Bill for the better Regulating the Government of +the Massachusetts Bay," generally called the Regulating Act. This +virtually swept away the charter of Massachusetts. It provided first +that the Council was to be appointed by the king, and next that without +the consent of the Council the governor might appoint or remove all +officers of justice, from judges to constables. By the provisions of the +law even the jury lists could be controlled by appointive officers. +Finally town meetings were made illegal throughout the province, except +for the election of town officers, and other necessary local business. + +The third proposal of the government was a bill "for the Impartial +Administration of Justice," in proposing which "it was observed that +Lord North trembled and faultered at every word of his motion." It +provided that magistrates, officers, or soldiers might be tried for +"murder, or any other capital offence," in Great Britain. + +The fourth act made provision for quartering troops in Boston. + +The bills went through Parliament without much opposition. Says +Trevelyan, "Even after the lapse of a century and a quarter the debates +are not pleasant reading for an Englishman."[34] It was assumed that +the punishment was just, and that not only Boston but also the whole +continent would take it meekly. A few voices were raised in protest, but +as a rule even the Opposition was silent. One by one the bills became +law. One more step was taken toward separation. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[28] Trevelyan, "American Revolution," Part I, 104. + +[29] "A Card from the Inhabitants of Philadelphia," Bancroft, vi, 366. + +[30] "Memorial History of Boston," iii, 45. + +[31] Bancroft, vi, 461, 462. + +[32] Bancroft, vi, 498. + +[33] Avery, "History of the United States," v, 190. + +[34] "American Revolution," Part I, 181. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE OCCUPATION OF BOSTON + + +Early in May of 1774 Hutchinson, ostensibly called to England to advise +the king, gave up his offices in Massachusetts. His exile was +approaching. Never again was he to see the fair hill of Milton, nor to +look from its top upon the town and harbor that he loved. The Whigs +exulted over the fall of "the damn'd arch traitor;" yet surely, though +as an official he failed in his task, and as a patriot misread the +temper and the capacity of his countrymen, he commands our pity. Amid +the booming of the cannon which welcomed his successor he prepared for +his departure. Except for his pathetic letters and journals he made no +further mark upon his times or ours. His Milton estate remains, but his +house is gone, and the very street that he lived on bears the name of +Adams, his most persistent enemy. + +Hutchinson's successor was Thomas Gage, the first governor sent to +Boston with an army at his back. He was well known in the colonies, for +he had fought well at Braddock's defeat, had married an American wife, +and was courteous and affable. It remained to be seen whether one of his +hesitating temperament could meet the situation. With four regiments he +had undertaken to pacify Massachusetts. He had his four regiments and +more, yet he must occasionally have wondered why he found no more signs +of weakness in the ranks of his opponents. + +At this time there were in Boston four chief classes of Whigs. The first +were the ministers, and these for many years had been American to the +core. As the first settlers of Massachusetts, whether Puritan or +Pilgrim, had fled away from prelacy, so their spiritual descendants +still hated the name of bishop. In fact, episcopacy in New England was +still weak, and its greater part was concentrated in Boston itself. +Some few of its ministers preached submission; but they either had to +content themselves with Tory congregations, or lost their pulpits, or +had them boarded up against them. The wiser part was taken by most in +avoiding politics. The sole Congregational minister who supported the +king was Mather Byles, famed for his witticisms, and he likewise +declined to bring into the pulpit any mention of the affairs of the day. +"In the first place," he told those who demanded an expression of his +opinion, "I do not understand politics; in the second place you all do, +every man and mother's son of you; in the third place you have politics +all the week, so pray let one day in the seven be devoted to religion; +in the fourth place I am engaged in work of infinitely greater +importance. Give me any subject to preach on of more consequence than +the truth I bring to you, and I will preach on it next Sabbath."[35] + +Gage's support from the pulpit was therefore weak, while at the same +time the opposition from the same source was strong. Those country +ministers who were of the political creed of Sam Adams confessed it each +Sabbath, and desisted not on week days from strengthening the wills of +their congregations. More than that, like their predecessors in older +times, many held chaplaincies in the militia, and on training days +turned out, not only to approve by their presence the object of the +drill, but also to stir the spirit of the homespun soldiery by prayers +to the God of Moses, and of Joshua, and of David. Those in Boston, under +the very nose of the general and in the presence of his soldiery, abated +nothing of their zeal, but preached resistance as before. Gage, as he +looked among them for signs of wavering, could have found very little +comfort. + +The lawyers next, like the clergymen, had supplied the Whigs much of +their strength. Surely, up to the present the patriot party had been +distinguished by pliancy and persistence. These characteristics had come +from the lawyers, whose rejoinders and remonstrances, petitions, +resolves, and appeals were familiar professional devices. Yet Gage might +have found hope in these men. For the purpose of all their delays had +been compromise, and their hope was the avoidance of bloodshed. The +lawyers had showed, too, a love of fair play; for while they pressed the +Tories hard, they had also taken the lead in protesting against mob +violence. Again, leading Whig lawyers had defended--and acquitted--the +perpetrators of the Massacre. Possibly such men might be made to see +reason. + +A more numerous class than the lawyers was made up of the merchants, +small and large. Some few of these men had made their own way in the +world, yet most of them may almost have been said to have held +hereditary positions in the provincial aristocracy. By far the larger +number of them were Whigs, some of considerable estate, others--like +that John Andrews from whose letters I have already quoted and shall +quote more--were men of moderate means, shrewdly working for a +"competency." Gage, looking forward to the enforcement of the Port +Bill, could see that these men would be hard hit. While they had so far +been firm in the colonial cause, the coming temptation to desert their +party would be very strong. Income, security, and the favor of the king +awaited them. + +At the end of this series was the largest class of all, the mechanics. +Until now these men had been eager in their demonstrations against +technical oppression--which yet was technical after all. No Boston Whig +had ever known a tithe of the wrongs of the French peasant or the +Russian serf. No laboring class on earth enjoyed or ever had enjoyed +greater freedom or less hampered prosperity. But with the enforcement of +the Port Bill all this would change. Gage hoped, and the Tories +declared, that the mechanics, so soon as pressure was applied, would +"fall away from the faction." + +The first results of the new régime were not promising. To begin with, +on the news of the passage of the Port Bill the Committee of +Correspondence of Boston called a meeting of the committees of the +neighboring towns. This meeting scouted the idea of paying for the tea, +and in a circular letter to the other colonies proposed a general +cessation of trade with Great Britain. Similarly the town meeting of +Boston discussed the situation, pronounced against the Port Bill, and +appealed to all the sister colonies, entreating not to be left to suffer +alone. In more homely language the merchants appealed to their friends. +"Yes, Bill," wrote John Andrews to his brother-in-law in Philadelphia, +"nothing will save us but an entire stoppage of trade, both to England +and the West Indies.... The least hesitancy on your part _to the +Southerd_, and the matter is over." + +There was little hesitancy. The suggestion made by the Boston Whigs was +taken up, and the maritime towns, which had been expected to take +advantage of Boston's predicament, began to discontinue trade, not +merely with Great Britain, but also with the West Indies. Then Salem, +which was to be the capital in place of Boston, formally repudiated the +idea of profiting by the situation. The news spread to the other +colonies, and they began to act. New York proposed, and the sister +provinces agreed in, a call for "a general Congress." In less than a +month after the coming of the news of the Port Bill, Boston was assured +that the continent would not leave her to suffer alone. + +But then, on the first of June, 1774, the Port Bill went into effect. So +literally was it interpreted, that all carriage by boat in the harbor +was forbidden. No owner of a pasture on the harbor islands might bring +his hay to the town; no goods might be brought across any ferry; not +even carriage by water from wharf to wharf in the town was allowed. +Further, while food and fuel, according to the provisions of the act, +might be brought to Boston by water, all vessels carrying them were +forced to go through troublesome formalities. They must report at the +customs in Salem, unload, load again, and receive a clearance for +Boston. Returning, they might carry enough provision to last them only +to Salem. Besides all this, the Commissioners of Customs at Salem +undertook to decide when Boston had enough provisions. The blockade, as +enforced by them and the ships of war in Boston Harbor, was minutely +complete and vexatious. + +Yet at their mildest its provisions were complete enough. Trade by sea +with the town was stopped. Consequently, so maritime were the town's +activities, prosperity was instantly checked. All the workers +immediately dependent on the sea for a living, sailors, wharfingers, +longshoremen, and fishermen, were at once thrown out of employment. Then +by a severe interpretation of the act all ship-building was stopped, +since the authorities declared that, on launching, any boat would be +confiscated. The shipyards shut down, the boats ready to launch were +filled with water "for their preservation,"[36] and ship-carpenters, +calkers, rope-makers, and sailmakers were thrown out of work. Much +misery to the unemployed would have been the result but for the +forethought of the patriot leaders. + +These men, early realizing the threatened hardship, called for help from +the rest of the country. The response was prompt. "A special chronicle," +says Bancroft, "could hardly enumerate all the generous deeds." While +Lord North, fresh from an interview with Hutchinson, cheered the king +with the belief that the province would soon submit, South Carolina was +sending a cargo of provisions in a vessel offered for the purpose by the +owner, and sailed without wages by the captain and her crew. Sheep were +driven into Boston from all New England; provisions of every kind were +brought in; wheat was sent by the French in Quebec; money was subscribed +and sent from the more distant points. All supplies thus received were +put in the hands of a donation committee, who distributed the gifts to +the needy. + +Yet in spite of such relief as this, and though for a short time +employment was given to workmen by permitting them to finish, launch, +rig, and send away the ships then on the stocks, the situation was hard +at best. It was felt not only by the lower classes, but by the +merchants, whose profits ceased, and by all who depended for their +income on the current trade and activity of the town. Gossipy John +Andrews gives us the situation as it affected him. "If you'll believe me +(though I have got near two thousand sterling out in debts and about as +much more in stock), I have not received above eighty or ninety pounds +Lawful money from both resources for above two months past; though +previous to the port's being shut, I thought it an ordinary day's work +if I did not carry home from twenty to forty dollars every evening." So +little ready money circulated in the town "that really, Bill, I think +myself well off to satisfy the necessary demands of my family, and you +may as well ask a man for the teeth out of his head as to request the +payment of money that he owes you (either in town or country, for we +are alike affected), for you'll be as likely to get the one as the +other."[37] + +Now was, indeed, the time to discover the weak points in the cause and +organization of the Americans. Even strong Whigs were at times +discontented, and chiefly among the middle class, without whom the +leaders could have no strong support. Much of the distress of the +shopkeepers and merchants came from the "Solemn League and Covenant" +which, proposed on the first news of the Port Bill, was now in actual +operation. Andrews's case must have been typical of many. He had +countermanded all goods on the news of the Port Bill, and acquiesced in +the non-importation agreement: "but upon y^e measure not being adopted +by the Southern Colonies, I embraced the first opportunity and +re-ordered about one-fourth part of such goods as I thought would be in +most demand, and behold! in about three or four weeks after that, I +heard of y^e amazing progress the non-consumption agreement had made +through y^e country; which, in my opinion, has serv'd rather to create +dissensions among ourselves than to answer any valuable purpose." + +Many of the Tories held the same opinion. Could not the waverers, they +asked Gage, be induced to change their political faith, and especially +could not the leaders be tempted? + +Among these leaders the influence of Otis was waning. He had always been +eccentric and unreliable, and now his intellect was threatened. An +assault upon him had nearly ruined both his health and his reason. But +his place had been taken by others. Samuel Adams, John Adams, Joseph +Warren, and John Hancock were the men whose names were oftenest +mentioned. Sinister rumors were frequent that Gage had been directed to +seize them and deport them to England. Whether or not more evidence +against them was needed, no arrest was as yet attempted. Instead, in at +least three quarters there was some hope of corruption. + +Warren the general left untempted; it is no small tribute to the +patriot's character that there could be no doubt of his integrity. +Warren was not yet thirty-five years old, was of good social position, +had an excellent practice and an assured future. His temperament was +frank and manly, and so enthusiastic as to be fiery. Once already, on +the anniversary of the Massacre in 1772, he had addressed the town +meeting in condemnation of the government measures; on many other +opportunities, before and since, he had either spoken in public or +expressed his opinions through the press. While no advocate of violence, +he was unreservedly a Whig, and nothing could be made of him. So far as +is known, no attempt was made to corrupt him. + +The case of John Adams was different, at least to Tory eyes. He was +ambitious: no one who knew him could doubt that he was conscious of his +own ability. Further, he was poor, with a growing family to support; he +was known, with the troubled times which he clearly foresaw, to be +anxious for his children's future. Surely there was a possibility that +Adams might be wise, and be tempted to the safer course; and fortunately +there was at hand an instrument to induce him to become a Tory. Adams +was the close personal friend of Jonathan Sewall, the king's +attorney-general for the province, and an admirable character. The +chance of distinction, the certainty of prosperity, and the +importunities of such a friend, might in the end persuade Adams. + +Of John Hancock it was often argued among the Tories that he might +almost be left to himself. If Adams was ambitious, Hancock was more so; +known to be vain, he was believed to be jealous by nature. With these +weaknesses, he was also instinctively an aristocrat. How long, asked the +Tories, would he continue to consort with men of low social position? +How soon would he rebel at being led by the nose by the wily Adams? +Position and influence were ready for him as soon as he chose to go +over to the king. The bait was always plain, and he might be counted on +eventually to take it. + +Even Samuel Adams, so reasoned the advisers of Gage, might be bought. +For Adams was poor. In his devotion to public affairs he had let his +business go to ruin, had seen his money melt away, had even sold off +parts of his own house-lot. His sentiments were, no better known in +Boston than his threadbare clothes. His sole income was from his salary +as clerk of the house of representatives, only a hundred pounds a year. +To the new governor it was the most natural thing in the world to +suppose that the discontent of such a man could soon be removed. He +forgot Hutchinson's words: "Such is the obstinacy and inflexible +disposition of the man, that he never would be conciliated by any office +or gift whatever."[38] + +Gage sent, therefore, Colonel Fenton to Adams with offers which would +tempt any man that had a price. No definite knowledge of the +inducements has come down to us: money, place, possibly even a patent of +nobility. We know, however, that they were coupled with a threat in the +form of advice to make his peace with the king. And we can imagine Adams +as, rising from his seat, and standing with the habitual nervous tremor +of head and hands which often led his adversaries to mistake his mettle, +he delivered his fearless reply. + +"Sir, I trust I have long since made my peace with the King of kings. No +personal consideration shall induce me to abandon the righteous cause of +my country. Tell Governor Gage that it is the advice of Samuel Adams to +him no longer to insult the feelings of an exasperated people!"[39] + +And this was in the face of a situation the like of which had never been +known in America. "Notwithstanding which," wrote John Andrews, "there +seems to be ease, contentment, and perfect composure in the countenance +of almost every person you meet in the streets, which conduct very much +perplexes the Governor and others, our lords and masters, that they are +greatly puzzled, and know not what to do or how to act, as they expected +very different behaviour from us." + +There is but one explanation of such a state of mind in the Whigs, in +the face of the evidently approaching trial. Their consciences were +clear. This revolution, when finally it came about, was quite within the +spirit of the British Constitution. The Whigs believed they were right, +and had no fear of the consequences. No testimony to their virtues, as +the backbone of a new nation, will speak louder than their present +attitude. External testimony is not hard to quote. "The people of Boston +and Massachusetts Bay," wrote Thomas Hollis but a few weeks before this +time, "are, I suppose, take them as a body, the soberest, most knowing, +virtuous people at this time upon earth." Other English opinion to the +same effect, and French admiration by the chapter, might be quoted. Yet +a truer proof of the quality of the people is to be found in the calm +self-confidence which "very much perplexed" the governor. + +One more comment may safely be ventured here. Before two years were over +it was known that Gage, and perhaps even Hutchinson during his +administration, had had the most complete information of the secret +doings of the Whig leaders. In fact, even the deliberations of the +workmen's caucuses must have been known to Gage. That no arrests were +made can mean but one thing: that the Whigs were honest in their +endeavor to work their ends by legal means. Samuel Adams may have +foreseen the eventual outcome, and knowing it to be inevitable may have +striven to make it speedy and complete. But there was no general scheme +for independence, no plot for a revolt. "The Father of the Revolution" +laid his plans in silence, and waited for the ripening of the times. + +Gage and his advisers, "greatly puzzled," also watched the crystallizing +of opinion. Of the temper of the Bostonians, although oppressed by the +Port Bill, there could presently be no doubt. Emboldened by the presence +of troops in the town, the Tories called town meetings, first to resolve +to pay for the tea, and then to dismiss the Committee of Correspondence. +These two actions, if taken, would have totally changed the situation. +The meetings were crowded, every courtesy was shown the Tories, and in +the second meeting, since Adams was absent, the Whigs had to be content +with the leadership of Warren. But there was no hesitation in either +case. The first meeting rejected the proposal to pay for the tea. In the +second the discretion of Warren proved equal to his zeal, his management +of the meeting was perfect, and the vote upheld the Committee of +Correspondence by a large majority. + +The next action explains the absence of Adams from Boston at such an +important time. According to the new laws, the Assembly met at Salem, +under the eye of the governor and in the presence of his troops. Gage +knew very well that a call had been sent throughout the colonies for an +election of delegates to a general Congress which should deliberate on +the present situation. He had no intention that delegates should be +elected from Massachusetts. He had partisans in the Assembly, and an +informant on the committee to introduce legislation. Every move was +reported to him. Never did Sam Adams dissemble more cleverly. So dull +and spiritless did public matters seem, that Gage's informant thought it +safe to go home on private business. Then Adams acted. Quietly laying +his plans, on the morning of the seventeenth of June, 1774, he locked +the door of the chamber and proposed that the Assembly elect delegates +to the Continental Congress. A Tory pleaded sickness and hurried to Gage +with the news; but the door was again locked, and the business +proceeded. Though the governor sent his secretary with a message +dissolving the Assembly, the secretary knocked in vain. The doors were +not opened until delegates had been elected to the Congress, a tax laid +to pay their expenses, and resolutions passed exhorting the province to +stand firm. + +One of the delegates-elect was John Adams. For years he had declined to +hold public office, and had even avoided town meetings. There was now a +natural Tory hope that he might refuse this office; there was even a +last chance to wean him from the Whig cause, for he was presently to +ride on circuit, and there would meet his friend Sewall. When the two +met, the Tory reasoned earnestly, pointing out the irresistible power of +Great Britain. But Adams was ready with his answer. "Sink or swim, live +or die, survive or perish with my country is my unalterable +determination."[40] And so went another hope of the Tories. + +The summer of 1774 wore along, with no improvement in the situation. +Rather it became worse. So much time had elapsed without definite news +of the passing of the Regulating Act, that there was hope that the +measure had failed. But early in August came news of its passage, and +with it a list of appointments for the new Council. The appointees were +all chosen from among the Tories, or from those inclined to the king's +side. "It is apprehended," wrote Andrews, "that most of 'em will +accept." + +Now at last it was natural to suppose that the Whigs had come to the end +of their resources. Their Assembly was dissolved, a Tory held each +appointive position, Boston was filled with soldiers, and the harbor was +guarded by ships of war. Active opposition to the troops would have been +madness, and it seemed impossible to conduct even the ordinary business +of the town, for now town meetings might legally be called only for the +purpose of electing officers. Yet when Gage called the selectmen before +him, and graciously indicated his willingness to allow meetings for +certain harmless purposes, the reply surprised him. There was no need, +said the selectmen, to ask his permission for a meeting: they had one +in existence already. In fact they had two, the May meeting and the June +meeting, each legally called before the enforcement of the Regulating +Act, and each legally "adjourned" until such time as it was needed. The +technical subterfuge was too much for Gage, and the adjournments +continued in spite of the law. + +As the Massachusetts delegates prepared for their journey to +Philadelphia, where the Congress was to be held, there occurred, if we +can believe the story told by John Andrews--it was certainly believed in +Boston at the time--a demonstration of affection for Samuel Adams. "For +not long since some persons (their names unknown) sent and ask'd his +permission to build him a new barn, the old one being decay'd, which was +executed in a few days. A second sent to ask leave to repair his house, +which was thoroughly effected soon. A third sent to beg the favor of him +to call at a taylor's shop and be measur'd for a suit of cloaths and +chuse his cloth, which were finish'd and sent home for his acceptance. +A fourth presented him with a new whig,[41] a fifth with a new Hatt, a +sixth with a pair of the best silk hose, a seventh with six pair of fine +thread ditto, a eighth with six pair shoes, and a ninth modestly +inquired of him whether his finances want rather low than otherways. He +reply'd it was true that was the case, but he was very indifferent about +these matters, so that his _poor_ abilities was of any service to the +Publick; upon which the Gentleman obliged him to accept of a purse +containing about 15 or 20 Johannes." It is possible that these +attentions to Adams grew out of the desire that he, so well known in +Boston that his shabbiness meant nothing, should appear well at the +Congress, where his dress might prejudice others against him. True or +not, this little story has its significance, for, says Andrews to his +correspondent, "I mention this to show you how much he is esteem'd here. +They value him for his _good_ sense, _great_ abilities, _amazing_ +fortitude, _noble_ resolution, and _undaunted_ courage: being firm and +unmov'd at all the various reports that were propagated in regard to his +being taken up and sent home,[42] notwithstanding he had repeated +letters from his _friends_, both in England as well as here, to keep out +of the way." + +If the governor desired to arrest Adams, he had plenty of opportunity. +There was even a public occasion to take all the delegates together, +when they left the town on their way to Philadelphia. "A very +respectable parade," wrote Andrews, "in sight of five of the Regiments +encamp'd on the Common, being in a coach and four, preceded by two white +servants well mounted and arm'd, with four blacks behind in livery, two +on horseback and two footmen." Perhaps Gage breathed a sigh of relief +with the "brace of Adamses" away, but his real troubles were only +beginning. + +Massachusetts would have nothing to do with the newly appointed +officers. The thirty-six councillors, appointed under writ of mandamus, +excited the most indignation. Of the Boston nominees thirteen accepted, +two declined, and four took time to consider; throughout the province +the proportion was about the same. But those who wavered and those who +accepted presently heard from their neighbors. Leonard of Taunton, +hearing of a surprise party mustering from the neighboring towns, +departed hastily for Boston. His father, by promises that he would urge +his son to resign, with difficulty prevailed on the disgusted neighbors +to leave the councillor's property unharmed. In Worcester, Timothy Paine +was taken to the common, and, in the presence of two thousand standing +in military order, he read his declination of his appointment. Ruggles +of Hardwick was warned not to return home; his neighbors swore that he +should never pass the great bridge of the town alive. Murray of Rutland, +like Leonard of Taunton, escaped the attentions of his townspeople, who +scorned the threat of confiscation and death, and demanded his +resignation. "This," wrote his brother to him, "is not the language of +the common people only: those that have heretofore sustained the fairest +character are the warmest in this matter; and, among the many friends +you have heretofore had, I can scarcely mention any to you now." + +The people did not always act with violence, but the compulsion which +they put upon their fellow-townsmen was strong. Watson of Plymouth, long +respected in the town, had been appointed by the king to the Council, +and had intended to accept. But when he appeared in church on the +following Sunday, his friends rose and left the meeting-house. In the +face of their scorn he bowed his head over his cane, and resolved to +resign.[43] + +More than twenty of the thirty-six councillors either declined their +appointment, or resigned. The rest could find no safety except in +Boston, under the protection of the troops. Even the courts were +prevented from sitting, in one case by the ingenious method of packing +the court-room so solidly with spectators that judge and sheriff could +not enter. Only among the garrison at Boston was there comfort for the +Tory officials. + +Boston itself was troublesome enough. When Gage, regarding himself as +"personally affronted" by John Hancock,[44] removed him from command of +the Cadets, the company sent a deputation to Salem and returned him +their standard, declining longer to keep up their customary service as +the governor's body-guard. The governor, vexed, replied that had he +previously known of their intentions, he would have dismissed them +himself. + +The town meetings troubled him also. Salem held one under his nose, in +spite of a feint to interrupt them by the soldiers. When he summoned the +committee of correspondence of the town to answer for the meeting, they +were stubborn and defiant, refused to give bail when arrested, and were +consequently--released! Other towns held meetings to elect delegates to +a county convention, and the governor was powerless to stop them. +Although he had many more troops than the four regiments with which he +first declared that he could do so much, he felt his helplessness, and, +cursing the town meetings, waited for more soldiers. He summoned the +remnant of his council to meet in Salem; but the members were afraid to +come, and, departing from his orders, he allowed them to sit in Boston. + +And now, as the weeks passed on, even Boston was rumbling with the +thunder of the coming storm. Israel Putnam, having driven to Boston a +flock of sheep, the gift to the poor of Boston from his Connecticut +town, became the lion of the day. Meeting on the Common some of his old +friends in the regular army, they chaffed him on the military situation. +Twenty ships and twenty regiments, they told him, were to be expected if +the country did not submit. "If they come," returned the stanch old +Indian fighter, "I am ready to treat them as enemies." + +At length the forms of law failed even in Boston. When the judges +summoned a jury, it not only refused to take oath, but presented a +written protest against the authority on which the court acted. The +judges gave up the attempt in despair, and the governor and his advisers +thought that matters were come to a pretty pass when a mere petit juror +could declare "that his conscience would not let him take oath whiles +Peter Oliver set upon the bench."[45] There was apparently no punishment +to meet such obduracy. + +But at last news came to Gage on which he felt compelled to act. Much +powder had been stored in the magazine at Quarry Hill in Charlestown. He +was informed that during August the towns had removed their stock, until +there remained only that which belonged to the province. This stock Gage +determined to secure against possible illegal seizure, by seizing it +himself. On the morning of the first of September, by early daylight, +detachments of troops in boats took the powder to the Castle, and also +secured two cannon from Cambridge. Rumors of violence and bloodshed +spread rapidly, and by nightfall half of New England was in motion, +marching toward Boston. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[35] Sabine's "Loyalists," 190. + +[36] Andrews Letters. + +[37] The Andrews Letters, as already noted, are in the Massachusetts +Historical Society's Proceedings for the volume of 1864-1865. I shall +refer to them frequently without quoting pages. + +[38] Wells, "Life of Adams," ii, 193. + +[39] Wells, "Adams," ii, 193. + +[40] Bancroft, edition of 1876, iv, 344. Subsequent references to +Bancroft will be to this edition. + +[41] Sic! + +[42] Note the use of the word, as meaning England. + +[43] I take these facts from Bancroft and the Andrews Letters. + +[44] Hancock seems to have practised upon Gage the subterfuge which he +afterwards used with Washington, pretending to be too ill to wait upon +him. + +[45] Andrews Letters. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE POWDER ALARM AND THE WINTER OF 1774-1775 + + +Gage had by this time given up hope of winning to his side the leaders +of the Whigs. If he still retained a doubt of the temper of the people, +the events of the first and second of September would have made him +certain. Marching in companies, they converged upon Cambridge, whence +the Lieutenant-Governor, Andrew Oliver, hastily departed to Boston, to +implore Gage to send out no troops, lest not a man of them should return +alive. On his way in, Oliver passed Warren hastening out. But his +influence was not needed. The militia companies had already laid aside +their weapons and were parading peacefully upon Cambridge common. There +they were addressed by two of the Mandamus Council, who confirmed their +resignations and promised in no way to be concerned in the acts of +Gage's government. Then the high-sheriff came under the attention of the +meeting, and likewise promised to do nothing under the new laws. + +Hallowell, the Commissioner of Customs, escaped more serious handling. +Passing by the common and its assemblage of Whigs, he "spoke somewhat +contemptuously of them." They promptly sent some mounted men after his +chaise. On seeing them coming he stopped his chaise, unhitched his horse +and mounted, and ran his pursuers a close race to Boston Neck, where he +found safety with the guard. + +Oliver, returning to Cambridge with the governor's promise to send out +no troops, was waited upon by the great assemblage. The Whigs demanded +his resignation as a councillor. This, after demurring, Oliver gave, and +offered to resign also from the lieutenant-governorship. But this the +company allowed him to keep. Andrews records, "It is worthy remark that +Judge Lee remarked to 'em, after he had made his resignation, that he +never saw so large a number of people together and preserve so peaceable +order before in his life." + +This orderly meeting, proceeding with parliamentary forms, passed a +resolve that Gage was within his legal rights in removing the powder +from the store-house. They then "voted unanimously their abhorrence of +mobs and riots,"[46] and with these lessons given for any one to learn, +they peaceably turned toward their homes. On their way they turned back +those who, from further away, were eagerly coming to avenge the rumored +death of their countrymen and the bombardment of the town. Putnam, after +disbanding his Connecticut company, wrote to urge the men of +Massachusetts to take better care of the remainder of their powder. + +The "Powder Alarm" stirred the country everywhere. At Philadelphia its +exaggerated reports greatly disturbed the Congress, but the response was +significant. "When the horrid news was brought here of the bombardment +of Boston," wrote John Adams, "which made us completely miserable for +two days, we saw proofs both of the sympathy and the resolution of the +continent. War! war! war! was the cry, and it was pronounced in a tone +which would have done honor to the oratory of a Briton or a Roman. If it +had proved true, you would have heard the thunder of an American +Congress."[47] + +Gage now, for the first time, seems to have had a glimmer of an idea of +the formidable forces that were against him. He began to consider the +military situation, and the defence of the town against another such +rising. If on the next occasion the provincials should attempt to pursue +a commissioner not merely to the Neck, but past it, there must be means +of stopping them. Gage gave orders to fortify the Neck, which was in +those days the single land approach to Boston. + +[Illustration: THE INVESTMENT OF BOSTON] + +The modern city in no way resembles the old town. Now, between South +Boston and Cambridge, a score of highways lead into the city. Bridges +and even tunnels give direct communication from South Boston, Cambridge, +Charlestown, Chelsea, and East Boston. But in 1774 South Boston was a +mudflat; the Back Bay--at least at high water--was what its name +implies; Chelsea was Winnisimit, with but half a dozen houses; and East +Boston was an island, having but two houses on it. Now the flats have +been filled up, the mainland brought closer, and the approaches bridged. +In Governor Gage's day Boston was still a peninsula, roughly +pear-shaped, and connected with the mainland by a strip of land which +was, at high tide, scarcely a hundred yards wide. + +Batteries commanding the road which crossed this isthmus seemed, at the +time, quite sufficient to defend the town. It was not till later that +Gage began to consider the heights of Dorchester and Charlestown, which, +to the south and north, threatened Boston. Now he set to work upon an +earthwork at the Neck, brought cannon there, and began to build +block-houses. It was reported that he was to cut a ditch across the +Neck, and confine traffic to a narrow bridge; but at the objection of +the selectmen such an idea, if he had considered it, was given up. +Protest against the new earthworks was also lodged. The selectmen of the +town, and a committee from the convention for Suffolk County which then +happened to sit, came to Gage with remonstrances. Warren, from the +convention, twice urged his demands. "Good God, gentlemen," responded +the harried governor, "make yourselves easy, and I will be so."[48] + +There was no more ease of mind for Governor Gage. Within the limits of +Boston and Charlestown were several cannon belonging to the militia +organizations of the town. When the general tried to secure the +Charlestown guns from secretion by the provincials, they disappeared. +"Ever since," wrote Andrews a fortnight later, "the General has ordered +a double guard to y^e new and old gun houses, where y^e brass field +pieces belonging to our militia are lodged: notwithstanding which ... +We'n'sday evening, or rather night, our people took these from the Old +house (by opening the side of the house) and carried away through Frank +Johonnot's Garden. Upon which he gave it in orders the next day to the +officer on guard to remove those from the New house (which stands +directly opposite the encampment of the 4th Regiment and in the middle +of the street near the large Elm tree), sometime the next night into the +camp; and to place a guard at each end, or rather at both doors, till +then. At the fixed hour the Officer went with a number of Mattrosses to +execute his orders, but behold, the guns were gone!" Lest the guns in +the North Battery should similarly be spirited away, the bewildered +general ordered them to be spiked. + +His state of mind was not improved when he received, as he did early in +September, the resolutions passed by the Suffolk convention. The Suffolk +Resolves, as they are called, covered the whole of the existing +situation. Repudiating the king's claim to unconditional obedience, +they declared the Regulating Act unconstitutional, and called on all +officers under it to resign their places. They advised that all taxes +should be withheld from the king's treasury, and suggested a provincial +congress to deal with the affairs of Massachusetts. The resolves further +declared that the Americans had no intention of aggression, advised +peaceful measures, but threatened to seize all crown officers if any +political arrest were made. Looking forward to the eventual rupture, the +resolves advised the towns to choose their military officers with great +care, and finally made provision to spread alarm or summon assistance at +a moment's notice. + +Affairs had now reached a new phase. The barrier which Gage had erected +at the Neck had effectually cut him off from the province which he had +been sent to govern. From that time on he had no authority beyond the +range of his batteries. + +Boston was his, to be sure. In spite of alarms (for once the field day +of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, the pride of the +province, aroused the fleet; and once the little navy was awake all +night against an attack that never came), in spite of such alarms, no +attempt was made upon his army or his ships. The town was quiet, and +Tory ladies and gentlemen were at last at ease. On the Mall they might +daily watch the parade of the troops, speak their minds about the +faction, and agree upon the cowardice of the provincials. Yet the Whigs +of Boston made no submission. They were, as Warren wrote of them, +"silent and inflexible." At the same time they had everything at stake. +Their leaders Hancock and Warren still lived openly among them, in the +face of the threat of arrest. The artisans, too, at this period put +behind them a great temptation. For many months they had been idle; now +within a few weeks the governor had commenced building barracks for the +troops, upon which Boston workmen were engaged. For the first time since +the Port Bill went into effect they were earning a comfortable living. +But now they refused to work longer for the king. In vain Gage appealed +to the selectmen and to Hancock. One and all the artisans withdrew, to +subsist, as before, upon the donations that still continued to come in +from the other towns and colonies. + +Outside the barrier at the Neck was an unparalleled state of affairs. In +Massachusetts there was no legal government. The charter had been +abrogated, but the new system had been rejected by the people. There +were no judges and no courts, no sheriffs; there was no treasury, and no +machinery of government whatever. Consequently there was a striking +opportunity for lawlessness. Yet the quiet in the province was +remarkable. In the absence of executive and judicial officers, the +selectmen of the towns and the Committees of Correspondence took upon +themselves the work that was to be done, and did it quietly and well. +There was no thievery, no murder, no repudiation of debts. So far as +their ordinary life was concerned, the people simply lived on in their +ancient way. + +There was, nevertheless, plenty of lawlessness of the new kind. Just as +soon as the people could catch the newly appointed officials, they +forced them to resign; and whenever the courts attempted to sit they +were made to adjourn. There continued the little migration of Tories +toward Boston, always in the expectation that the sojourn was to be +brief, and that presently Gage would have the situation in hand. Most of +the refugees, however, never saw their homes again. As for Gage, he was +suspected of detaining the remaining councillors in Boston, lest he +should not have any left to him. Indeed, his position in Salem had +already become so undignified and uncomfortable that early in September, +with the Commissioners of Customs and all other officials, he returned +to Boston. There he also withdrew the two regiments with which he had +ineffectually endeavored to sustain his prestige in Salem. Yet he had +not been long in Boston before he was forced to watch the preparations +for a new act of defiance. + +Already, unfortunately for him, he had convened the Assembly to meet at +Salem. Now that he was in Boston he desired the legislators to meet +there also; yet he could not adjourn them until they met. This he +planned to do. The delegates, however, knew that if they came to Boston +they must take their oaths of office before the Mandamus Council. To +this the representatives would never submit, and accordingly planned +another move. Boston carried out its part under the eye of the governor. +The town elected its representatives, chief among whom were Hancock, +Warren, and the absent Samuel Adams. The meeting then deliberately, +reminding the delegates that they could not conscientiously discharge +their duty under the conditions which the governor would impose, +"empowered and instructed" them to join with the delegates from other +towns in a general provincial congress, to act upon public matters in +such a manner as should appear "most conducive to the true interest of +this town and province, and most likely to preserve the liberties of all +America." + +Thus the town of Boston, inflexible but no longer silent, calmly ignored +the governor and his troops. A strong governor would have imprisoned the +delegates and dissolved the meeting; Gage allowed it to proceed for the +rest of the day with illegal business, and did nothing. + +It was at this time that the conduct of affairs fell into the hands of +Warren. Adams was away at Philadelphia, and Hancock, though older than +Warren and an excellent figurehead, had neither Warren's wisdom nor his +fiery energy. It was Warren who corresponded with the Congress at +Philadelphia and with the Committees of Correspondence of the +Massachusetts towns, and it was to him that the province naturally +turned. When we remember him as the hero of Bunker Hill, it is well also +to recall him as the tried servant and the excellent adviser of the +public. + +One act of his at this point is worth remembering. As we have seen, +Episcopalians were not in good odor with the Massachusetts Whigs; the +colony had been founded as an asylum from "prelacy," and still, after +nearly two hundred and fifty years, the few members of the English +church were chiefly supporters of the crown. Warren now took occasion to +remind his brethren that to the south conditions were different, and +that "the gentlemen of the Established Church of England are men of the +most just and liberal sentiments." In a printed letter he requested fair +treatment of all Episcopalians, and ended by quoting from a letter of +Samuel Adams an account of the Episcopal chaplain of the Philadelphia +Congress, whose first prayer moved many of the members to tears. +Although this chaplain later turned his coat, the reminder was timely +and valuable, for many southern Whigs, among them Washington himself, +were members of the Established Church. + +As to the proposed provincial congress, Gage now hastened to forestall +the consequences of his own action. He declared the convening of the +Assembly inexpedient, and removed the obligation to attend. Nevertheless +ninety of the delegates came together, waited a day for the governor, +then formed themselves into a provincial congress, and adjourned. On the +11th of October they met again at Concord, this time with nearly two +hundred more members, and in the old meeting-house began their sessions +with Hancock as their president, but with Warren as the most influential +member of their body. + +His influence was thrown on the side of moderation. There were plenty in +the province ready to urge violence. They argued that the old charter +should be resumed; and as if the present acts were not sufficiently +revolutionary, were ready to proceed to violent measures. But the time +had not yet come. Massachusetts sentiment, responding to persecution, +was far in advance of the feelings of the rest of the country. No action +could safely be taken until the other colonies were ready to support +New England. In constant touch with Samuel Adams--for Paul Revere and +other trusted couriers were always on the road with letters--Warren was +able to remind his colleagues of the need of patience, and to cool their +ardor by his warnings that in open rebellion they would stand alone. His +services, and those of the steadfast band who supported him, were +invaluable. In these days he rose to the full stature of political +leadership, in guiding the actions of the provincial congress and in +constraining it to patience. + +And yet its acts were revolutionary enough. It must be remembered that +until this time the Whigs of Massachusetts had remained within their +constitutional rights. Apart from the Tea-Party, no word or act of town +meeting or of legislature, or even of any prominent citizen, needed for +justification anything more than the ancient charter rights of the +province. But now the provincial congress went beyond anything that had +ever been done before. It appointed a Committee of Safety, which should +prepare for equipping and raising an army. It appointed a Committee of +Supplies, which presently gathered together a few hundred spades and +pickaxes, some muskets, a thousand wooden mess-bowls, four thousand +flints, and a small supply of peas and flour--a pitiful attempt to +compete with the vast resources of Great Britain. More than this, it +appointed a Receiver-General, to keep the public money of the province. +It might be argued that all these acts were still within the charter +rights, yet the Whig position was no longer so strong as on the +occasions when it had caused the crown lawyers to doubt. With a +treasurer engaged in receiving the taxes which the towns willingly paid +him, and with generals appointed to command an army, it began to look as +if Massachusetts were in rebellion. + +Gage was perplexed. His province was out of his control, and now came +the news that the Continental Congress, before adjourning, had voted +approval of the course of Massachusetts. In fact, Congress had voted +its support. "Resolved, that this congress approve of the opposition +made by the inhabitants of the Massachusetts Bay to the execution of the +late acts of Parliament; and, if the same shall be attempted to be +carried into execution by force, in such case all America ought to +support them in their opposition." With such words in his mind, Gage had +to listen to the ringing of the church bells in welcome to Samuel Adams +as he returned from Philadelphia. Adams and Cushing, two of the Boston +delegates, now took their seats in the provincial congress, and the +remaining two delegates were invited to attend. The public acts of the +congress continued bold and uncompromising, and every little while there +came to the harried governor some public letter of remonstrance, or some +delegation from an aggrieved town or county convention, to object, to +expostulate, or to demand. Never were people better trained to politics +than the Americans at this moment. Gage was quite unfitted to cope with +them. Hutchinson would have been more vigorous, and even Bernard more +clever. The king fitly characterized his governor as "the mild general." + +Gage, in his perplexity, now made trouble by suggesting the recruiting +of Indians against the day of rebellion, and called for more troops from +England. The disgusted king sought to replace him as commander-in-chief +by the one English soldier whom the Americans held in respect, in fact, +as the hero of the French war, almost in reverence. But Sir Jeffrey +Amherst bluntly told the king that he would not serve against the +Americans, "to whom he had been so much obliged." The king was forced to +content himself by sending to Gage's support three major-generals, as if +in the hope that their divided counsels would bring about a uniform +policy. + +Of these three men America was to hear a good deal in the next seven +years. The least important of them was Sir Henry Clinton, of respectable +military skill. More striking in character was Sir John Burgoyne, poet, +dramatist, parliamentarian, upon whom America will ever look with the +indulgence which the victor feels for one who is signally and completely +defeated. "General Big-talk," the Yankee balladist called him when once +the siege was in progress. It is true that Burgoyne had an easy flow of +words, and we shall before long find him doing his share to make Gage +ridiculous. But Burgoyne had his manly parts, and though he lacked +greatness, he commands at times our sympathy and our respect. He made a +romantic marriage, which proved a happy one; and his real claim to +literary distinction lies in the letter in which, on his departure for +America, he commended his wife to the care of the king. Burgoyne, in a +still brutal age, was a humanitarian, and was one of the first, not only +to oppose flogging in the army, but also to advocate friendly personal +relations between officers and men. America seldom took Burgoyne +seriously, but he is to us of to-day a pleasing and picturesque +character. + +The third of the new generals was Sir William Howe, whose chief +misfortune was that fate had set him to oppose Washington. He came of a +family well known in American annals, for one brother was now an admiral +popular in the colonies, and another was still mourned in America for +his brilliant talents and magnetic personality. William Howe had gained +his seat in Parliament by appeals to the memory of that brother, and by +promises to take no active military command against America. But on +being offered the post under Gage, Howe asked if this were a request or +an order. The adroit king returned the proper answer, and Howe, +protesting that no other course was open to him, prepared to sail for +Boston. + +Meanwhile Gage, alone, made various futile moves, at which the province +looked with patience. From time to time his troops marched a few miles +into the country, and returned again. In January he sent a detachment to +Marshfield, to occupy the village so that the loyal residents might +drink their tea in peace. It was a comfort to him to think that there +was one town in the province in which a militia company was drilling for +his support, and with the king's muskets. A month later Gage sent troops +to Salem, in order to seize some cannon; but the commander, finding the +country in arms to receive him, wisely withdrew his little force +after--to use a term yet to be invented--"saving his face" by crossing a +bridge under promise of immediate return. + +The Reverend Jonas Clark, speaking of this event, adds an indignant note +to an equally indignant sermon.[49] "This unsuccessful expedition was +made on Lord's day, Feb. 26, 1775. The party consisted of 200 or 300 +men; it was commanded by Lieut. Col. Leslie. The vessels which brought +them to _Marblehead_, arrived in the harbour, on the morning of the +sabbath; and the better to conceal their intentions, lay quietly, at +anchor, near to the wharves, with but very few hands upon deck (the +troops being kept close) 'till the people of the town were assembled +for the services of religion.--While the inhabitants were thus engaged +in their devotions to God, the party landed and made a speedy march to +Salem. But all their precaution did not avail them for the +accomplishment of their enterprize. The _eagle-eyes_ of a watchful and +wary people, justly jealous of every measure of their oppressors, are +not easily evaded. Their motions were observed, and such timely notice +given, that such numbers were collected and such measures taken, before +they arrived, as effectually frustrated their design and obliged them to +return defeated and chagrined." + +So, throughout the winter, the garrison and its governor accomplished +nothing--or less than nothing, if one considers that Gage proved to the +provincials the weakness of his character, while at the same time he +angered them by issuing, when the provincial congress appointed a day of +prayer, a proclamation against hypocrisy. + +As the winter passed there was at times hope that the political +situation might be relieved by action of Parliament. Yet though the +worst House of Commons in history had been dissolved, the one which took +its place was, at its beginning, little better. It learned wisdom only +from the events of the war. To this Parliament Chatham and Burke now +appealed in vain; even Fox, at last definitely taking his stand with the +supporters of America, could not move it from its subservience to the +king. When finally a bill was introduced to deprive America of its +fisheries, it began to seem that legislative oppression could go no +further. + +And now to other Americans than Samuel Adams it became evident that +there was no hope of concession from England. The second provincial +congress began its sittings. Warren was still on the Committee of +Safety. Preble, Ward, and Pomeroy were reappointed generals, and to them +were added Thomas and Heath. Supplies were voted for an army of fifteen +thousand. There was still hope of conciliation, but, wrote Warren, +"every day, every hour, widens the breach." + +The town of Boston knew how wide the breach was, and how different the +points of view. The letters and diaries of the time show the constant +little irritations which exasperated both sides. In those days, if the +British soldier was not so sober as now, the British officer was far +more given to drink. From "the Erskine incident" until almost the +outbreak of hostilities, drunken officers made trouble with the +inhabitants, and found them less submissive than the average British +citizen. Yankee burghers had an uncomfortable trick of arming themselves +with cudgels and returning to the attack; the watch occasionally locked +up Lieutenant This and Ensign That; and more dignified citizens, +disdaining personal conflict, brought their complaints to the general, +thus adding to his troubles. John Andrews tells the story of the school +boys who, in the phrase of the day, "improv'd" the coast on School +Street. "General Haldiman, improving the house that belongs to Old Cook, +his servant took it upon him to cut up their coast and fling ashes upon +it. The lads made a muster, and chose a committee to wait upon the +General, who admitted them, and heard their complaint, which was couch'd +in very genteel terms, complaining that their fathers before 'em had +improv'd it as a coast from time immemorial, &ca. He ordered his servant +to repair the damage, and acquainted the Governor with the affair, who +observ'd that it was impossible to beat the notion of Liberty out of the +people, as it was rooted in 'em _from their Childhood_." + +Gage did his best to be fair to the inhabitants, and they acknowledged +his endeavor. But the officers, less experienced than he and with fewer +responsibilities, and also less acquainted with the spirit of the +colonists, were angry with him for what they called his subservience. +They dubbed him Tommy, and confided their indignation to their diaries. +"Yesterday," wrote Lieutenant Barker of the King's Own,[50] "in +compliance with the request of the Select Men, Genl Gage order'd that +no Soldier in future shou'd appear in the Streets with his side Arms. +Query, Is this not encouraging the Inhabitants in their licentious and +riotous disposition? Also orders are issued for the Guards to seize all +military Men found engaged in any disturbance, whether Agressors or not; +and to secure them, 'till the matter is enquired into. By Whom? By +Villains that wou'd not censure one of their own Vagrants, even if He +attempted the life of a Soldier; whereas if a Soldier errs in the least, +who is more ready to accuse than Tommy? His negligence on the other hand +has been too conspicuous in the affair of Cn. Maginis to require a +further comment." + +Doubtless there is much to be said for the soldiers, both officers and +privates, since the Bostonians had not abandoned their irritating ways, +even in the midst of an army. But the army was also very hard to live +with. On the first of January our discontented officer records, "Nothing +remarkable but the drunkenness among the Soldiers, which is now got to +a very great pitch; owing to the cheapness of the liquor, a Man may get +drunk for a Copper or two." The officers, we have seen, did not set +their men a very good example; but even in their sober senses they were +scarcely conciliatory. They formed burlesque congresses, and marched in +mock procession in the streets, absurdly dressed to represent the +leaders of the Whigs. On the queen's birthday a banquet was held, and +from the balcony of the tavern the toasts were announced, while in the +street a squad of soldiers fired salutes. Toasts to Lord North were not +relished in Boston, and reminders of Culloden were too significant for +those whom the army already called rebels. It is an interesting proof of +the weakness of Gage's hold upon his own army that such childishness +should have been permitted, or that such threats should have been made +to a town that still was within its legal rights. + +Beneath these petty quarrels we perceive the fundamental differences. +Over these the more learned of both sides carried on a war of words. +The newspapers teemed with letters, poems, essays, and dissertations; +and Novanglus, Massachusettensis, Vindex, and other pseudo-Romans +endeavored to convert each other, or else to point solemn warnings. +"Remember," writes a yeoman of Suffolk County, "the fate of Wat Tyler, +and think how vain it is for Jack, Sam, or Will to war against Great +Britain, now she is in earnest!... Our leaders are desperate bankrupts! +Our country is without money, stores, or necessaries of war,--without +one place of refuge or defence! If we were called together, we should be +a confused herd, without any disposition to obedience, without a general +of ability to direct and guide us; and our numbers would be our +destruction! Never did a people rebel with so little reason; therefore +our conduct cannot be justified before God!... Rouse, rouse ye, +Massachusetians, while it be yet time! Ask pardon of God, submit to our +king and parliament, whom we have wickedly and grievously offended."[51] + +This exclamatory appeal plainly shows a type of mind which often has +saved the British Empire, yet which at periods in history has come near +to ruining it. English conservatism has at most times been invaluable to +the country; but when, as repeatedly under the Stuart kings and again +under George III, it has forsaken its true task in order to support +absolutism, it has brought the ship of state very near to wreck. In +reminding of the fate of Wat Tyler our Suffolk yeoman forgot, if indeed +he ever knew, the fate of Charles and James Stuart. The majority of +Englishmen have never been willing to admit that in defending their +constitutional rights they were guilty of impiety. Though such warnings +and appeals were at this time frequent enough, the Whigs paid no regard +to them. + +When we leave the Tories and turn to the soldiery we find one other +common English failing--underrating an adversary. England had so long +been victorious on land and sea that it was almost a natural assumption +that she was superior to any force that could be brought against her. +But that she was always right, or her opponents always cowards, were +corollaries that did not necessarily follow. Yet both of these were +implicitly believed, not only by supporters at home, but also by the +army in America. As to Yankee cowardice, many a Tory could, and later +did, warn the troops against belief in it. But now, at any rate, the +belief was fully indulged. From it was an easy step to general contempt. +Rascal and Scoundrel were common synonyms for Whig. Lord Percy was a +brigadier-general and old enough to form his own conclusions, yet after +living in the camp at Boston for a month, he gives us a complete +analysis of the American character--the summary, no doubt, of British +military opinion. "The People here," he wrote home, "are the most +designing, Artfull Villains in the World. They have not the least Idea +of either Religion or Morality. Nor have they the least Scruple of +taking the most solemn Oath on any Matter that can assist their +Purpose, tho' they know the direct contrary can be clearly & evidently +proved in half an Hour."[52] + +We see, then, the situation fully prepared: an inflexible people, a weak +governor, a party of believers in divine right, and a contemptuous +soldiery. The next event, which all but ended in violence, showed that +there needed but a little tenser situation in order to bring about the +rupture. + +Now occurred the annual oration on the Massacre. Since that tragedy, +five years ago, there had been an annual commemoration of it in the form +of a speech by one of the Whig leaders. This year the post was one of +evident responsibility and even of danger, but Warren, true to his +character, solicited the appointment. He announced his subject as "The +Baleful Influence of Standing Armies in Time of Peace." On the fifth of +March the crowd that came to hear him filled the Old South to the doors. + +The chance was one which, had Gage received the orders which were +supposed to have been sent him, and had he been the man he ought to +have been, he never should have let slip. There in one building were, of +the chiefs of the "faction," Warren, Samuel Adams, Hancock, and many +lesser men. They could be taken at one blow. Some forty British officers +were present, whether to effect a capture or merely to cause a +disturbance was not known. At Samuel Adams' instance they were given +front seats, or places on the steps of the pulpit. There they listened +quietly to Warren's words. + +The oration was, in the style of the day, florid; but it was full of +genuine feeling. Warren spoke of the rise of the British Empire in +America, the hope of its future, the policy of the king, and the +Massacre. Turning then to the present situation, he spoke in words which +no one could mistake, bolder, perhaps, than ever before had been +publicly spoken in the presence of hostile soldiers. He reminded his +countrymen of their martial achievements, he spoke of the critical +situation, and, while disclaiming the desire for independence, +encouraged the colonists to claim their rights. "An independence of +Great Britain is not our aim. No: our wish is, that Britain and the +colonies may, like the oak and ivy, grow and increase in strength +together. But, whilst the infatuated plan of making one part of the +empire slaves to the other is persisted in, the interest and safety of +Britain as well as the colonies require that the wise measures +recommended by the honorable, the Continental Congress be steadily +pursued, whereby the unnatural contest between a parent honored and a +child beloved may probably be brought to such an issue that the peace +and happiness of both may be established upon a lasting basis. But, if +these pacific measures are ineffectual, and it appears the only way to +safety lies through fields of blood, I know you will not turn your faces +from our foes, but will undauntedly press forward until tyranny is +trodden under foot, and you have fixed your adored goddess, Liberty, +fast by a Brunswick's side, on the American throne."[53] + +These were fearless words, and full of meaning. Had there been men of +sense among the officers present, they must have been impressed by the +solemnity of the warning; in fact, they were silent until the end. It +was not until after the oration, when the meeting was voting thanks to +the orator, that the officers endeavored to interrupt the proceedings. +The cry of Fie! was mistaken for that of Fire, and there was a moment's +panic. We have opposing accounts of it. + +"It was imagined," wrote our discontented Lieutenant of the King's Own, +"that there wou'd have been a riot, which if there had wou'd in all +probability have proved fatal to Hancock, Adams, Warren, and the rest of +those Villains, as they were all up in the Pulpit together, and the +meeting was crowded with Officers and Seamen in such a manner that they +cou'd not have escaped; however it luckily did not turn out so; it wou'd +indeed have been a pity for them to have made their exit in that way, as +I hope before long we shall have the pleasure of seeing them do it by +the hands of the Hangman." + +John Andrews looked at the matter differently. "The officers in general +behave more like a parcel of children, of late, than men. Captain ---- +of the Royal Irish first exposed himself by behaving in a very +scandalous manner at the South meeting.... He got pretty decently +frighted for it. A woman, among the rest, attacked him and threatened to +wring his nose." An outbreak may have been what the officers wanted. +"But," says Samuel Adams, who acted on his maxim that it is good +politics to put and keep the enemy in the wrong, "order was restored, +and we proceeded regularly, and finished the business. I am persuaded, +were it not for the danger of precipitating a crisis, not a man of them +would have been spared."[54] + +The whole was a type of the existing situation. Here were the officers, +still causing petty disturbances; here too, no doubt, were Tories, +contemptuous of the proceedings. Deeper still appears the real +significance of the occasion. On the one side was the governor, unable, +with all the power of the king, to prevent a meeting of the citizens to +condemn his presence in the town--for the meeting was the "Port Bill +meeting," adjourned from time to time since the previous May. And on the +other side were the citizens, legally protesting and exasperatingly +defiant, evidently under perfect self-restraint, determined not to +strike the first blow. + +The officers took, as usual, a puerile revenge in the form of a +burlesque. "A vast number" of them assembled at the Coffee House in King +Street, and chose selectmen and an orator, "who deliver'd an oration +from the balcony to a crowd of few else beside gaping officers."[55] +Others of them caught a countryman who had been decoyed into buying a +musket from a soldier, and tarred and feathered him. + +But these were surface trivialities. Beneath them the true situation was +growing worse. Out in the country military stores were being collected +at Worcester and at Concord; and over in Parliament the fisheries bill, +designed to deprive thousands in America of their living, was sure of +passing. At last Franklin, who had stayed in London as long as there +seemed anything for him to accomplish, patiently bearing humiliation and +insults, on the 20th of March took ship for Philadelphia. It was the +sign that there was no further hope of peace. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[46] Bancroft. + +[47] Adams Letters, 39. + +[48] Andrews Letters. + +[49] A Sermon preached at Lexington, April 19, 1776, 26. + +[50] His diary is published in the _Atlantic Monthly_ for April and May, +1877, 384 and 544. I shall use it freely without further definite +reference. + +[51] Frothingham's "Life of Warren," 413 + +[52] Bulletin of Boston Public Library, x, No. 87, 320. + +[53] Frothingham's "Life of Warren," 435-436. + +[54] Wells, "Life of Adams," ii, 281. + +[55] Andrews Letters. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MILITARY PREPARATIONS + + +As the spring of 1775 advanced, matters took on a constantly more +threatening aspect. The governor's force in Boston was steadily +increasing, and was approaching a total of four thousand men. Vessels of +war were with equal steadiness being added to the little fleet in the +harbor. With each budget of news from England it became evident that +Parliament would not yield, and at last came word that Lord North had +offered a joint resolution that New England was in a state of rebellion, +which both houses pledged their lives and fortunes to suppress. With +such a military force at his command, and with such moral support from +King and Parliament, Gage was in a position to take decided action. + +No one could doubt what that action would be. Since September the +province had been gathering its meagre military supplies. It was but +common sense to seize them before they could be used. Soon after the new +year Gage began his measures. "Genl. Orders," writes disgruntled +Lieutenant Barker. "If any officers of the different Regts. are +_capable_ of taking sketches of a Country, they will send their names to +the Dep. Adj. Genl ... that is an extraordinary method of wording the +order; it might at least have been in a more genteel way; at present it +looks as if he doubted whether there were any such." However, there were +such, and in February the governor chose Captain Brown and Ensign De +Berniere (or Bernicre, as the name is sometimes spelled) and sent them +out to map the roads. + +The little expedition was somewhat absurd, for the disguise which the +officers wore was sufficient to conceal them only from their friends. +When, at the first tavern at which they stopped, they remarked that it +was a very fine country, the black woman who waited on them answered, +"So it is, and we have got brave fellows to defend it, and if you go any +higher you will find it so." "This," admits Ensign De Berniere, whose +account of the expedition was left in Boston at the evacuation, and was +"printed for the information and amusement of the curious," "this +disconcerted us a good deal." From that time on, any one who took the +trouble to "eye them attentively" was in no doubt as to their real +character. + +They went first to Worcester, where it was possible that the governor +might wish to send troops, to protect the courts as well as to seize +stores. The weather was rough and snowy, and the officers' task +correspondingly difficult; the countrymen, by persevering sociability, +kept them in an uneasy state of mind. After roughly mapping roads +concerning which the general should long before have had accurate +information, the two officers made their way to Sudbury, where they +hoped to rest with a sympathizer, after walking in a snow-storm for +hours. But the town doctor, though long a stranger at the house, came +to call, and the townspeople showed their host various other undesirable +attentions, so that in twenty minutes the two officers were glad to +leave the place. They arrived again safely at Worcester, "very much +fatigued, after walking thirty-two miles between two o'clock and +half-after ten at night, through a road that every step we sunk up to +the ankles, and it blowing and drifting snow all the way." + +In spite of this experience, the two officers, a month later, undertook +a similar journey to Concord. In this they succeeded, returning with a +rough sketch of the roads, but bringing also their Concord host, who did +not think it safe to remain after entertaining them. They brought +information that in Concord there were "fourteen cannon (ten iron and +four brass) and two cohorns," with "a store of flour, fish, salt, and +rice; and a magazine of powder and cartridges." + +They might, in their two journeys, have brought better information than +that the Concord Whigs "fired their morning gun, and mounted a guard of +ten men at night." The stores at Concord had far better protection than +these, as the two officers should have learned at Framingham, where they +watched the drill of the militia company. "After they had done their +exercise, one of their commanders spoke a very eloquent speech, +recommending patience, coolness, and bravery (which indeed they very +much wanted), particularly told them they would always conquer if they +did not break, and recommended them to charge us coolly, and wait for +our fire, and everything would succeed with them--quoted Cæsar and +Pompey, brigadiers Putnam and Ward, and all such great men; put them in +mind of Cape Breton, and all the battles they had gained for his majesty +in the last war, and observed that the regulars must have been ruined +but for them." + +Had the two officers known it, every town in the province had just such +a militia company, which at set seasons met, and drilled, and listened +to good old-fashioned exhortations to valor. It would not take long, +therefore, for the neighboring towns to send their companies to +reinforce the guard of ten men which Concord set over its stores every +night. And yet the province was not satisfied with this ancient militia +organization, for it had set up another to strengthen it. + +The militia was composed, as it had been since the foundation of the +colony, of the whole body of male inhabitants of proper military age. In +some cases even clergymen drilled in the ranks. More than once this +militia had gathered to repel an expected attack of French or Indians; +it had stood between the settlers and their foes from the days of Miles +Standish down to the French and Indian War. The martial spirit still +prevailed among the youth of the colony, and each town took pride in its +company. In 1774 John Andrews thus records his innocent delight in the +appearance of the Boston trainbands:-- + +"Am almost every minute taken off with agreeable sight of our militia +companies marching into the Common, as it is a grand field day with +us.... They now vie with the best troops in his majesties service, being +dress'd all in blue uniforms, with drums and fifes to each company +dress'd in white uniforms trim'd in y^e most elegant manner; with a +company of Grenadiers in red with every other apparatus, that equal any +regular company I ever saw both in appearance and discipline, having a +grand band of musick consisting of eight that play nearly equal to that +of the 64th. What crowns all is the Cadet company, being perfectly +compleat and under the best order you can conceive of, with a band of +musick likewise, that perform admirably well. What with these and +Paddock's company of artillery make y^e completest militia in America; +not a drummer, fifer, and scarcely a soldier but what are in compleat +uniforms and thoroughly instructed in the military exercises." + +It was this Boston Cadet company that, at the affront to its leader +Hancock had returned its standard to the governor and disbanded. Gage +knew too well that others of the companies were thoroughly disaffected. +In fact, many of the Boston young men left the town before hostilities +began, and were ready to join with their country brethren in showing +that their military training was worth something. + +Yet early in the fall it was recognized in the colony that the militia +system was not sufficient, being too slow of movement to meet any such +sudden expedition as that which Gage sent to seize the powder. It is not +surprising, therefore, to find John Andrews reporting on October 5 the +existence of a new body of troops, "which are call'd _minute men_, +_i.e._ to be ready at a minute's warning with a fortnight's provision, +and ammunition and arms." There is doubt of the origin of this body, but +it was first officially accepted in Concord, where the town adopted +definite terms of enlistment, the more important of which reads:-- + +"We will ... to the utmost of our power and abilities, defend all and +every of our charter rights, liberties, and privileges; and will hold +ourselves in readiness at a minute's warning, with arms and ammunition +thus to do."[56] + +Tradition says that the terms of the enlistment were interpreted +literally, and that wherever the minute men went, to the field, the +shop, or to church, gun and powder-horn and bullet-pouch were ready to +hand. It is scarcely an exaggeration to suppose that, as represented by +French's statue, the farmers actually left the plough in the furrow and +snatched up the ready rifle. + +One further preparation was also made. The rallying point was possibly +Worcester, where were the courts and some few stores; but it was more +probably Concord. The shortest route to Concord, or to the road between +Concord and Boston, was known to the captain of every company of minute +men within a hundred miles. But that the captains should be notified of +any emergency was essential. A complete system of couriers for +spreading news was projected in September, and now was in good working +order, so that, with Boston as a radiating point, the summons could be +sent over the province with the greatest rapidity. By virtue of his +efficiency, trustworthiness, and picturesque personality, Paul Revere is +accepted as the type of the men who stood ready for this service. + +This system, further, had been tested. The spontaneous response to the +Powder Alarm in September had been ready enough, for the men of +Connecticut and New Hampshire were in motion before the next day. But +through the winter of 1774-1775 there had been minor alarms at each +little expedition on which Gage sent his soldiers. By these the new +system was proved efficient. Whether the troops marched to Jamaica Pond, +to the "punch bowl" in Brookline, or even went, by sea and land, as far +as Salem, the militia of the surrounding towns showed a prompt curiosity +as to the object of the excursion. These fruitless musters, far from +making the minute men callous to alarms, served to prepare them to meet +the great occasion which they foresaw would finally come. For that they +were in excellent practice. + +As to Concord itself, it had become very important. The Congress, which +after its first week in Concord had been sitting in Cambridge, now +returned, and from the 22d of March until the 15th of April[57] sat +daily in the meeting-house. The Committee of Safety remained still +longer, busy with the gathering of supplies. It is within this period +that Berniere and Brown came on their spying expedition to Concord, and +were directed by a woman to the house of Daniel Bliss. A threat of the +Whigs to tar and feather her sent her to the officers for refuge, and +word presently came to Bliss that the Whigs "would not let him go out of +the town alive that morning." This fate the officers and their host +avoided by leaving in the night. What became of the woman is not said, +but we may be easy about her: no injury, and in fact no serious +indignity, was put upon a woman in New England at this period. The +officers returned to Boston with a report of the stores in Concord. + +This may have increased the anxiety of the Committee of Safety. Already +they had voted, "requiring Colonel Barrett of Concord to engage a +sufficient number of faithful men to guard the Colony's magazines in +that town; to keep a suitable number of teams in constant readiness, by +day and night, to remove the stores; and to provide couriers to alarm +the neighboring towns, on receiving information of any movements of the +British troops."[58] A watch was kept upon the British movements; and +finally, when, on the 15th, Warren sent Paul Revere from Boston with +warning of suspicious movements, the Committee felt that soon Gage must +strike. On the 18th it ordered the removal of some of the stores. "That +very night," says Tolman, without knowledge of affairs in Boston, the +work was begun. + +Meanwhile, in response to another vote of the committee, the British had +been under close observation. The vote was that "members of this +Committee belonging to the towns of Charlestown, Cambridge, and Roxbury, +be required at the Province expense to procure at least two men for a +watch every night to be placed in each of these towns, and that said +members be in readiness to send couriers forward to the towns where the +magazines are placed, when sallies are made by the army by night." In +view of these preparations, it scarcely needs to be said that there was +nothing accidental about Concord fight. Some day Gage was bound to +strike at Concord, and for that day the Whigs were ready. + +It is now that Paul Revere comes prominently into the course of events. +Revere was a Boston craftsman of Huguenot descent, who was and is well +known as a silversmith, engraver, and cartoonist. His prints and +articles of silverware sell to-day for high prices, and his house in +North Square has recently been fitted up as a public museum, chiefly on +account of a single act at a critical moment. One is glad to know, +however, that Revere's fame is not accidental. His pictures are +historically interesting; we should be the poorer without his prints +which give views of Boston, and without his picture of the Massacre. His +silver--we have mentioned his punch-bowl for the "immortal +Ninety-two"--is usually beautiful. From the foundry which he established +later in life came cannon, and church-bells which are in use to-day. And +finally his famous ride, the object of which would have been brought +about had Revere been stopped at the outset, was but one out of many. + +[Illustration: REVERE'S PICTURE OF BOSTON IN 1768.] + +"In the year 1773," says Revere of himself,[59] "I was employed by the +selectmen of the town of Boston to carry the account of the Destruction +of the Tea to New York, and afterwards, 1774, to carry their despatches +to New York and Philadelphia for calling a Congress; and afterwards to +Congress several times." Revere does not mention the fact that he was +himself a member of the Tea-Party. When he goes on to speak of still +more important events, he suppresses the fact that he was one of the +leaders, if not the chief leader, of the Boston artisans. + +"In the fall of 1774, and winter of 1775, I was one of upwards of +thirty, chiefly mechanics, who formed ourselves into a committee for the +purpose of watching the movements of the British soldiers, and gaining +every intelligence of the movements of the Tories. We held our meetings +at the Green Dragon Tavern. We were so careful that our meetings should +be kept secret, that every time we met, every person swore upon the +Bible that they would not discover any of our transactions but to +Messrs. Hancock, Adams, Doctors Warren, Church, and one or two more.... +In the winter, towards the spring, we frequently took turns, two and +two, to watch the soldiers, by patrolling the streets all night." + +Such was the watch, then, kept upon the royalists, and such were the +preparations to receive the troops when they should march out. We know +now that Gage was informed of them, for among those whom Revere names as +confidants of the mechanics there was a traitor to the cause. Yet though +Gage knew of the organization of the Whigs, of its efficiency he had +apparently not the glimmer of an idea. It was with no expectation of +serious results that, when at last he learned that the resolution +declaring the colonies to be in rebellion had passed Parliament, he +slowly put himself in motion to seize the stores of the provincials. + +The Americans were keenly aware of all his movements. There were two +common methods of leaving the town, one by the Neck, the other over +Charlestown ferry. But these routes lay through towns, either Roxbury +or Charlestown, and to march so openly meant to give the alarm. The +Americans were ready for Gage to take a third route: across the Charles +by means of boats, and then by unfrequented roads until striking the +highway at Cambridge Common. This way the Whigs suspected he might +choose, and this they found he did. + +Gage's preparations were almost open. The boats of the men-of-war were +hauled up and repaired at the foot of the Common. On the 14th, in the +night, they were launched, and moored at the sterns of the men-of-war. +On the 15th was given out in general orders that "'The Grenadiers and +Light Infantry in order to learn Grenadrs. Exercise and new evolutions +are to be off all duties till further orders.'--This," remarks +Lieutenant Barker of the King's Own, "I suppose is by way of a blind. I +dare say they have something for them to do." + +This "something" was either one or both of two objectives: the stores at +Concord, and the persons of Adams and Hancock, then known to be staying +at the house of the Reverend Jonas Clark in Lexington. That this latter +objective was seriously considered, at least by the Americans, we shall +see from Revere's narrative. There never has been proof that Gage +endeavored to seize either them or Warren. But in any case the stores +were in danger, and strict watch was kept. + +There was evidence enough of a coming expedition. As before the +Massacre, there were soldiers' rumors that something was to happen, and +the name of Concord was whispered about. On the night of the 18th word +came in from the country that parties of officers were riding here and +there. This same notice was sent by vigilant patriots to Hancock at +Lexington. In Boston itself different persons noticed that the troops +were astir. Word of all this came from various sources to Warren who, +relinquishing for a while his sittings with the Committee of Safety, had +for some days been working for it at the post of responsibility and +danger. Warren finally decided that he must act. He sent for the men +who had pledged themselves for this service, and gave them his +directions. + +One of these men was William Dawes, of whom, except for his actions on +this night, we know little. Obeying his instructions, he took horse, and +rode across the Neck to go to Lexington by way of Roxbury and Watertown. + +"About ten o'clock," writes Revere, "Dr. Warren sent in great haste for +me, and begged that I would immediately set off for Lexington, where +Messrs. Hancock and Adams were, and acquaint them of the movement, and +that it was thought they were the objects." Revere was ready. In +returning on the 15th he had arranged signals to his friends in +Charlestown to inform them what route the British would take; he knew, +also, how he should cross--for the ferry was closed at nine o'clock--and +where he should get his horse. From Warren's Revere went home, got his +"boots and surtout," and started. Two of his friends rowed him to +Charlestown in a boat which was kept ready for the purpose, another was +already despatched to make certain of the route the British would take. + +[Illustration: THE OLD NORTH CHURCH + +(From which Paul Revere's signals were displayed.)] + +Of the person and the actions of this other friend there has been much +dispute. The weight of evidence seems to show that on making sure of the +route of the British, he went to the Old North Church, still standing in +Salem Street, and from its steeple displayed the signal. I make no +positive assertion that he spent any time in watching the British; +Revere, knowing the route, may have signalled in order to make sure that +the news crossed the river, even though he himself might fail. The +person who displayed the signals seems to have been one Newman, the +sexton of the church, rather than Captain Pulling, a friend of Revere's. +At any rate, the signals were hung while Revere was crossing the river +to Charlestown. He passed unobserved not far from the _Somerset_ +man-of-war, and remarks that "it was then young flood, the ship was +winding, and the moon was rising." On landing, his Charlestown friends +told him they had already seen the signals. Revere (if we still suppose +that he needed to make sure of the route) himself must have taken a look +at the signal lanterns, as in Longfellow's poem. "Two if by sea." This +poetical language means merely that the troops were preparing to cross +the river in their boats. This is the traditional account of Revere's +action. A contemporary memorandum states, however, that on landing +Revere "informed [us] that the T [troops] were actually in the boats." + +"I got a horse," says Revere, "of Deacon Larkin," which horse the deacon +never saw again. Before Revere started he again received warning that +there were British officers on the road, but he was quite cool enough to +take note of the beauty of the night, "about eleven o'clock and very +pleasant." Crossing Charlestown Neck, he started on the road for +Cambridge, when he saw before him two horsemen under a tree. As Revere +drew near, they pushed out into the moonlight, and he saw their +uniforms. One of them blocked the road, the other tried to take him, +and Revere, turning back, galloped first for Charlestown and then +"pushed for the Medford road." Revere made the turn successfully; the +officer who followed, ignorant of the locality, mired himself in a clay +pond. Revere's road was now clear. He reached Medford, and roused the +captain of the minute men; then, hastening on through Menotomy, now +Arlington, and thence to Lexington, he "alarmed almost every house." He +reached Lexington about midnight, and went directly to the house of the +Reverend Jonas Clark, where Hancock and Adams were sleeping under a +guard of the militia. Revere asked admittance, and the sergeant informed +him that the family had requested that no noise be made. + +"Noise!" replied Revere in the phrase familiar to every schoolboy, +"you'll have noise enough before long--the regulars are coming out!"[60] +The family was accordingly at once aroused. + +Meanwhile the troops had actually started. "Between 10 and 11 o'clock," +says Lieutenant Barker, "all the Grenadiers and Light Infantry of the +Army, making about 600 Men, (under command of Lt. Coll. Smith of the +10th and Major Pitcairn of the Marines,) embarked and were landed on the +opposite shore of Cambridge Marsh." This phrasing is not immediately +clear to one of to-day. In those days every regiment had two special +companies, the heavy-armed grenadiers, so called because they originally +carried hand-grenades, and the light-infantry company. These were +frequently detached for special duty, as the present, when the Light +Infantry would be used for flanking purposes. Thus every regiment in +Boston was represented in the expedition--and we may add in the list of +killed and wounded on the following day. The number is generally +estimated at eight hundred. They were commanded by the colonel who had +been longest on duty in New England. Smith was in character too much +like Gage himself. The general would have done better to send one of +his brigadiers. + +One at least of the brigadiers was reasonably alert. According to +Stedman, Lord Percy was crossing the Common after learning from the +general that a secret expedition had just started. Perceiving a group of +men talking together, the nobleman joined them in time to hear one say, +"The British troops have marched, but have missed their aim." + +"What aim?" asked Lord Percy. + +The reply was, "The cannon at Concord." Percy, in much perturbation, at +once returned to the general and told him that his secret was known. +Poor Gage complained that his confidence had been betrayed, "for that he +had communicated his design to one person only besides his lordship." + +The student of the time sees in this story a side-thrust at Mrs. Gage, +on whom, as an American, the officers were ready to blame the knowledge +of secrets which were gained by Yankee shrewdness alone. In this case we +have seen that it was Gage that betrayed himself to the eyes of +Revere's volunteer watch. The general hastily sent to order the guard at +the Neck to let no one leave the town. But he was too late: Dawes was +gone, Revere was on the water, and the news was out. + +The expedition was bungled at the very start. "After getting over the +Marsh, where we were wet up to the knees," says Lieutenant Barker, "we +were halted in a dirty road and stood there till two o'clock in the +morning, waiting for provisions to be brought from the boats and to be +divided, and which most of the men threw away, having carried some with +'em." As they waited there they might have heard signal guns, and +learned that in a constantly widening circle of villages, "the bells +were rung backward, the drums they were beat." The news had three hours' +start of them. At last, at two on the 19th, having "waded through a very +long ford up to our middles," wet, dirty, and loaded with the heavy +equipment of the period, they started on their march. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[56] Tolman, "The Concord Minute Man," 12. + +[57] I take many facts in the following pages from the three pamphlets +by George Tolman, "The Concord Minute Man," "Preliminaries of Concord +Fight," and "Events of April Nineteenth." These, published by the +Concord Antiquarian Society, are invaluable to the student of this +period. + +[58] "Preliminaries," 23-24. + +[59] After the Revolution, Revere wrote a narrative of the events in +which he was concerned. It is to be found in several books, notably +Goff's "Life of Revere." + +[60] Most of these facts are from Frothingham's "Siege," 57-59, and from +Revere's letter. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE NINETEENTH OF APRIL + + +John Hancock never showed better in his life than on the morning of the +19th of April. Many times the Tories had tried to win him over. +Hutchinson himself had written: "At present, Hancock and Adams are at +variance. Some of my friends blow the coals, and I hope to see a good +effect." Yet Adams and Hancock were still enlisted in the same cause on +this morning when blood was to be shed. And Hancock, when roused from +his sleep at midnight, was hot with the desire to take his musket and +fight on Lexington Green. + +Adams and his friends--among them his sweetheart--dissuaded him. The two +Whig leaders finally took the road to Woburn, and in the succeeding days +passed on to Worcester and Hartford, planned the taking of Ticonderoga, +and, joining the other delegates from Boston, in May met with the second +Continental Congress. If Gage had meant to seize Hancock and Adams, he +had lost his chance. The outcome lay in the hands of the fighting men. + +Revere waited at Mr. Clark's house for about half an hour, when Dawes +arrived. The two then set out for Concord, and were joined on the way by +"a young Dr. Prescott, whom we found to be a high son of liberty."[61] +They began to rouse the farmers along the road, and had already gone +halfway when they saw in the road horsemen whom Revere knew at once to +be British officers. Revere and Prescott, blocked in front and rear, +turned into a pasture; but this was a trap where other officers were +waiting. Prescott, knowing the country, put his horse at a fence and got +away; Revere found himself surrounded by six horsemen who, with swords +and pistols ready, ordered him to dismount. There was nothing for him to +do but comply. Dawes, who had been behind upon the road, turned to go +back, and was pursued. He rode into a farmyard, shouted out as to +friends in waiting, and frightened off his pursuers. Both he and +Prescott were useful in spreading the alarm farther. + +But Revere was caught. His chief captor examined him, and got slight +satisfaction. "I told him, and added that their troops had catched +aground in passing the river and that there would be five hundred +Americans there in a short time, for I had alarmed the country all the +way up." His anxious captors consulted together, and were conducting him +back toward Lexington, "when the militia fired a volley of guns, which +seemed to alarm them very much." They asked if there were any other road +to Cambridge, took Revere's horse, and left him. He hurried back to +Lexington, to give Hancock and Adams the news that sent them on their +way. Revere himself remained long enough to save a trunk of papers +belonging to Hancock. + +Meanwhile the militia of the town, alarmed by Revere, assembled and +waited for the troops. They sent two messengers toward Cambridge to +bring certain news, but each of these blundered into the advancing +regulars, and were seized and held. The militia waited for some hours, +but on hearing no word they were finally dismissed, with a warning to be +ready to come together again instantly. Some went to their homes, some +to the near-by tavern, to finish out the night. + +News came at last to Captain Parker that the British were scarcely a +mile away, and in such numbers that his company could not hope to oppose +them. He called his men together, nevertheless, "but only with a view to +determine what to do, when and where to meet, and to dismiss and +disperse."[62] The minute men were still standing in their ranks when +the British suddenly appeared. + +The succeeding events caused much controversy at the time. Gage reported +"that the troops were fired upon by the rebels out of the +meeting-house, and the neighboring houses, as well as by those that were +in the field; and that the troops only returned the fire, and passed on +their way to Concord."[63] But in number the little company of minute +men were, according to Revere, who had just passed through them, "about +fifty"; the Reverend Jonas Clark says "fifty or sixty, or even seventy." +Had there been even the two or three hundred of the British reports, +these men, drawn up without protection on an open green, are scarcely +likely to have attacked a force of more than twice their number. The +logic of the situation seems against Gage. + +There is one more factor to consider. It is well enough known that both +the British officers, and the Americans as a whole, were under +instructions not to fire, and earnest to obey. But what of the British +privates? Their eagerness for blood at the time of the Massacre was so +great as to account for that tragedy; it was now not likely to be less. +There were even among the troops at Lexington two companies from one of +the "Sam Adams regiments." When we learn from Lieutenant Barker that +after the skirmish "the Men were so wild they cou'd hear no orders," we +may even suspect that, as at the Massacre, the men may have taken +matters into their own hands. + +"For," says the minister of Lexington, "no sooner did they come in sight +of our company, but one of them, supposed to be an officer of rank, was +heard to say to the troops, 'Damn them, we will have them!'--Upon this +the troops shouted aloud, huzza'd, and rushed furiously towards our +men.--About the same time, three officers (supposed to be Col. Smith, +Major Pitcairn and another officer) advanced, on horse back, to the +front of the body, and coming within five or six rods of the militia, +one of them cried out, 'ye villains, ye Rebels, disperse; Damn you, +disperse!' or words to this effect. One of them (whether the same, or +not, is not easily determined) said, 'Lay down your arms, Damn you, why +don't you lay down your arms!'--The second of these officers, about +this time, fired a pistol towards the militia, as they were +dispersing.--The foremost, who was within a few yards of our men, +brandishing his sword, and then pointing towards them, said, with a loud +voice, to the troops, 'Fire!--By God, fire!'--which was instantly +followed by a discharge of arms from the said troops, succeeded by a +very heavy and close fire upon our party, dispersing, so long as any of +them were within reach.--Eight were left dead upon the ground! Ten were +wounded."[64] + +[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON] + +This is the best contemporary account which we have of the affair. It is +evident from his careful language and semi-legal terms that the Reverend +Mr. Clark, though not on the ground until half an hour afterwards, took +all possible pains to gather the facts, and considered himself upon oath +in reporting them. He was himself a witness of the exultation of the +troops at their victory, and expresses his indignation. + +Tradition gives Major Pitcairn, of the Marines, a prominent part in the +affair. "A good man," says Stiles, "in a bad cause," and adds that had +Pitcairn ever been able to say that he was sure the Americans fired +first, he would have believed him. Honest Major Pitcairn could only +state his belief. + +So the first blood in the Revolution was spilt. The death of one of the +Americans, Jonathan Harrington, was pitiful: shot within sight of his +home, he crawled to the door, and expired at his wife's feet. To the +heavy volleys they received, the Americans returned but a scattering +fire; some of them did not fire at all.[65] Two British privates were +wounded, and Pitcairn's horse. + +The troops, as soon as they could be marshalled again, fired a volley +and gave three cheers, rested for a little while, and marched on toward +Concord. There, since early morning, had gathered some of the militia +from Bedford and Lincoln, and about sunrise the little company marched +out of town. "We thought," says Amos Barrett quaintly, "we would go and +meet the British. We marched down towards Lexington about a mile or mile +and a half, and we saw them coming." But on seeing their numbers the +militia turned back, "and marched before them with our drums and fifes +going, and also the British. We had grand musick."[66] The provincials +halted once or twice on the hill that ran along the high road, and came +at last to the liberty pole, overlooking the town. "The Yankees," +records Lieutenant Barker of the King's Own, "had that hill but left it +to us; we expected they wou'd have made a stand there, but they did not +chuse it." The militia, still withdrawing before superior numbers, +retreated across the river, and the British occupied the town. + +In place of the five bridges which to-day, within a mile of the +meeting-house, encircle Concord, the town in 1775 had but two. The first +of these was the South Bridge, on the present Main Street route to +Marlborough and South Acton. The other was the North Bridge, on a +highway now abandoned, which in those days led to Acton, Carlisle, and +Bedford. Colonel Smith took possession of both these bridges, and while +his men searched the town for stores, he sent a detachment across the +North Bridge to the farm of Colonel Barrett, where it was known that +supplies had been kept. Of our two British informants of the events of +the day, Ensign Berniere guided the troops that went to the Barrett +farm, Lieutenant Barker remained with a detachment that stayed to guard +the bridge. Meanwhile, on a hillside beyond the river, almost within +gunshot of the bridge, the militia watched the first detachment pass on +its errand, and counted the numbers of the redcoats that held the nearer +side of the passage. + +Colonel Smith speedily learned that his journey had been nearly in vain. +As we have seen, already on the night before, without news from Boston, +the removal of the stores had been begun. The alarm brought in by Dr. +Prescott hastened the work. Men and boys, and even women and girls, were +busy in hiding the stores or carrying them away. Some of them were +skilfully secreted under the very eyes of the British. The troops found +little. In the town some few gun-carriages, barrels of flour, wooden +mess-bowls, and wooden spoons were found and destroyed. At Colonel +Barrett's, acknowledges Berniere, "we did not find so much as we +expected, but what there was we destroyed." He was unaware that the +cannon had been laid in a ploughed field, and concealed by turning a +furrow over them, the work continuing even while the troops were in +sight. + +Of proceedings in the town we get the best picture from the petition of +Martha Moulton, "widow-woman," who in her deposition "humbly sheweth: +That on the 19th day of April, 1775, in the forenoon, the town of +Concord, wherein I dwell, was beset with an army of regulars, who, in a +hostile manner, entered the town, and drawed up in form before the house +in which I live; and there they continued on the green, feeding their +horses within five feet of the door; and about fifty or sixty of them +was in and out of the house, calling for water and what they wanted, for +about three hours." The neighbors had fled, and poor Mrs. Moulton was +left with "no person near but an old man of eighty-five years, and +myself seventy-one years old, and both very infirm. It may easily be +imagined what a sad condition your petitioner must be in." But she +committed herself to Providence, "and was very remarkably helpt with so +much fortitude of mind, as to wait on them, as they called, with what we +had,--chairs for Major Pitcairn and four or five more officers,--who sat +at the door viewing their men. At length your petitioner had, by +degrees, cultivated so much favor as to talk a little with them. When +all on a sudden they had set fire to the great gun-carriages just by the +house, and while they were in flames your petitioner saw smoke arise out +of the Town House higher than the ridge of the house. Then your +petitioner did put her life, as it were, in her hand, and ventured to +beg of the officers to send some of their men to put out the fire; but +they took no notice, only sneered. Your petitioner, seeing the Town +House on fire, and must in a few minutes be past recovery, did yet +venture to expostulate with the officers just by her, as she stood with +a pail of water in her hand, begging them to send, &c. When they only +said, 'O, mother, we won't do you any harm!' 'Don't be concerned, +mother,' and such like talk." But the widow Moulton persisted, until "at +last, by one pail of water and another, they did send and extinguish the +fire."[67] It is pleasant to know that the courageous old lady received +three pounds for her services, and that the smoke which rose higher than +the Town House served only to give the signal for Concord fight. + +All this while the numbers of the militia had been growing. They were +stationed on the slope of Punkatasset Hill, and from minute to minute +squads and companies came in from the neighboring towns. It has been +made a reproach to Concord that so few of her men were there, but they +were engaged in the far more important duty of saving the stores. +Nevertheless, one of her militia companies was on the ground, with those +individuals who were able to hurry back after putting the stores in +safety. The Carlisle and Acton men had joined the waiting provincials, +whose numbers at last became so threatening that the guard at the +bridge, in full sight of them, became uneasy. + +The militia became uneasy also. Beyond the bridge, in the town, they saw +more smoke than seemed warranted by merely burning cannon wheels and +spoons. The officers consulted, and Captain Smith, of Lincoln, urged +that the bridge be forced. Davis of Acton, speaking of his company, +said, "I haven't a man that's afraid to go!" The movement was decided +upon, and the militia, in double file, marched down toward the bridge. +The Acton company had the lead, with Davis at its head; beside him +marched Major John Buttrick, of Concord, in command, with +Lieutenant-Colonel Robinson, of Westford, as a volunteer aid. As the +provincials drew near, the British hastily retreated across the bridge, +and their commander awkwardly marshalled his three companies one behind +the other, so that only the first could fire. As some of the soldiers +began to take up the planks of the bridge, the Americans hastened their +march, and presently the British fired. There is no question that they +began the fight, with first a few scattering guns, "up the river," and +then a volley at close range. + +The whole was seen by the Concord minister, William Emerson, from his +study in the Manse, close by. For a moment, he records, he feared that +the fire was not to be returned; but he need not have doubted. The +British volley killed the Acton captain, Davis, and Hosmer, his +adjutant. Then Major Buttrick, leaping into the air as he turned to his +men, cried, "Fire, fellow-soldiers; for God's sake, fire!" + +"We were then," records Amos Barrett, of the second company, "all +ordered to fire that could fire and not kill our own men." The return +fire, though from the awkward position of double file, was effective. +Two of the British were killed outright, another fell wounded, and the +whole, apparently doubting their ability to hold the bridge, hastily +retreated upon the main body. "We did not follow them," records Barrett. +"There were eight or ten that were wounded and a-running and a-hobbling +about, looking back to see if we were after them." + +As reminders of the fight, besides the bridge which Concord, many years +after its disappearance, rebuilt on the centenary of the day, the town +points to the graves of the two soldiers killed in the fight, who were +buried close by. Another memorial is seen in the bullet-hole in the +Elisha Jones house near at hand, at whose door the proprietor showed +himself as the regulars hastily retreated. On being fired at, Jones +speedily removed himself from the scene, and from subsequent history. + +There were no further immediate consequences. The Americans crossed the +bridge, and stationed themselves behind the ridge that overlooked the +town; the search-party that had gone to Colonel Barrett's returned. +"They had taken up some planks of the bridge," says Berniere of the +Americans, though the work was done by the British. "Had they destroyed +it, we were most certainly all lost; however, we joined the main body." +Colonel Smith now had his force together, and had done all that could be +done, yet for two hours more he, by futile marchings and +countermarchings, "discovered great Fickleness[68] and Inconstancy of +Mind." The delay was serious; he had earlier sent to Gage for +reinforcements, and he ought now to have considered that every minute +was bringing more Americans to the line of his retreat. When, about +noon, he started for Boston, the situation was very grave. + +The British left the town as they had come in, with the grenadiers on +the highway, the light infantry flanking them on the ridge. On this +elevation, above the house he later inhabited, Hawthorne laid the scene +of the duel between Septimius Felton and the British officer. At +Merriam's Corner the ridge ends. Here the flankers joined the main body, +and together noted the approach of the Americans, who had dogged them. +The regulars turned and fired, only to be driven onward by an accurate +response. "When I got there," says Amos Barrett, "a great many lay dead, +and the road was bloody." From that time ensued a scattering general +engagement along the line of the retreat. + +In this kind of fighting the odds were greatly with the Americans, as +Gage, with his memory of Braddock's defeat, might have foreseen. The +British complained with exasperation that the militia would not stand up +to them. The provincials knew better than to do so. Lightly armed, +carrying little besides musket or rifle, powder horn and +bullet-pouch,--and all these smaller and lighter than the British +equipment,--the farmers were able with ease to keep up with the troops, +to fire from cover, to load, and then again to regain the distance lost. +Every furlong saw their numbers increase. At Merriam's Corner came in +the Reading company; before long the survivors of the Lexington company +joined the fight to take their revenge; and from that time on, from +north, from south, and from the east, the minute men and militia came +hurrying up to join the chase. + +Before five miles were passed, the retreat had degenerated into a mere +rout. "We at first," says Berniere, "kept our order and returned their +fire as hot as we received it, but when we arrived within a mile of +Lexington, our ammunition began to fail, and the light companies were so +fatigued with flanking they were scarce able to act, and a great number +of wounded scarce able to get forward, made a great confusion; Col. +Smith (our commanding officer) had received a wound through his leg, a +number of officers were also wounded, so that we began to run rather +than retreat in order.... At last, after we got through Lexington, the +officers got to the front and presented their bayonets, and told the men +that if they advanced they should die: Upon this they began to form +under a heavy fire." There was, however, no hope for them unless they +should be reinforced. + +In the nick of time the succor came. Early in the morning Gage had +received word that the country was alarmed, and started to send out +reinforcements. There were the usual delays; among other mistakes, they +waited for Pitcairn, who was with the first detachment. The relief party +as finally made up comprised about twelve hundred men, with two +six-pounder field-pieces, under Lord Percy. Percy went out through +Roxbury with his band playing Yankee Doodle, and as he went a +quick-witted lad reminded him of Chevy Chase. More than once before +night Percy must have thought of the Whig youngster. He was momentarily +delayed at the Cambridge bridge, where the Committee of Safety had taken +up the planks, but had frugally stored them in full view of the road. +Percy relaid some of the planks and hurried on with his guns, leaving +behind his baggage train and hospital supplies, which were presently +captured by a company headed by a warlike minister. Percy was again +delayed on Cambridge Common for want of a guide; when again he was able +to push on he spared no time, and reached Lexington at the critical +moment. He formed his men into a hollow square, to protect Smith's +exhausted men, who threw themselves down on the ground, "their tongues +hanging out of their mouths like those of dogs after a chase."[69] Percy +turned on the militia his two field-pieces, "which our people," grimly +remarks Mr. Clark, writing after Bunker Hill, "were not so well +acquainted with then, as they have been since." Percy had the +satisfaction, which both Berniere and Barker express, of silencing the +provincials. + +He knew too well, however, that the Americans were willing to be quiet +only because they awaited their own reinforcements. Every minute of +delay was dangerous, for now the American military leaders were +gathering. If Hancock and Adams had left the field, Warren hastened to +it. We know some of his sayings as he left Boston. "They have begun +it,--that either party can do; and we'll end it,--that only one can do." +To the remark, "Well, they are gone out," he replied, "Yes, and we will +be up with them before night." Warren probably was present at a meeting +of the Committee of Safety which was held that morning, but his +biographer says: "I am unable to locate him until the afternoon, about +the time Lord Percy's column rescued Colonel Smith's party from entire +destruction, which was at two o'clock." + +Warren was no mere adviser. With General Heath he had been planning for +the work of the day, and when, after half an hour's rest, Percy's troops +moved onward, the time came for the measures to be put into effect. +Warren went with Heath to the scene of battle. Yet little could be done +in organized form, at least in the open country, and the minute men +continued to pick off the British. But when the troops were among +houses, and in revenge for their losses began to plunder[70] and burn, +the Americans for the first time began to close in. Many of them fired +from barricaded houses, and were killed in consequence. The Danvers +company, the only one that tried to fight as a body, were caught between +the main column of the regulars and a strong flanking party, and many +were killed in an improvised enclosure. But even without defences the +Americans became very bold, and the fight fiercer. Warren, rashly +exposing himself, had a pin shot out of his hair. Percy, on the other +hand, lost a button from his waistcoat. Nothing can explain the +comparatively slight losses of the British except the rapidity of their +march to safety. As it was, the regulars were almost worn out with their +exertions when they saw ahead of them the hills of Charlestown, and +looking across the Back Bay, might perceive on the slopes of Beacon Hill +half the population of Boston watching their disgrace. + +Boston had been in suspense since early morning. All the Whigs had +suspected the meaning of Gage's preparations, and the town was no sooner +astir than the news was abroad that the expedition had started. Next +came word that an officer had come in haste with a message for Gage. At +about eight came news of the death of five men in Lexington. Already +Lord Percy's detachment was parading, waiting for the Marines, who in +turn waited for their absent commander. Thousands of people were in the +street, and even the schoolboys were running about, for Master Lovell +had dismissed his school with the words, "War's begun, and school's +done." Through the day came conflicting rumors. "About twelve o'clock +it was gave out by the General's Aide camps that no person was kill'd, +and that a single gun had not been fir'd, which report was variously +believ'd."[71] Fairly correct accounts of the fight at Lexington began +to come in, embellished with the addition that men had been killed in +the meeting-house. In the afternoon people began to watch from the hills +for the return of the troops, and before sunset the noise of firing was +heard. + +Of the three British commanders, Lord Percy was the only one who +displayed any military ability. He showed it in the route which he chose +for his retreat. From Cambridge Common, where at last he arrived, the +road to Boston was long, and was broken by the bridge whose difficult +passage in the morning he remembered. Therefore he avoided it--and +wisely, for the planks of the bridge were up again, and this time in use +as barricades, while the militia were ready for him. Instead, Percy +shook off many of his waylayers, and saved some miles of march, by +taking the direct road to Charlestown. Yet even this route was hard +beset. "I stood upon the hills in town," says Andrews, "and saw the +engagement very plain." Many a Whig exulted as he watched, many a Tory +cursed, at the sight of the weary regulars struggling forward, and of +red figures that dropped and lay still. Percy was barely in time. Had +the men of Essex, whose strong regiment arrived just too late, been +quick enough to intercept them, and resolute enough to throw themselves +across the retreat, it is more than likely that Percy must have +surrendered, for his ammunition was almost gone. The exasperation of the +Americans at losing their prey was later expressed in a court-martial of +the Essex colonel. At any rate, Percy was not headed, and the regulars +at last streamed across Charlestown Neck, to find protection under the +guns of the fleet. + +"Thus," grumbles Lieutenant Barker, "ended this expedition, which from +beginning to end was as ill plan'd and ill executed as it was possible +to be.... For a few trifling Stores the Grenadiers and Light Infantry +had a march of about 50 miles (going and returning) and in all human +probability must every Man have been cut off if the Brigade had not +fortunately come to their Assistance." + +Speaking for the reinforcing brigade, Lord Percy confessed that he had +learned something. "Whoever looks upon them [the Americans] merely as an +irregular mob will find himself much mistaken. They have men among them +who know very well what they are about, having been employed as rangers +against the Indians and Arcadians.... Nor are several of their men void +of a spirit of enthusiasm, ... for many of them concealed themselves in +houses, and advanced within ten yards to fire at me and other officers, +though they were morally certain of being put to death.... For my part I +never believed, I confess, that they would have attacked the King's +troops, or have had the perseverance I found in them yesterday."[72] + +This was the day which Massachusetts now celebrates as Patriots' Day. Of +her sons forty-nine were killed, thirty-nine were wounded, and five were +taken prisoners. Berniere's figures of the British losses are 73 killed, +174 wounded, and 26 missing. The totals, for a day more important, as +says Bancroft, than Agincourt or Blenheim, are very small. But the +significance of the day was indeed enormous. Previously, said Warren, +not above fifty persons in the province had expected bloodshed, and the +ties to England were still strong. Within ten weeks Warren himself had +written of England as "home." After this day there was no turning back +from bloodshed, and no American ever again spoke of Britain by the +endearing name. + +And the military situation was entirely changed. In the morning Gage was +still the nominal governor of the province, free to come and go at +will. At night he looked out upon a circle of hostile camp-fires. "From +a plentiful town," says Berniere mournfully, "we were reduced to the +disagreeable necessity of living on salt provisions, and fairly blocked +up in Boston." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[61] Revere's narrative. + +[62] Clark's narrative. + +[63] Clark's narrative. + +[64] Clark's narrative. + +[65] Clark's narrative. + +[66] Letter of Amos Barrett, privately printed. + +[67] Frothingham's "Siege," Appendix, 369-370. + +[68] "Feekelness," Emerson's letter, "Source Book of the American +Revolution," 146. + +[69] This quotation from Stedman, himself a British officer, is perhaps +as well known as Revere's midnight remark, already given. + +[70] "The plundering was shameful," says Lieutenant Barker indignantly. +See also depositions in Frothingham's "Siege," Appendices. + +[71] Andrews Letters. + +[72] "Memorial History of Boston," iii, 102. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +BOSTON BELEAGUERED + + +Gage and his army were at first surrounded by a mere collection of +militia companies. As the pursuit ceased on the evening of the 19th the +baffled Americans withdrew from the range of the guns of the fleet. As +well as they could they gathered into their organizations and made some +kind of a camp, sleeping either out of doors, or in convenient houses. A +watch was set at Charlestown Neck, and at Roxbury Prescott of Pepperell +and his men stood on guard against a sortie. The circuit between these +points, comprising the whole sweep of the Charles River and the Back +Bay, was likewise occupied. Headquarters were at Cambridge. On the +following days men from the more distant towns came in, until before +long the minute men and militia from the adjoining provinces, New +Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, were upon the ground. + +Some of the records are striking. The men of Nottingham, New Hampshire, +gathered by noon of the 20th and, after being joined by men of the +neighboring towns, set out at two o'clock. "At dusk," says Bancroft, +"they reached Haverhill Ferry, a distance of twenty-seven miles, having +run rather than marched; they halted in Andover only for refreshments, +and, traversing fifty-five miles in less than twenty hours, by sunrise +of the twenty-first paraded on Cambridge common."[73] + +Israel Putnam, working on his farm in Brooklyn, Connecticut, received +the news the morning after the fight at Concord. He left his work at +once, and, mounting a horse, started out to rouse the militia, who, upon +mustering, chose him leader. As his idea of a leader was one who went in +front, he set out at once for Boston, ordering them to follow. He +arrived in Cambridge at the time when the Nottingham men are reported +as parading, "having ridden the same horse a hundred miles in eighteen +hours."[74] + +Others followed in similar haste. Among them, Benedict Arnold first +began to attract to himself public notice. Sabine says of him, "I am +inclined to believe, that he was a finished scoundrel from early manhood +to his grave." Nevertheless, his fiery nature kept him for a time with +the Americans, and at the very outset he showed his independent spirit, +having characteristically refused to "wait for proper orders." From New +Hampshire came Stark, the hero of the frontier wars. And from all the +towns came the militia leaders, who, gathering their companies into +regiments, began the loose organization and crude subordination which +should make of the crowd an army. + +In all this convergence of the militia toward Boston, there was one side +current. This set toward Marshfield, where for some weeks had been a +detachment of regulars. During this time there had been peace in the +town but strong feeling on both sides--Marshfield had already produced +a general for the king, and now was about to give one to the +provincials. There had been one or two threatening demonstrations from +neighboring towns, which now were repeated in earnest. On hearing the +news from Lexington and Concord, the militia of the neighborhood +gathered for an attack on the regulars. But they came too late. The +British were embarking at Brant Rock, hastened by the signal guns of the +Marshfield men from a neighboring hill. Yet though the regulars got +safely away, they left behind them the three hundred muskets with which +the Tory militia had drilled, and which presently formed a part of the +equipment of the Whigs before Boston. That equipment, while most +irregular, was not to be despised. By the 22d a strong army covered all +land approach to Gage, who began to consider himself between two fires. + +"The regulars encamped," says one British account of the Concord +expedition, "on a place called Bunker's Hill."[75] There, under the +guns of the fleet, the tired troops found safety; and there, for all +that any one can see, it would have been wise of Gage to leave them. +With Bunker Hill at his command, and with Dorchester Heights once +occupied by his forces, Boston would be safe from all attack by the +Americans--and not till then. + +But on the next morning Gage withdrew the troops to Boston. As a matter +of fact, he doubted his own strength, and greatly exaggerated the power +of the rebels, since his first sensation was a dread lest the town +should rise at his back, and his army be destroyed. Of this there was no +real chance at any time. Yet he drew in his men in order to make himself +secure, and began with the selectmen negotiations looking to his safety. + +There were many in the town who were eager to leave it, and many outside +anxious to come in. The governor made the rule that for the purpose of +taking out family effects but thirty wagons might enter the town at a +time. The ruling drew from Warren the following very characteristic +letter. + + + CAMBRIDGE, April 20, 1775. + + SIR:--The unhappy situation into which this colony is thrown gives + the greatest uneasiness to every man who regards the welfare of the + empire, or feels for the distresses of his fellow-men: but even now + much may be done to alleviate those misfortunes which cannot be + entirely remedied; and I think it of the utmost importance to us, + that our conduct be such as that the contending parties may + entirely rely upon the honor and integrity of each other for the + punctual performance of any agreement that shall be made between + them. Your Excellency, I believe, knows very well the part I have + taken in public affairs: I ever scorned disguise. I think I have + done my duty: some will think otherwise; but be assured, sir, as + far as my influence goes, everything which can reasonably be + required of us to do shall be done, and everything promised shall + be religiously performed. I should now be very glad to know from + you, sir, how many days you desire may be allowed for such as + desire to remove to Boston with their effects, and what time you + will allow the people in Boston for their removal. When I have + received that information, I will repair to congress, and hasten, + as far as I am able, the issuing a proclamation. I beg leave to + suggest, that the condition of admitting only thirty wagons at a + time into the town appears to me to be very inconvenient, and will + prevent the good effects of a proclamation intended to be issued + for encouraging all wagoners to assist in removing the effects from + Boston with all possible speed. If Your Excellency will be pleased + to take the matter into consideration, and favor me, as soon as may + be, with an answer, it will lay me under a great obligation, as it + so nearly concerns the welfare of my friends in Boston. I have many + things which I wish to say to Your Excellency, and most sincerely + wish that I had broken through the formalities which I thought due + to your rank, and freely told you all I knew or thought of public + affairs; and I must ever confess, whatever may be the event, that + you generously gave me such opening, as I now think I ought to have + embraced: but the true cause of my not doing it was the vileness + and treachery of many persons around you, who, I supposed, had + gained your entire confidence. + + I am, &c., + + JOSEPH WARREN. + + His Excellency General Gage.[76] + + +In striking contrast to the manly regret expressed by Warren in this +letter is the scene enacted that afternoon at Cambridge, where the +Committee of Safety met. Doctor Benjamin Church, one of the trusted +leaders of the Whigs, an orator on the Massacre, and a pamphleteer, was +a member of the committee, for which Warren had recently engaged Paul +Revere as messenger. Revere writes, in the letter already quoted: "I was +sitting with some, or near all that committee, in their room ... in +Cambridge. Dr. Church, all at once, started up. 'Dr. Warren,' said he, +'I am determined to go into Boston to-morrow.' (It set them all +a-staring.) Dr. Warren replied: 'Are you serious, Dr. Church? They will +hang you if they catch you in Boston.' He replied: 'I am serious, and am +determined to go at all adventures.' After a considerable conversation, +Dr. Warren said: 'If you are determined, let us make some business for +you.' They agreed that he should go and get medicine for their and our +wounded officers."[77] + +Church was the first American traitor. Although possessed of all the +Whig secrets, he had for some months, perhaps longer, been in +communication with Gage. His journey to town was for the purpose of +delivering information, and for some time yet he managed to carry on the +double rôle. Nevertheless his information, put in the hands of Gage, did +no harm. It throws but one more light upon the incompetence of the +general that, with such information as Church now gave him, he blundered +so continually. + +We learn from John Andrews' letters of the agreement made between Gage +and the town. "Yesterday," he writes on the 24th, "we had town meetings +all day, and finally concluded to deliver up _all_ our arms to the +Selectmen, on condition that the Governor would open the avenues to the +town." In this agreement the townspeople were advised by the Committee +of Safety to join. Accordingly, there were delivered to the Selectmen, +and lodged in Faneuil Hall, "1778 fire-arms, 634 pistols, 978 bayonets, +and 38 blunderbusses."[78] These were marked with their owners' names, +and were later to be restored. As soon as this delivery of arms was +effected, hundreds applied for passes to leave the town. Andrews must +have reflected the feelings of many when he wrote, "If I can escape with +the skin of my teeth, shall be glad." + +There were for a few days much hurry and bustle, both of egress and of +ingress. At first as many as wished were allowed to go out, and the +chief difficulty was one of transportation. It is to be supposed that +for a while the admiral kept to his agreement to lend boats to the +refugees. There was a very considerable exodus. "Near half the +inhabitants," wrote Andrews on May 6, "have left the town already, and +another quarter, _at least_, have been waiting for a week past." Andrews +probably exaggerated, yet hundreds of the better class went out, and +about five thousand of the poor. These latter were quartered among the +different towns at public expense. + +But the outflow from Boston was speedily checked. On the 6th Andrews +was still in Boston, and making up his mind to stay on account of his +property, but still anxious to secure a pass for his wife, whose +personal fears--she was an æsthetic person, an amateur artist whose +landscapes Lord Percy had admired--were greater than her interest in her +husband's safety. She did safely get away, amid the miserable procession +that her husband describes. "You'll see parents that are lucky enough to +procure papers, with bundles in one hand and a string of children in +another, wandering out of the town (with _only_ a _sufferance_ of _one_ +day's permission) not knowing where they'll go." Andrews' wife went out +in a sailing vessel, but whether by land or by water she was one of the +last to go. + +This was because the Tories interfered in the general removal. It +alarmed them to see so many leave: these Whigs, and especially those of +good social position, were the best hostages for the safety of the town +from assault. So they made vigorous expression of their discontent, and +to them Gage yielded. They had already formed military organizations for +his support, and when they threatened to quit the town and seek refuge +in Canada or London, the threat was too much for him. Restrictions were +at once put upon the issuing of passes, and in a very short time the +conditions imposed were so severe that it was practically impossible for +people of the better class to leave the town. "There are but very few," +wrote Abigail Adams, "who are permitted to come out in a day; they delay +giving passes, make them wait from hour to hour, and their counsels are +not two hours together alike. One day, they shall come out with their +effects; the next day, merchandise is not effects. One day, their +household furniture is to come out; the next, only wearing apparel; the +next, Pharaoh's heart is hardened, and he refuseth to hearken to them, +and will not let the people go."[79] Nevertheless the poor were still +welcome to depart, and from time to time were even sent out in order to +relieve Gage of the necessity of feeding them.[80] + +During this period a number of Tories came to Boston. These were the +families of men already in the town, or were others who felt that, +though until the present their homes had been safe for them, the future +was too doubtful. They hastened to put the British defences between them +and the Whigs. Among them the most notable was Lady Frankland of +Hopkinton, who once had been Agnes Surriage, the barefooted serving-maid +of the tavern at Marblehead. She now was a widow of nearly fifty, and +came down from Hopkinton only to be detained before the lines, and made +the subject of memoranda and petitions. The lieutenant who detained her +person was reprimanded, and by vote of the provincial congress she was +permitted to enter Boston with "seven trunks; all the beds with the +furniture to them; all the boxes and crates; a basket of chickens, and a +bag of corn; two barrels and a hamper; two horses and two chaises, and +all the articles in the chaise, excepting arms and ammunition; one +phaeton; some tongues, ham, and veal; and sundry small bundles."[81] +Evidently thinking that Lady Frankland's household was well enough +supplied, the congress did not allow to pass her seven wethers and two +pigs. + +There were others who left their homes, though not to go to Boston. Of +these Judge Curwen of Salem is a type. He was considered--unjustly, he +protests--as a Tory, and finding his neighbors daily becoming "more and +more soured and malevolent against moderate men," he left Massachusetts. +In this case it was the wife who remained behind, "her apprehensions of +danger from an incensed soldiery, a people licentious and +enthusiastically mad and broken loose from all the restraints of law and +religion, being less terrible to her than a short passage on the +ocean."[82] Curwen went to Philadelphia, but finding the situation the +same, proceeded to London and there lived out the war. Many others, like +him, repaired to the capital, and formed a miserable colony, living on +hope, watching the news from home, pensioned or grudgingly maintained by +the government, and sadly feeling themselves strangers in a strange +land. + +Without doubt the times were very hard for men who, like Judge Curwen, +wished to take no side, but to live at peace with all men. Of such men +there was a very large class, so large in fact that more than one Tory +sympathizer has claimed that the Revolution was fought by a minority of +the people of the colonies, who were so virulent as to force the +moderates into their ranks from dread of personal consequences. Such a +claim is weak upon its very face, and will not bear examination. Most of +the moderates were but waiting to see how the cat would jump, and when +once a preponderance of sentiment showed they speedily took sides. Had +there been in the colonies a majority desirous of a return to +allegiance, the Whig cause surely could not have survived the dark days +of the war. We can safely conclude the majority to have been in favor of +the rights of the colonies, always understanding that they desired +nothing more than they had always had since the accession of George the +Third. A man of such a type is clearly seen in John Andrews, with his +occasional fits of depression and doubt, and his impatient exclamations +against the radicals among the Whigs. Note, for instance, what he says +on the death of William Molineux, one of the prominent Boston Whigs, +whose death was a loss to the cause. "If he was too rash," remarked +Andrews, "and drove matters to an imprudent pitch, it was owing to his +natural temper; as when he was in business, he pursued it with the same +impetuous zeal. His loss is not much regretted by the more prudent and +judicious part of the community." Yet though Andrews could thus express +himself, he could again speak quite otherwise, as the remarks quoted in +this book have already shown. He doubted at times, and was petulant +against the fortune that brought him discomfort and loss, but in the +main he was stanch. Andrews was, then, a type of the moderate who threw +in his lot with his country. Judge Curwen, on the other hand, was one of +the smaller class which, in doubt and despair, withdrew to the +protection of the crown. Many of them were too old to fight; many had +not the heart to lift their hands against their neighbors. Every country +sees such men at every war. Often they may live peaceably, anguished +with doubt, and distressed for humanity. But in a civil war there is +seldom a refuge for them. It was certainly so at the Revolution. A very +few among the Tories, venerated by their neighbors, might remain +neutral; the remainder must take sides, or go. The fighting men felt +that those who were not with them were against them, and among the +stay-at-home Whigs were plenty who were willing to express the feeling. +Hence the reproaches and menaces which drove Judge Curwen from his home, +and hence the doubtful looks in Philadelphia which made him "fearful +whether, like Cain, I had not a discouraging mark upon me, or a strong +feature of toryism." Curwen crossed the water, and other moderates +slipped into Boston, to find themselves as unhappy within the town as +they had been outside, in spite of the strength which Gage was slowly +gaining. + +This strength was, so far, purely defensive. Gage did not consider +himself ready to take the offensive. Those Tories who came to town +informed him of the numbers outside, and he saw very plainly the result +of sending an expedition against a militia which would melt before the +head of his column, only to attack it in flank and rear. So no action +was considered, especially as the rebels offered, so far, nothing to +strike at. Gage made himself as strong as he could, and waited +reinforcements. + +His strength was partly, as we have seen, in the organization of the +Tories. Their men began at once to form themselves in companies, under +the general leadership of Timothy Ruggles, who had long been a political +tower of strength, and was now assuming military importance. The new +volunteer companies were, as we have seen, of such value to Gage that +they were able to make him break his promise to let the townspeople +leave Boston. Yet so far as is known they did nothing more in the siege +than to parade and mount guard. + +Gage's chief attention was directed to fortifying. His situation was +easily defensible at certain points, and of them he first made sure. At +the south, across the passage to Roxbury, were the "lines" of which all +contemporary accounts speak. These Gage strengthened until by the 4th of +May Lieutenant Barker records that the works were almost ready for ten +twenty-four-pounders. From the Neck the western line of the peninsula of +Boston ran in a general northerly direction for about a mile and a +half; it then ran east for nearly a mile; then turning south, it finally +swept inward to the Neck. The outline had three projections, each caused +by a hill: Barton's Point at the northwest; Copp's Hill at the +northeast; and Fort Hill on the middle of the eastern side. Each of +these was fortified as soon as possible. The four points were Gage's +main defences. + +[Illustration: PLAN OF THE SIEGE] + +When these forts were finished, the town was by no means secure. The +forts commanded most of the northerly and easterly sides, of which the +war-ships commanded the remainder; but the whole western side of the +town, along the Common and the foot of Beacon Hill, was open to attack. +This was, roughly speaking, along the line of the present Charles +Street, prolonged into Tremont Street. The Back Bay beyond this +water-line was so shallow that no war-ship could anchor there; a night +attack, delivered in boats, might surprise the soldiers on the Common in +their barracks or their tents. In order to command the western shore, +and also to quell a possible rising in the town, Gage erected a "small +work" on Beacon Hill. Later in the siege every one of these points was +strengthened; a low hill, near the present Louisburg Square, was +protected; and redoubts were thrown up to defend the shore-line of the +Common. But the four main works, and the Beacon Hill fort, were all that +Gage was able to accomplish before Bunker Hill battle. He managed, +however, to put his army under strict military discipline, which before +the 19th of April he had not imposed on them. + +From letters and diaries we get glimpses of the situation of the troops. +They were short of fresh provision, disgusted with their situation, and +at times not a little alarmed. What other unexpected qualities the +Yankees might show no one could predict. They were still, however, +regarded as low in the scale of humanity. On the fifth of May Lieutenant +Barker records the discovery of a "most shocking" plot. "It was a scheme +to cut off all the officers of the Garrison. Upon the 24th, the day we +were to keep St. George's day, the Rebels were to make a feint Attack at +night upon the Lines: a number of men were to be posted at the Lodgings +of all the Officers, and upon the Alarm Guns firing they were to put the +Officers to death as they were coming out of their houses to go to their +Barracks. What a set of Villains must they be to think of such a thing! +but there is nothing be it ever so bad that these people will stick at +to gain their ends." The horrified lieutenant ascribes to this discovery +the fact that Gage ordered the officers to sleep at barracks. It is, +however, more likely that the general paid no attention to the tale, but +thought it time for officers and men to be together. + +Once more the army was shocked. A fire broke out near property owned by +Hancock, and in putting out the blaze there was discovered a chest of +bullets "in Hancock's store." The news spread rapidly, and was regarded +as another proof of the desperate nature of the Whigs. + +So the army, uncomfortable and uneasy, looked for its reinforcements, +which before long began to come in. Troop-ships arrived, but the most +welcome was the _Cerberus_, with the three major-generals. The relief of +the garrison found expression in waggery; they called the generals the +three bow-wows, and circulated the doggerel:-- + + + "Behold the Cerberus the Atlantic plow, + Her precious cargo Burgoyne, Clinton, Howe, + Bow wow wow!" + + +Burgoyne at this time made a special nickname for himself. Hailing a +ship as they entered the harbor, the generals learned that the army was +shut up by the provincials. "What!" cried Burgoyne. "Ten thousand +peasants keep five thousand king's troops shut up! Well, let _us_ get +in, and we'll soon find elbow-room!"[83] And Elbow-room was Burgoyne's +name for a long time thereafter. + +Yet the three new generals for a while did nothing. Lieutenant Barker +regretfully records: "Tho' we have new Generals come out, yet they have +brought no more authority than we had before, which was none at all." It +is safe to assume that on learning the quality of the "peasants," +Burgoyne was not anxious to attack them with an inferior force. The +British therefore continued to await reinforcements. + +From Burgoyne's voluminous correspondence we learn his state of mind. He +had come to the country unwillingly: "I received your Majesty's commands +for America with regret," he wrote in his letter to the king, and +elsewhere records that the event was one of the most disagreeable in his +life. Nevertheless, once enlisted in the campaign, he had thrown himself +into it. Perceiving in advance how little, as junior major-general, he +would have to do, he endeavored to have himself transferred to the post +at New York, where he rightly perceived that there was much to be done. +He was in favor of attempting conciliation. Had that post at this time +been occupied by Burgoyne, his quick wit, true sympathies with the +Americans, and real abilities might have made for him a different name +in the history of America. But his attempt failed, and now, almost +inactive in his post at Boston, he was studying the situation, probing +the weakness of Gage and learning the difficulties of his position. Gage +had little money for secret service, it is true, and the provincials +were stubborn foes whose true measure Burgoyne had not yet taken,[84] +but he saw how poorly Gage had provided against the calamities which had +come upon him. Burgoyne doubted the outcome, and fretted at the +situation. + +In the meanwhile the rebels had been working to make that situation +worse. Their first need was to get some semblance of order among the +troops. At the head of the Massachusetts army was Artemas Ward, a +veteran of the French wars, no longer vigorous, and never used to +independent command. He drew his authority from the Provincial Congress +of Massachusetts, which now hastily came together, and communicated with +Ward chiefly through the Committee of Safety, of one of whose meetings +we have already had a glimpse. The active head of the committee was +Warren, who kept in close touch with Ward. + +Organization proceeded slowly, complicated by the fact that the other +provinces maintained separate armies. The names of some of the +commanders are still familiar. Putnam and Spencer were the heads of the +Connecticut troops; John Stark was prominent among the New Hampshire +men; while to command the Rhode Islanders came Nathanael Greene. With +praiseworthy suppression of provincial jealousies the commanders +speedily agreed to subordinate themselves to Ward, as the oldest among +them, and the head of the largest body of troops. He was regarded as +commander-in-chief, and his orders were to be observed by all. Yet the +means to communicate orders and to receive reports were long lacking. +The combined armies were far from being a unit, and if attacked could +resist little better than on the 19th, as scattered bands, and not as a +whole. + +The very size of the army was uncertain. On paper there were more than +twenty thousand men; as a matter of fact there can seldom have been more +than four-fifths of that number. Of the actual total Massachusetts +provided 11,500, Connecticut 2300, New Hampshire 1200, Rhode Island +1000.[85] Further, in its variable size this was the very type of a +volunteer army, of which every man owned his equipment, clothed himself, +and considered himself still, to a large extent, his own master. Of the +thousands living within twenty-five miles of Boston, who sprang to arms +on the 19th, knowing that if they were quick they might strike the +British before night, few had the foresight to prepare themselves +properly for the campaign that was to follow. There were no commissary +stores to supply them. Their affairs at home they left just where they +stood. In the next few days many of these men went home, for the +necessary arrangement of their affairs and for more clothing. The larger +number of them returned to camp immediately, some were slower, and yet +others stayed for a longer time. Even those who joined the army after +more preparation often had business that called them home, in which case +they considered it a hardship to be denied. The officers sympathized, +especially when that business was haying. Cases occurred in which the +men on furlough were making their officers' hay, while at the same time +drawing the pay of the province. The position of the general commanding +such troops was not to be envied. + +Further, military supplies were very few. In spite of the preparations +of the provincial congress, there were on hand only sixty-eight +half-barrels of powder, a scanty stock with which to begin the siege of +a military garrison. Of cannon a varying number is reported, few of +them as yet of value, for lack of shot to fit them. It was doubtless a +great relief to Ward that he was not called upon to use his cannon, +since they would have drawn too heavily upon his scanty supply of +ammunition, which could be replaced but slowly. + +Altogether, the position of senior major-general was a difficult one. To +knit into an army such a mass of units, to create supplies out of +nothing, to organize a commissary and means of communication, and +maintain a firm front over a line of ten miles, these were the needs of +the situation. We need scarcely marvel that Ward, old and enfeebled, +with his hands tied by uncertain authority, could not meet them. A +genius was needed in his place, and the good fortune was that the genius +eventually came. In the meanwhile Ward, pottering at his task, depended +much on the initiative of his subordinates. The passage from the Neck to +Roxbury was now guarded by Brigadier-General John Thomas of +Marshfield,[86] who to deceive the enemy as to his numbers occasionally +marched his force of seven hundred round and round a hill. The ruse was +successful, for Lieutenant Barker wrote that "at Roxbury there must be +between 2 and 3000." Nevertheless, it is hard to believe that so +important a post was long left so slightly guarded. Thomas exercised his +men with equal profit in cutting down trees to obstruct the passage, and +in throwing up earthworks. Of other entrenchments, at this stage, we +hear little. Putnam wanted to fortify Prospect Hill, commanding the +passage from Charlestown Neck, but could not get permission. Yet the +whole country about Boston was dotted with low hills, on which might +easily be made a chain of fortifications. + +Besides such work as Thomas's, for a month little was done. To be sure, +early in May a party of provincials, gathered in Connecticut and +Vermont, and headed by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, took Ticonderoga +by surprise, and gained for America a fine supply of cannon. We shall +later see what was done with this artillery, but there was no present +means of transporting it to Boston, and no powder for its use, and so +there was no profit to the country save in encouragement. Until the 21st +of May nothing happened near Boston save small skirmishes, and brushes +of outposts. Here and there a floating battery of the British warped up +near land and fired a few shots, and occasionally a squad of riflemen +did a little pot-hunting on its own account. These skirmishes, except as +they accustomed the provincials to the smell of powder, had no effect on +the situation, until at last the opposing sides found that they had +something worth contending for. + +Gage had in Boston no supply of fresh meat, but plenty of horses needing +hay. It occurred to him, finally, that the islands in the harbor were +plentifully stocked with sheep and cattle, and besides grew plenty of +grass. He sent, therefore, on the 21st of May, a party to bring hay from +Grape Island, near Weymouth. The Americans took the alarm, soldiers were +sent from the camp, the militia who were at home turned out, and much +long-range shooting was indulged in. "It was impossible to reach them, +for want of boats," wrote Abigail Adams, "but the sight of so many +persons, and the firing at them, prevented their getting more than three +tons of hay, though they carted much more down to the water. At last a +lighter was mustered, and a sloop from Hingham, which had six port +holes. Our men eagerly jumped on board, and put off for the island. As +soon as they perceived it, they decamped. Our people landed upon the +island, and in an instant set fire to the hay, which, with the barn, was +soon consumed,--about eighty tons, it is said." + +Emboldened by this success, the provincials began to take steps to +remove from the islands the whole stock of cattle, sheep, and hay. +Though, on the 25th of May, the garrison of Boston was largely +reinforced and ships were added to the squadron, the Americans began +work boldly with the islands nearest at hand. Noddle's Island, now East +Boston, stretched within easy cannon shot of the town; it was reached +from Hog Island by means of a couple of fords, passable at low tide. In +broad day, on the 27th, the Americans occupied the islands, and were +promptly assailed by the British in a schooner and a sloop. The skirmish +grew very obstinate, but the schooner was left by the fleet to fight it +out by her own means and those of her smaller consort. As a result, when +she ran aground she was seized, stripped, and burned. On this day the +Americans drove off the stock on Hog Island, which, with their capture +of the schooner, was considered a great achievement. Three days later +the stock was driven from Noddle's Island: "a trifling property," says +Lieutenant Barker, "which we have no connexion with." This nonchalant +dismissal of five hundred sheep and lambs[87] scarcely comes well from +one who had recently recorded that his mess had "luckily got a Sheep." +Within a week other large islands, which the army and the fleet might +naturally have regarded as their own storehouses, were stripped of +livestock and hay. By these means the Americans were made still more +used to war, and according to contemporary accounts acted boldly, +running considerable risks. The total of stock saved by this means was +about twenty-two hundred, and the loss of life trifling. + +But the time was coming for more serious work. Gage felt his courage +rise with his strength, and with his major-generals to back him he +planned action. But first he had to fulminate. Much irritation had been +caused by mock proclamations mysteriously appearing on the walls of the +residences of the new generals, and Gage now determined to issue one in +earnest. He called Burgoyne to his aid, and the literary general drafted +a masterpiece. It was published on the 12th of June. + +Beginning "Whereas the infatuated multitudes," it proceeded in pompous +style to the statement that the rebels were adding "insult to outrage," +for "with a preposterous parade of military arrangement, they affected +to hold the army besieged." Gage offered to pardon all who would lay +down their arms, except Samuel Adams and John Hancock, "whose offences +are of too flagitious a nature" for forgiveness. + +The bombastic proclamation delighted the Tories, who hoped for results +from it. But it deeply angered the Americans. "All the records of time," +wrote Abigail Adams,[88] "cannot produce a blacker page. Satan, when +driven from the regions of bliss, exhibited not more malice. Surely the +father of lies is superseded." The provincial congress prepared a +counter proclamation, which similarly offered amnesty to all on the +other side, "excepting only ... Thomas Gage, Samuel Graves, those +counsellors who were appointed by Mandamus and have not signified their +resignation, Jonathan Sewall, Charles Paxton, Benjamin Hallowell,[89] +and all the natives of America who went out with the British troops on +the 19th of April." We get from this an interesting glimpse of those who +most excited American resentment, but the proclamation was never issued. +More exciting events occurred to prevent it. + +Gage was planning to make himself secure in Boston. Even he could not +fail to see that the heights of Charlestown and of Dorchester threatened +his army. Now that his three major-generals had come, and that his +reinforcements were arriving (the troop-ships, said Lieutenant Barker, +were "continually dropping in"), he felt strong enough to take and hold +the dangerous posts. His plan was first to seize Dorchester Heights, and +for the action was set a date--the night of the eighteenth of June. But +Gage's counsel was never well kept. While Burgoyne complained that the +British "are ignorant not only of what passes in Congress, but want +spies for the hill half a mile off," the Americans were in no such +embarrassment. They had spies at every corner, and--we may +suppose--listeners at many a door. Gage had already arrested men +supposed to have been signalling from steeples. We do not know how the +news got through on this occasion; at any rate the Americans were +informed as early as the 13th.[90] + +The chiefs of the provincial army felt that they were called upon to +act. In the seven weeks of the siege they had to some degree tested the +mettle of their men, and now believed they could be depended on to keep +together against an attack. The troops had, on one occasion, made an +expedition to Charlestown, which lay practically deserted on its +peninsula, as if conscious of the fate which was to overtake it. On the +13th of May, Putnam, to give his men confidence, marched his command, +some twenty-two hundred men, into the town, over Bunker and Breed's +Hills, where some of them were soon to lay down their lives, along the +water-front close by the British shipping, and out of the town once +more. "It was," wrote Lieutenant Barker, "expected the Body at Charles +Town wou'd have fired on the Somerset, at least it was wished for, as +she had everything ready for Action, and must have destroyed great +numbers of them, besides putting the Town in Ashes." But no powder was +burned. + +Now it was destined that Charlestown should smell powder enough. On +learning the news of Gage's projected move, the Committee of Safety +called for an accounting of the condition and supplies of the various +regiments, advised an increase in the army, recommended that all persons +go armed, even to church, and finally on the 15th of June took the +decisive step of advising the seizure of Bunker Hill. "And as the +particular situation of Dorchester Neck is unknown to this Committee, +they advise that the council of war take and pursue such steps +respecting the same, as to them shall appear to be for the security of +this colony." + +Thus inadequate was still the American military organization: Ward was +too old and too weak to assume actual leadership, and we find two +consultative bodies advising each other, with no responsible head. Up to +this time the Massachusetts congress had hoped that the second +Continental Congress, now in session in Philadelphia, would adopt the +army as its own and send it a general; but so far no answer had come to +their requests. Nevertheless, even with this deficient organization +something was effected. A detachment was made up, consisting on paper of +fifteen hundred men, but in fact of about twelve hundred. These were +placed under the command of Colonel William Prescott of Pepperell, a +veteran of Louisburg and an excellent soldier. Assembling on Cambridge +Common on the night of the 16th, "after prayer by President Langdon, +they marched to Bunker Hill."[91] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[73] Bancroft, iv, 535. + +[74] Bancroft, iv, 536. + +[75] "Memorial History of Boston," iii, 15. + +[76] Frothingham's "Warren," 467. + +[77] Revere's narrative. + +[78] Frothingham's "Siege," 95. + +[79] "Familiar Letters of John and Abigail Adams," 54. + +[80] Lieutenant Barker makes a suggestion that must have been popular +among the officers. "I wonder the G----l will allow any of their people +to quit the Town till they return the Prisoners; one wou'd think he +might get 'em if he'd try." + +[81] "Memorial History of Boston," iii, 77. + +[82] Curwen's "Journal," 25. + +[83] Current newspapers, quoted in Frothingham's "Siege," 114. + +[84] "There was hardly a leading man among the rebels, in council, or in +the field, but at a proper time, and by proper management, might have +been bought."--BURGOYNE to Lord Rochfort, June, 1775. Fonblanque's +"Burgoyne," 149-150. + +[85] Frothingham's "Siege," 101. + +[86] "And yet to-day, if you should ask ten Boston men, 'Who was Artemas +Ward?' nine would say he was an amusing showman. If you asked 'Who was +John Thomas?' nine would say he was a flunky commemorated by +Thackeray."--E. E. HALE, "Memorial History of Boston," iii, 100. + +[87] Frothingham's "Siege," 110. + +[88] Adams Letters, p. 64. + +[89] Graves was the admiral, Sewall the attorney-general, and Paxton and +Hallowell were commissioners of customs. + +[90] Frothingham's "Siege," 116. + +[91] Inscription in Cambridge. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL + + +The strategy of Bunker Hill battle has been criticised as often as the +battle has been described. We have already seen that the choice of +Charlestown instead of Dorchester was owing to ignorance, on the part of +the Committee of Safety, of the advantages of the latter. From +Dorchester Heights the town could equally well have been threatened, the +shipping more effectively annoyed, reinforcements more safely summoned, +and retreat much better secured. Nevertheless, since at this stage the +British might have taken any fortification, it is fortunate that the +Americans chose as they did, and left Dorchester for a later attempt. + +Prescott's party of twelve hundred marched in silence to Charlestown, +and on the lower slope of Bunker Hill the men rested for some time +while the officers discussed the situation. On the ground were Prescott, +Putnam, and "another general,"[92] with Colonel Richard Gridley, the +chief engineer. Their discussion was as to the proper point to fortify. + +The peninsula of Charlestown, as has already been said, stretched toward +Boston from the northwest. The approach to it was by a narrow neck of +land, on one side of which, the northeast, ran the Mystic River; while +on the southwesterly side was an inlet from the Charles. The town, a +settlement of several houses, was on the bulge of the peninsula nearest +Boston; but along the Mystic rose a series of three hills, from the +lowest at Morton's or Moulton's Point, to the highest at Bunker Hill. +Morton's Hill was 35 feet high, Breed's, in the centre, was 75 feet, and +Bunker's was 110. The question arose, should Bunker Hill be fortified, +as in the orders, or Breed's, which was nearer Boston and the shipping? + +Much time was spent in the discussion. Bunker Hill was higher and the +safer, and commanded most landing points; but Breed's Hill seemed better +suited to the eager spirits of the officers. When at last Gridley +reminded that time was passing, the question seems to have been decided +by the urgency of the unknown general, and a redoubt was laid out by the +engineer on the summit of Breed's Hill. In the bright moonlight Prescott +at once set his men at work digging, endeavoring to raise a good +protection before morning. + +In this he was successful. His men were all farmers, used to the shovel +and pick; the earth was soft and scarcely stony; and there was no +interruption. Cheered from time to time by the cry of the sentry on the +nearer ship, "All's Well!" they pushed on the work. When at daybreak the +redoubt was seen, the British could scarcely believe their eyes, for a +completed fort seemed to stand there. + +And now was a chance for a display of military science on the part of +Gage and his three major-generals. There stood the little low redoubt, +unflanked and unsupported by any other fortifications, easily cut off +from its own line of relief or retreat. If now Gage had promptly seized +the isthmus, drawn his ships up close, and dragged a battery to the top +of Bunker Hill, the American force could very soon have been driven to +surrender. Ruggles, the Tory brigadier, is known to have advised this, +and there were some among the British leaders who urged it. The general +feeling, however, seems to have been that it would be unmanly to catch +the Americans in the trap which they had laid for themselves. In a hasty +council of war it was decided to assault the redoubt in the good old +British fashion of marching up to its face. Gage was in no hurry even +for this. Contenting himself with ordering the shipping and the Boston +batteries to fire upon the little fort, he gave the Americans every +chance to complete their defences, while leaving the way open for +reinforcements. In a leisurely way he set about preparing an expedition +to cross Charlestown ferry. The men were mustered, and equipped as for +a march. + +Howe was to take charge of the assault, and Burgoyne and Clinton to +direct the Boston batteries. The fleet joined in the fire. From Copp's +Hill, from Barton's Point, from five ships of war, and from a couple of +floating batteries, such a storm of roundshot was poured upon the +redoubt that its defenders were amazed, and on the death of a comrade +were ready to stop work. But Prescott, coolly insisting--against the +protest of a horrified chaplain--that the body be immediately buried, +took his stand upon the parapet, and from there directed the finishing +of the redoubt. + +In this position he was seen from Boston. Gage, handing his +field-glasses to a Tory who stood near him, asked if he recognized the +rebel. The Tory was Willard of Lancaster, a mandamus councillor, who +well knew Prescott's declared intention never to be taken alive. + +"He is my brother-in-law," he replied. + +"Will he fight?" asked Gage. + +"I cannot answer for his men," said Willard; "but Prescott will fight +you to the gates of hell!"[93] + +At the redoubt one of Prescott's aids followed his example, and walking +back and forth on the parapet the two gave courage to their men. These +fell to and completed the work. The rampart was raised to a considerable +height, platforms of earth or wood were made inside for the defenders, +and at about eleven o'clock the men stacked their tools and were ready. + +The redoubt, when thus finished, was roughly square, about "eight rods +on the longest side," which had a single angle projecting toward the +south. Running northwards from the northeast corner Prescott had made a +breastwork of perhaps two hundred feet,[94] to prevent flanking. It +stretched toward the Mystic River, but fell short by more than a hundred +yards. + +Cooped up in this little fort, inadequately protected against flanking, +with shot continually striking on the sides of the redoubt, Prescott's +men waited. They had worked all night and most of the morning, had +little food and water, saw as yet nothing of the relief that had been +promised them, and could tell by the fever of activity visible in +Boston's streets that the red coats soon would come against them. There +is no wonder that when Putnam rode up and asked for the entrenching +tools (proposing, with the best of military good sense, to make a +supporting redoubt on Bunker Hill), many of Prescott's men were glad of +the excuse to remove themselves from so dangerous a neighborhood. Of +those who carried back the tools, few returned. + +But Prescott's remainder was stanch. The men were already veterans, +having endured the work and the cannonade. Waiting in the fort, some of +them could appreciate the marvel of the scene: a great stretch of +intermingled land and water, the shipping spread below, close at hand +the town of Charlestown, and across the narrow river the larger town of +Boston, with its heights and house-tops already crowded by +non-combatants, viewing the field that was prepared for the slaughter. +It was all in bright and warm weather, under a cloudless sky. Since the +world began, there had been few battle-fields so spectacularly laid out. + +At last the bustle in Boston's streets produced results. From the +wharves pushed out into the placid water the boats of the fleet, loaded +to the gunwales with soldiers in full equipment. As they neared the +Charlestown shore, the fire upon the redoubt was doubled, and under its +cover the troops landed upon Moulton's Point. There Howe at first +deployed them, but after inspecting the ground sent back for +reinforcements. For the men in the redoubt there were two more hours of +waiting. + +Those two hours very nearly decided the fate of the struggle, for had +Howe moved immediately to the assault there could have been no such +resistance offered him as later he met. Prescott decided to send to +Cambridge for reinforcements; but such was the confusion that the +messenger could get no horse, and had to walk the six miles to +headquarters. There he was ill received, for Ward, who during the whole +day did not leave his house, feared an attack on Cambridge, dreaded to +deplete his supply of powder, and only upon repeated representations +ordered a couple of regiments in support of Prescott. These regiments +had to draw their powder and make up their cartridges, and arrived when +the battle was just about to begin. + +The student of this day finds it difficult to disentangle the varied +accounts. Who was on the field and who was not, what part was taken by +each, who was in command at this point and who there, and the total of +men engaged, all either were or still are disputed points. It seems to +be beyond doubt, however, that Prescott from the first was in command at +the redoubt, and that Putnam assumed, and tried to execute, general +oversight of the field of contest outside the redoubt and beyond the +breastwork. + +While Howe's troops lunched quietly at Moulton's Point, the aspect of +affairs for the Americans became brighter. Prescott, seeing that he must +have better protection toward the Mystic River, ordered a detachment of +Connecticut troops, under Captain Knowlton, and with them six +field-pieces--which seem to have figured not at all in the result--to +"go and oppose" the enemy. Avoiding a marshy spot of ground, Knowlton +chose a position some two hundred yards to the rear of the redoubt and +its breastwork. Here was a fence, the lower part of stone, the upper of +rails. The men brought forward from the rear another rail fence, leaned +it against the first, and wove in between the rails hay which they found +recently cut upon the ground. This, the "rail fence" mentioned in all +accounts of the battle, was their sole protection. + +Now began slowly to come across the isthmus the first of the +reinforcements that strengthened the hands of the provincials. They +came partly as individuals, of whom the most noted was Warren, who but +the day before had been appointed general by the provincial congress. He +came as a volunteer, knew his risk, and was prepared to die. + +Curiously James Otis, it is said, was also among the defenders of the +redoubt, coming, like Warren, as a volunteer. It was a strange fate +which sent him safely home, to live, still wrecked in intellect and +useless to his country, while Warren was to fall. + +By this time a lively hail of shot and shell was falling on Charlestown +Neck, and to cross it was a test of courage. Seth Pomeroy, +brigadier-general, veteran of Louisburg, came on a borrowed horse, and, +sending back the animal, crossed on foot. Others, alone, in groups, or +in semi-military formation, followed him, to be directed by Putnam to +the rail fence, which needed defenders. At last came one who needed no +directions--Stark, at the head of his New Hampshire regiment. Although +requested to hurry his men across the Neck, Stark replied, "One fresh +man in action is worth ten fatigued ones,"[95] and would not change his +step. Marching down the slope of Bunker Hill, he quickly noted that +between the rail fence and the water the beach was unguarded. "I saw +there," he said afterward, "the way so plain that the enemy could not +miss it."[96] Before the attack could begin, Stark's men threw up a rude +breastwork of cobbles behind which they could find a little +shelter.--And now at last the American defences were completed, just as +the troops were in motion to attack them. + +At this point Howe neglected a method of attack which would have made +his victory immediate. The rail fence, and Stark's defence upon the +beach, were open to attack from the river. We have seen that two +floating batteries ("large flat boats," says Lieutenant Barker, "sides +raised and musquet proof") were used to bombard the redoubt. These, +like the shipping and the Boston batteries, did no good whatever. But +placed in the Mystic in the proper position, they could have raked the +rail fence. "Had these boats been with us," says our lieutenant, " ... +they would have taken a part of the Rebels entrenchment in flank, and in +their retreat wou'd have cut off numbers." But Howe was only a soldier, +such an aid apparently never occurred to him, and the floating +batteries--gondolas, as they were called--remained on the southern side +of the peninsula. He ordered the attack. + +The attack was triple, but the artillery fire, on which Howe had +counted, was at first valueless, because for the six-pounders had been +sent over mostly nine-pound shot, thanks to the chief of artillery, who +was afterward supposed to be making love to the schoolmaster's daughter. +The cannon, further, got into the marshy ground, and could not find an +effective position. So the real assault was first delivered by the +troops alone, one detachment marching against the redoubt, and one +against the rail fence. + +The troops moved with great confidence. According to the habit of the +time, they were completely equipped as for an expedition, with blankets +and three-days' rations. It has been computed that each soldier carried +about a hundred and twenty pounds.[97] They were, therefore, greatly +burdened at best; and on so hot a day, with the grass to their knees, +and many fences to cross, their task was the worse. But they advanced +with great composure, and apparently forgetting the 19th of April they +were deployed in open order, as if to present each marksman with a +separate target. Howe led those who marched at the rail fence, and +General Pigot led the assault upon the redoubt. Both bodies of the +regulars advanced with occasional ineffective volleys. + +At first, says tradition, a few Americans fired when the troops came in +range, but Prescott and his officers, leaping upon the parapet of the +redoubt, kicked up the muzzles of the guns. If the men would but obey +him, Prescott told them, not a British soldier would get within the +redoubt. At the rail fence the men were likewise prevented from firing, +Putnam threatening to cut down any who disobeyed. They were ordered not +to shoot until the regulars passed a stake which Stark set up for a +mark. Many familiar sayings were passed among the provincials: "Wait +till you see the whites of their eyes! Aim at the crossing of the belts! +Pick out the handsome coats!" + +As if to add to the impressiveness of the scene, it was about this time +that Charlestown, set on fire a little while before, that it should not +give cover to the Americans, and that the smoke should confuse the +rebels, burst into general conflagration. The town had been for weeks +almost deserted, in dread of this fate; now at the command of Howe +red-hot shot were thrown in among the houses, and marines landed from +the ships and fired the wharves and waterside buildings. The act was, +however, a wanton one, for no advantage was gained or lost to either +side by the fire.[98] + +At last the troops were near enough. They had themselves been firing +for some time, volleying as they advanced, but firing too high. Now, as +they reached a line some eight or ten rods from the redoubt, Prescott +gave the word to fire, and to continue firing. The discharge from the +redoubt was close, deadly, and incessant, while at the rail fence the +reception of the British was even more fatal. For a few minutes the +regulars held their ground, returning the fire as best they might, yet +decimated by the American bullets, and seeing their officers falling all +about them. There was no hope to advance, and sullenly they withdrew. + +If ever there was a moment that marked the fate of our nation, it was +that one. It forecast Bennington, Saratoga, and Yorktown, Gettysburg and +the Wilderness. Well might the provincials exult as they saw the retreat +of the regulars; and well might Washington exclaim, when he learned that +the farmers had driven the British, "Then the liberties of the country +are safe!"[99] + +But the battle was not yet won. The slaughter among the officers was +frightful, yet the leaders were uninjured. Howe gave the order, the +troops formed again, and again advanced to the attack. The Americans +admired them as they approached, preserving unbroken order, and stepping +over the bodies of the slain as if they had been logs of wood. This time +the troops were allowed to come nearer yet, but when the provincials +fired at the word the carnage was greater than before. In the smoke the +officers were seen urging their men, striking them with their sword +hilts, and even pricking them with the points. But it was in vain. The +officers themselves were shot down in unheard-of proportion, and at the +rail fence those who survived out of full companies of thirty-nine were +in some cases only three, or four, or five. Nothing could be done under +such a fire. Leaving their dead within a few yards of the American +lines, for a second time the British retreated. + +At last Howe had learned his lesson. While his officers, for the sake +of the men, implored him to find some other way to conquer the redoubt, +he determined on a third assault. He ordered that the knapsacks be left +behind, and that the troops be formed in column. In the work of rallying +the disheartened men he was ably helped by Clinton, who, observing a +detachment in disorder near their boats, impetuously hurried across the +river, reformed their ranks, and put himself at their head. Some four +hundred marines came over as reinforcements; according to Lieutenant +Barker, the 47th regiment came also. Howe disposed his forces in three +columns, to attack the three faces of the redoubt. + +Between the first and second assaults there had been less than half an +hour's interval. This time the wait was longer, and the Americans +ineffectually sought to take advantage of it. Messengers were again sent +to Ward; the general, learning at last that so many of the British +forces were occupied in the battle that Cambridge was safe from an +attack, gave orders that more regiments should go to Prescott's +assistance. To save the day there was yet time, but of the regiments +thus ordered, few companies reached the ground, and fewer still took +part in the action. And in this the weakness of the American +organization was sadly evident. From first to last Ward seems to have +sent to Bunker Hill sufficient force to have won the battle; but as he +never left his house he could take no pains to make sure that his orders +were obeyed. As a matter of fact, of the regiments despatched, one went +to Lechmere's Point, where it must have secured an excellent view of the +battle, but was completely useless. Being next ordered "to the hill," it +was conducted by its colonel, James Scammans, to Cobble Hill; thence he +sent to Bunker Hill to learn if he was wanted. Receiving a vigorous +reply from Putnam, Scammans at last marched his men to Bunker Hill, +reaching the top in time to witness the end of the battle. In similar +fashion young Major Gridley of the artillery battalion, whom "parental +partiality" had given too much responsibility, took post at a distance, +and fired at the shipping. Both Scammans and Gridley were later +court-martialled. Other officers lost their way, or, like Colonel +Mansfield, who stayed with his regiment to "support" Gridley in his +position of safety, disobeyed orders. + +These facts serve to show not only the confusion of the day, but also +the bad judgment, to use no stronger phrase, of unseasoned soldiers. It +is fair to say that the hesitancy of some was offset by the heroism of +others. When Colonel Gerrish, who was later cashiered, could bring his +men no further forward than Bunker Hill, his adjutant, Christian +Febiger, a Dane, led a part of the command to the rail fence, and fought +bravely there. One of the captains of artillery, disregarding Gridley's +commands, took his two guns to Charlestown, and served one of them at +the rail fence. Other individuals named and unnamed, with or without +orders, went to the field, took post where they could, and fought for +their own hand. Yet these are scattered instances in the midst of too +many failures to obey. Those who did march down to the field of carnage, +with "no more thought," as one of them confessed, "of ever rising the +hill again than I had of ascending to Heaven, as Elijah did, soul and +body together,"--those who thus devoted themselves left many behind on +the safe side of Bunker Hill, or posted ineffectively behind distant +fences or trees. Of the thousand Americans who during this last pause in +the battle might have reached the post of danger, not enough arrived to +affect the result. + +At last, while aides were still beating up for more support, and Putnam +himself was returning from a similar errand, Howe put his troops in +motion. This time the movement against the rail fence was but a feint; +and now for the first time the artillery of either side did effective +service in the battle. Against the protest of the artillery officers +that the ground was too soft to take better position, Howe ordered them +forward, and they loyally obeyed. They found a post from which they +could enfilade the breastwork, and at their first discharge of grape +sent its defenders into the redoubt for safety. It was the beginning of +the end. Prescott, as he saw the breastwork abandoned, and marked the +three advancing columns, saw that the redoubt was doomed. + +And yet the day ought not to have been lost. Had Ward but sent a hundred +pounds of powder, the fight might have been won. But Prescott looked for +it in vain. Or had those men, whom he saw shooting at long range from +positions of safety, come forward to reinforce the defenders of the +redoubt, the scales might have been turned. But the fight was to end as +it had begun, with Prescott's small detachment still unsupported, left +all day without food or water, and now at the end without powder. As the +troops climbed the hill a few artillery cartridges were opened and their +powder distributed among the provincials. Some of the men thus had +three or four charges to their guns, some had only one; besides this, +there were few bayonets among them. The wonder is that the men awaited +the assault. + +This time the regulars came within twenty yards of the redoubt before +the word was given to fire. The heads of the columns were swept away, +but the rest came on, and mounted the parapet. The first who topped it +were shot down, among them Pitcairn. But then the American powder was +spent, and from three sides the British swarmed into the redoubt. +Reluctantly Prescott gave his men the word to retreat. + +For a few moments the fighting was fierce. Some of the provincials were +unwilling to run, and fought till they were killed. Some used stones, +and some their clubbed muskets, retiring unwillingly. It might be +supposed that the slaughter was great. But the British, for the very +reason that they had entered from three sides, were afraid to fire on +the farmers for the sake of their own men; the dust rose up in clouds, +and so in the confusion most of the defenders escaped, like Peter +Brown, who wrote his mother: "I was not suffered to be touched, although +I was in the front when the enemy came in, and jumped over the walls, +and ran half a mile, where balls flew like hailstones, and cannon roared +like thunder."[100] + +Prescott came off unhurt. Those who saw him said that he "stepped long, +with his sword up." He saved his life by parrying the bayonets which +were thrust at him, although some of them pierced his clothes. + +That more were not killed in the pursuit was due to two factors. The +first was the exhaustion of the soldiers, who, tired with carrying heavy +loads in the unwonted heat (and an American summer is like the tropics +to an Englishman), were winded with their last charge up the hill. They +were therefore in no good condition to follow up their victory, and the +fugitives were soon away beyond Bunker Hill. Yet that the pursuit was so +poor was due partly to the defenders of the rail fence. These men, more +like veteran regiments than fragments of many commands, withdrew in a +body, continually threatening those who offered to close in from behind. +The end of the fight was as honorable to them as its beginning. + +But there was much loss. A number were killed in the redoubt, and the +slopes of Bunker Hill were dotted with slain, killed by bullets and +cannon shot. At the Neck some few more were killed. The total of dead, +according to Ward's record, was 115, of the wounded 305, of the captured +30. Slightly varying totals are reported.[101] + +The great personal loss on the part of the Americans was in the death of +Warren. There had been no need of his coming, and his value for higher +services--he was president of the provincial congress and had just been +appointed a major-general--was greater than at the post of actual +conflict. But his fiery spirit, of which we have seen so much, would +not be denied. That day he waked with a headache, but on learning of the +expected battle he declared himself well. Friends tried to detain him, +but he replied with the Latin phrase, "It is sweet and becoming to die +for one's country." On reaching the field he met Putnam, who offered to +take his orders. But Warren had come as a volunteer, and asked where he +should go. Putnam showed him the redoubt, saying, "There you will be +covered." + +"Don't think," said Warren, "that I come to seek a place of safety; but +tell me where the onset will be most furious." + +Putnam still sent him to the redoubt. "That is the enemy's object." + +Warren went to the redoubt, where the men received him with cheers, and +Prescott offered him command. But Warren still declined, took a musket, +and fought with the men. There is no doubt that part of the credit of +the stout defence belongs to him. When the retreat was ordered he +withdrew unwillingly, and was among the last to leave the redoubt. +After he had gone but a little way in the open field he was shot in the +head, and died instantly. Once, when the British questioned the courage +of the Americans, he had said, "By Heavens, I hope I shall die up to my +knees in blood!" He had had his wish. + +Warren's death at the time was not certainly known to either friend or +foe; his body was buried on the field, and was disinterred and +identified only after the evacuation. Of the Boston leaders, he was the +only one who gave his life for the cause. He was sadly missed, a man of +keen intellect and excellent political sense, of deep sympathies, and +high honor. A magnetic leader, he could ill be spared. + +The last figure on the battle-field was Putnam's. At the unfinished +fortification on Bunker Hill he implored the fugitives to rally and +"give them one shot more." The profanity which he used on this occasion +he afterwards penitently acknowledged in church. He retired only when +the pursuers were close behind, but went no further than Prospect Hill. +There, seizing on the chance which so long had been denied him, without +orders he collected men and commenced another redoubt. The next day he +was found there, unwashed, still digging, and ready for another battle. + +Prescott returned to Cambridge, reported at headquarters, and offered if +given sufficient troops to retake the hill. But Ward was afraid of his +own position, and would not sanction the attempt. + +The British loss was very heavy, about one thousand and fifty, of whom a +quarter were killed, while ninety-two among the dead were officers. +Pitcairn was carried to Boston, and died there. Colonel Abercrombie was +killed, and many others of lesser note. As soon as it was possible the +wounded officers were conveyed to Boston for medical attendance, and we +have in Major Clarke's narrative a dismal picture of one sad procession. +"In the first carriage was Major Williams, bleeding and dying, and +three dead captains of the fifty-second regiment. In the second, four +dead officers; then another with wounded officers." + +The Americans, at first discouraged by their defeat, in the course of +time came to regard it as a victory. This it certainly was not, yet it +had all the moral effect of a British defeat. The regulars learned that +the provincials would stand up to them. "Damn the rebels," was the +current phrase; "they would not flinch."[102] Many of the officers felt +called upon to explain, in letters home, the reason for the defeat. The +American rifles, argued one, were "peculiarly adapted to take off the +officers of a whole line as it advances to an attack." They reasoned +that the redoubt, whose perfection when examined was astonishing, must +have been the work of days. As to the comparative uselessness of the +British cannon, it was explained by the nine-pound shot (some say +twelve) sent for the six-pounders. Said one newspaper: "It naturally +required a great while to ram down such disproportioned shot; nor did +they, when discharged, fly with that velocity and true direction they +would have done, had they been better suited to the size of the +cannon."[103] + +But aside from a few such absurdities, the body of the army and the +British public recognized at last that they had formidable antagonists. +This was no such fight as that on the 19th of April, when the shifting +provincials gave the regulars nothing to strike at. This was a pitched +battle, and the farmers had all but won it. The British were amazed by +the stubborn defence, and the rapidity and accuracy of the American +fire. The proportion of killed among the officers was greater than any +before known, and veterans admitted that the slaughter was worse than at +Minden, the deadliest of recent European battles. It is with reason, +then, that Boston still celebrates Bunker Hill. It was the first signal +proof of American courage, and forecast the success of the siege. +Indeed, it is not too much to say that Bunker Hill battle had influence +in deciding the outcome of the war. Howe, destined to be the leader of +the British forces, never forgot the lesson of the redoubt on Breed's +Hill, or of the flimsy fence of rails and hay. It was seldom that he +could resolve to send his men against a rebel entrenchment. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[92] Frothingham's "Siege," 123. + +[93] Frothingham's "Siege," 126, and Sabine's "Loyalists," 707. + +[94] Reports vary from eighty to three hundred feet. + +[95] Dearborn's account of the battle, _Historical Magazine_ for 1864. + +[96] Bancroft, v, 612. + +[97] Ross's "Life of Cornwallis," quoted in Fonblanque's "Burgoyne," +159. + +[98] The picturesqueness of this scene has been remarked by many +writers. The best contemporary description is, of course, Burgoyne's. +"To consider this action as a soldier, it comprised, though in a small +compass, almost every branch of military duty and curiosity. Troops +landed in the face of an enemy; a fine disposition; a march sustained by +a powerful cannonade by moving field artillery, fixed batteries, +floating batteries, and broadsides of ships at anchor, all operating +separately and well disposed; a deployment from the march to form for +the attack of the entrenchments and redoubt; a vigorous defence; a storm +with bayonets; a large and fine town set on fire by shells. Whole +streets of houses, ships upon the stocks, a number of churches, all +sending up volumes of smoke and flame, or falling together in ruins, +were capital objects. A prospect of the neighboring hills, the steeples +of Boston, and the masts of such ships as were unemployed in the harbor, +all crowded with spectators, friends and foes alike in anxious suspense, +made a background to the piece; and the whole together composed a +representation of war that I think the imagination of Lebrun never +reached."--FONBLANQUE, "Burgoyne," 156. + +[99] Lodge's "Washington," i, 133. + +[100] Appendix to Frothingham's "Siege," 393. + +[101] Washington reported later 139 killed, 36 missing, 278 wounded. + +[102] Moore's "Diary of the Revolution," 110. + +[103] These two quotations are from Frothingham's "Siege." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +WASHINGTON TAKES COMMAND + + +The immediate effect of the battle of Bunker Hill upon the American +army--or rather armies--was one of dismay. The result was confusion. In +fact, no study of the battle can fail to impress the examiner with the +belief that outside the redoubt the whole conduct of the Americans was +haphazard. Except for Stark's regiment, which itself came on in +detachments, the reinforcements dribbled to the field in companies, +platoons, or squads. They placed themselves where the hasty judgment of +Putnam directed them, or if he was absent to beat up for more troops, +chose their own positions and fought under their own officers. Putnam +gave orders, yet was not always obeyed; and sent urgently for +reinforcements, but, though his demands were received by officers from +other colonies, got no response.[104] In this individual character of +the fighting the day was much like that of the 19th of April. + +And after the battle conditions were much the same. Putnam commenced +independently to fortify Prospect Hill. On Winter Hill the New Hampshire +troops made a redoubt, and at Roxbury General Thomas hastily +strengthened his position. Even at Cambridge Ward began to fortify. Word +had been sent out to summon the militia, and as on the 19th of April +these responded with alacrity and in great numbers. It was hourly +expected that the British would sally from Boston, and the provincials +kept themselves in a confused readiness. In the meantime the British +cannon played steadily on the American fortifications, and the thunder +of the artillery spread apprehension in the neighboring country. +Abigail Adams wrote from Braintree: "The battle began upon our +intrenchments upon Bunker's Hill, Saturday morning about three o'clock, +and has not ceased yet, and it is now three o'clock Sabbath afternoon. +It is expected they will come out over the Neck to-night, and a dreadful +battle must ensue."[105] Yet the British did not come out, quiet +gradually fell on the two armies, the militia returned to their homes, +and the conduct of the siege entered on a new phase. + +Now more than ever the Americans recognized that conditions were +precarious, and that the greatest need was for a better organization. +Zeal was not wanting. Whenever the British cannonade recommenced, +whenever there were rumors of an attack, the troops were ready for a +fight. But means of communication, and prompt and efficient +subordination, still were lacking. Nor does it appear that those on the +ground were able, handicapped as they were by orders from the different +provincial assemblies, to produce the necessary system. Higher political +and military authority both were needed before the army could be +efficient. Very fortunately events had been preparing to supply them. + +Since the middle of May the second Continental Congress had been sitting +in Philadelphia. Among the Massachusetts delegates were Hancock and the +two Adamses. Gage on the 12th of June had consigned Samuel Adams and +Hancock to the gallows, but Hancock was serving as president of the +Congress, while the Adamses were important members of committees. They +watched and waited for the growth of a sentiment which should support +New England in its resistance. + +The position of the Congress was without precedent. An illegal body, its +delegates were elected by conventions improperly constituted. It had no +authority to raise money, to purchase arms, or to direct the actions of +the provinces. Though in New England war was in progress, many of the +delegates loved the old order of things, and were not yet ready to move +toward independence. The first actions of the Congress were for +conciliation. + +There were those who saw that this was impossible. Of the New England +delegates, very few ever again hoped for what was called "an +accommodation." Washington, on his part, saw clearly that the end of the +old order had come. Franklin knew that independence would be the result +of the changes then in progress. Yet these men, and others like them, +knew also that they could not hurry the Congress into radical action, +and waited the effect of time. For weeks the Congress discussed and +argued, and finally passed a resolve that "an humble and dutiful +petition be presented to his majesty."[106] This would give a chance for +feelings to cool, and for the supporters of the king to work for his +interest. + +But events would not stand still. In England the news of Concord had not +moved the king to lenity; he saw no lesson in the tragedy, and insisted +on pressing his policy. Lord North's feeble endeavor to resign was +checked, supplies were sent to Virginia to support the governor in his +project of a rising of the slaves, a scheme was pressed to raise in +Carolina a regiment of veteran Highlanders, and orders were sent to +rouse the Iroquois against the rebels. Further, the king planned to +strengthen his forces by hiring troops from the continent of Europe. + +News of all this, coming across the Atlantic, by degrees changed the +aspect of affairs, and made the members of the Congress doubtful of +reconciliation. They began to look to their own positions, and to feel +that, as Franklin said, unless they hung together they would all hang +separately. To remind them what they could do in self-defence the needs +of the army around Boston were frequently brought to their attention. +Its discipline, equipment, and leadership were poor. At last came a +petition from Massachusetts, begging that Congress should "take command +of the army by appointing a generalissimo."[107] Such a step was open +and complete rebellion, and the Congress hesitated. By private letters +to Samuel Adams the desired leader was pointed out: Washington. + +The choice was doubly wise. To the Adamses it had been plain that, +though Hancock was desirous of the post, it should not be given to a New +Englander. The New England army would be knit together, and its +provincial jealousies appeased, by the appointment of a general from +another section. Further, in all the continent there was not another man +of Washington's experience, ability, and steadfastness. + +Washington was then in the prime of life, forty-three years of age, and +of such physique as was needed for the bearer of the greatest burden +that had ever been put upon an American. He was tall, finely built, +majestic in carriage and impressive of feature, and accustomed from his +youth to exposure, hardship, and constant exertion. He had long been +used to depending upon himself, and had acquired an independent +judgment that was almost unerring. Further, that judgment had been +exercised on military matters. While Hancock had been at best the +captain of a militia company in time of peace, Washington had from his +nineteenth year been commissioned with higher commands, and had seen +much active service. More than one campaign owed its success against the +Indians largely to him, and it was he and his Virginians who saved the +remnant at Braddock's defeat. He had a strong temper under almost +perfect control, patience and persistence in equal amounts, and, with a +wonderful reserve, the quality of winning the confidence of all honest +men. + +Besides all this, he was heart and soul in the cause. While others had +discussed and hesitated, he had long ago made up his mind, not only that +the quarrel with the king would come to violence, but that all Americans +should resist to the utmost. "Shall we," he asked in a letter to a +friend, after enumerating Gage's despotic acts, "shall we after this +whine and cry for relief, when we have already tried it in vain? Or +shall we supinely sit and see one province after another fall a +sacrifice to despotism?" In a letter to a British officer at Boston, he +says, "Permit me with the freedom of a friend (for you know I always +esteemed you), to express my sorrow that fortune should place you in a +service that must fix curses to the latest posterity upon the +contrivers, and, if success (which, by the by, is impossible) +accompanies it, execrations upon all those who have been instrumental in +the execution.... Give me leave to add as my opinion that more blood +will be spilled on this occasion, if the ministry are determined to push +matters to extremity, than history has ever yet furnished instances of +in the annals of North America, and such a vital wound will be given to +the peace of this great country, as time itself cannot cure or eradicate +the remembrance of." Few in those days had such certainty of the result +of an outbreak, and few were so ready to participate in one. In the +Virginia convention he said, "I will raise a thousand men, subsist them +at my own expense, and march them to the relief of Boston." No wonder +this was designated "the most eloquent speech that ever was made." He +was not called on to make good his promise, but was sent to the two +continental congresses. At the second it was noticed that he attended +the sittings in his uniform of a Virginia colonel. Though he took no +part in the debates, he made himself felt. Patrick Henry said of him at +this time: "If you speak of solid information and sound judgment, +Colonel Washington is unquestionably the greatest man on the +floor."[108] + +To make the Congress "adopt" the army at Boston, and to have Washington +appointed generalissimo, became the task of John Adams, who at this time +did the country perhaps his greatest service. There were objections to +putting a Virginian at the head of New Englanders, for colonial +jealousies, and even colonial lack of mutual understanding, might bring +about a fatal sullenness in the men. Adams discussed the matter in +private with many delegates, and could not succeed even in making the +Massachusetts and Virginia representatives agree. At last, determined to +force action, one morning he announced to Samuel Adams that something +must be done. "I am determined this morning to make a direct motion that +Congress should adopt the army before Boston, and appoint Colonel +Washington commander of it. Mr. Adams," he added in his diary, "seemed +to think very seriously of it, but said nothing." + +Alone, then, but determinedly following his inspiration, John Adams laid +before the Congress his proposal. First he spoke in favor of accepting +the New England army as the army of the continent; then he began a +eulogy of Washington. Hancock's eyes flashed with resentment, and +Washington himself slipped from the room. There were a few days of delay +and debate, but the energy of Adams carried his proposals. The Congress +adopted the army, appointed four major-generals and eight brigadiers, +and finally, on the 15th of June, chose the commander-in-chief. On the +17th of June, the day of Bunker Hill, Adams wrote joyfully to his wife: +"I can now inform you that the Congress have made choice of the modest +and virtuous, the amiable, generous, and brave George Washington, +Esquire, to be General of the American Army."[109] + +This was a step which the Congress could not retrace. The colonies were +now in rebellion, and the members, as they realized that the noose was +preparing for their necks, voted the meagre sum of twenty-five thousand +dollars to supply with powder the army which alone stood between them +and a sudden taking off. Yet the significance of the act was not yet +understood by the colonies at large, for a few days later the assembly +of New York voted military escorts both to Washington and to the +royalist governor, who happened to arrive on the same day. + +Washington himself, however, knew better than any man the consequence +of the momentous step. He foresaw that the labor would be difficult and +the struggle long. On the 16th of June he accepted his commission, but +added: "Lest some unlucky event should happen, unfavorable to my +reputation, I beg it to be remembered by every gentleman in the room, +that I, this day, declare with the utmost sincerity, I do not think +myself equal to the command I am honored with. + +"As to pay, Sir, I beg leave to assure the Congress, that, as no +pecuniary consideration could have tempted me to accept this arduous +employment, at the expense of my domestic ease and happiness, I do not +wish to make any profit from it. I will keep an exact account of my +expenses. These, I doubt not, they will discharge; and that is all I +desire."[110] + +As soon as he could settle his affairs, Washington started for Boston. +In New York he heard the news of Bunker Hill, and was cheered by it. He +arrived on July 2 in Watertown, where the Massachusetts congress was +sitting, and received a congratulatory address. He then pressed on to +Cambridge, which he reached on the same day. On the 3d, a year and a day +before the Declaration of Independence, and according to tradition under +the great elm still standing near Cambridge Common, he took command of +the army. + +The occasion was momentous, and was so appreciated by a few at the time. +Would the critical volunteer army approve of its new chief? There was +not a murmur against him. From the first Washington's magnificent +bearing and kingly self-confidence won the admiration of his men. He +brought with him to the camp at Cambridge two who were ambitious to +displace him, yet of Lee and Gates, both retired English officers, the +first never won a personal following, and the second achieved but the +meagre dignity of leadership of a cabal. From the moment when he took +command of the army, Washington was, indeed, "first in the hearts of his +countrymen." + +And the student of our history cannot help remarking how providential +it was that, almost at the outset of this struggle, Washington should +come to the front. Eighty-six years later, at the beginning of the +Rebellion, there was no accepted chief. Lincoln was doubted by the +North, and the army had no true leader. By a slow process Lincoln's +commanding strength became known; by an equally tedious sifting of the +generals the qualities of Grant, Sherman, Thomas, and Meade were +discovered. Only the tremendous resources of the North could have +withstood the strain of such a delay. Had the same process been +necessary at the outset of the Revolution, the colonies could scarcely +have maintained the struggle. Had not Washington been at hand, accepted +by the Congress and admired by the army, the virtual leader of both, the +chances of success would have been slight. But he was Lincoln and Grant +in one. Time and again, through the long years, it was Washington alone +who brought victory from defeat. Without him the colonies might have +won their independence as the result of an almost interminable guerilla +warfare; but with him the fight was definite, decisive, glorious, +and--for the infant republic--mercifully short. + +[Illustration: THE OLD NORTH BRIDGE + +(The Americans marched to the attack from the further side.)] + +[Illustration: THE MINUTE MAN By Daniel C. French] + +The army was now in the hands of a soldier, one who knew, if any man +did, what was needed to make the raw militiaman into a professional. +Washington fell at once to work. "There is great overturning in camp," +wrote the Reverend William Emerson, he who had watched Concord Fight +from the window of his study. "New lords, new laws. The Generals +Washington and Lee are upon the lines every day. New orders from his +Excellency are read to the respective regiments every morning after +prayers. The strictest government is taking place, and great distinction +is made between officers and soldiers. Every one is made to know his +place and keep in it.... Thousands are at work every day from four till +eleven o'clock in the morning."[111] + +This simple statement shows, in the wonder of the clergyman, not merely +how much was now being done, but how little had been done before. As on +the day of Bunker Hill, Ward had been a headquarters general, but +Washington was "upon the lines." Many times later we find him exposing +himself recklessly; now we see him constantly on active patrol of his +outposts, supervising the new fortifications or the carrying out of the +new regulations. + +Apart from fortifying, which he drove early and late, his immediate +difficulties were with the army organization, and these difficulties +began immediately. He brought with him commissions for his +major-generals and brigadiers, and the commissions of the former he +bestowed at once. The fourth major-general was Putnam of Connecticut, +who had had as his colleague Joseph Spencer, of the same colony. +"General Spencer's disgust," wrote Washington on the 10th of July, "was +so great at General Putnam's promotion, that he left the army without +visiting me, or making known his intention in any respect."[112] + +Upon this, Washington prudently withheld the other commissions, and +proceeded cautiously, with regard to jealousies among the officers. By +careful diplomacy he succeeded in retaining for the new establishment +the services of most of the colonial brigadiers, for Spencer returned, +and Thomas, who saw his juniors promoted over his head, agreed to take +rank beneath them. Only one among the new appointees, Pomeroy, the +veteran of Louisburg who had fought at the rail fence at Bunker Hill, +declined his commission. He had marvelled that in the battle Warren +should be taken and he, "old and useless," be left unhurt. Now he +withdrew from further service on account of his age; yet, going later +upon a volunteer expedition, he died of exposure. + +Before the jealousies of the higher officers were settled, Washington +turned to the smaller fry. He now had to meet the nature of the New +England volunteer. "There is no such thing," he wrote before very long, +"as getting officers of this stamp to carry orders into execution.... I +have made a pretty good slam among such kind of officers as the +Massachusetts government abounds in, having broke one colonel and two +captains for cowardly behaviour in the action on Bunker Hill, two +captains for drawing more pay and provision than they had men in their +company, and one for being absent from his post when the enemy appeared +and burnt a house close by it.... In short, I spare none, and yet fear +it will not all do, as these people seem to be attentive to everything +but their own interest."[113] + +Washington was experiencing the difficulties which Lincoln was later to +know, in dealing with the host of fair-weather soldiers and jobbing +self-seekers who come to the front at the outset of a war. There was +every reason why for some time he should estimate the New England +character from what he saw of its worst side. Yet before the seven +years of war were over he knew its better aspect. Massachusetts sent to +the war nearly twice as many men as any other colony, and Connecticut +was second. Measured by this standard, Washington's own colony came +third in devotion to the cause.[114] + +We know that later he acknowledged his appreciation of the devotion of +New England to the cause and to his person. It is particularly +interesting to learn that he reversed his judgment in one of the cases +mentioned above. Among those cashiered for disobedience of orders and +alleged cowardice at Bunker Hill was John Callender, captain of an +artillery company. The trial went against him, and Washington dismissed +him "from all further service in the continental service as an officer." +Callender, determined to wipe off the stain on his honor, remained as a +private in the artillery service, and found his opportunity at the +battle of Long Island, where the captain and lieutenant of his battery +were shot. "He assumed the command, and, refusing to retreat, fought his +pieces to the last. The bayonets of the soldiers were just upon him, +when a British officer, admiring his chivalrous and desperate courage, +interfered and saved him."[115] Washington ordered the record of +Callender's sentence to be expunged from the orderly book, effected his +exchange, and restored him his commission. + +Yet in too many of the cases the sentence of incompetence or cowardice +was just. Even when simple laxity of discipline was at the bottom of +trouble, the effect was exasperating. Washington had much to teach the +minor members of his army. That it was in all outward aspects a truly +volunteer assemblage, we have the testimony of an eye witness. "It is +very diverting," wrote the Reverend William Emerson, "to walk among the +camps. They are as different in their form as the owners are in their +dress; and every tent is a portraiture of the temper and taste of the +persons who encamp in it. Some are made of boards, and some of +sailcloth. Some partly of one and partly of another. Again others are +made of stone and turf, brick or brush. Some are thrown up in a hurry, +others curiously wrought with doors and windows, done in wreaths and +withes in the manner of a basket. Some are your proper tents and +marquees, looking like the regular camp of the enemy.... However, I +think this great variety is rather a beauty than a blemish in the +army."[116] + +When we consider, however, that the men were dressed as variously as +they were housed, and armed as from a museum of historical curiosities, +we can easily see that the commander would not agree with the clergyman +that such variety was to be admired. We find him advocating the purchase +of uniforms. If nothing better can be had, he will be content with +hunting-shirts, since a common costume would have a "happy tendency to +unite the men, and abolish those provincial distinctions, that lead to +jealousy and dissatisfaction."[117] Washington strove also, but by the +end of the siege was still unable, to provide for his men some form of +regulation firearm. + +He found, further, that the number of the troops had been overestimated. +After waiting eight days for returns which he expected in an hour after +his requisition, he found that, instead of the twenty thousand troops he +had been led to hope for, he had but sixteen thousand effective men. +With these he had to maintain a front of eight miles, against an enemy +who could at will strike at any point. + +In such a situation the only safeguard was fortification. Before +Washington's arrival the redoubts on Prospect and Winter Hills had been +completed, with scattered minor works. Washington at once began by +strengthening these, and by finishing all uncompleted works. Then, in a +manner characteristic of the whole siege, and which never failed to +take the British by surprise, one August evening he sent a party to +Plowed Hill, "within point blank shot of the enemy on Charlestown Neck. +We worked the whole night incessantly one thousand two hundred men, and, +before morning, got an intrenchment in such forwardness, as to bid +defiance to their cannon."[118] + +The British cannonaded for two days, but the Americans, finding to their +disappointment that no assault was intended, finished the work at their +ease. Similarly, as we shall see, Washington later took Lechmere's +Point, commanding the river and the Back Bay. Before many weeks the +works at Roxbury were made "amazing strong," and the rebels were in +position to welcome an encounter. But there was no assault, and +Washington had instead to meet the vexations of his office. + +These were often trivial enough. A company would protest against the +appointment of an officer unknown to them, a town would apply for +special guard, a prisoner would demand the privilege of wearing his +sword.[119] Washington met such requests with unvarying courtesy, but +with firmness; even to the governor of Connecticut he refused troops for +sea-coast protection. + +One little correspondence throws a gleam of unconscious humor on the +dull routine of Washington's correspondence. Hearing of hardships +suffered in Boston by prisoners taken at Bunker Hill, Washington wrote +to remonstrate. Gage returned answer two days later; its original is +found in Burgoyne's letter book, "as wrote by me." It begins in the +usual style of the literary general: "Sir, To the glory of civilized +nations, humanity and war have been made almost compatible, and +compassion to the subdued is become almost a general system. Britons, +ever pre-eminent in mercy, have outgone common examples, and overlooked +the criminal in the captive." Entering a general denial of Washington's +charges, the letter goes on to bring counter-accusations, and finally, +after giving valuable advice, the writers exhort Washington--of all +men!--to "give free operation to truth." + +Truly, as Burgoyne's biographer admits, there is something irresistibly +ludicrous in the spectacle of such generals lecturing such a man. The +sequel was honorable to the American chief. At first determined to +retaliate upon some prisoners in his hands, he changed his mind, +apparently because they, having been captured off Machias as their +vessel neared land, had "committed no hostility against the people of +this country."[120] The general therefore gave them the practical +freedom of the town of Northampton. + +One other correspondence caused about this time a flutter of excitement. +Charles Lee was one of Washington's four major-generals, a man who had +seen military service in many parts of Europe and America. He had served +in the British army from 1747 until 1763, when, his regiment being +disbanded, he served in Poland and Turkey, and finally, in 1772, came to +America. Here he took up, almost violently, the cause of freedom, +perhaps because of disappointment in the English service, perhaps +because he foresaw opportunity. At any rate, he made himself +conspicuous, and was generally regarded as the foremost military man in +America, Washington alone excepted. Events proved that Lee acknowledged +no superior, and impatiently desired to be rid of his chief. Washington +was always on formal terms with his subordinate, no doubt because he +read in his character, besides a certain ability, an unstable +temperament and a hasty judgment. When once Lee was at Cambridge he +immediately rushed into a correspondence with Burgoyne, under whom he +had served in Portugal thirteen years before. + +The tone of his letter was highly literary. Lee reminded Burgoyne of +their old friendship, and then, with many flourishes, went at his +business. He lamented the infatuation of the times, when men of the +stamp of Burgoyne and Howe could be seduced into an impious and +nefarious service, and reminding Burgoyne of various bygone incidents, +called to his mind his experience with the wickedness and treachery of +the present court and cabinet. He spread himself at large on the +principles of the present struggle, rejoiced that Burgoyne came by +command of the king rather than his own desire, and warned him of the +miscreants who had infatuated Gage. Then, explaining how his three years +in America had acquainted him with facts, Lee begged Burgoyne to +communicate the substance of the letter to Howe, who to his horror +seemed to be becoming the satrap of an Eastern despot. Protesting his +devotion to America as the last asylum of liberty, Lee signed himself +with the greatest sincerity and affection. + +The letter was written before Bunker Hill, but not answered until the +8th of July. In his reply, Burgoyne hinted, with references to Locke, +Charles the First, and James the Second, that he was equally well +grounded in the principles of liberty. He urged Lee to lay his hand upon +his heart, and say whether the Americans wanted freedom from taxation or +independency. He, Burgoyne, with the army and fleet, and the king +himself, was actuated only by the desire to maintain the laws. Then, +having letters from England which were to be delivered into Lee's own +hands, Burgoyne proposed a personal interview at the lines on Boston +Neck, and sent the compliments of Howe, Clinton, and Percy. + +It must be admitted that Burgoyne's purpose in this proposal was quite +other than to deliver letters, or even to argue upon political +differences. In a letter to Lord North Burgoyne explained his real +purpose in entering into correspondence with a rebel. In the proposed +interview he would have cut Lee short in his paltry jargon, and pressed +upon him the real facts in the case. Next he would have shown him the +glory accruing to a successful mediator, and then, playing upon his +pride, his interest, and his ambition, would have suggested a return to +his allegiance. Burgoyne supposed that the reference to a mediator would +have brought to Lee the memory of General Monk, and would have flattered +him with the same intention to restore the state. + +There is upon this plan of Burgoyne's but one comment to be made, and +that has been clearly stated by his own biographer. "If an American +General could have been found base enough to purchase his restoration to +the favour of his late Sovereign by gross treachery to his adopted +country, an English General should surely not have thought it worthy of +his character and position to bribe him to such an act."[121] + +Lee was not caught in the trap, though perhaps not owing to his own +caution. Burgoyne's letter was laid before the Provincial Congress, +which forbade the meeting. In a brief letter Lee explained that it was +feared that the interview might create jealousies and suspicions. +Burgoyne caught at this statement as showing, in the American staff, +dissensions fruitful of future results; but the hope was never +justified. Lee's future share in the siege faded into insignificance, +and his damage to the American cause was not to come until later. + +Washington may have supervised the correspondence and influenced its +result. It affected him not at all, but in the midst of many such little +affairs he found opportunity for really aggressive work. Once he was +well fortified, the next step was to vex and disturb the enemy by +cutting off supplies by sea, and making the approach to Boston +difficult. For the latter purpose a detachment went boldly in broad +daylight and burned the lighthouse at the harbor's mouth. Since the +first attempt was not satisfactory, the same men went again, and +finished the job. Other little expeditions, carried on against either +the harbor islands or the shipping near the town, were successfully +undertaken. The men for such purposes were the fishermen of the +sea-coast towns, thrown out of work by the fisheries bill, and burning +with patriotic feeling. + +Washington turned them to still better account in beginning a navy. To +be sure, the little fleet which presently was busily at work was at +first a spontaneous growth, for whenever a store-ship or king's sloop +ran aground or made land at the wrong harbor, dories and fishing-vessels +swarmed out to board it. Even before Washington's coming privateers were +acting for the country, but with no better standing than pirates, for +they sailed under no flag and bore neither commission nor letters of +marque. The provinces of Connecticut and Rhode Island legalized the +achievements of those who were busy in their waters, but for the +adventurous spirits who dared the men of war in Massachusetts Bay +nothing was done until Washington found the way. Since, even though the +need was imperative, he could not properly authorize the existence of a +navy, we find him, on the second of September, wording a commission in +the following manner: "You being appointed a captain in the army of the +United Colonies of North America, are hereby directed to take command of +a detachment of said army, and proceed on board the schooner _Hannah_, +at Beverly." And thus the American Navy began its existence. Its vessels +were few and small, being chiefly "converted" fishermen; its purpose was +to intercept stores and gain information; and it was especially +forbidden to engage with armed vessels, "though you may be equal in +strength, or may have some small advantage." Before the end of the siege +this little company of vessels was invaluable to Washington. + +But in Washington's army lay his chief hopes--and also his chief +difficulties. That whenever there was a chance for a fight the men were +very ardent, he was glad to acknowledge. But that when there was nothing +to relieve the monotony of the camp they were indifferent to all +discipline, he knew only too well. They were incorrigible traders of +uniforms and equipment, sticklers for seniority upon but a few months' +service, insistent for furloughs for return to labor on their own +affairs, and troublesome even in demanding pay by lunar instead of +calendar months. In order that their Yankee ingenuity might find less +time to invent more trouble for him and for themselves, Washington very +sensibly worked them hard at his fortifying, "Sundays not +excepted."[122] + +There were, however, difficulties which could be got over neither by +work, nor by thought, nor by gradually licking an army into shape. +Powder and arms both were lacking. + +Powder was scarcely to be had anywhere. It was little made in the +colonies, especially not in the neighborhood of Boston. Again and again +we find Washington writing for it, and occasionally reporting his exact +situation. More than once the army had but nine rounds to a man. On the +twenty-fourth of August Washington writes: "We have been in a terrible +situation, occasioned by a mistake in a return; we reckoned upon three +hundred quarter casks, and had but thirty-two barrels."[123] A few days +later the situation was better, but still was bad enough, for he writes: +"We have only one hundred and eighty-four barrels of powder in all +(including the late supply from Philadelphia), which is not sufficient +to give twenty-five musket cartridges to each man, and scarcely to serve +the artillery in any brisk action one single day." He sent to Bermuda to +seize a supply, but his vessels arrived too late. Supplies did slowly +dribble in, and sometimes came in encouraging quantities when a +store-ship was captured. But there never was plenty on hand, and too +often not enough, for the powder would deteriorate in bad weather, as +was shown at a skirmish at Lechmere's Point. As the troops formed for +duty, cartridge boxes were examined, "when the melancholy truth +appeared."[124] Further, the men, from whom the lack of powder was +concealed, were fond of amusing themselves by indiscriminate shooting. +We find General Greene, in an order to his troops, threatening severe +punishment to those who shot at geese passing over the camp. And so, +with little acquisitions of powder, and steady depletion, Washington was +never for a day properly supplied. + +His difficulty in finding muskets, though never so great, was always +considerable. The gunsmiths of Philadelphia, who had been expected +speedily to equip his army, were not able to supply a satisfactory +portion of the arms required, so that Washington was reduced to sending +agents through the neighboring towns to buy guns. Their success was +small. He tried also to buy the muskets of those men who, on the +expiration of their term of service, went home. Here again the result +was poor, for the men, mindful of the possibility of militia service, +were very unwilling to part with their arms. + +Yet the men had an ineradicable propensity to dicker among themselves. +Arms and equipment changed hands in true Yankee fashion; even clothing +was traded in, and the camp, when the men were off duty, must at times +have been as busy as a market. Nothing better shows this than the diary +of David How, whose brief entries prove him to be a true New Englander. +Months later than Washington's first attempts to buy arms from the men, +we find entries as follows. + +"13 (January, 1776) I Bought a gun & Bayonet & Cateridge Box of Joseph +Jackson and gave 42/6 Lawfull Money for the Whole. I have been Makeing +Cateridges this Day.... + +"20 I Bought a frock & Trouses of Parley Macingtyre and give 6/Law. + +"22 Peter Gage Staid Hear Last Night and I bought 3 Pare of Shoes of him +@ 5/6 per pare + +"23 I sold a pare of Shoes for 6/8. + +"26 I Sold my Cateridge box For 4/6 Lawfull Money. + +"16 March I sold my gun to Timothy Jackson for Three pound Lawfull +Money." + +We see in David How, even when soldiering, the qualities which later +made him one of the richest men in Haverhill. The diary shows, also, +what appears to be the visit to the camp of a shoe pedler. Modern +disciplinarians would scarcely condone this, nor would they permit How's +opportunity of making money when cooking for his company. For he +writes:-- + +"24 day (January, 1776) I Cook this day & Bought 3 Barrels of Cyder for +9/per Barrel. + +"25 day I Bought 7 Bushels of Chesnuts & give 4 pisterens per bushel. + +"30 We have Sold Nuts and Cyder Every Day This Week." + +It was in the face of this well-nigh incorrigible tendency to make money +out of the situation that Washington struggled to turn his militiamen +into soldiers. We gather from his orderly books that he had difficulties +with disorders of many kinds, not the least of which were caused by the +visits of "pretended suttlers"[125] who sold bad rum. To check +drunkenness he licensed the sutlers and limited their activities, and +for general discipline he worked steadily to show officers and men alike +what was expected of them. And all the time he diligently tried to +purchase weapons, though with so little success that at last he even +took up the question of implements more primitive than muskets. There +was in camp a company of Stockbridge Indians, who were so successful as +to waylay a British sentry or two and kill them with arrows. Franklin, +perhaps taking the hint from this, wrote to prove that the long-bow +might be revived, but Washington would have none of it. Pikes, however, +whose use in European warfare was fairly recent, he would consider. A +number were ordered, and after them a second set of stronger make, the +first being "ridiculously short and light."[126] + +In October came to light the treason of Dr. Benjamin Church. As already +shown, he had for some time before the 19th of April been in +communication with Gage. On the 22d, when he went into Boston with the +knowledge of the Committee of Safety, he doubtless saw the general in +person. An occurrence now showed that he was writing to the British +commander, though his agency was not at first suspected. From Newport +came a letter, brought by an American patriot to whom it had been given +by a woman from Cambridge, who had requested to have it delivered to +some officer of the British vessel stationed in the harbor. The American +kept the letter, and, suspecting its purport, opened it. It was in +cipher. This in itself was suspicious, and the letter was brought to +Washington, who caused the woman to be arrested and questioned. At first +she was obstinate, but finally she named Church as the writer of the +letter. He in his turn was put under guard, but had had time to destroy +any papers that might betray him. The letter when deciphered proved to +give little information besides the numbers of the American forces. From +first to last Church had been of little value to Gage. + +But the army and country, as Washington wrote, were "exceedingly +irritated." Church was a man of pleasing address and ready language, and +had stood high in Boston for years. He had written Whig pamphlets, had +been an orator on the Massacre, and had served on many committees, +notably the Committee of Safety. In consequence he had been given the +highest office that a physician could look for, that of surgeon-general +to the army. Resentment at his betrayal was extreme, and Abigail Adams +was probably right when she wrote, "If he is set at liberty, even after +he has received a severe punishment, I do not think he will be safe." + +Church was not set free. As a member of the Massachusetts Congress he +was brought before the House, and allowed to make his defence, which was +elaborate and able. Church claimed that he was writing to his brother, +and that his intentions were harmless; but he was not believed, and was +expelled from the House. Later the Continental Congress adjudged him +guilty, and ordered him confined in jail. Released later on account of +his health, he was allowed to sail for the West Indies. His vessel was +never again heard from. + +This was Washington's foretaste of the treason of Arnold. It may have +disturbed him deeply, but of that he gave no sign. So far as we can see, +he dismissed the matter from his mind and went on with his work of +providing a way for assaulting the town. Congress desired this, the +country looked for it, and his own fiery nature urged him to the risk. + +On the 11th of September, having previously notified his generals that +he would lay the question before them, he had called a council of war, +and proposed an attack upon Boston. They were unanimously against it. +Now, in October, he again laid the matter before his council of war, and +reached practically the same result, General Greene alone thinking the +scheme practical, "if ten thousand men could be landed at Boston."[127] +If it is true that councils of war do not fight, the result was natural; +but the situation was a very difficult one. The British had made +Charlestown practically impregnable against anything except surprise, by +a powerful redoubt on Bunker Hill. As for Boston itself, it was +fortified at all prominent points, and was very strongly garrisoned by +veteran troops. The Neck could not be forced, and to cross in boats over +the Back Bay was a hazardous undertaking. It was common sense, +therefore, to wait until ice should make it possible to assault the town +at several points. With his wonderful patience Washington accepted the +situation, and contented himself with wishing that the British would +attack him. There were continual rumors that the British plan was laid, +and deserters frequently came from Boston prophesying a sally; but still +the regulars lay in their fastness, and did not move. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[104] One Massachusetts colonel, who had urgently applied to Ward for +permission to go to the Hill, but was refused, three times ignored the +order of Putnam to come to his assistance--Putnam being from +Connecticut. See Frothingham's "Siege," 168, note. + +[105] Adams Letters, 67. + +[106] Bancroft, iv, 583. + +[107] Bancroft, iv, 590. + +[108] These quotations are from Lodge's "Washington," i. + +[109] Adams Letters, 65. + +[110] Sparks, "Writings of Washington," iii, 1. + +[111] "Writings of Washington," iii, 491. + +[112] "Writings of Washington," iii, 23. + +[113] Lodge's "Washington," i, 138. + +[114] Trevelyan's "Revolution," Part 1, 378, footnote. + +[115] See Frothingham's "Siege," and Appendix III of Vol. 3 of the +"Writings of Washington." Both of these books quote Swett's "History of +Bunker Hill Battle." + +[116] "Writings of Washington," iii, 491. + +[117] "Writings of Washington," iii, 22. + +[118] _Ibid._, iii, 71. + +[119] Washington's correspondence with Major Christopher French is an +interesting instance of the patience of a great man with the impatience +of a small one. + +[120] The letters that passed between Washington and Gage, and later +between him and Howe, are to be found in the volumes of his "Writings," +and make interesting reading. Washington had at this time no prisoners +in his hands other than those taken as described, because the prisoners +of the 19th of April had been exchanged on the 6th of June. + +[121] Fonblanque's "Burgoyne." + +[122] "Writings of Washington," iii. + +[123] "Writings of Washington," iii. + +[124] _Ibid._ + +[125] Henshaw's "Orderly Book." + +[126] _Ibid._ + +[127] Trevelyan's "Revolution," Part I. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +EVENTS IN BOSTON FROM JUNE TO DECEMBER, 1775 + + +The history of events in Boston after the battle of Bunker Hill is of a +quite different tenor from that which we have just been considering. +From the time when the wounded, and the more distinguished of the dead, +were carried over from Charlestown on the evening of the seventeenth of +June, the sober truth struck home, not yet to the Tories and the common +run of officers, but to the generals. They were in a tight place, from +which it would be difficult to escape with credit. + +They might--and some of them did--reckon it out by common arithmetic. If +it cost a thousand men to take a hill, and required another thousand to +garrison it when taken, how much could the British army master of the +rolling country that lay before its eyes? Beyond the exit from either +peninsula the next hill was already fortified, and the Americans +prepared to "sell it at the same price."[128] + +The British generals wrote very plainly in explaining the situation to +their superiors at home. To be sure, Gage was a trifle disingenuous in +reviewing the past. While admitting that the recent trials at arms +proved the rebels "not the despicable rabble too many have supposed them +to be," he ignored his original boast concerning lions and lambs. In +stating that in all previous wars the Americans had never showed so much +"conduct, attention, and perseverance," he admitted his ignorance of +colonial history. But Gage was endeavoring to salve his smart and +conceal his own shame. + +Burgoyne, with nothing to palliate, wrote very frankly. "Look, my Lord," +he said to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, "upon the country +near Boston. It is all fortification." His mathematics has been already +quoted; he adds that the army had nothing for transport in an active +campaign of any duration. Proceeding, he delicately points out that Gage +was not the man for the situation, and laments again that the general +had no means of knowing what passed in the American councils, or even +within the American lines. + +This is but another proof, if one were needed, of the poor use to which +Church had put his opportunities. Surely he, as Arnold later, sold his +soul to little purpose. Few things in this campaign are more honorable +to America than the fact that Washington's most precious secret, his +lack of powder, though known to many, never came to the ears of the +British generals. One may question if the truth, if told, would have +been believed, for men of Gage and Howe's training could scarcely +suppose a man capable of such daring and dogged obstinacy as to hold his +post before them without powder, or guns, or, as it finally turned out, +almost without men. But no statement has been made that the commanders +heard even rumors of Washington's difficulties. + +After Bunker Hill, then, the British generals plainly saw that they +could never campaign successfully with Boston as a base. As to what +should best be done, Gage had no idea; Burgoyne, however, was ready with +a plan. He proposed to keep in Boston as small a garrison, supported by +as small a fleet, as could safely be left, and to send the rest of the +troops and ships to harry the coast. This proposition, if by the vague +term of chastisement he meant the burning of defenceless towns, was +unworthy of Burgoyne; but when later he proposed with this detached +force to occupy Rhode Island, doubtless using Newport as a base, he +outlined a plan which, if followed, would have seriously embarrassed the +Americans. But the advice was not taken, and for months the British +generals contented themselves with wishing they were at New York, +without taking any steps toward going there. + +One thing at least they should have done. It will be remembered that +the American occupancy of Bunker Hill had been precipitated by knowledge +of a British plan to take Dorchester Heights. This plan of Gage's was +not abandoned after the battle. It is spoken of in a letter of +Burgoyne's, and is laid down as a part of his scheme to make Boston +secure while his marauding fleet menaced southern New England. We are +even able to suppose that feeble moves toward seizing the Heights were +twice made. Once a couple of regiments, on transports, dropped down the +channel; and once two regiments were withdrawn from Charlestown to +Boston, with various companies from the castle. Lieutenant Barker gives +the reason why in the latter case nothing was done: "the Genl. hearing +that they had got intelligence and reinforced that place with 4000 men." +But this is mere rumor; the Americans had not yet sent any troops into +Dorchester. This leaves us very much in the dark as to why the Heights +were not occupied; but occupied they were not; the plan receives no +further mention, and though from month to month the British watched +Washington seizing posts ever nearer to Boston, they behaved in all +respects as if he were under pledge to avoid Dorchester. + +Gage's chief activity was in fortifying. He strengthened his existing +works, and entrenched himself particularly well at Bunker Hill. As the +American redoubt was of little value to the British, they made their +main defence upon the top of the higher hill, and mounted guns to sweep +Charlestown Neck and the country beyond. Little by little both Gage and +his successor strengthened this post, cutting down trees for abatis, and +making advanced posts similar to those at Boston Neck. Before the end of +the siege it was the strongest British post, and Washington knew better +than to molest it, especially when he had a better move to make. + +Actual military operations were trifling. In retaliation for an American +attack, on the 30th of July the regulars made a sally from Boston +toward Roxbury, drove in the American advance guard, and burnt a house +or two. The undertaking appears to have been without object, and +resulted in nothing except some harmless cannonading. At other times +armed boats ventured along the Cambridge shore, or tried the rivers, +always to be sent back by the bullets of Yankee sharpshooters. When the +Virginia riflemen appeared, however, there was less of this diversion. +These men, finding themselves debarred from the larger field operations, +resolved at least to get something in return for their long march. So +they set themselves to watch for the appearance of British exploring +parties, and even stalked the sentries. The officers indignantly +complained that this was not war according to rule, but both they and +their sentries took care not to expose themselves. The largest operation +undertaken by the British was at the approach of winter, when early in +November they sent a small force to Lechmere's Point, at a time when a +very high tide had converted the place into an island. They took a few +cows, and lost a couple of men; on retiring they pointed to the American +unwillingness to attack them, but this, as we have already learned, was +on account of the spoiled cartridges. + +All these operations, it will be seen, took place practically within the +limits of the Back Bay and its adjacent waters, into which flowed the +Charles River and a few creeks. Once or twice British boats tried to +explore the Mystic, but with the coming of the riflemen that diversion +stopped. When finally the Yankees dragged whale-boats to the Mystic and +Charles, and began building floating batteries on their own account, +British curiosity as to the American shore-line lapsed entirely. + +Down the harbor Gage did nothing, except to send, tardily, to repel +American expeditions. We have seen that the British could not save the +lighthouse. The Yankee fishermen now took occasion to remove from the +islands the hay and live stock which they had not taken before Bunker +Hill. Their activities drew from Burgoyne an indignant letter. + +"It may be asked in England, 'What is the Admiral doing?' + +"I wish I were able to answer that question satisfactorily, but I can +only say what he is _not_ doing. + +"That he is _not_ supplying us with sheep and oxen, the dinners of the +best of us bear meagre testimony; the state of our hospitals bears a +more melancholy one. + +"He is _not_ defending his own flocks and herds, for the enemy have +repeatedly plundered his own islands. + +"He is _not_ defending the other islands in the harbour, for the enemy +in force landed from a great number of boats, and burned the lighthouse +at noonday (having first killed or taken the party of marines which was +posted there) almost under the guns of two or three men-of-war. + +"He is _not_ employing his ships to keep up communication and +intelligence with the King's servants and friends at different parts of +the continent, for I do not believe that General Gage has received a +letter from any correspondent out of Boston these six weeks. + +"He is intent upon greater objects, you will think,--supporting in the +great points the dignity of the British flag,--and where a number of +boats have been built for the enemy; privateers fitted out; prizes +carried in; the King's armed vessels sunk; the crews made prisoners; the +officers killed,--he is doubtless enforcing instant restitution and +reparation by the voice of his cannon and laying the towns in ashes that +refuse his terms? Alas! he is not."[129] + +Burgoyne finishes his indictment by lumping with the admiral's +inefficiencies the weaknesses of quartermaster-generals, +adjutant-generals, secretaries, and commissaries. In all this we catch a +glimpse of one result of the king's policy, which was to reward his +friends and rebuke his enemies. Since he classed with his enemies the +Whigs who were at home, he had only Tories to draw from. From them came +Admiral Graves, and the crowd of incompetents who filled offices in +America. The royal service was now paying the piper. + +One result Burgoyne has noted very plainly, in the lack of fresh +provision. The admiral could have protected the stock on the harbor +islands, and without unnecessary violence could have seized provisions +from the shore towns. This, however, he did not do, and we soon find the +army complaining of its fare. It was not that the commissary was +negligent; even the moneyed officers were at times unable to satisfy +their desire for fresh meat, the supply of which was uncertain. For lack +of hay, the milk supply soon disappeared, since cows could not be fed +and had to be killed. Cheerful news came to the American camp that the +venerable town bull had been sold for beef. The army even tired of its +supply of fish, which, to be sure, never was great, though then as now +Boston lay close to good fishing grounds. Salt pork was the main +reliance, and before the middle of the summer the army had had +altogether too much of that. + +In consequence of this restricted diet the wounded from Bunker Hill died +in great numbers. Of the wounded American prisoners very few survived. +Some, as Washington heard, were operated on in the common jail, in which +most of them were confined, and where the chances of their recovery were +slight. They fared "very hard," said John Leach, who had opportunity to +know; not one of them survived amputation. As to the rest, there can be +no question that they were badly treated. Their doctor complained that +they had had no bread for two days; the Provost replied "they might eat +the Nail Heads, and knaw the plank and be damn'd."[130] Their more +fortunate fellow-prisoners, who were not taken in arms and who received +food from their families in Boston, sent the Bunker Hill prisoners what +comforts they could bribe the soldiers to take to them; but, says +Leach's diary, "they have no Wood for days together, to Warm their +Drink, and dying men drink them cold." By the 21st of September eighteen +out of twenty-nine prisoners had died in the jail. + +Yet even the British wounded showed a high mortality. This was largely +on account of the food, which, although it was the best that was to be +had, was none too good for suffering men. The high death rate was in +part due to the American marksmanship, which caused many body wounds. +What with such wounds, and such food, and the unaccustomed heat, there +were so many deaths among the wounded that it was seriously stated that +the American bullets were poisoned. + +There was, then, considerable discontent among the British soldiery. Of +it at one time the Americans took ingenious advantage. When the wind was +setting toward the British lines at Charlestown, the Americans at the +Medford lines scattered handbills that were driven to the British +sentries. On the bills was to be read a comparison intended to increase +British discontent. It ran:-- + + + PROSPECT HILL BUNKER'S HILL + I. Seven dollars a I. Three pence a + month. day. + II. Fresh provisions II. Rotten salt pork. + and in plenty. + III. Health. III. The scurvy. + IV. Freedom, ease, IV. Slavery, beggary, + affluence, and and want. + a good farm. + + +These handbills thus coming into the hands of the privates were passed +about secretly, until the officers got wind of the device, and +complained to the Americans. The retort was that the British themselves +had already been tempting sentries to desert. This deserting did go on +throughout the siege, from either side, though it would seem as if more +of the British fled from their service. Into whichever lines they went, +the deserters always brought highly colored tales to buy their welcome. +The leaders very soon learned how little reliance could be placed upon +such information. "We ought not to catch at such shadows as that. We +have nothing under God to depend upon, but our own strength."[131] + +If the British private was discontented, that was his habit; and though +the officers grumbled as well, they had comparatively little to complain +of. To be sure, the food was coarse, but it was plentiful. Even the +unaccustomed heat would seem comfortable to a Bostonian of to-day. The +marine officers had more pleasant conditions, with their open ports and +harbor breezes, and decks frequently sluiced with water. But the town +itself had no tall buildings or confined spaces; generally speaking, it +was open from water to water, with plentiful shade. Boston in 1775 must +have been as cool as its own summer resorts of the twentieth century. + +The Tories, at least, found it bearable. They were accustomed to the +summer heat, and knew themselves much better off than the unfortunate +members of their party who had been unable to escape to the British +lines. Many of the country Tories were confined to their estates, and +forbidden to communicate with each other. "I wish to God," wrote Samuel +Paine, "all our friends were here out of the hands of such Villains." +Compared with such treatment, serenades by thirteen-inch mortars and +twenty-four pounders were apparently trifling--though the ladies did not +think so. One, writing of the skirmish on the night of July 30, spoke of +the "most dreadful cannonading," and "the apprehensions that naturally +seize every one, either of the enemy breaking in, or the town being set +on fire."[132] Even Samuel Paine saw the serious side of the situation. +"These," he asks, "are Governor Hutchinson's countrymen that would not +fight, are they?" + +It was because he realized that fight they would, "and like the devil," +that he and others considered enlisting in the various corps which were +organized in the town. According to Frothingham, who could find no +statistics of the numbers of Tory volunteers, there were at least three +corps formed: the Loyal American Associators under Timothy Ruggles, the +Loyal Irish Volunteers under James Forrest, and the Royal Fencible +Americans under Colonel Graham.[133] According to Samuel Paine, there +was a fourth corps, but it is not named. A commission in one of these +organizations was particularly attractive, as the service was expected +to be short, and at its expiration the officers were to go upon half +pay. Further, the duties were very light, being confined to drilling and +patrolling the town. In the military events of the siege these corps +took no part whatever. + +It must be remembered, however, that out of this situation England did +gain some valuable soldiers. The mettle of a few of the Tories was shown +at Bunker Hill, where they went as individual volunteers, and served +with the troops. Others, disdaining the toy-soldiering of their +friends, seized the chance to join the regular army, and fought in it +throughout the war, or until their deaths. Such men were John Coffin, +Leverett Saltonstall, and the two Thomas Gilberts. + +Yet men of this quality were few, and at least at this stage of the war +the Tories were of little service to their king. Most of them were +content to wait until the time when the regulars should scatter the +besiegers and conduct the loyalists to their homes. Meanwhile they +enjoyed the society into which they were thrown. "We have here," wrote +Samuel Paine, "Earls, Lords, and Baronets, I assure you Names that Sound +grand." These names did bring to the Tories a fair amount of social +gayety. Mrs. Gage was at the head of her own little circle, not always +enjoyed by those who could not forget her American birth. There were +other groups of ladies who, whether English or Tory, contrived to make +the time pass pleasantly for themselves and for the men. With few +responsibilities, and with confidence in the future, the loyalists had a +pleasant enough summer, and saw ahead of them a comfortable winter. + +The situation of the Whigs was not so enjoyable. Before Bunker Hill, +every one of them who could leave Boston had done so. But there were +many of them left, and among them were a number of the more respectable +and prominent of the Whigs. None of them wrote letters, and few indeed +kept diaries; there is, therefore, a notable lack of information +concerning their doings. We do know, however, that they were at a great +disadvantage as against their Tory acquaintances. No privileges of the +commissary were theirs, and no favors were to be had from the military +authorities. When there was fresh meat in the town the Whigs could get +little of it without repudiating their political creed; when the supply +was scant, the Whigs went without. "They even denied us," wrote John +Andrews, looking back upon this period, "the privilege of buying the +surplusage of the soldiers' rations." Even before Bunker Hill he had +written, "It's hard to stay cooped up here and feed upon salt +provisions, more especially without one's wife.... Pork and beans one +day, and beans and pork another, and fish when we can catch it." +Throughout the summer the situation was little bettered. "A loaf of +bread the size we formerly gave three pence for, thought ourselves well +off to get for a shilling. Butter at two shillings. Milk, for months +without tasting any." + +There were certain Whigs whose experiences were more grim. To Gage, +always in fear of betrayal to the enemy, there came rumors pointing to +men whose known sentiments, or whose actions, subjected them to +suspicion. Among these were one Carpenter, a barber, who had swum to +Cambridge and back; one "Dorrington, his son and maid, for blowing up +flies"[134]; but particularly John Leach and James Lovell, +schoolmasters, with Peter Edes, printer, and his father's partner, John +Gill. All of these four were obnoxious to the Tories, being outspoken +Whigs and teachers of sedition, whether in their schools or their +publications. One by one they were imprisoned in the common jail, and +held there during various terms. Their treatment was harsh and +ungenerous, held in close neighborhood with felons and loose livers, and +not informed of what they were accused. Leach and Edes kept diaries when +in prison. "From the 2d July to the 17th," writes Leach, "a Complicated +scene of Oaths, Curses, Debauchery, and the most horrid Blasphemy, +committed by the Provost Marshal, his Deputy and Soldiers, who were our +guard, Soldier prisoners, and sundry soldier women, confined for Thefts, +&c.... When our Wives, Children, and Friends came to see us, (which was +seldom they were permitted) we seemed to want them gone, notwithstanding +we were desirous of their Company, as they were exposed to hear the most +abandon'd language, as was grating to the ears of all sober persons." +This Leach suspected to be intentional, but the offensive actions and +words were incessant, especially on Sundays. + +On the 17th Leach's son died, "whom I left well in my house"; but he was +not allowed to attend the funeral, nor to be tried, nor dismissed. Three +weeks after he and Lovell had been put in jail they first learned of +what they were accused: Lovell of "being a Spy, and giving intelligence +to the rebels," and Leach of "being a spy, and suspected of taking +plans." Their examination was a farce, the witness against them not +knowing them apart. They were remanded to jail, and lay there until +October. Lovell fell sick, and got a little better food, but no +attention from his jailers--"no Compassion toward him any more than a +Dog." On the same day Leach noted that the Provost "Cursed and Damned my +little Child, for a Damn'd Rebel; he even Trembles at bringing my Diet." +Lovell grew better, and the vexatious treatment continued with petty +tyrannies. At last, although no trial had yet been held, Edes, Gill, +and Leach were released upon sureties of two inhabitants that they would +not leave the town. + +Lovell was kept in jail. He was son of Master John Lovell of the Latin +School, in which he was usher until the opening of the war. His frank +utterances had so incensed the authorities that they kept him in prison +until the end of the siege, and then carried him with them to Halifax. +His father was a Tory, and, so far as the diaries of the prison mates +show, made no attempt to visit his son in prison. James Lovell was +exchanged in the summer of 1776. + +Through Edes' prison diary, and the brief jottings which pass for the +journal of Timothy Newell, selectman, we get a glimpse of a turncoat. +The incident in which he figures is the only one that caused Newell, who +gave a scant hundred and twenty-five words to Bunker Hill battle, to +write at any length. One John Morrison, formerly minister at +Peterborough, New Hampshire, had been "obliged," says Edes, "to quit his +people on account of his scandalous behaviour." He joined the +provincial army, and is said to have fought at Bunker Hill; but a week +later he joined the British with the usual misstatements of the American +intentions. In the middle of September, Morrison moved for permission to +use for his services the Brattle Street Church, "Dr. Cooper's +Meetinghouse," of which Timothy Newell was a member of the parish +committee. Newell, "with an emotion of resentment," roundly refused to +deliver the key to Morrison and his friends, and made his way into the +presence of the governor, where he stated that Morrison was a man of +infamous character. But the turncoat had respectable backers. Gage +required the key of Newell, and got it; and Morrison held at least one +service in the church. It was to this service, on the 17th of September, +that Edes was conducted, doubtless as a privilege, and heard a political +sermon on the ingratitude of the provincials. Edes remarked that the +Tories present affected to grin, but it was horribly, with a ghastly +smile. The newspapers, however, called it an excellent discourse to a +genteel audience, and announced regular services. Morrison, still +contemptuously styled the deserter, figures again in Newell's diary in +November, when he informed against an old Dutch woman for trying to +carry out of town more money than her permit allowed. His profit on this +was ten dollars. When winter approached, the Brattle Street Church was +taken for use as a barracks, and Morrison got himself a place in the +commissary department, which perhaps was more to his liking than +sermonizing.[135] + +The interview with Newell gives us a glimpse of Gage in almost the last +of his troubles with the stiff-necked Bostonians. Less than a fortnight +later[136] he received word from London that the king desired his +presence, in order to consult upon future operations. Probably the +unlucky commander saw in the message the end of his commission, but he +went as one expecting to return. As was customary, he was presented with +adulatory addresses, and on October 10 departed in state. His welcome in +England was not so stately. The king did give him an interview, and +listened attentively to his explanations, but it was popularly suggested +that the unsuccessful general be created Lord Lexington, Baron of Bunker +Hill. Gage's command was not restored to him, and he never again went on +active service. + +One legacy indeed he left, perhaps the worst act of his administration +and the most far-reaching, although the personal blame does not lie with +Gage himself. On the 4th of October he sent out a small fleet of vessels +which accomplished more harm than good. It skirmished with privateers, +and eventually, reaching Falmouth, now Portland in Maine, but then in +Massachusetts territory, attempted to levy upon the town. Captain +Mowatt, the commander, picked a quarrel with the inhabitants, and +finding them unyielding, burnt their village. The blame lies between +Mowatt and Admiral Graves, both of whom had grudges against the town on +account of a previous incident. The ministry repudiated the act, but the +fact is undeniable that it was within the spirit of the instructions +given to a later expedition, to "destroy any towns" that would not +submit.[137] The effect on the Americans, however, was very far from +teaching submission. The news of the burning of Falmouth did as much as +any other event to impress the provincials with the impossibility of an +agreement with the king. + +In Gage's place now stood Howe, on whom the British hopes centred. +According to the Tory Samuel Paine, Howe united the spirit of a Wolfe +with the genius of a Marlborough. Without prizing him quite so highly, +both the army and the administration looked to Howe for action and +results. It seemed to them that now at last something must happen. + +But Howe, though with a willing army at his back, disciplined and well +equipped, did nothing. He strengthened the Charlestown lines and the +fort on Bunker Hill, he improved the defences at Boston Neck, and he +began various batteries on Beacon Hill and the shores of the Common. He +demolished a number of buildings in the north end of the town, in order +to make communication between his posts more direct. But except for the +little expedition across the Back Bay to Lechmere's Point, which netted +a few cows, Howe attempted no offensive operations. As already shown, +the regulars returned from Lechmere's Point as soon as the provincials +assembled in numbers, and no attempt was made to hold the little hill. +Other skirmishes there were from time to time, but these were +insignificant, and they were all. + +The fact is that Howe's opinion coincided exactly with those of Gage and +Burgoyne. The country was too strong to be forced, especially since the +Americans had spent a summer on their entrenchments. There was no +profit in taking a rebel fort if the army and its situation were to be +weakened thereby. Howe looked with longing eyes toward New York, took up +Burgoyne's idea of a post in Rhode Island, and believed that if he had +twenty thousand men holding all three positions the rebels would be +beaten. But such an army was not forthcoming, and the question arose +whether he had best stay in Boston or go to New York. In reply to +questions from the ministry, Howe pointed out that he had not a large +enough fleet to convey himself, his stores, and the Tories, from the +place. It was therefore understood that more ships and men should be +supplied him in the spring, and that meanwhile he should go into winter +quarters. + +This was done. Buildings in the town were arranged to accommodate the +troops, two of the churches being fitted up for this purpose. The tents +were struck, and the army made itself snug. Howe busied himself with +routine matters of the camp, and refused to budge. Though Washington +first fortified Cobble Hill in Somerville, the nearest he had yet come +to the British posts, and though after that he came a step nearer, +seizing Lechmere's Point, Howe simply fired from cannon, but made no +attempt to storm the works. The cannonading merely inured the Americans +to danger, and seeing that it did them good rather than harm, Howe +presently stopped it. Washington, perhaps not aware of the strength of +his own position, declared himself "unable, upon any principle +whatever," to account for Howe's inaction. He suspected it might be +intended to lull him into a false sense of security, but resolved to be +more vigilant than ever. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[128] This expression is ascribed to General Nathanael Greene. + +[129] Fonblanque's "Burgoyne," 197-198. + +[130] Leach's "Journal." + +[131] William T. Miller, of Newport, R.I., to his wife Lydia. Mass. +Hist. and Gen. Register, 1855. + +[132] Frothingham's "Siege," 230. + +[133] _Ibid._, 279. + +[134] This obscure diversion caused the Dorringtons to be suspected of +signalling at night to the rebels. + +[135] Leach's and Edes' "Journals," N. E. Hist. and Gen. Register, 1865; +Newell's "Journal," Mass. Hist. Soc. Collections, i, series iv; +Frothingham's "Siege," 239; Sabine's "Loyalists." + +[136] September 26. + +[137] Instructions for Clinton's expedition to the southward. +Frothingham's "Siege," 292. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +WASHINGTON'S DIFFICULTIES + + +The situation at Boston in the fall of 1775 presents an interesting +comparison: two generals of opposing armies, each ready to welcome an +attack, but each unable to deliver one. The difference between the two, +and the fact which determined the outcome, was in the natures of the two +men. Howe, from a certain sluggishness of disposition, was content to +sit tight, and wait until the government at home should send him his +relief. Though at each move his enemy came nearer, Howe still appeared +to believe that Dorchester was safe from seizure, and was content so to +believe. But Washington was not satisfied to be still. His nature urged +him to action, and though he knew himself too weak for an assault, he +constantly schemed and worked to put his army into condition to strike. + +In some ways his organization was already complete. He had under him +many of the men who were to serve him through the war. To be sure, he +had Charles Lee, "the worst present that could be made to any army;" but +Lee's part in the siege was slight, for Washington frequently employed +him for distant undertakings. Gates was still present also, but in a +subordinate capacity. And another of those who, before the war was over, +did their best to wreck the American cause, was present for a while in +the person of Benedict Arnold, already distinguished by his share in the +taking of Ticonderoga. Early in September, however, Arnold was sent on +his fruitless mission against Quebec. + +But besides these men, not one of whom had as yet proved his weakness, +Washington had already at his back some of the best soldiers whom the +war produced. Among the higher officers were Putnam, Thomas, Sullivan, +Heath, and more particularly Greene. Of lower grade were Stark, Morgan, +Prescott, and, not yet well known, Knox, the Boston bookseller whom we +have seen endeavoring to prevent the Massacre, who had studied tactics +in his own volumes and at the manoeuvres of the regulars, and who had +escaped from Boston just before the 17th of June. There were yet others +who were destined to distinguish themselves, and Washington knew that he +had, among his officers, as courageous and intelligent soldiers as were +to be found anywhere. + +Yet they were but a nucleus, while his supplies remained few and poor, +and the organization of the army unsatisfactory. As the winter +approached, Washington looked forward uneasily to the expiration of the +terms of enlistment of his troops. Some would lapse in December, the +rest at the first of January. His regiments were not uniform in size, +and they retained too much of the provincial jealousy which had already +troubled him, and which had perhaps lost Bunker Hill. It was very +evident to him that an entirely new army should be organized. + +It was therefore welcome to him that Congress should send a committee +to help him in the matter of reorganization. On October 18 the +committee, with Franklin at its head, met with Washington, his staff, +and delegates from the four colonies which until now had, practically +alone, been prosecuting the siege. The subject had been already +discussed by the council of war, and the little convention was made +acquainted with the discrepancies in the organizations of the different +regiments, and the needs of the army. It was decided to reduce the +number of regiments from thirty-eight to twenty-six. This meant not so +much to reduce the number of men as the number of officers. The term of +reënlistment was to be one year, and the delegates assured Washington +that he could count on twenty thousand men from Massachusetts, eight +thousand from Connecticut, three thousand from New Hampshire, and +fifteen hundred from Rhode Island. The regiments were to be uniform in +size, consisting of eight companies each; besides regular infantry, +there were to be riflemen and artillery. A system for clothing and +supplying the army was agreed upon. When the little convention had +broken up, the Committee from Congress remained for a few days, revising +the articles of war, considering the disposition of naval prizes, and +discussing a number of minor topics. Upon the committee's return to +Philadelphia, its actions were ratified by Congress.[138] + +Washington then set himself with new assurance to his task. Thanks to +the convention, he felt that he had a united country at his back, and +that much had been done to dissipate colonial jealousies. These are +surprising to us of to-day: one is astonished to find Greene seriously +assuring "the gentlemen from the southward" that the four New England +colonies, as soon as they had conquered King George, would not turn +their arms against the South. Yet had there been any such intention, the +New Englanders already had their hands full with the British, and +Washington was by no means out of the woods. On paper he had an +excellent organization; but in fact, everything was still to be done. + +With the approach of winter, the first task was to house his army. This +was gradually accomplished, and the regiments went into their winter +quarters. For a time, however, there was a scarcity of food and fuel. +This was due, not to a lack of either, but to the weakness in the system +of providing for them. For some weeks there was distress and discontent; +at times we are told that the troops ate their provision raw, and most +of the orchards and shade trees within the camp were cut down for fuel. +Washington vigorously represented the state of the case to the +Massachusetts congress; he gave permission to cut wood in private +wood-lots, promising payment; and finally the need was met. The towns +sent generous supplies of wood to the camp, rations were provided in +plenty, and the only period of hardship which the Americans endured was +safely passed before the winter set in. + +There was not much for the army to do when once the barracks were built +and new quarters taken. The work of fortifying Lechmere's Point went on +slowly, on account of the frost; it was not until the end of February +that the redoubt was completed, and its guns mounted. But the troops +were drilled, and were kept busy in perfecting the fortifications. +Washington seized every chance to improve his defences, as we see him +when planning new redoubts to guard against the possibility of a sortie +from the Neck.[139] + +The news of the burning of Falmouth reached Washington on the 24th of +October, and greatly roused his indignation. As it was expected that the +British fleet might next descend upon Portsmouth, he sent General +Sullivan thither, with orders to put the harbor in a state of defence, +and at all events to save the small store of powder which had been +brought into that place. This was a capture by the little navy. +Mowatt's fleet, however, made no attempt upon Portsmouth, and presently +returned to Boston. Feeling temporarily secure against further +depredations upon the coast, Washington put his whole energy into the +reorganization of his army. + +The period from the end of November until the early part of February was +one of the hardest in Washington's career. His difficulties were those +which we have seen already, want of powder and want of arms, but to them +was added the great fear of a lack of men. As to powder, its supply +still fluctuated, small quantities coming in irregularly, and being +steadily used in equally niggardly amounts, or slowly spoiling in the +soldiers' pouches. Muskets were still scanty, and Washington saw no hope +except in buying those of his soldiers whose terms were about to expire, +or in sending agents through the neighboring towns to secure what they +could find. There was a corresponding lack of cannon, bayonets, flints, +and small appurtenances. + +But weaknesses of this kind were nothing as compared with the +threatened weakness in men. Washington was deeply disappointed at his +failure to recruit his newly planned army. Although the delegates of the +provinces had promised him full regiments, the new recruiting system +seemed to fail almost entirely. The general presently perceived several +distinct factors that were working against its success. + +In the first place, the new plan provided for fewer officers in the new +army. Many of the provincial regiments, especially those of +Massachusetts, had been over-officered, and now, when the number of +regiments was less by twelve, it was evident that scores of officers +must either accept lower rank or leave the army entirely. It was found +that most of those who could not obtain equal rank were unwilling to +remain, and that they were influencing their men to leave the army with +them. + +Besides this, provincial jealousies worked strongly in this matter of +officers. Massachusetts officers who had been forced out of service +might have found places in the Connecticut regiments, but the soldiers +of the other colony would have none of them. For each company and each +platoon held firmly to the old idea that it must be consulted concerning +its officers, and no private would consent to be commanded by a man from +another colony. This alone made plentiful trouble. + +Finally the men themselves had ideas of their own as to whether they +cared to enlist. To begin with, the shrewd among them reckoned that if +they only held out long enough they might secure bounties for +reënlisting. Some were finicky as to their officers, and waited until +they should be satisfied. And most of them perceived that as a reward +for patriotism they might at least receive furloughs, and stood out for +them. + +The details of the work of enlisting were very obscure and complicated. +It was found that officers were endeavoring to recruit their own +companies, and in their zeal had enrolled men who were already +registered elsewhere. Outsiders, anxious for commissions, were +similarly forming companies, and presenting them for acceptance. +Washington steadily refused to receive such unauthorized organizations. +And finally it was suspected that many men who had given in their names +had no intention of serving. + +What would make their defection more certain was the irregularity of +pay. Congress had appropriated sums of money, but the currency reached +Washington slowly. It was very singular, he complained, that the signers +of the scrip could not keep pace with his needs. Further, Congress had a +very imperfect idea of the magnitude of his legitimate needs; the +appropriations were niggardly. As the new year approached, when it was +important that the men should be paid, and receive assurance of further +pay, Washington wrote to urge more remittances, that the soldiers might +be satisfied. + +Even the crews of the little navy gave Washington no peace. His "plague, +trouble, and vexation" with them he was unable to express; he believed +that there was not on earth a more disorderly set. One crew deserted, +and its vessel was docked. + +To be sure, there were moments of satisfaction in these dreary weeks of +trial. Certain of the rejected officers rose above their +disappointments. One of these was Colonel Whitcomb, who was not given a +regiment in the new establishment. At this his men became so +dissatisfied that they decided not to enlist at all. Colonel Whitcomb, +in order to persuade them to remain, announced his willingness to enlist +as a private. The situation was saved by Colonel Jonathan Brewer, who +offered his command to Colonel Whitcomb. Washington, in a general order, +thanked both of the officers. Brewer was made Barrack-Master, "until +something better worth his acceptance can be provided."[140] + +Other relief was provided by captures of British vessels. Of great +importance to both armies was the capture of the _Nancy_, an ordnance +brig with a complete cargo of military supplies--saving only powder. So +valuable did Washington consider the capture that he at once sent four +companies to the spot where the stores were landed, impressed teams for +transportation, and called out the neighboring militia lest Howe should +make an effort to recover the royal property. The British were on their +part greatly disgusted at the loss of the brig, not merely as weakening +them, but also as strengthening the enemy. The chief prize on the ship +was a thirteen-inch brass mortar, which on its arrival in camp was +greeted with acclamation, and by means of a bottle of rum was solemnly +christened the Congress. + +It was about this time that Washington had the satisfaction of being +joined by his wife. There had been a suggestion that her residence on +the Potomac was not safe, but even before the naval raids Washington +had begun to suggest her joining him. She arrived on the 11th of +December, and resided until the end of the siege with him at his +headquarters in the old house still standing on Brattle Street, +Cambridge. The house has had an interesting history, having been built +by the Tory Vassalls, occupied by the Marblehead regiment, by +Washington, by Dr. Andrew Craigie, surgeon at Bunker Hill, by Jared +Sparks, Edward Everett, Noah Webster, and by the poet Longfellow, whose +family still owns it. The quarters were for Washington central and +pleasant; they gave him his last taste of home life for years. + +[Illustration: WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS] + +Yet we are not to imagine him at any time free of difficulties. With +December began his troubles with the Connecticut troops, whose +enlistment had expired. In spite of previous promises to remain until +their places were filled, and against orders to leave their weapons, +many of the Connecticut men tried to slip away, guns and all. Washington +frequently speaks of them in his letters of the first half of December. +In securing their return he was well aided by the officers, and by the +aged but still energetic Governor Trumbull, who heard of the actions of +his men with "grief, surprise, and indignation." Trumbull called the +assembly of Connecticut together to consider the situation, but action +was forestalled by the people of the different towns. The hint that the +soldiers had best return voluntarily, lest they be sent back with a +feathered adornment that nature had not provided, was sufficient to +hurry most of them back to their service. + +No sooner had this matter been smoothed over, than Washington had to +meet the general situation, when on the first of January most of the +enlistments would expire. For some weeks he had been anxiously watching +the returns of the enlistments, and the figures frequently plunged him +into depression. On the 28th of November, finding that but thirty-five +hundred men had enlisted, he wrote: "Such a dearth of public spirit, +such stock-jobbing, and such fertility in all the low arts to obtain +advantages of one kind or another, in this great change of military +arrangement, I never saw before, and pray God's mercy I may never be +witness to again." A week later he found himself under obligations to +give furlough to fifteen hundred men a week, in order to satisfy them. +To fill their places and those of the Connecticut troops, he called on +Massachusetts and New Hampshire for five thousand militia. By the middle +of December scarcely six thousand men had enlisted, and on Christmas Day +only eight thousand five hundred. On New Year's Day his army, which was +to have been at least twenty thousand men, was not quite half that +number. + +Under such circumstances many a weaker man would have thrown up his +office or abandoned his post. Washington stuck to his task. If Howe +would but remain inactive, the laggard country would in time retrieve +itself. As a matter of fact, many of the soldiers, after a brief period +of liberty, returned of their own accord to the standard. We find at +least one case in the diary of David How, which, in addition to +revealing his actions, gives a glimpse of the camp at the end of the +year, when many of the men were going away, and the others were joining +their new regiments. + +"This Day," writes How on the 30th of December, "we paraded and had our +guns took from us By the Major to prise them. + +"31. This Day we have been In an uprore about packun our Things up In +order to go home a Monday morning as Soon as we Can. + +"Jan 1. We have ben all Day a pecking up our Things For to go home. + +"2d we all Left Cambridg this morning I went to mr. Granger and staid +all night. + +"3d I went to methuen. + +"5d I went to Haver hill to by some Leather for Bretches. + +"6 day I come to Andover and Staid at Mr. osgoods. + +"7 day I come to Cambridge about Six a Clock at Night. + +"Jany the 8 1776 This Day I Began with Mr. Watson.... + +"Jan 14.[141] This Day I wint to Cobble Hill & to Litchmor point and to +prospeck hill & So Home again. Nothing new. + +"22. I listed with Leut David Chandler in Coln Sergant Regment." + +And so David How, veteran of Bunker Hill, and doubtless many other young +men, found the lure of the camp, and let us say the chance to serve the +country, too much to withstand. Freedom to earn their own wages, and to +stroll about the fortifications on Sundays, were not to be measured +against the romance of soldiering and the hope of battle. + +This same New Year's Day, 1776, occurred an event of importance in the +hoisting of the flag with the thirteen stripes. Previously the colonies +had used different devices, in the South a rattlesnake flag with the +motto, "Don't tread on me," and for the Connecticut troops the colony +arms and the motto _Qui transtulit sustinet_, "which we construe thus: +'God, who transplanted us hither, will support us.'"[142] Massachusetts +had used the pinetree flag and the motto "Appeal to Heaven," and the +little navy had a sign by which its ships were known to each other, "the +ensign up to the main topping-lift." Now for the first time the thirteen +stripes with the British crosses in the corner were raised, amid much +enthusiasm. + +Curiously, this coincided with the coming of the king's recent speech in +Parliament, and a strange interpretation was put upon the appearance of +the new flag. The British had caused to be sent to the American lines +many copies of the speech, expecting that its expression of the king's +determination to prosecute the war, even by the use of foreign troops, +would bring the rebels to their knees. The cheering in the American +camp, all the louder on account of the sentiments of his gracious +majesty, and the appearance of the new flag, combined to make the +British suppose that the provincials were weakening. "By this time," +wrote Washington grimly on the 4th, "I presume they begin to think it +strange, that we have not made a formal surrender of our lines." + +It was well that he could jest, however sternly, for his situation was +newly complicated by the permission of Congress to attack Boston +whenever he might think expedient, "notwithstanding the town and +property in it may be destroyed." Such permission was equivalent to a +broad hint, and there were not lacking suggestions from many obscure +quarters that the country would be more content if its general should +relieve it of the presence of the British army. Of "chimney corner +heroes" Washington had a genuine contempt, but the resolve of Congress +was another matter, especially when it came through the hands of John +Hancock. He was the largest property-owner in the town, and +prospectively the greatest sufferer by its destruction, yet he +cheerfully wrote, "May God crown your attempt with success!" + +Long before now, had Washington been able, he would have attempted to +storm the town. But as often as he called a council of war to consider +the matter, so often did his generals advise against the attempt. The +Americans were doubtful, and Lee, affecting to mistrust the temper of +the troops, would not advise the venture. As to burning the town by +throwing carcasses[143] into it, Lee told the others that the town could +not be set on fire by such means. Washington looked for a chance to +assault the town by crossing on the ice, but for a long time the Back +Bay did not freeze, and when at last it did, he had neither men nor +powder. Such then was his situation when he answered the letter of +Hancock.[144] He begged Congress to consider his situation if, in spite +of their wishes, he did not act. And that they should clearly +understand, he wrote these words:-- + +"It is not in the pages of history, perhaps, to furnish a case like +ours. To maintain a post within musket shot of the enemy, for six months +together, without and at the same time to disband one army, and +recruit another, within that distance of twenty-odd British regiments, +is more, probably, than was ever attempted." + +The significant omission in this passage is the word "powder." At +another time, when doubtful of the safety of his letter, he used the +paraphrase, "what we greatly need." He knew that his correspondents +would supply the omission and interpret the reference. But once at +least, on the 14th of January, when writing to Joseph Reed, formerly his +aide, to whom at this period he seems to have written more freely than +to any one else, Washington gave a complete account of his situation +when almost at its worst, and ended with an explanation of his state of +mind. Conditions are so completely summarized, and his thoughts are so +frankly given, that the paragraphs had best be given entire. + +"Our enlistments are at a stand; the fears I ever entertained are +realized; that is, the _discontented officers_ (for I do not know how +else to account for it) have thrown such difficulties or +stumbling-blocks in the way of recruiting, that I no longer entertain a +hope of completing the army by voluntary enlistments, and I see no move +or likelihood to do it by other means. In the last two weeks we have +enlisted but about a thousand men; whereas I was confidently led to +believe, by all the officers I conversed with, that we should by this +time have had the regiments nearly completed. Our total number upon +paper amounts to about ten thousand five hundred; but as a large portion +of these are returned _not joined_, I never expect to receive them, as +an ineffectual order has once issued to call them in. Another is now +gone forth, peremptorily requiring all officers under pain of being +cashiered, and recruits of being treated as deserters, to join their +respective regiments by the 1st day of next month, that I may know my +real strength; but if my fears are not imaginary, I shall have a +dreadful account of the advanced month's pay.[145] In consequence of the +assurances given, and my expectation of having at least men enough to +defend our lines, to which may be added my unwillingness to burthen the +cause with unnecessary expense, no relief of militia has been ordered +in, to supply the places of those, who are released from their +engagements tomorrow, and as to whom, though many have promised to +continue out the month, there is no security for their stay. + +"Thus I am situated with respect to men. With regard to arms I am yet +worse off. Before the dissolution of the old army, I issued an order +directing three judicious men of each brigade to attend, review, and +appraise the good arms of every regiment; and finding a very great +unwillingness in the men to part with their arms, at the same time not +having it in my power to pay them for the months of November and +December, I threatened severely, that every soldier, who should carry +away his firelock without leave, should never receive pay for those +months; yet so many have been carried off, partly by stealth, but +chiefly as condemned, that we have not at this time one hundred guns in +the stores, of all that have been taken in the prize ship and from the +soldiery, notwithstanding our regiments are not half complete. At the +same time I am told, and believe it, that to restrain the enlistment to +men with arms, you will get but few of the former, and still fewer of +the latter which would be good for anything. + +"How to get furnished I know not. I have applied to this and the +neighboring colonies, but with what success time only can tell. The +reflection of my situation, and that of this army, produces many an +unhappy hour when all around me are wrapped in sleep. Few people know +the predicament we are in, on a thousand accounts; fewer still will +believe, if any disaster happens to these lines, from what cause it +flows. I have often thought how much happier I should have been, if, +instead of accepting the command under such circumstances, I had taken +my musket on my shoulder and entered the ranks, or, if I could have +justified the measure to posterity and my own conscience, had retired to +the back country, and lived in a wigwam. If I shall be able to rise +superior to these and many other difficulties, I shall most religiously +believe, that the finger of Providence is in it, to blind the eyes of +our enemies; for surely if we get well through this month, it must be +for want of their knowing the difficulties we labor under. + +"Could I have foreseen the difficulties, which have come upon us; could +I have known, that such a backwardness would have been discovered among +the old soldiers to the service, all the generals on earth should not +have convinced me of the propriety of delaying an attack upon Boston +till this time."[146] + +One more blow Washington was to receive, in the news of the failure of +the expedition against Quebec. This came to him on the 17th of January. +But from about that time, though very slowly, the prospect began to +brighten. His army strengthened, money was loaned him by Massachusetts, +and though early in February he reported that he had in camp two +thousand men without guns, even muskets were eventually provided. +Moreover, cannon were now supplied him, through the exertions of Henry +Knox. Washington had detached him in November to go to Ticonderoga and +Crown Point, and provide means for bringing the captured cannon to camp. +The general had even hoped that more might be had from Quebec, but that +expectation was now gone. Knox, in the face of many difficulties, +fulfilled his mission. On December 17 he wrote from Lake George that he +had got the cannon as far as that point, and with forty-two "exceedingly +strong sleds" and eighty yoke of oxen expected to make the journey to +Springfield, whence fresh cattle would bring him to Cambridge. The +artillery, in this humble manner, at last arrived, howitzers, mortars, +and cannon, fifty-five pieces of iron or brass. With what had been +captured elsewhere the supply was ample, and the guns, after a delay at +Framingham, were mounted at the fortifications, or reserved for the +attempt to take Dorchester. Powder also had slowly come in faster than +it was used or could spoil, and Washington found himself almost ready to +act. + +When at last he could draw a long breath, with the feeling that the +worst of the situation was over, he gave, in letters to Joseph Reed and +John Hancock, his opinion of his army as it then was, and of the means +to make it better. Placed behind any kind of shelter, his provincials +would give a good account of themselves. But they could not yet be +depended on to make an assault in the open field. For this they would +have to receive severer training, and in order to acquaint them with +their proper duties a longer term of service was necessary. Even now, at +the beginning of another year of service, the men had the officers too +much in their power, for indulgence was necessary in order to make them +enlist again. He was therefore firmly of the opinion that his present +army, and all new recruits, should be enlisted "for and during the war." +Thus Washington, looking beyond his still uncompleted task, like Lincoln +many years later, perceived the only means to final success. + +But with the means which he had at hand he was now impatient to act. It +was almost March, and at any time Howe might receive the reinforcements +which would enable him to take the offensive. Washington prepared to +fortify Dorchester as soon as the state of the ground would permit of +digging, and in order to lessen the work he prepared fascines--which +were bundles of sticks--and chandeliers or frameworks to hold the +bundles in place in order to serve as the body of an embankment. +Remembering how at Bunker Hill the regulars had been led to suppose that +the troops at the rail fence, protected by nothing except the rails and +hay, were behind an embankment, he collected ropes of hay to use if +necessary for the same purpose, but also to bind the wheels of his carts +that they might make no noise. Carts he collected to the number of three +hundred. In the Charles River he prepared boats enough to carry +twenty-eight hundred men. Two floating batteries were also made ready +there; a third had earlier been destroyed by the bursting of its cannon +when firing at the camp on the Common. Washington was about to strike, +with the suddenness which characterized him, but also with the thorough +readiness. + +For his camp, even if temporarily, was now full. Early in February came +in ten regiments of militia, summoned on service until the first of +April. They manifested, he wrote with satisfaction, the greatest +alertness, and the determination of men engaged in the cause of freedom. +And on the first of March he called into camp the militia of the +neighboring towns, who were to report at Roxbury fully equipped for +three days' service. To these men was read his general order, preparing +their minds for action. They were forbidden to play at cards or other +games of chance, and advised to ponder the importance of the cause in +which they were enlisted. "But it may not be amiss for the troops to +know," he added, "that if any man in action shall presume to skulk, or +hide himself, or retreat from the enemy without the orders of his +commanding officer, he will be instantly shot down." And with this +exhortation and warning Washington concluded his preparations. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[138] See the "Writings of Washington," iii, 123-124, note. + +[139] See letter to Ward, "Writings," iii, 161. + +[140] See the "Writings of Washington," iii, 161, note. The facts +concerning Washington's difficulties with enlisting are taken chiefly +from this volume, where they can best be studied. + +[141] This was a Sunday. + +[142] Frothingham's "Siege," 104. + +[143] Carcasses were hollow shells with several openings. They were +filled with combustibles, and when thrown into a town were intended to +set fire to buildings. + +[144] Washington's communications to Congress were addressed to Hancock, +as its President. + +[145] He had paid in advance all who had enlisted. + +[146] "Writings of Washington," iii, 238-241. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE WINTER IN BOSTON + + +When the British army went into winter quarters it was nearly at the end +of its difficulties concerning food. Supplies from England had been very +meagre, and the occasional raids had provided poorly for the wants of +the town. But since October matters had improved, largely because of the +criticism of the English Whigs in Parliament. These pointed out the +inactivity of the troops, the humiliation of the situation, the sickness +and want in Boston. In order that nothing should be left undone to +remedy the last, the perplexed ministry spent money lavishly to +provision its garrison. Five thousand oxen, fourteen thousand sheep, +with a great number of hogs, were purchased, and shipped alive. +Vegetables, preserved by a new process, were bought in quantities; wheat +and flour were collected; wood, coal, hay, and other fodder, with beer, +porter, rum, Geneva, and the more innocent vinegar, were generously +provided. To be sure, the commissions on all these purchases provided +fortunes for the relatives of those in office, and the ship-owners found +excuses for setting sail as late as possible, in order to increase the +hire of their craft. As a result, much of the vast expense--some six +hundred thousand pounds for provisions alone--was wasted. Contrary gales +detained the ships; the live stock died by wholesale, and was thrown +overboard; the vegetables spoiled; and numbers of the ships were lost +outright. Others, arriving without convoy at the American coast, were +captured by the watchful privateers. But of such vast supplies enough +reached Boston to relieve the worst distresses of the inhabitants. +Though the poorer of the Whigs had either to sign humiliating +declarations in order to share in the rations of the troops, or else to +continue on meagre fare, there was enough in the general market for the +well-to-do among them to supply themselves. John Andrews, for instance, +though he lived at the rate of six or seven hundred sterling a year, +after October ate scarcely three meals of salt meat, "for I was +determined to eat fresh provissions, while it was to be got, let it cost +what it would." + +There was, however, for months a great shortage of fuel. As the winter +set in early, and with severity, large quantities were needed, and there +was little on hand. The troops, of their own initiative, had already, +even in the summer, begun to make depredations on private property, +stealing gates and breaking up fences. This the commanders endeavored to +stop, but took the hint and did the same by official condemnation. As so +many of the inhabitants had left the town, the abandoned houses were +torn down for fuel. When the winter came, the troops again began on +their own account to steal wood. Howe threatened to hang the next man +caught in the act, but still was forced to follow the example. + +In choosing buildings for destruction, it was very natural to select +Whig property. Perhaps the harshest assault on provincial sentiment had +been made in summer, when during August Liberty Tree was felled. The +Whigs felt very indignant, but took a peculiar pleasure in the +reflection that during the operation a soldier had been accidentally +killed. In the various poems written on the occasion the wretch's soul +was unanimously consigned to Hades. It was besides remarked that the +genuine tree of liberty, of which this had been but a symbol, had now +grown so great as to overshadow the continent. + +Besides Liberty Tree, the property of leading Whigs suffered, "My house +and barn," writes Newell the selectman, on the 16th of November, "pulled +down by order of General Robinson." Leach the schoolmaster, whose +imprisonment had made him a marked man, had a hard fight to save his +property. On Christmas Day he found a party of soldiers destroying his +wharf, which had been allotted, as was the custom, to one of the +regiments, in this case the light dragoons. In spite of his efforts +Leach was not able to stop this destruction, as evidently in the present +state of the town there was no use for wharves. But when his schoolhouse +was threatened he carried the matter to headquarters. Howe said Leach +had corresponded with the people without. "I denied the charge.... +Finally I told him, as an Englishman, and a subject of the King's, I +claimed protection of my property; and if my House was pulled down, I +would follow him to England, or to China, for satisfaction. I expected +he would get angry, and order me under Guard, or else to Gaol again. +However, in General he behaved kindly." Howe referred him to his +subordinates, who delayed giving orders until the soldiers had already +broken into the schoolhouse. With much resolution Leach got them from +the house and stood on guard at the door until by referring to Howe the +schoolhouse was saved. But Leach had meanwhile lost "valuable Books and +Instruments, Drawings, Colours, Brushes, several curious Optick +Glasses, and sundry things of Value that I brought from India and China, +that I cannot replace for money."[147] + +At this time was pulled down the Old North Church, the steeple of the +West Church, and John Winthrop's house, one of the oldest landmarks in +the town. Over in Charlestown the troops used for fuel the deserted +houses that had not been consumed on the 17th of June. At one time they +were demolishing a mill near the American lines, but the provincials +drove them away and presently burnt the mill. At another time, by a +similar endeavor to lessen the British supply of fuel, there was brought +about one of the more amusing incidents of the siege. + +The officers in Boston, having little active work to do, were +endeavoring to forget the irksomeness and the humiliation of their +situation. Through no fault of their own the position was a hard one; +they had boasted, and were not allowed to make good their vainglory; +they had despised their adversaries, and were cooped up in a provincial +town. In letters home they uneasily endeavored to explain their +inaction; by return mail they learned what the wits of London had to say +of both them and the country. "Mrs. Brittania," remarked Horace Walpole, +"orders her Senate to proclaim America a continent of cowards, and vote +it should be starved, unless it would drink tea with her. She sends her +only army to be besieged in one of her towns, and half her fleet to +besiege the _terra firma_; but orders her army to do nothing, in hopes +that the American Senate in Philadelphia will be so frightened at the +British army being besieged in Boston that it will sue for peace." There +was sting in these words, but no remedy for the smart. + +In order to forget such flings, and to banish the consideration of +crowded quarters, irregular rations (for there still were periods of +lean supply), slow pay, and inaction, the officers tried to kill time. +The cavalry regiments searched for a means of exercising their horses, +and Burgoyne is credited with the solution of their problem. Newell +recorded in his journal how his church, after being profaned by +Morrison, was examined by the colonel of the light horse, to see if the +building was available for a riding-school. "But when it was considered +that the Pillars must be taken away, which would bring down the roof, +they altered their mind--so that the Pillars saved us." + +A more notable building had to suffer instead. The Old South was taken +for the purpose. The furnishings were torn out, and Deacon Hubbard's +carved pew was carted away to be used as a hog-sty. The dismantled +church was transformed into a riding-ring, with tanbark on the floor, +and a leaping-bar. One of the galleries was fitted up for a social +meeting-place; the remainder were used for spectators, for whose comfort +was put in a stove into which disappeared for kindling many of the books +and manuscripts stored in the building. For the rest of the siege the +Old South, once so formidable, was a centre of Tory fashion. + +Burgoyne was credited, also, with the design of putting an almost +equally sacred edifice to a purpose still more horrifying to the good +Calvinists of Boston. Faneuil Hall, the cradle of liberty, was made a +theatre. Various plays were performed, and the amateurs were even so +ambitious as to attempt the tragedies of _Zara_ and _Tamerlane_. For the +latter performance Burgoyne wrote a prologue and epilogue, which were +spoken by Lord Rawdon, who had distinguished himself at Bunker Hill, and +"a young lady ten years old." But the great event of the season was to +be the production of a farce called the _Blockade of Boston_. It was +this performance which the Americans interrupted, to the perennial +satisfaction of all students of local history. + +The play was to be performed on a January night. The _Busy Body_ had +just been given, and the curtain rose on the farce, presenting a view of +the American camp, and the figure of Washington absurdly burlesqued in +uniform, wig, and rusty sword. At this moment a sergeant suddenly +appeared on the stage, calling out, "The Yankees are attacking our +works on Bunker's Hill!" Conceiving this spirited action a part of the +play, the audience began to applaud. But the sergeant vigorously +repeated his statement, the sounds of distant cannonading were heard, +and an aide called out, "Officers, to your posts!" The officers +responded in all haste, and the performance was over for the evening. +The reason for this interruption was that Washington had despatched a +party to burn some of the houses still standing in Charlestown. The +success of the attempt had caused the cannonading, and the consequent +interruption of the play. No historian of the siege has failed to remark +that the Whig ladies had the laugh of their Tory sisters, forced to +return without their escorts. + +A month before this incident, on the 5th of December, Burgoyne had +sailed for home, recalled largely at his own instance, but already under +consideration for the disastrous expedition from Canada. He did not +return to Boston until 1777, when he came as a prisoner. It was when +entering the town that he learned that the townspeople had long memories +for his real or ascribed indignity to the Old South, for when he +remarked to a friend upon the Province House, the headquarters during +the siege, a voice from the crowd reminded him that the riding-school +was close at hand. Since on the same occasion an old lady loudly +beseeched her neighbors to "give the general elbow-room," Boston may be +said to have taken its mild revenge on him. + +Theatrical performances, balls, and parties were the amusements of the +officers at this period of the siege, and persons of fashion doubtless +were pleasantly situated. It was not so comfortable for the troops and +their dependents, as we have already seen. The lack of fuel and +consequent depredations on property led to plundering of a different +kind, and petty thievery, which Howe put down with a stern hand. Heavy +floggings were meted out to delinquents, and a wife of one of the +privates was even sentenced to public whipping for receiving stolen +goods. While there were no true horrors at this siege, there was thus +much roughness of conduct among the soldiery, and of this the Whigs were +sure to be the victims. With the example of Leach and Lovell before +their eyes, the wiser among the provincials spoke cannily and walked +softly, and attracted as little attention as possible. But among the +poorer class there was much distress for lack of food and fuel, for even +when the troops had plenty, it was difficult for the patriots to buy. + +With their strength somewhat depleted, it was not to be wondered at that +the poorer class was visited by smallpox. The epidemic was a mild one, +and few persons died, but the visitation created great uneasiness. To +lessen his burden, during the winter Howe sent out several companies of +the poorer folk from the town landing them at Point Shirley, with the +certainty that the Americans would care for them. But his action called +down much reproach, and he was accused of sending out persons with the +smallpox, in order to infect the besieging army. It was even charged +that he had purposely inoculated some of the evicted. This, of course, +is not to be believed; but it is curious to find the British at last +taking satisfaction in the epidemic, since it would prevent Washington +from attacking. + +Gradually a feeling of security came over the besieged town. Admiral +Graves had been recalled, and Shuldham took his place. The lighthouse +was rebuilt and guarded. Howe felt strong enough to detach a squadron +from the fleet in order to carry Clinton with a body of troops to the +southward. This was the expedition that made the unsuccessful attack +upon Charleston. Howe sent other vessels to the northern provinces and +the West Indies, which brought in supplies. The store-ships from England +continued to come in, and though Howe was vexed and at times alarmed by +the loss of the valuable stores that fell into Washington's hands, on +the whole he felt very strong. So much fuel arrived that in January the +destruction of houses and wharves was stopped, and the men who had been +on duty for the purpose were commanded to make themselves presentable. +Neatness was a hobby with Howe, and he enforced it on his men, though at +times the untidiness of his troops seems to have been remarkable.[148] + +There are two expressions which show the confidence entertained at this +period, not only by the garrison at large, but by the British general. +One Crean Brush had made himself a place in the service, not in a +military capacity, but as a useful hanger on. In January, anticipating +the result of the spring campaign, he offered to raise a body of +volunteers, not less than three hundred, with which he proposed, after +the "subduction of the main body of the rebel force," to keep order +along the Connecticut, and to maintain communication westward with Lake +Champlain. There is no record that Howe took him at his word, but he +well might have done so, so completely did he misjudge the situation. +For about the same time he wrote to Lord Dartmouth that he was not +apprehending any attempt by Washington, "by surprise or otherwise."[149] + +But the surprise came. On the night of the second of March the American +batteries, so long silent, began to play. From Cobble Hill, Lechmere +Point, and Lamb's Dam in Roxbury, the three redoubts nearest to Boston, +the Americans bombarded the town, and Howe's gunners instantly +responded. The American fire was ineffective. "Our people," wrote David +How, "splet _the Congress_ the Third Time that they fired it." Other +heavy mortars were likewise burst, doubtless owing to the inexperience +of the gunners. But Washington's purpose, to "divert the attention" of +the British from Dorchester, was fulfilled. They had no eyes save for +the opposing batteries. For three nights the diversion continued; on the +4th it was, wrote Newell, "a most terrible bombardment and cannonade, +on both sides, as if heaven and earth were engaged." At Braintree, miles +away, Abigail Adams listened to the roar, and recorded the rattling of +the windows, and the continual jar of the house. "At six in the +morning," she writes, "there was quiet," but the quiet was from +satisfaction on the one side, and amazement on the other. + +[Illustration: TOWER ON DORCHESTER HEIGHTS COMMEMORATING THE EVACUATION +OF BOSTON] + +On the two heights of Dorchester, commanding the town and the harbor, +stood two American redoubts, larger and stronger than the redoubt at +Breed's Hill. On lesser elevations stood smaller works. Seen from +below, Washington's preparations seemed complete. + +All that moonlit night, while the cannonade proceeded, the Americans had +been busy. Everything had been prepared: the forts were staked out, the +carts were loaded, the men were ready. As soon as the cannonade began, +the men and carts were set in motion; the road was strewn with hay, and +bales were piled to screen the carts as they passed to and fro. The +troops worked with a will, first placing fascines in chandeliers to form +the outlines of their works, and then covering them with earth. There is +no better contemporary account given than in the diary of an unnamed +officer, published some ninety years later.[150] He wrote:-- + +"A little before sunset marched off from Roxbury; but for more than half +a mile before we came to Dorchester lines,[151] we overtook teams in +great plenty, nor did we find any vacancy till we came to the lines; in +some places they were so wedged in together, we were obliged to leave +the road to get forward; we reached the lines at seven o'clock, where we +waited half an hour for orders, when a signal was given and the +cannonade began at Lamb's fort, and was immediately answered by a very +warm fire from the enemy's lines; a brisk fire between N. Boston and our +fortifications on Cambridge side, began soon after. It was supposed +there was a thousand shot hove this night, by both armies, more than +three fourths of which were sent from Boston.[152] Our party, consisting +of about 2400 men, with 300 teams, were crossing the marsh, onto the +Neck, which together with a fresh breeze from the S. W.[153] concealed +us from the enemy till they could see our works by daylight. The +division to which I was assigned, commanded by Col. Whitcomb, was +ordered onto the northerly hill, where in one hour's time we had a fort +enclosed, with fascines placed in shandelears; and we immediately +employed as many men at intrenching as could be advantageously used for +that purpose. A larger party was assigned to the high hill, where they +erected a larger fort, built much in the same manner as ours. There were +four other smaller forts and batteries erected this night on other +eminences on the Neck."[154] + +It is not to be wondered that the British, on making the discovery, +"seemed to be in great confusion."[155] The labor that had been expended +appeared prodigious. Washington himself was satisfied with the works; +he knew them to be secure against the British cannon. To Howe the +achievement was amazing, and he is said to have exclaimed that his whole +army could not have done as much in a month. He wrote to Lord Dartmouth +that the rebels must have employed at least twelve thousand men, whereas +it was accomplished by two details of little more than two thousand men +each. But in those days the British soldier was a poor hand with a +shovel, while the Americans were all farmers. Nevertheless it is worth +noting the difference in organization displayed in the taking of +Dorchester and in the earlier seizure of Breed's Hill. Instead of a +small detachment sent to unsurveyed ground, and unaided during both the +work and the battle, Washington had his ground prepared,[156] his +detachments ready, and his cannon in reserve to send upon the Heights. +In the morning the redoubts, presenting the appearance of finished +fortifications, were manned with fresh men. + +Howe called at once a council of war. To it the admiral was summoned, +and declared positively that his fleet was at the mercy of the rebels. +There was but one opinion as to the situation: the honor of the army was +at stake, and in addition the military reputation of the general. It was +promptly decided to storm the works. + +For this purpose twenty-four hundred men were sent to the Castle, which +lay close under the Heights to the east, with but a narrow channel +between. The command of these men was given to Lord Percy, who hoped now +for the distinction which illness had prevented his achieving at Bunker +Hill. The attack was to be made at night. Within the lines at Boston +Neck was to be gathered another force of troops, which was to second the +attack from that direction. This last, in the face of the strong +batteries at Roxbury, was a forlorn hope; according to Lieutenant Barker +the troops were not to load, but to advance with fixed bayonets, and may +have hoped to carry the works by surprise. + +Washington would have welcomed the main attack. During the day his +works were strengthened and his men reinforced. Orchards had been cut +down to serve as abattis, and barrels of earth were ready to roll down +upon the British. The men were confident; they were commanded by Thomas, +one of the best of the brigadiers, and Washington was there in person +with a reminder that put courage into the breast of every American. For +the day which he had chosen to decide the fate of Boston was the fifth +of March, the anniversary of the Massacre. + +Besides all this, Washington had another weapon in reserve. In the +Charles River, out of sight of Boston, were his two floating batteries +and his bateaux filled with soldiers. They were under Putnam, Sullivan, +and Greene; and at a given signal, if Washington deemed the opportunity +good, they were to cross the Back Bay and attack the town.--Truly the +preparations were for such fighting as had never been seen in America. + +But they came to naught, for nature took a hand in the struggle. +Mercifully, since amid the projected battles the town itself might have +perished with its inhabitants, there sprang up a gale. "A Hurrycane," +wrote Newell, "or terrible sudden storm." The violence of the wind was +such that no boat could live in the channel between the Castle and +Dorchester, two of Percy's transports were driven ashore, and the attack +was postponed. The next day the wind continued, accompanied by heavy +rain. The Americans continued to labor on their works, until to every +eye they were impregnable by any force that Howe might send against +them. Howe called another council, and asked it to concur in his +intention to evacuate the town. There was no other decision to make, and +on the 6th of March[157] the orders were given. + +"Blessed be God," wrote Newell, "our redemption draws nigh." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[147] "N. E. Hist. and Gen. Register," 1865, 313-314. + +[148] See his general order enumerating faults, in Sparks, "Writings of +Washington," iii, 236, note. + +[149] See Frothingham's "Siege," 294-295. + +[150] See the _Historical Magazine_ for 1864, 328-329. + +[151] These were a line of fortifications facing Dorchester, made +earlier in the siege. + +[152] According to Knox's return, given in Frothingham's "Siege," 298, +footnote, the Americans threw only 144 shot and 13 shells. The British +seem to have needed only an occasional stimulus. + +[153] This breeze would bring the smoke of the Roxbury cannonade between +the Heights and Boston. + +[154] It seems generally to be considered that there was but one fort at +Dorchester. The statement in the text is confirmed by the Revolutionary +Journal of Colonel Baldwin, one of the engineers. "Six works thrown up +this night at different places on the Hills & high ground a very Great +work for one Night." + +[155] Washington's letter to Hancock, "Writings," iii, 304. + +[156] Colonel Baldwin records that he was on the ground in the +afternoon. + +[157] Frothingham says the 7th. But see the diaries of Barker +(_Atlantic_, 39, 553) and Newell (Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 1, Series 4, +272). + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE EVACUATION + + +Washington, looking into Boston from the Heights of Dorchester, +witnessed the confusion of the British at the discovery of his works, +and watched with grim pleasure the preparations made to attack him. The +abandonment of the assault was to him a great disappointment. He had +never seen men more alert and willing than his soldiers on the Heights. +If Howe had sent a small force against them, Washington felt confident +of repulsing it. Had the attacking force been so large as to have +appreciably weakened the army in Boston, Washington would have delivered +his counterstroke by means of the men in boats under command of Putnam. +"He would have had pretty easy work of it,"[158] wrote Washington, +still after nearly a month regretting the issue. He wrote his brother, +"that this most remarkable interposition of Providence is for some wise +purpose, I have not a doubt. But ... as no men seemed better disposed to +make the appeal than ours did upon that occasion, I can scarcely forbear +lamenting the disappointment." + +Washington lay for a while inactive while the enemy prepared for their +departure. But upon Howe's shoulders was thrown a tremendous task. He +had under him, in the army and the fleet, about eleven thousand +men.[159] For them he had been gathering military stores and provisions; +he had many horses, much artillery, and at least a partial equipment +for field service, in preparation for the spring campaign. His army had +been at Boston for many months, some of the regiments for nearly two +years; consequently there had been a natural accumulation of personal +effects, for the convenience of the officers, with their wives and +families. To carry away this army, its stores, and its belongings, there +was not at hand enough shipping. + +But the difficulty was greater than this, for Howe had to consider the +Tories and their families. Long before this, when Gage was in command, +the ministry had written that in case of evacuation "the officers and +friends of government must not be left to the rage and insult of rebels, +who set no bounds to their barbarity." Howe's ships, therefore, were to +be at the service of the Tories, and with full knowledge of the involved +results, he so informed them. + +When the realization of the situation burst upon the Tories, they were, +said a contemporary letter, "struck with paleness and +astonishment."[160] "Not the last trump," wrote Washington, "could have +struck them with greater consternation."[161] Until the very last, no +suspicion of such a result seems to have disturbed them; they had borne +themselves confidently, and had expected to see their enemies scattered +when the new forces should arrive. Among their Whig brethren they had +been very high-handed. "The selectmen say," wrote Eldad Taylor, who must +have been at Watertown when the selectmen arrived there with the news of +the evacuation, "that the Tories were the most dreadful of any, that all +the sufferings of the poor for the want of provisions and the +necessaries of life, were not equal to the dreadful scorn, derision, and +contempt from them." + +Upon the Tories was now put the hard decision, whether to go or stay. In +order to decide, they needed to know what the Whigs would do to them; +and to know that, they had but to consider what they would do to the +Whigs in similar case. In their own prison languished the Whig Lovell. +They thought of the Whig prisons which might be waiting for them, and +they decided to go. + +It is not to be denied that the decision was, under the circumstances, +wise. The loyalists were right in supposing that the treatment which +they would have meted to the Whigs, the Whigs would mete to them. For +the country was inflamed against the Tories; Washington himself shared +the sentiment against them. Much as we may regret this feeling, we must +remember that it was natural to the age. Kind treatment to an opponent +in civil war was not yet generally practised; it was Lincoln who made +the lesson acceptable to mankind. + +Practically all of the Tories, therefore, made up their minds to go. +Some few, indeed, remained behind, counting upon their humble station, +or inoffensiveness. No harsh treatment of them is recorded. The one +prominent Tory who remained, Mather Byles the minister, soon weathered +the storm that rose against him. The remaining loyalists, who planned to +depart, were some eleven hundred in number. It was necessary that they +should be accommodated in the ships, necessary also that they should +take with them such of their valuables as were easily portable. Howe +gave orders that room be made for them, and the orders were unselfishly +obeyed by the army and navy. + +But the haste, the disorder, even the tumult, in the days immediately +following the order to depart, were extreme. Each regiment had to be +assigned its transports, each Tory to find space for himself and his +family, and if possible his goods. There was sorting of effects, +bundling up of valuables, and strenuous efforts to get all in safety +before Washington should bombard. Diarists agree in the concise terms +with which they describe the town. Says Newell for the 8th: "The town +all hurry and commotion, the troops with the Refugees and Tories all +embarking." For the 9th he adds: "D^o. D^o. D^o." And for the 10th +writes Lieutenant Barker: "Nothing but hurry and confusion." + +In the meantime the Americans at Dorchester strengthened their works, +and fortified one more eminence, which commanded the channel. Washington +did not wish to cannonade the British, for if not attacked he saw no +advantage in attacking, lest the town should be set on fire and burned. +He therefore bided his time. All his action until now, he wrote Hancock, +was but preparatory to taking post on Nook's Hill, a low promontory +which ran so far out upon Dorchester flats that from its top cannon +could enfilade the British lines at the Neck, and could command almost +any part of Boston. An attempt to fortify it upon the night of the 9th +was betrayed by the folly of the men, who kindled a fire and were +dispersed by British cannon. But by this Washington was not disturbed. +He was willing that Howe should delay for a while, if the delay were not +too long. He himself had reasons for waiting, since he reasoned that +the British would, on departing, attempt to seize New York, and he +wanted time to prepare and despatch a force to hold that place. So he +watched the British army, sent a regiment of riflemen to strengthen New +York, and made ready five other regiments to depart as soon as the +British fleet should leave the harbor. + +But at this time the inhabitants of Boston were very uncertain of their +own fate. Nothing was more natural than that Washington should attack, +or that the exasperated British should on departing, even if unassailed, +set fire to the wooden town. The selectmen, as spokesmen for the +inhabitants, therefore inquired of Howe what his intentions were. Howe +wrote in reply that he had no intention of destroying the town, if he +were unmolested. This reply the selectmen sent in haste to Washington, +begging for a similar assurance. Washington was not willing to bind +himself, and returned answer that as Howe's note was "unauthenticated, +and addressed to nobody," he could take no notice of it. Nevertheless, +since no threat was made, the Bostonians felt more at ease.[162] + +All this time the wind was contrary, and the troops unable to set sail. +They therefore remained in their quarters, while completing their +preparations for departure. As the days passed Howe began to destroy +what he could not take with him, and to seize what would be of advantage +to the rebels. His troops spiked cannon, burned artillery and transport +wagons, or else threw them into the harbor, and ruined bulky stores. +What he did deliberately, his men increased through malice. The 13th +seems to have been the worst day of this period. "The Inhabitants," +wrote Newell, "in the utmost distress, thro' fear of the Town being +destroyed by the Soldiers, a party of New York Carpenters with axes +going thro' the town breaking open houses, &c. Soldiers and sailors +plundering of houses, shops, warehouses--Sugar and salt &c. thrown into +the River, which was greatly covered with hogsheads, barrels of flour, +house furniture, carts, trucks &c. &c.--One Person suffered _four +thousand pounds sterling_, by his shipping being cut to pieces +&c.--Another _five thousand pounds sterling_, in salt wantonly thrown +into the river." No wonder that the sturdy old selectman thought these +to be "very distressed times." + +Howe's agent in the work of plundering was that Crean Brush who had +offered to police the western part of Massachusetts with three hundred +men. Him the general directed to receive all linen and woollen goods +which were on sale, and to take those which were not delivered, giving +certificates for the same. There is on file the petition of one Jackson, +begging for payment for goods taken from him. Brush interpreted his +commission very freely, and it was suspected that he was plundering on +his own account. Every soldier or sailor who could give his officer the +slip was doing the same, in spite of Howe's honest efforts to stop the +plundering. + +There was a little genteel thievery as well. Some of the Tories had +unfairly secured more than their share of room on shipboard, and found +this the chance to take their pick of the furniture of their Whig +relatives. "Wat," wrote John Andrews to his brother-in-law in +Philadelphia, "has stripped your uncle's house of everything he could +conveniently carry off.... He has left all the looking glasses and +window curtains, with some tables and most of the chairs; only two +bedsteads and one bed, without any bedding or sheets, or even a rag of +linnen of any kind. Some of the china and the principal part of the +pewter is the sum of what he has left, save the Library, which was +packed up corded to ship, but your uncle Jerry and Mr. Austin went to +him and absolutely forbid it, upon his peril." + +Another library did not fare so well. At this time disappeared that part +of the Prince collection which had not been used for kindling the fires +in the Old South. With it vanished the Bradford manuscript history of +the Plymouth plantation, which a later generation freely returned. + +While the Tories were so carefully looking to the future, the Whigs were +obliged to guard what they could. Newell covers too many incidents with +etceteras, but John Andrews who, as soon as the siege was lifted, was +free to begin again his correspondence, speaks clearly of his +difficulties. Through the siege he had had the care of six houses with +their furniture, and as many stores filled with goods; but now he +underwent more fatigue and perplexity than for the past eleven months, +for "I was obliged," he says, "to take my rounds all day, without any +cessation, and scarce ever fail'd of finding depredations made upon some +one or other of them, that I was finally necessitated to procure men at +the extravagant rate of two dollars a day to sleep in the several houses +and stores for a fortnight[163] before the military plunderers went +off--for so sure as they were left alone one night, so sure they were +plundered." Later he was obliged to pay at the rate of a dollar an hour +for hands to assist him in moving; but "such was the demand for +laborers, that they were taken from me, even at that, by the tories who +bid over me." + +So, while the wind continued contrary, the plundering and the +destruction continued. Before long the seashore dwellers might do their +share of rescue, as the articles which were thrown into the +harbor--"mahogany chairs, tables, etc.," records Abigail Adams--were +cast up on the beaches. But one by one the transports filled and dropped +down the harbor, until at last Washington grew impatient, and on the +night of the 16th made his last move. Though the British, aware of the +attempt, fired with their remaining guns all night at Nook's Hill, the +Americans doggedly entrenched without returning a shot, and in the +morning showed a finished redoubt. It was, as Trevelyan well says, +Washington's notice to quit. + +Howe meekly accepted it. "At 4 o'clock in the Morn.," writes Lieutenant +Barker, "the troops got under arms, at 5 they began to move, and by +about 8 or 9 were all embarked, the rear being covered by the Grenadiers +and Light Infantry." The ships sailed down the channel, no shot was +fired from the American batteries, and in return the _Fowey_, the last +of the fleet, which Howe had threatened should fire the town before she +departed, carried away with her her "carcases and combustibles," and +Boston stood free and unharmed. + +In half an hour the Americans were in possession. From Roxbury a company +of five hundred, picked for the service because they had had the +smallpox, entered the British lines, and manned the fortifications which +looked toward the harbor. In the redoubt at Bunker Hill sentries +appeared to be still doing their duty; but two men who were sent to +reconnoitre found them to be dummies, and signalled their companions to +follow them. General Putnam was given command of the town, from entering +which the army in general, and all civilians, were prohibited until it +was ascertained whether there was danger of smallpox. + +Washington's other measures were decisive. He directed Manly, admiral of +his little squadron, to follow the British fleet and cut off as many +vessels as possible. One result of this order gave the greatest +satisfaction. "The brave Captain Manly," wrote Andrews, "has taken the +Brig that contained that _cursed_ villain, Crean Brush, with great part +of the plunder he rob'd the stores of here, that I immagine she must be +the richest vessell in the fleet." Other ships were either similarly +taken, or were forced to put ashore from lack of provision or of +preparation. + +Another of Washington's moves was to despatch his five regiments to New +York. They went by way of Norwich, Connecticut, and from there, to save +fatigue and time, were taken by water to the city. They arrived fresh +and ready for the expected struggle, but though they watched long for +the British fleet, it did not come. + +Washington's third action was to defend Boston against a possible +return of the British. The "lines" at Boston and Charlestown necks were +demolished, and on the day after the evacuation Putnam and his men were +at work building on Fort Hill a redoubt to command the harbor. With this +and the Dorchester batteries the Bostonians might have been satisfied, +but within a month they began fortifying Noddle's Island against any +possible attempt by sea. + +In all these precautions the Americans were hastened by the fact that +the British, though they had left the upper harbor, were still in the +lower, lying off Nantasket. "From Penn's Hill," wrote Abigail Adams to +her husband, "we have a view of the largest fleet ever seen in America. +You may count upwards of a hundred and seventy sail. They look like a +forest." Their stay greatly puzzled Washington: "what they are doing," +he wrote, "the Lord knows." He was troubled as well. The ten regiments +of militia, which had strengthened his army since the first of February, +had promised to remain only until the first of April, and he knew that +it was "as practical to stop a torrent, as these people, when their time +is up." He therefore feared lest the British, by striking with all their +force upon his rear, might do him great injury. + +This was not the first time that Washington, reasoning according to his +own nature, expected from Howe that vigorous action which the British +general was unable to perform. Howe, humiliated as he must have felt at +receiving, while his vessel passed down the harbor, a despatch from the +ministry applauding his decision not to evacuate the town, had no +thought of revenge. He blew up the fortifications at the Castle, and +prepared to destroy the lighthouse, but his purposes in remaining were +to fit his fleet for sea, and to warn those British vessels which were +bound for Boston. Nor had he the slightest intention of seizing New +York. The statements which had come to Washington's ears, that Howe's +destination was Halifax, in spite of the American's incredulity, were +correct. On the 27th of March, ten days after the evacuation, the +greater part of Howe's fleet weighed anchor, and sailed away for +Halifax. His army felt its shame. "I do not know the thing so +desperate," wrote an officer, "I would not undertake, in order to change +our situation."[164] But in spite of the chagrin in the hearts of his +soldiers, and the despair in the breasts of the Tories, few of them ever +looked upon Boston again. + +Before this time it had been ascertained that Boston was in no serious +danger from smallpox, and on the 20th the main body of the army marched +into Boston. It was an occasion of great happiness to the inhabitants, +and they "manifested a lively joy." Two days later the town was thrown +open to all comers, and once more, as before the Port Bill, entrance by +land or ferry was free. + +The town was speedily examined in all particulars, and those who had +suffered by the siege were encouraged to bring in claims for damages. It +was found that, except for the absolute destruction of buildings for +fuel, the injury to houses was inconsiderable. Where the common soldiers +had lived, interiors were defaced; yet externally the houses of the town +looked much as they had before the siege. Where the officers had lived, +the dwellings had suffered little, and even the homes of the prominent +Whigs had not been injured. Abigail Adams wrote to her husband that +their house was "very dirty, but no other damage has been done to it." +She looked upon it as a new acquisition of property. Washington took +pains to write Hancock, who had been so ready to sacrifice his +belongings to the cause of the country, that his house, and even his +furniture and pictures, had received no damage worth mentioning. + +To the immense satisfaction of all Whigs, many military stores were +found in the town. Most important were more than two hundred pieces of +ordnance, the larger part of which, though spiked, could soon be put +into serviceable condition. Balls and shells for the cannon and mortars +were found; provisions, horses and their provender, medicines in +quantity, and many other articles were discovered, amounting in value to +nearly forty thousand pounds. The booty of Brush of course swelled this +amount. + +[Illustration: GOLD MEDAL COMMEMORATING WASHINGTON'S VICTORY] + +The Whigs now might see their friends again, and for a short time +enjoyed military society of a new sort. John Andrews reports "nothing +but a continual round of company." "Last week," he recorded, "I had the +honor of General Washington with his lady, General Gates, Mr. Custos and +Lady, with aid de Camps, &ca, to dine with me." It was an occasion of +which he boasted to his dying day. In the town, now flooded with +provision, there were many eager to feast Washington. + +But he did not tarry long. While Howe and his fleet were in the bay, he +kept his men at work demolishing the British defences against the land, +and strengthening the forts which looked seaward, and he was continually +on his guard against the blow which Howe might deliver. But when the +British had sailed away to the north-east, Washington himself, on the +4th of April, set off for New York. + +Howe had nevertheless left vessels at Nantasket Roads, to intercept the +troop-ships and stores which were on their way to him. In this he was +partly successful, for seven ship-loads of Highlanders were by this +means saved from Yankee prisons. But even while the evacuation was in +progress British vessels were captured in the harbor, and now in sight +of the squadron and its Highlanders was taken the richest store-ship +that had yet fallen into American hands. There was a brisk fight, also, +between an American schooner, aground on Shirley Point, and thirteen +boat-loads of men from the war-ships. The boats were beaten off, but +the British had accomplished the death of the captain of the schooner, +America's first naval hero, Mugford of Marblehead. + +At length a determined effort was made to drive away the squadron. The +militia was called out, and artillery was carried to islands down the +harbor. There was a brief cannonade between the Americans and the fleet. +Then the British commander, finding his anchorage no longer safe, blew +up the lighthouse and followed Howe to Halifax. This was on the second +anniversary of the enforcement of the Port Bill. Two days later the +remainder of the Highlanders, unsuspiciously entering the harbor, fell +into the hands of the Americans.[165] + +The British resentment aroused by this last mischance was mild compared +with the general indignation which burst on Howe's head at his conduct +of the defence of Boston, and his hurried evacuation. The ministry +announced the departure from Boston in the briefest fashion, but were +forced to explain and excuse it in both the Commons and the Lords. "The +General thought proper to shift his position," explained the Earl of +Suffolk to the Lords, "in order, in the first place, to protect +Halifax."[166] But the defence was riddled, Howe's general weakness was +exposed, his neglect to fortify Dorchester was pointed out, and the +English Whigs acutely reasoned that he must have had a virtual agreement +with Washington to purchase the safety of the fleet and army at the +price of immunity to the town. Newspapers and pamphleteers took up the +subject, and Howe was eventually forced to ask for an inquiry into his +conduct of the siege. To his dying day he was severely criticised for +his generalship in America, and especially at Boston. + +Of the other British military leaders, not one was successful. Gage was +never again given a command. Burgoyne returned to Boston only as a +prisoner. Clinton for a time commanded in America, but he was recalled. + +As for the master whom these generals served, the king who was the cause +of the war, his failure was complete. George III lost not only his +revolted colonies, but also the dearer prize for which he fought, +personal government. When at last peace was signed, the Americans had +gained independence, and the English people had finally established the +supremacy of Parliament. The king might reign, but he could no longer +govern. + +The fate of the Tories cannot detain us long, painful as it was. Some +few returned to America after the war, and made again places for +themselves. Among these was Judge Curwen. Some went to England, where +they were out of their element. Dependent for the most part on the +bounty of the crown, they lived in hope of a change of fortune. They +longed for their homes, and sickened for a sight of the New England +country, to them the most beautiful on earth. Many of them were too old +to begin life anew: by the end of the war it was recorded that, of the +Massachusetts Tory leaders, forty-five died in England. One of these was +Hutchinson, upon whose life the best comment is the concluding sentence +of Sabine's brief biography: "I forget, in his melancholy end, all +else." + +But numbers of the Tories remained in Canada. Doubtless many were +discouraged from going to England by the reports of the condition of +those already there. "As to your coming here," wrote Governor Wentworth +from London to a friend in New Brunswick, "or any other Loyalist that +can get clams and potatoes in America, they would most certainly regret +making bad worse."[167] On such advice as this many, indeed most, of the +refugees remained in Canada, and after the war, in which many of them +fought, were of great service in building up that country. Nova Scotia +and New Brunswick received the larger number of them; they became +leaders of the bar, judges, physicians, prominent office-holders. It is +not to be denied that among them were suffering and misery; they had +lost much and had to begin again from the bottom, and many succumbed to +the difficulties of the new life. After the war attempt was made to gain +from the United States compensation for their losses; but the new +country was unable even to recompense those who had suffered in its +cause. The loyalists therefore looked to Britain for help, and in some +measure found it, in pensions, grants of money, and holdings of land. + +There is much to regret in this emigration, which took from New England +such numbers of men and women of good blood and gentle breeding. For the +Tories were largely of the better class, many of them had been educated +at Harvard, and they represented an element which no community can +afford to lose. Some of the difficulties of the new commonwealths were +due to the loss of the conservative balance-wheel; some further +troubles beset them from the bitterness of feeling in the new colonists +across the border. This has now died away, but boundary and fisheries +disputes long brought out the hostility latent in the descendants of the +Tories. + +So much for the losers in the fight. Of the winners, no American needs +to be more than reminded of their fame and their successes. At the siege +Washington made his first claim to fame. He proved his tenacity, his +mastery of men, and the greatness of his resolution and daring. Some of +his generals followed him in his success, some were failures. Lee +attempted treachery, but was finally discarded by both sides. Gates +endeavored to displace Washington, but ruined himself in the attempt. +But most of Washington's other generals were able men. Greene proved +himself to be a military genius second only to Washington. Knox, the +sole Bostonian on Washington's staff, commanded the artillery throughout +the war. + +Of the chief Boston politicians, all ended their days honorably. Soon +after the evacuation the body of Warren was sought for among the dead +buried on Bunker Hill. It was found, identified, and entombed at Boston +with solemn mourning. Hancock presently signed his name on the +Declaration of Independence so large that King George could read it +without his spectacles. The Boston merchant served the Continental +Congress for another year as its president; then returning to Boston he +became "King" Hancock, the governor of Massachusetts practically for +life. John Adams passed to greater usefulness as envoy to France, first +minister to Great Britain, and finally as Washington's successor as +President. But to a student of Boston itself the mind dwells most +willingly on Samuel Adams, "the man of the town meeting," who roused the +rebellion, guided it skilfully, served usefully in many public +capacities, and became governor after Hancock's death. His statue stands +to-day in the square named after him, not far from the Old South and the +old Town House, and within sight of Faneuil Hall. + +But we trespass beyond the period of this history. When Howe sailed +away, Boston's share in the Revolution was practically ended. No attempt +was made to retake the town, for there could be no profit in gaining +what could not be held. In the remaining years of the war the town had +no more serious duty than fitting out ships of war and privateers, and +of entertaining the officers of the French fleet. But Boston had earned +its rest. For nearly sixteen years the town had stood as the spokesman +for liberty, the leader of revolt. In bringing the country safely +through a critical period, the services of Boston were essential. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[158] Trevelyan, in concluding that Washington disapproved of this +attack by Putnam, is apparently misled by General Heath's curious habit +of referring to himself in his Memoirs as "Our General." It was Heath +who opposed the project. Against Howe's flimsy defences on the Back Bay, +if weakened of defenders, Putnam might well have prevailed, especially +in a night attack. They were, wrote Edward Bangs, "ill-constructed, and +designed for little but to frighten us." James Warren, who reported on +these works, found them to be very weak. See Frothingham's "Siege," 329. + +[159] Frothingham's "Siege," 311. + +[160] Eldad Taylor to his wife, Watertown, March 18, 1776. + +[161] "Writings," iii, 343. + +[162] For this correspondence, see Newell's "Diary," or "Washington's +Writings," iii, 531-533. + +[163] It cannot have been more than eleven days. + +[164] Frothingham's "Siege," 310. + +[165] See concerning these men and their commander the interesting +monograph by Charles H. Walcott: "Sir Archibald Campbell of Inverneil, +sometime Prisoner of War in the Jail at Concord, Massachusetts." +Privately printed. + +[166] "The Writings of Washington," iii, 531. + +[167] Sabine's "Loyalists," 217. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Siege of Boston, by Allen French + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SIEGE OF BOSTON *** + +***** This file should be named 29199-8.txt or 29199-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/1/9/29199/ + +Produced by The Bookworm, <bookworm.librivox AT gmail.com>, +Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team +at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned +images of public domain material from the Google Print +project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Siege of Boston + +Author: Allen French + +Release Date: June 21, 2009 [EBook #29199] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SIEGE OF BOSTON *** + + + + +Produced by The Bookworm, +Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team +at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned +images of public domain material from the Google Print +project.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[Pg i]</a></span></p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<h1>THE SIEGE OF BOSTON</h1> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<hr /> + +<div class="center"><img src="images/illus01.jpg" width='462' height='700' alt="Front cover" /></div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[Pg ii]</a></span></p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<div class="center"><img src="images/illus03.jpg" width='176' height='58' alt="Logo" /></div> + +<h3>THE MACMILLAN COMPANY</h3> + +<h4>NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO<br />ATLANTA · SAN FRANCISCO</h4> + +<h3>MACMILLAN & CO., <span class="smcap">Limited</span></h3> + +<h4>LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA<br />MELBOURNE</h4> + +<h3>THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, <span class="smcap">Ltd.</span></h3> + +<h4>TORONTO</h4> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<hr /> + +<div class="center"><a name="illus02.jpg" id="illus02.jpg"></a><img src="images/illus02.jpg" width='450' height='700' alt="Old State House" /></div> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Old State House</span></h4> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</a></span></p> + +<h1>THE SIEGE OF BOSTON</h1> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>ALLEN FRENCH</h2> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<h3>New York<br />THE MACMILLAN COMPANY<br />1911</h3> + +<h3><i>All rights reserved</i></h3> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</a></span></p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Copyright</span>, 1911,<br /> +<span class="smcap">By</span> THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.<br />——<br /> +Set up and electrotyped. Published February, 1911.</h4> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<h4>Norwood Press<br />J. S. Cushing Co.—Berwick & Smith Co.<br /> +Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.</h4> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<h3>TO C. E. S.</h3> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span></p> + +<h2>PREFACE</h2> + +<p>In writing this book I have endeavored to produce a brief and readable +account of the Siege of Boston, and of the events which brought it +about. These were, of course, parts of a larger history, the connection +with which I have carefully indicated. My main endeavor, nevertheless, +has been to treat my subject as a single organic series of events. To +select the more interesting and significant masses of detail, and +properly to coördinate them, has not been an easy task. The minor +incidents were conditioned by the scale of the book; the result, I hope, +is fluency and a more evident connection between the larger events.</p> + +<p>So far as possible, I have relied upon contemporary statements. But no +writer on the Siege can fail to acknowledge his deep obligations to the +"History of the Siege" by Richard Frothingham. This acknowledgment I +gladly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span> make. Since 1849, however, the date of the publication of the +book, there has come to light interesting new material which I have +endeavored to incorporate here. The other authorities upon which I have +chiefly depended will be found by referring to the footnotes.</p> + +<p class="right">ALLEN FRENCH.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Concord, Massachusetts</span>,<br /> + January, 1911.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<div class="index"> +<ul> +<li><span class="mono">CHAPTER</span></li> +<li><span class="mono"> <a href="#CHAPTER_I">I.</a></span> <span class="smcap">Beginnings and Conditions</span></li> +<li><span class="mono"> <a href="#CHAPTER_II">II.</a></span> <span class="smcap">Writs of Assistance and the Stamp Act</span></li> +<li><span class="mono"> <a href="#CHAPTER_III">III.</a></span> <span class="smcap">Charles Townshend, Sam Adams, and the Massacre</span></li> +<li><span class="mono"> <a href="#CHAPTER_IV">IV.</a></span> <span class="smcap">The Tea-Party and its Consequences</span></li> +<li><span class="mono"> <a href="#CHAPTER_V">V.</a></span> <span class="smcap">The Occupation of Boston</span></li> +<li><span class="mono"> <a href="#CHAPTER_VI">VI.</a></span> <span class="smcap">The Powder Alarm and the Winter of 1774-1775</span></li> +<li><span class="mono"> <a href="#CHAPTER_VII">VII.</a></span> <span class="smcap">Military Preparations</span></li> +<li><span class="mono"> <a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">VIII.</a></span> <span class="smcap">The Nineteenth of April</span></li> +<li><span class="mono"> <a href="#CHAPTER_IX">IX.</a></span> <span class="smcap">Boston Beleaguered</span></li> +<li><span class="mono"> <a href="#CHAPTER_X">X.</a></span> <span class="smcap">The Battle of Bunker Hill</span></li> +<li><span class="mono"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XI">XI.</a></span> <span class="smcap">Washington takes Command</span></li> +<li><span class="mono"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XII">XII.</a></span> <span class="smcap">Events in Boston from June to December, 1775</span></li> +<li><span class="mono"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">XIII.</a></span> <span class="smcap">Washington's Difficulties</span></li> +<li><span class="mono"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">XIV.</a></span> <span class="smcap">The Winter in Boston</span></li> +<li><span class="mono"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XV">XV.</a></span> <span class="smcap">The Evacuation</span></li> +</ul> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span></p> + +<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + +<div class="picindex"> +<ul> +<li><a href="#illus02.jpg"><span class="smcap">Old State House</span></a> <i>Frontispiece</i></li> +<li><a href="#illus04.jpg"><span class="smcap">The Hutchinson House</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#illus05.jpg"><span class="smcap">Faneuil Hall</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#illus06.jpg"><span class="smcap">Samuel Adams</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#illus07.jpg"><span class="smcap">The Investment of Boston</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#illus08.jpg"><span class="smcap">Revere's Picture of Boston in 1768</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#illus09.jpg"><span class="smcap">The Old North Church</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#illus10.jpg"><span class="smcap">The Battle of Lexington</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#illus11.jpg"><span class="smcap">Plan of the Siege</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#illus12b.jpg"><span class="smcap">The Minute Man</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#illus12a.jpg"><span class="smcap">The Old North Bridge</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#illus13.jpg"><span class="smcap">Washington's Headquarters</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#illus14.jpg"><span class="smcap">Dorchester Tower</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#illus15.jpg"><span class="smcap">Gold Medal commemorating Washington's Victory</span></a></li> +</ul> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> + +<h1>THE SIEGE OF BOSTON</h1> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>BEGINNINGS AND CONDITIONS</h3> + +<p>The Siege of Boston was the culmination of a series of events which will +always be of importance in the history of America. From the beginning of +the reign of George the Third, the people of the English colonies in the +new world found themselves at variance with their monarch, and nowhere +more so than in Massachusetts. Since the New England people were fitted +by their temperament and history to take the lead in the struggle, at +their chief town naturally took place the more important incidents. +These, which were often dramatic, had nevertheless a political cause and +significance which link them in a rising series<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> that ended in a violent +outbreak and the eleven months' leaguer.</p> + +<p>As to the siege itself, it varies an old situation, for Boston was beset +by its own neighbors in defence of the common rights. Previously the +king's troops, though regarded as invaders, had been but half-hearted +oppressors; it was the people themselves who persistently provoked +difficulties. The siege proper is of striking military interest, for its +hostilities begin by the repulse of an armed expedition into a community +of farmers, continue with a pitched battle between regular troops and a +militia, produce a general of commanding abilities, and end with a +strategic move of great skill and daring. It is the first campaign of a +great war, and precedes the birth of a nation. Politically, the cause of +the struggle is of enduring consequence to mankind. Socially, the siege +and its preliminaries bring to view people of all kinds, some weak, some +base, some picturesque, some entirely admirable. The period shows the +breaking up of an old society and the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span>formation of a new. A study of +the siege is therefore of value.</p> + +<p>It will be observed that the siege cannot satisfactorily be considered +as a distinct series of military or semi-military events, abruptly +beginning and still more abruptly ending. Such a view would reduce the +siege to a mere matter of local history, having little connection with +the larger movements of the American Revolution, and appearing almost as +an accident which might have happened at any other centre of sufficient +population.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> On the contrary, neither the siege nor the Revolution +were accidents of history. That the Revolution was bound to come about, +and that its beginnings were equally bound to be at Boston, these were +conditioned in the nature, first of the colonists in general, and second +of the New Englanders in particular.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> However striking were certain of +the occurrences, they were of less importance than their causes and consequences.</p> + +<p>Accordingly I shall consider as an organic series the more important of +those events which happened in Boston during the reign of George the +Third, and which ended when the last of his redcoats departed from the +town. In fact, in order to be perfectly intelligible I must first devote +a few pages to a consideration of previous conditions.</p> + +<p>"Any one," wrote George E. Ellis in the "Memorial History of Boston,"<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> +"who attempts to trace the springs, the occasions, and the directing +forces of the revolt ... cannot find his clew a year short of the date +when the former self-governed Colony of Massachusetts Bay became a Royal +Province." He is right in pointing out that in 1692 the struggle took +open form. Yet even then the controversy was not new. In other form it +had been carried on for more than half a century previous. Its ultimate +origin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> lay in the fact that the very charter under which the colony was +planted differed from all other documents granted by any English king.</p> + +<p>This difference lay in the omission of the condition, usual in such +charters, that its governing board should meet in London practically for +the purpose of supervision by the king. That the omission of this +condition was the result of wisdom on the part of the founders, and +stupidity on the part of the officers of the king, seems undeniable. The +founders, unhappy and alarmed at the political and religious situation +in England under Charles the First, were seeking to provide for +themselves and their families a refuge from his oppressions. Secure in +their charter, they presently left England for good. When they sailed +for America they did all that could be done to cut themselves off from +interference by the crown.</p> + +<p>At intervals, extremely valuable for the future of America, the +Massachusetts colony certainly was free of all restraint. Charles's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> +benediction seems to have been "Good riddance!" From the crown the +colonists received no assistance whatever, and it was long both their +boast and their plea that they had planted the colony "at their own +expense." They were left to work out their own salvation.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> As a +result, their passionate desire for freedom from interference by the +king grew into the feeling that they had earned it as a right. +Englishmen they were still, and subjects of the king; but to the +privileges of Englishmen they had added the right to manage their own +affairs. The English king and the English law were to help them in their +difficulties and to settle cases of appeal. In return they would grant +money and fight for the king when necessary; but in the meantime they +would live by themselves.</p> + +<p>Taking advantage of the clause in their charter which authorized them +"to ordain and establish all manner of wholesome and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> reasonable orders, +laws, statutes, and ordinances," they speedily took to themselves +everything but the name of independence. They instituted courts for all +purposes, set up their legislative government, raised their own taxes, +whether general or local, and perfected that wonderful instrument of +resistance to oppression, New England town government. They even coined +money. And, different from most of the other colonies, they chose their +governor from among their own number.</p> + +<p>Distance and home difficulties—for the Stuart kings usually had their +hands full of trouble with their subjects—favored the non-interference +which the colonists craved. When, however, the Stuarts had any leisure +at all, they at once devoted it to quarrelling with their subjects in +New England. Even to the easy-going Charles II the cool aloofness of the +colonists was a bit too strong; to his father and brother it was intolerable.</p> + +<p>The invariable methods of the colonists, when facing a demand from the +king, were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> evasion and delay. "Avoid or protract" were Winthrop's own +words in 1635. In 1684 the General Court wrote advising their attorney, +employed in England in defending the charter, "to spin out the case to +the uttermost."<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> Once and once only until the Revolution—in the case +of the seizing of Andros—did the men of Massachusetts proceed to +action. Their habitual policy was safe, and, on the whole, successful. +Slow communication (one voyage of commissioners from Boston to England +took three months), and the existence in England of a strong party of +friends, helped powerfully to obscure and obliterate the issues. Yet +Charles I in 1640, and James II in 1689, made preparations to reduce the +colony to proper subjection, by force if necessary.</p> + +<p>It was doubtless well for Massachusetts that both Charles and James were +presently dethroned, for against the power of England no successful +resistance could then have been made. New England, indeed, might have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> +been united against the king, but it is very unlikely that the other +colonies would have given their help. Some generations more were needed +before the aristocrats of Virginia could feel themselves at one with the +Puritans of New England.</p> + +<p>Yet it is interesting to notice the spirit of Massachusetts. On the news +of Charles's intentions the colony prepared for resistance. In James's +time it went a step further. When the news came of the expedition of +William of Orange, Massachusetts cast in its lot with him. Without +waiting to learn the result of the struggle, Boston rose against James's +unpopular governor, and imprisoned him in the Castle. The act was +heroic, for the Bloody Assizes had taught the world what punishment the +cowardly king meted out to rebels.</p> + +<p>It will be noticed that the political status of Massachusetts was +already changed. After many delays Charles II had abrogated the charter. +His death followed almost immediately, and Andros had been appointed at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> +the head of a provisional government. Doubtless the resistance to him +had been inspired by the hope that the old charter might be restored. +Instead, William, when once secure on the throne, issued a new charter. +Under its provisions the colony, now a province, lived until the +Revolution. In order that the events leading up to the siege may be +understood, it will be well to consider the provisions of the new +governmental machinery.</p> + +<p>At the head of the province were to be a governor and a +lieutenant-governor, both appointed by the king. Their powers were +executive, with the right of veto over legislation, and also over +certain appointments by the legislature. Laws passed by this legislature +and not vetoed by the governor or the king were to go in force three +years after their enactment. The legislature had two houses, the lower a +popular chamber, called the Assembly, elected by the towns. The upper +branch was called the Council. The first Council was appointed by the +king; later<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> members were to be nominated by the Assembly for the +approval of the governor. The Assembly and Council formed together the +Great and General Court. Judges were to be chosen by the governor and +Council, but all officers were to be paid by the General Court. As will +be seen later, in the case of the Writs of Assistance, appeal could be +taken to the English courts.</p> + +<p>And now for the first time became evident the fact that three +generations of practical independence had bred in America a race of +men—or it may be better to say had fostered a school of thought—that +never could agree in submitting to a distant and arbitrary authority. In +the seventy years which followed, New England showed this spirit in many +ways. The most prominent cause of disagreement was the question of the +governor's prerogatives, resulting in constant bickerings with the crown.</p> + +<p>The principle, of course, lay deeper still. On the one side were +sovereigns whose powers were not yet definitely restricted, and who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> +were likely to resent any apparent tendency to make them less. On the +other side was a people who had progressed far in self-government, and +who resisted any limitation of their rights. It is not the purpose of +this book to trace the earlier unification of the colonies under +pressure from without. By the year 1760 that process was approaching +completion; there was, therefore, in America a stronger feeling than +ever, while across the water was that new ruler into whose youthful ears +his mother had continually dinned the words, "George, be king!"</p> + +<p>It is well to understand the status of a colony in those days, and the +difficulties with which its inhabitants struggled. Yet it is hard for +the modern man to conceive the restrictions upon freedom. From earliest +days there had been discontent with the king's claim to the finest trees +in the public forests, the "mast trees" which, reserved for the king's +navy, no man might lawfully cut.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> Exportation of lumber, except to +England and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> British West Indies, was long illegal. Trade with the +French and Spanish islands was prohibited entirely, and trade in many +products of home manufacture (tobacco, sugar, wool, dye-stuffs, furs, +are prominent examples) was forbidden "to any place but Great +Britain—even to Ireland."<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> Certain merchandise might be imported at +will, subject to duty; but most articles could be bought, and sold, only +through Great Britain.</p> + +<p>Further, internal commerce and manufacture were severely hampered. No +wool or woollen product might be carried from one province to another. +The Bible might not be printed. The making of hats was almost entirely +suppressed. The manufacture of iron, on a scale sufficient to compete +with English wares, was practically prohibited—as a "nuisance."<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></p> + +<p>Under all these restrictions the colonies were not as yet restive. To be +sure there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> were smuggling and illicit trade, and grievances in plenty; +yet the stress of colonial life, the continual danger from the north and +west, had kept the provincials satisfied as a body. And now, at the +opening of the reign of George III, with the French driven out of Canada +and the Mississippi Valley, and the Indians subdued, there should have +been concord between the colonists and the king.</p> + +<p>The comparison between the two is very striking, while at the same time +it is not easily brought home to the city dweller of to-day. City +government gives the individual a chance to bury himself in the mass, +and to avoid his duties; further, our cities are now many, and very +large, while we are notoriously patient under misrule. In 1760, on the +other hand, few towns had as yet adopted city government. Boston was the +largest town, and its population was little more than fifteen thousand. +So well did its enemies understand one reason for its truculence, that +they even considered means to force upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> the town a city charter. The +question came, however, to no definite proposition. The town therefore +proceeded with its open discussion of all public questions, with its +right of free speech in town meetings extended even to strangers, and +with its <i>viva voce</i> vote letting each man know where his neighbor +stood. "The town" was an entity of which each man felt himself a part. +As a whole, its self-consciousness was like that of an individual: it +could feel a trespass on its privileges as quickly as could the +haughtiest monarch of the old world. And all New England was filled with +towns whose feelings, on all essential points, were one and the same.</p> + +<p>Against the town-meetings of America stood George III, as determined to +assert his prerogatives as was any member of the house of Stuart. Still +comparatively young, he had not yet learned that there are limitations +of power, even to a king. And it was to the misfortune of his empire +that there were few in England to teach him.</p> + +<p>For the old Puritan middle class of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> Stuart days was gone. Its fibre +had softened; the class itself had disappeared in the easier-going +masses of a more prosperous day. For seventy-five years England had had +no internal dissensions, and her foreign wars had added to her wealth +and contentment. To her well-wishers it seemed as if the people had +given itself to sloth and indulgence. "I am satisfied," wrote Burke, +"that, within a few years, there has been a great change in the national +character. We seem no longer that eager, inquisitive, jealous, fiery +people which we have been formerly, and which we have been a very short +time ago."<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> England was the country of Tom Jones, hearty and healthy, +but animated by no high principles and keyed to no noble actions. It +needed the danger of the Napoleonic wars to bring out once more the +sturdy manliness of the nation. Through all the earlier reign of George +III there was, to be sure, a remainder of the old high-minded spirit. +Chatham and Rockingham, Burke, Barre, and others, spoke<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> in public and +private for the rights of the colonists, to whom their encouragement +gave strength. But the greater part of the English people was so +indifferent to the moral and political significance of the quarrel that +the king was practically able to do as he pleased.</p> + +<p>He proceeded on the assumption that every man had his price. The +assumption was unhappily too correct, for he was able to gather round +him, in Parliament or the civil service, his own party, the "King's +Friends," who served him for the profit that they got. No tale of modern +corruption can surpass the record of their plundering of a nation. With +this goes a story of gambling, drinking, and general loose living which, +while the attention is concentrated on it, rouses the belief that the +nation was wholly degenerate, until the recollection of the remnant, +Chatham and the party of the Earl of Rockingham, gives hope of the +salvation of the country.</p> + +<p>At any rate, for more than fifteen years of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> his reign the king was in +the ascendant. There was no party to depose him, scarcely one strong +enough to curb him, even at times of popular indignation. He was, +therefore, as no other king had been before him, able to force the issue +upon the colonies, in spite of the protests of the few friends of +liberty. In complete ignorance of the strength of the colonists, both in +resources and in purpose, he proceeded to insist upon his rights. When +it is remembered that those rights, according to his interpretation of +them, were to tax without representation, to limit trade and +manufactures, and to interfere at will in the management of colonial +affairs, it will be seen that he was playing with fire.</p> + +<p>The danger will appear the greater if it is considered that the +population of the colonies had not progressed, like that of England, to +days of easy tolerance. The Americans, and especially the New +Englanders, were of the same stuff as those who had beheaded Charles I, +and driven James II from his kingdom. They had among their military<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> +officers plenty of such men as Pomeroy, who, destined to fight at Bunker +Hill, wrote from the siege of Louisburg: "It looks as if our campaign +would last long; but I am willing to stay till God's time comes to +deliver the city into our hands."<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> Many besides himself wrote, and +even spoke, in Biblical language. There were still heard, in New +England, the echoes of the "Great Awakening"; the preaching of +Whitefield and others had everywhere roused a keen religious feeling, +and the people were as likely as ever to open town-meeting with prayer, +and to go into battle with psalms.</p> + +<p>Such, then, were the contestants in the struggle. On the one side was +the king with his privileges, backed by his Parliamentary majority, and +having at command an efficient army and navy, and a full treasury. There +was at hand no one to resist him successfully at home, none to whose +warnings he would listen. And on the other side were the colonists, +quite capable of fighting for what they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> knew to be the "rights of +Englishmen." Both hoped to proceed peaceably. In ignorance, each was +hoping for the impossible, for the king would not retreat, and the +colonists would not yield. As soon as each understood the other's full +intention, there would be a rupture.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> It may appear to a hasty consideration that Frothingham's +"Siege of Boston" treats the siege as an isolated military event. It +must, however, be remembered that Mr. Frothingham had treated previous +events in a preliminary volume, his "Life of Joseph Warren."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> "Memorial History of Boston," ii, 31.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> "They nourished by your indulgence? They grew up by your +neglect of them!" Barre's speech in Parliament, February, 1765.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> "Memorial History of Boston," i, 340, 376.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> See, on this point, Sabine's "American Loyalists," 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Bancroft's "United States," ed. 1855, v, 265. References to +Bancroft will at first be to this edition.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Bancroft's "United States," v, 266.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Trevelyan, "American Revolution," Part i, 21.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> "Memorial History of Boston," ii, 116.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>WRITS OF ASSISTANCE AND THE STAMP ACT</h3> + +<p>The men who, whether in America or England, took sides with the king or +the colonies as Tories and Whigs, or as "prerogative men" and "friends +of liberty," fall naturally into two classes. A line of cleavage could +be seen at the time, and can even be traced now, among the supporters of +either side, according as they followed principle or self-interest. +There were those who sought profit in supporting the colonies, as well +as those who knowingly faced loss in defending the king. It is well for +Americans to remember, therefore, that while many sided with the king +for what they could get, there were others whose minds could not +conceive a country without a king, or a subject with inalienable rights. +The best of the Tories honestly believed the Whig agitation<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> to be +"unnatural, causeless, wanton, and wicked."<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> Such Americans were, in +the inevitable struggle, truly martyrs to their beliefs.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, just as there was naturally more profit or prominence (and +the two were often the same) on the king's side, so his party had the +more self-seekers. "The cause is not worth dying for," said Ingersoll, +facing the Connecticut farmers, and spoke the sentiment of all the +stamp-officers who resigned their positions at the demand of the people. +The cause, however, did seem worth working for. There were many, in +England and America, who, like those whom Otis saw around him, "built +much upon the fine salaries they should receive from the plantation +branch of the revenue." Position, pay, and the chance to exploit the +revenues as this was done in England, were the temptations which brought +many to the side of the king,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> and which made men unite to urge upon him +the acts which he desired for less selfish reasons.</p> + +<p>Urged by principle, then, or excited by self-interest, the proposers of +new measures were strong. The earliest act of the king's reign showed +what could and what would be done, and brought upon the Boston stage the +first of the actors in the drama. On the one hand were the governor, the +justices, and the minor officials, on the other the people's +self-appointed—but willingly accepted—leaders.</p> + +<p>Francis Bernard was the first Massachusetts governor under George III. +Bernard arrived August 2, 1760; the old king died on October 25; and in +November the customs officials, stimulated by orders from home to +enforce the provisions of the Sugar Act of 1733, petitioned for "writs +of assistance," to empower them to summon help in forcible entries in +search of smuggled goods. Now there can be no doubt that there was +smuggling in the colony, even in Boston itself. On the other hand, the +officials were inquisitorial<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> and rapacious. Once they were armed with +writs of assistance, no dwelling would be safe from entry by them. The +struggle was at once begun, and in the council chamber of the old Town +House was fought out before the eyes of the province.</p> + +<p>The scene is pictured on the walls of the modern State House. Chief +among the justices sat Thomas Hutchinson, a man of property and +education, and an excellent historian, but the very type of +office-holder, and by prejudice and interest a partisan of the king. +Against him stood James Otis, the first of the Massachusetts orators of +liberty, a man of good family, and, like so many of the patriot leaders, +a lawyer. His speech was the first definite pronouncement for a new +order of things.</p> + +<p>"I am determined," he said, "to sacrifice estate, ease, health, +applause, and even life, to the sacred calls of my country." He referred +to the "kind of power, the exercise of which cost one king of England +his head and another his throne." Such language,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> publicly spoken, was +new. His argument was, to Englishmen, irrefutable. No precedent, no +English statute, could stand against the Constitution. "This writ, if +declared legal, totally annihilates" the privacy of the home. +"Custom-house officers might enter our houses when they please, and we +could not resist them. Upon bare suspicion they could exercise this +wanton power.... Both reason and the Constitution are against this +writ.... Every act against the Constitution is void."<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> The speech, +continued for four hours, was a brilliant example of keen logic combined +with burning eloquence.</p> + +<p>This is Otis's great service to the cause of the Revolution. Fiery and +magnetic, but moody and eventually unbalanced, he gave place in the +public confidence to men perhaps of lesser talents, but with equal zeal +and steadier purpose. Yet his service was invaluable. His speech +expressed for his countrymen the indignation of the hour, and it pointed +the way to younger men. To one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> at least of his hearers, John Adams, it +was "like the oath of Hamilcar administered to Hannibal."<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> To many it +was the final appeal that settled them in their patriotism. For history +the scene has been called the beginning of the Revolution.</p> + +<p>Yet it had no immediate results, for Hutchinson—and the service was +forgotten by neither his friends nor his opponents—secured delay of +judgment in the case until the English courts could uphold him against +his wavering associates. Nevertheless, it is safe to assume that the +public indignation secured moderate measures on the part of the customs +officials, since we hear of few complaints. And the affair had its +influence on the public attitude toward the Stamp Act, five years later.</p> + +<p>The Stamp Act was the first definite assertion of the right to tax +America. In 1763 the Sugar Act had been reënacted, but its provisions, +taxing only importations from foreign colonies, yielded little revenue. +The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> king's treasury was already feeling the drains upon it, and a pack +of eager office-seekers was clamoring to be let loose upon the revenues +of the colonies. Together the king and his friends pushed through +Parliament the legislation which was to secure their purposes. To meet +any such danger as in the recent French and Indian wars, ten thousand +soldiers were to be quartered on the colonies, which were to pay for +their maintenance. Certain sops to public sentiment were given, in the +shape of concessions, yet new restrictions were laid on foreign trade. +And finally and most important, a stamp-tax, the easiest to collect, was +laid on business and legal formalities of all kinds. After its passage +no land title might be passed, no legal papers issued, no ship might +clear from a home port, without a stamp affixed to the necessary +documents. Not even inheritances might be transferred, nor marriages be legalized.</p> + +<p>This was the first internal taxation laid by England on America. A word +is necessary as to the meaning of the phrase in those<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> days. An external +tax, perhaps merely an export duty, was levied and paid in England; its +effect was seen in higher prices in the colonies. Internal taxation +would include all taxes actually paid in America on goods coming from +England. The provisions of the Sugar Act were regarded as "trade +restrictions," and not as intended to raise an English revenue.</p> + +<p>There is perhaps no better place to discuss the justice of the +Revolution than right here. Even to-day the illegality, the utter +wrongfulness of the American position, is occasionally raised among us +by those who see the great obligations to the mother country under which +the colonies lay, and who recall the needless hardships suffered by the +wretched Tories, the martyrs of a lost cause. Doubtless wrongs were +inflicted in the course of the struggle, and the great expenditures of +England were in large part unrequited. But it must be remembered that +the world had not yet reached the point where the losers in a war were +gently treated, and that no amount<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> of financial obligation will ever +compel to the acceptance of political servitude. By habit of mind and +force of circumstances America had developed a political theory +puzzlingly novel to the old world and as yet not thoroughly understood +by the new. It was upon this unformulated theory that all future +differences were to arise. It interfered in all affairs in which the +question arose: Should the colonies be governed, and especially should +they be taxed, without a voice in their own affairs?</p> + +<p>No one in England doubted that Parliament had a right to tax America +without its consent. Customs restrictions were long familiar. As to +internal taxation, why, it was asked, should the colonies have a voice +in Parliament? Birmingham and Manchester, great centres of population, +were not represented, while that uninhabited heap of stones, Old Sarum, +sent a member to the Commons. Resting on these abuses, even Pitt and +Burke were content to argue that taxation of America was just. For them +it was a question whether that right should be exercised.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p><p>With the best will in the world to be on good terms with the mother +country, America could not agree in such reasoning. The case had nothing +to do with obligations. As for these, the colonists knew that England +would never have won against the French in Canada without their aid. But +that was not the question. Should those who for a hundred and +thirty-five years had paid no tax to England pay one now? Were the +people who for seventy years had drawn a fine distinction between paying +their governor of their own accord and paying him at the command of the +king, and who in every year of royal governorship had made their +contention plain—were they to be satisfied to pay taxes because Birmingham did?</p> + +<p>Undoubtedly there were other causes for discontent. "To me," says +Sabine, in the preface to his "American Loyalists," "the documentary +history, the state papers of the period teach nothing more clearly than +this, namely, that almost every matter brought into discussion was +practical, and in some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> form or other related to <span class="smaller">LABOR</span>, to some branch +of <span class="smaller">COMMON INDUSTRY</span>." He reminds us that twenty-nine laws limited +industry in the colonies, and concludes that "the great object of the +Revolution was to release <span class="smaller">LABOR</span> from these restrictions." Undoubtedly +these restrictive laws had their effect upon the temper of the people. +Undoubtedly also there was much fear lest there should be established in +the colonies a bureaucracy of major and minor officials, corruptly, as +in England, winning fortunes for themselves. Yet the question of +taxation, a matter of merely theoretical submission, which produced no +hardship and would not impoverish the country, was the main cause of +trouble. The two branches of the race had long unconsciously parted +their ways, and the realization of it was upon them.</p> + +<p>Upon the proposal of the Stamp Act the colonies did everything in their +power to prevent the passage of the bill. They urged that internal +taxation had never been levied before. Protests, arguments, and +petitions were sent across the water, but in vain. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> Commons fell +back upon its custom "to receive no petition against a money bill," and +would listen to nothing. "We have the power to tax them, and we will tax +them."<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> And following this utterance of one of the ministry, the bill +was passed.</p> + +<p>It is interesting to note that no resistance to the tax was expected. +Its operation was automatic; there was no hardship in its provisions; of +course the colonists would yield. Even Franklin, who should have known +his countrymen better, expected submission. "The sun is down," he wrote, +but "we may still light candles. Frugality and industry will go a great +way toward indemnifying us." His correspondent, Charles Thomson, had in +this case the truer foresight, and predicted the works of darkness.<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p> + +<p>Throughout the colonies there was not only sorrow, but anger. When even +Hutchinson had protested against the Stamp Act,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> it can be seen how the +Whigs would feel. Non-importation agreements were widely signed, and +people accustomed to silks and laces prepared to go into homespun. But +the act, passed in February, 1765, was not to go into effect until +November. Before that date, much could be done.</p> + +<p>What was done came from the lower as well as the upper classes. The +people acted promptly. One colony after another sent crowds to those who +had accepted, in advance, the positions of stamp-officers. One by one, +under persuasion or intimidation, the officers resigned until none were +left. In New York the governor fled to the military for protection, and +from the parapet of the fort looked helplessly on while the people burnt +before his eyes his own coach, containing images of himself and the +devil. But before this happened, Boston, first of all the capitals to +take a positive stand, began to draw upon itself the particular +resentment of the king.</p> + +<p>Early in August came to Boston the news of the nomination of its +stamp-collector,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> Andrew Oliver, long prominent upon the Tory side. The +lower class of the inhabitants, after a week of delay, stirred itself to +action. On the 14th the image of Oliver was seen hanging on the bough of +a large elm, then known as the Great Tree. Hutchinson ordered the image +down, but as the sheriff did not act, Bernard summoned his council, and +until evening fruitlessly endeavored to urge them to action. Then the +populace, having themselves removed the image, came to the Town House, +and, passing directly through it, shouted to the council, still sitting +upstairs, "Liberty, property, and no stamps!" Proceeding with perfect +order, the crowd next tore down the frame of a building which Oliver was +suspected of raising to use as his office, and, carrying the beams to +Fort Hill, burnt them and the image before Oliver's house.</p> + +<p>Hutchinson, who never lacked personal courage, called on the militia +colonel to summon his men and disperse the crowd, but the colonel +replied that his drummers were in the mob. Hutchinson then went with +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> sheriff to order the crowd to disperse, but was himself forced to +depart in order to escape violence. The next day Bernard, the governor, +whose courage left him at the very thought of another such night, fled +to Castle William, behind whose ancient walls he considered himself +safe. Oliver hastily resigned his office, lest the mob should visit him again.</p> + +<div class="center"><a name="illus04.jpg" id="illus04.jpg"></a><img src="images/illus04.jpg" width='700' height='479' alt="The Hutchinson House" /></div> + +<h4><span class="smcap">The Hutchinson House</span></h4> + +<p>The people were not satisfied with the conduct of Hutchinson, who, +although he had actually opposed the passage of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> Stamp Act, was +under suspicion of secretly abetting and profiting by it. After twelve +days there was a second outbreak; the mob began by burning the records +of the vice-admiralty court, went on to invade the house of the +comptroller of customs, and finally, worked to the usual pitch of a +mob's courage, attacked Hutchinson's house. With his family he escaped, +but the mob broke into the handsome mansion, and sacked it thoroughly. +His library, with priceless manuscripts concerning the history of the +colony, was scattered in the mud of the street.</p> + +<p>This was the most disgraceful event that happened in Boston during all +the long period preceding the Revolution. It was due to popular feeling, +wrongly directed; and to new working-men's organizations, not as yet +understanding the task that was before them. These organizations, as yet +almost formless, and never so important that records were kept, called +themselves the Sons of Liberty, after a phrase used by Isaac Barre, in a +speech in Parliament opposing the Stamp Act. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> tree on which they had +hung the image of Oliver was from this time called Liberty Tree.</p> + +<p>The better class of Boston citizens at once, in a town meeting called +the following morning, declared their "detestation of these violent +proceedings," and promised to suppress them in future. We shall see that +one more such outbreak, and one only, was made by a Boston mob. There is +here suggested an unwritten, perhaps never to be written, chapter of the +history of this time. By what means did the Boston leaders, Samuel Adams +chief among them, manage to control the Boston workmen? However it was +done, by what conferences and through what reasoning, it is safe to say +that the loose organizations of the Sons of Liberty, and still another +set of clubs, the caucuses which met in various parts of the town, were +utilized to control the lower classes. We know the names of a few of the +leaders of the workmen: Edes the printer, Crafts the painter, and, most +noted of them all, Paul Revere the silversmith. These sturdy men, and +others in different<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> trades, were the means of transmitting to the +artisans of Boston the thoughts and desires of the upper-class Whigs. +The organization was looser than that of a political party of to-day, +but as soon as it was completed, it produced a subordination, secrecy, +and self-control which cannot be paralleled in modern times.</p> + +<p>The opposition to the Stamp Act continued. More formidable than mobs +were the actions of the town meetings and legislatures. Protests and +declarations were solemnly drawn up; for the first time was heard the +threat of disaffection. Representatives from nine provinces met in the +Stamp Act Congress, and passed resolutions against the new taxation.</p> + +<p>It was impossible for England to ignore the situation. Reluctantly—it +was an act which the king never forgot nor forgave—more than a year +after its passage, when it was proved that its enforcement was +impossible, the Stamp Act was repealed.</p> + +<p>This was the time for England to change<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> her whole policy. Not Boston +alone, but all America, had declared against American taxation. The +principles of liberty had again and again been clearly pointed out. +Further, there would have been no disgrace in admitting a mistake. The +whole colonial question was new in human history, for Roman practice was +inadmissible. "The best writers on public law," reasoned Otis, "contain +nothing that is satisfactory on the natural rights of colonies.... Their +researches are often but the history of ancient abuses."<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> The natural +rights of man should have been allowed to rule, as in the course of +time, with England's other colonies, they came to do.</p> + +<p>But, for better or for worse, sides had been taken. Few thought of +turning back. In England there were no breaks in the ranks of the king's +supporters; in America the office-holding class, the "best families," +the people of settled income and vested rights, were as a rule, +selfishly or unselfishly, for the king.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> Already "mobocracy," "the +faction," "sedition," were familiar terms among them. England was ready +to take, and the American Tories were ready to applaud, the next step. +And Boston was being marked down as the most obnoxious of the towns of +America.<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> The adjectives are those of <i>Massachusettensis</i>, the +ablest Tory pamphleteer, as quoted in Frothingham's "Siege," 33.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> "Memorial History of Boston," iii, 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> "Memorial History of Boston," iii, 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Bancroft's "United States," v, 247.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Fiske, "American Revolution," illustrated edition, i, 17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Bancroft's "United States," v, 203.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> The Castle, or Castle William, referred to in this +chapter, was the old fort on Castle Island. It was never put to any +other use than as a barracks and magazine.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>CHARLES TOWNSHEND, SAM ADAMS, AND THE MASSACRE</h3> + +<p>Unfortunately, when the Stamp Act was repealed, the way had been left +open for future trouble. The Rockingham ministry, the most liberal which +could then be assembled, even in repealing the Stamp Act thought it +incumbent upon them to assert, in the Declaratory Act, the right to tax +America. The succeeding ministry, called together under the failing +Pitt, was the means of reasserting the right. Pitt, too ill to support +the labor of leading his party in the Commons, entered the House of +Lords as Earl of Chatham, thus acknowledging the eclipse of fame and +abilities which in the previous reign had astounded Europe. It was +during one of his periods of illness, when he was unable to attend to +public affairs,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> that a subordinate insubordinately reversed his public +policy by proceeding once more to tax America.</p> + +<p>Charles Townshend was Chancellor of the Exchequer. It was he who had +urged the reënactment of the Sugar Act in 1763, and he now saw +opportunity to put through a more radical policy. In violation of all +implied pledges, disdaining restraint from his colleagues, this +brilliant but unstable politician introduced into Parliament a new bill +for raising an American revenue. "I am still,"<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> he declared, "a firm +advocate of the Stamp Act.... I laugh at the absurd distinction between +internal and external taxation.... It is a distinction without a +difference; if we have a right to impose the one, we have a right to +impose the other; the distinction is ridiculous in the sight of +everybody, except the Americans."</p> + +<p>"Everybody, except the Americans!" The phrase, from an important speech +at a critical moment, marks the fact that a world of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> thought divided +the two parts of the Empire more truly than did the Atlantic. But not as +yet so evidently. It is only in unconscious acknowledgments such as +these that we find the English admitting the new classification. In +studying the years before and after this event we find the Americans +often called Puritans and Oliverians, while the possible rise of a +Cromwell among them is admitted. Yet the parallel, though unmistakably +apt, and containing a serious warning, was never taken to heart, even in America.</p> + +<p>Americans were very slow in approaching the conclusion that colonists +had irrefragable rights. Caution and habit and pride in the name of +Englishman kept them from it; the colonist, visiting England for the +first time, still proudly said that he was going "home." There was no +reason why this feeling should ever change, if only the spirit of +compromise, the basis of the British Constitution, had been kept in mind +by Parliament. But the times were wrong. Hesitate as the colonists might +before the syllogism which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> lay ready for completion, its minor and +major premises were already accepted. That they were Englishmen, and +that Englishmen had inalienable rights, were articles of faith among +them. The conclusion would be drawn as soon as they were forced to it. +And Townshend was preparing to force them.</p> + +<p>Townshend proposed small duties on lead, paints, glass, and paper. +Besides this, he withdrew the previous export duty, one shilling per +pound, on tea taken from England to America, and instead of this he laid +an import duty of threepence per pound. This was ingeniously new, being +internal taxation in a form different from that of the Stamp Act. At the +same time was abandoned the ancient contention that customs duties were +but trade regulations. The new taxes were obviously to raise an English +revenue. For the execution of the new laws provision was made in each +colony for collectors to be paid directly by the king, but indirectly by +the colonies. The head of these collectors was a board of Commissioners +of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> the Customs, stationed at Boston. It will be seen that thus were +begun new irritations for the colonies, in the shape of duties for the +benefit of England, and of a corps of officials whose dependence on the +crown made sure that they would be subservient tools.</p> + +<p>While this was done, no change was made in the plan to maintain in +America an army at colonial expense. Indeed, New York was punished for +refusing to supply to the troops quartered in the city supplies that had +been illegally demanded. Its assembly was not allowed to proceed with +public business until the supplies should be voted. Thus every other +colony was notified what to expect.</p> + +<p>The Revenue Acts were passed in July, 1767. Upon receiving the news the +colonies expressed to each other their discontent. Concerning the +Customs Commissioners Boston felt the greatest uneasiness. "We shall +now," wrote Andrew Eliot, "be obliged to maintain in luxury sycophants, +court parasites, and hungry dependents." The strongest expression upon +the general situation was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>in Dickinson's "Farmer's Letters."<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> +"This," said he, "is an <span class="smaller">INNOVATION</span>, and a most dangerous innovation. We +being obliged to take commodities from Great Britain, special duties +upon their exportation to us are as much taxes as those imposed by the +Stamp Act. Great Britain claims and exercises the right to prohibit +manufactures in America. Once admit that she may lay duties upon her +exportations to us, for the purpose of levying money on us only, she +will then have nothing to do but to lay those duties on the articles +which she prohibits us to manufacture, and the tragedy of American liberty is finished."</p> + +<p>There was but one way to meet the situation. In October the town of +Boston resolved, through its town meeting, to import none of the +dutiable articles. The example was followed by other towns until all the +colonies had entered, unofficially, into a non-importation agreement. +The question arose, What further should be done? Otis was beginning his +mental decline. It was now that Samuel Adams,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> or Sam Adams, as Boston +better loves to call him, came into the leadership which he ever after exercised.</p> + +<p>He was a man of plain Boston ancestry, whose father had interested +himself in public affairs, and who, like his son, was of doubtful +business ability. Sam Adams's interests were evident from his boyhood, +and when in 1743 he took his degree of Master of Arts at Harvard, he +presented a thesis on the subject: "Whether it be Lawful to resist the +Supreme Magistrate, if the Commonwealth cannot otherwise be preserved." +Although he inherited a little property from his father, and although +from the year 1753 he served constantly in public offices, up to the +year 1764 he had scarcely been a success. His patrimony had largely +disappeared; further, as tax-collector he stood, with his associates, +indebted to the town for nearly ten thousand pounds. The reason for this +is not clear; the fact has been used to his disadvantage by Tory +historians, the first of them being Hutchinson, who calls the situation +a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>"defalcation." But in order to feel sure that the state of affairs +was justified by circumstances, we need only to consider that in the +same year Adams was chosen by the town on the committee to "instruct" +its representatives, and a year later was himself made a legislator. +From that time on, his influence in Boston and Massachusetts politics steadily grew.</p> + +<p>His political sentiments were never in doubt. In his "instructions" of +1764 are found the words: "If Taxes are laid upon us in any shape +without our having a legal representative where they are laid, are we +not reduced from the Character of free Subjects to the miserable State +of tributary Slaves?"<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> Throughout the Stamp Act agitation he was +active in opposing the new measures. He was found to be ready with his +tongue, but especially so with his pen. For this reason he was +constantly employed by the town and the Assembly to draft their +resolutions, and some of the most momentous documents of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> the period +remain to us in his handwriting. When at last, at the beginning of 1768, +some one was needed to express the opinion of Massachusetts upon the +Townshend Acts, Samuel Adams was naturally looked to as the man for the work.</p> + +<p>He drafted papers which were, one after the other, adopted by the +Massachusetts Assembly. The first was a letter of remonstrance, +addressed to the colony's agent in London, and intended to be made +public. It protested, in words seven times revised by the Assembly, +against the proposed measures. Similar letters were sent to members of +the ministry and leaders of English opinion. Another letter was +addressed to the king. Of the success of this, Adams apparently had +little hope, for when his daughter remarked that the paper might be +touched by the royal hand, he replied, "More likely it will be spurned +by the royal foot." The final one of these state papers was a circular +letter addressed to "each House of Representatives or Burgesses on the +continent." This expressed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> the opinion of Massachusetts upon the new +laws, and invited discussion. That nothing in this should be considered +underhanded, a copy of the circular letter was sent to England.</p> + +<p>It is significant that at the same time the new revenue commission sent +a secret letter to England, protesting against New England town +meetings, "in which the lowest mechanics discussed the most important +points of government with the utmost freedom,"<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> and asking for +troops.</p> + +<p>This begins the series of misrepresentations and complaints which, +constantly sent secretly to England, became a leading cause of trouble. +The working of the old colonial system is here seen in its perfection. +Believing in the right to tax and punish, the Ministry appointed +officers of the same belief. These men, finding themselves in hot water +in Boston, were annoyed and perhaps truly alarmed, and constantly urged +harsher measures and the sending of troops. The ministry, listening to +its own supporters, and disbelieving the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> assertions of the American +Whigs, more and more steadily inclined toward severity.</p> + +<p>Perhaps no falser idea was created than that Boston was riotous. Says +Fiske: "Of all the misconceptions of America by England which brought +about the American Revolution, perhaps this notion of the turbulence of +Boston was the most ludicrous." One of the most serious also. The chief +cause was in the timorousness of Bernard, the governor. On the occasion +of the anniversary of the repeal of the Stamp Act, when, as Hutchinson +said, "We had only such a mob as we have long been used to on the Fifth +of November," Bernard wrote that there was "a disposition to the utmost +disorder." As a crowd reached his house, "There was so terrible a yell +it was apprehended they were breaking in. It was not so; however, it +caused the same terror as if it had been so." That such a letter should +have any effect on home opinion is, as Fiske says, ludicrous. Yet the +mischief caused by these reports is incalculable. "It is the bare +truth," says<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> Trevelyan, "that his own Governors and +Lieutenant-Governors wrote King George out of America."<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></p> + +<p>Another little series of incidents at this time shows the official +disposition to magnify reports of trouble. For some weeks the ship of +war <i>Romney</i> had lain in the harbor, summoned by the commissioners of +customs. That the ship should be summoned was in itself an offence to +the town; but the conduct of the captain, in impressing seamen in the +streets of Boston, was worse. Bad blood arose between the ship's crew +and the longshoremen; one of the impressed men was rescued, but the +captain angrily refused to accept a substitute for another. Trouble was +brought to a head by the seizure, on the order of the commissioners of +customs, of John Hancock's sloop, the <i>Liberty</i>, on alleged violation of +regulations. Irritated by the seizure, and by the fact that the sloop +was moored by the side of the <i>Romney</i>, a crowd threatened the customs +house officers,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> broke the comptroller's windows, and, taking a boat +belonging to the collector, after parading with it through the streets, +burnt it on the Common.</p> + +<p>This was the second disturbance in Boston which can be called a riot. +But it was of small size and short duration; the influence of the Whig +leaders, working through secret channels, quieted the mob, and there was +no further trouble. Nevertheless, four of the commissioners of the +customs seized the occasion to flee to the <i>Romney</i>, and to request of +the governor protection in the Castle, declaring that they dared not +return. But the remaining commissioner remained undisturbed on shore, +and a committee of the council, examining into the matter, found that +the affair had been only "a small disturbance." A committee from the +Boston town meeting, going in eleven chaises to Bernard at his country +seat, secured from him a promise to stop impressments, and a statement +of his desire for conciliation. Nevertheless Bernard, Hutchinson, and +the various officers of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> customs, used the incident in their letters +home to urge that troops were needed in Boston.</p> + +<p>This was but an interlude, though an instructive one, in the main course +of events. Massachusetts had protested against the new Acts. The next +issue arose when the Assembly was directed, by the new colonial +secretary, Lord Hillsborough, to rescind its Remonstrance and Circular +Letter. The debate on the question was long and important; the demand +was refused by a vote of seventeen to ninety-two. The curious can still +see, in the Old State House, the punch-bowl that Paul Revere was +commissioned to make for the "Immortal Ninety-two;" and there still +exist copies of Revere's caricature of the Rescinders, with Timothy +Ruggles at their head, being urged by devils into the mouth of hell. +These are indications of the feelings of the times. The immediate result +was that in June, 1768, Bernard dissolved the house, and Massachusetts +was "left without a legislature." Upon the news reaching England,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> it +was at last resolved to send troops to Boston. The crisis in +Massachusetts was now serious. Against the governor and the expected +troops stood only the council, with slight powers. Some machinery must +be devised to meet the emergency, and the solution of the difficulty was +found by Samuel Adams. His mind first leaped to the ultimate remedy for +all troubles, and then found the way out of the present difficulty.</p> + +<p>The ultimate solution was independence. Though in moments of despondency +and exasperation the word had been used by both parties, until now no +one had considered independence possible except Samuel Adams. From this +period he worked for it, in secret preparing men's minds for the grand +change. According to a Tory accusation made in a later year, Adams +"confessed that the independence of the colonies had been the great +object of his life; that whenever he met a youth of parts he had +endeavored to instil such notions into his mind, and had neglected no +opportunity, either in public or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> in private, of preparing the way for +independence."<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p> + +<p>Another Tory source, a deposition gathered when the Tories were +preparing an accusation against Adams, shows the agitator at work. +During the affair of the sloop <i>Liberty</i>, "the informant observed +several parties of men gathered in the street at the south end of the +town of Boston, in the forenoon of the day. The informant went up to one +of the parties, and Mr. Samuel Adams, then one of the representatives of +Boston, happened to join the same party near about the same time, +trembling and in great agitation.... The informant heard the said Samuel +Adams then say to the same party, 'If you are men, behave like men. Let +us take up arms immediately, and be free, and seize all the king's +officers. We shall have thirty thousand freemen to join us from the country.'"</p> + +<p>The statement of the deposition is crude and overdone, yet there can be +no doubt that from this time Adams did work for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> one great end. At +first he was alone, yet he recognized the temper of the continent, and +saw the way that the political sentiments of the country were tending. +The methods which he followed were not always open; for never did he +avow his true sentiments, while often protesting, on behalf of the town +or the province, loyalty to the crown. Doubtless he did train the young +men up as he saw them inclined. In one case we know that he failed. +"Samuel Adams used to tell me," said John Coffin, a Boston Tory, +"'Coffin, you must not leave us; we shall have warm work, and want +you.'"<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> But in other cases Adams succeeded: one by one John Hancock, +Josiah Quincy, Jr., John Adams, and Joseph Warren were by him brought +into prominence. And at the same time he began to accustom men's minds +to new methods of political activity.</p> + +<p>This Adams did in the present difficulty, when, in default of the +Assembly, he yet needed an expression of the opinion of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> province. +Through his means was called a convention of the towns of Massachusetts, +which met in Faneuil Hall, on the 22d of September, 1768.</p> + +<p>The convention was self-restrained. It called upon the governor to +convene the Assembly, and approved all the acts which had caused the +Assembly's dismissal; it resolved to preserve order, and quietly +dissolved itself. "I doubt," said the British Attorney-General, "whether +they have committed an overt act of treason, but I am sure they have +come within a hair's breadth of it."</p> + +<p>Immediately afterwards arrived the ships with troops. These were landed +with much parade, to find a peaceful town, yet one which from the first +was able to annoy them. Demand was made for quarters for the soldiers; +the Selectmen and Council replied by referring to the law which forbade +such a requisition until the barracks at Castle William should be +filled. By neither subtlety nor threats could the town be induced to +yield; the troops camped on the Common until, at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> great expense, the +crown officials were forced to hire quarters. It was but the beginning +of the discomfort of the troops, openly scorned in a town where +three-quarters of the people were against them. Where few women except +their own camp-followers would have to do with the soldiers, where the +men despised them and the boys jeered, where "lobster-back" was the +mildest term that was flung at them, there was no satisfaction in +wearing the king's uniform.</p> + +<div class="center"><a name="illus05.jpg" id="illus05.jpg"></a><img src="images/illus05.jpg" width='700' height='460' alt="Faneuil Hall" /></div> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Faneuil Hall</span></h4> + +<p>Eighteen months of this life wore upon the soldiers. The townsfolk +became adepts at subtle irritations, against which there was not even +the solace of interesting occupation; for except for daily drill there +was nothing to do. In time the more violent among the troops were ripe +for any affray; while the lower classes among the inhabitants, stanch +Whigs and sober livers, were sick of the noisy ribaldry which for so +long had made unpleasant the streets of the town. Out of these +conditions grew what has been called the Boston Massacre.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p><p>The best contemporary, and in fact the best general authority for this +event is the "Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre in Boston." This +was published by the town for circulation in England, and is still +extant in Doggett's reprint of 1849, and in Kidder's of 1870. In a +report of a special committee the town rehearses both the events of the +Massacre and the proceedings which followed it. Seventy-two pages of +depositions are appended to the report of the committee: no other single +event of those days is made so vivid to us.</p> + +<p>The Massacre was preceded by minor disturbances. On the second of March, +1770, insults having passed between a soldier and a ropemaker, the +former came to the ropewalk, "and looking into one of the windows said, +<i>by God I'll have satisfaction!</i> ... and at last said he was not afraid +of any one in the ropewalks. I"—thus deposes Nicholas Feriter, of +lawful age, "stept out of the window and speedily knocked up his heels. +On falling, his coat flew open, and a naked sword <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>appeared, which one +John Willson, following me out, took from him, and brought into the +ropewalks." The soldier returned a second and a third time, each time +with more men from his regiment. At the last they were "headed by a tall +negro drummer, with a cutlass chained to his body, with which, at first +rencounter," says valiant Nicholas, "I received a cut on the head, but +being immediately supported by nine or ten more of the ropemakers, armed +with their wouldring sticks, we again beat them off."</p> + +<p>For three days there was, among the two regiments stationed in the town, +anger which the inhabitants endeavored to allay by the discharge of the +ropemaker who gave the original insult, and by agreements made with the +commanding officer, Colonel Dalrymple. But, as afterwards appeared, +there were warnings of further trouble. Cautions were given to friends +of the soldiers not to go on the streets at night. The soldiers and +their women could not refrain from dark hints of violence to come. It is +even possible that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> violence was concerted. On the night of the fifth a +number of soldiers assembled in Atkinson Street. "They stood very still +until the guns were fired in King Street, then they clapped their hands +and gave a cheer, saying, 'This is all that we want'; they then ran to +their barracks and came out again in a few minutes, all with their arms, +and ran toward King Street." "I never," so runs other testimony, "saw +men or dogs so greedy for their prey as these soldiers seemed to be."</p> + +<p>But the affray was of small proportions, and soon over. The actual +outbreak originated in a quarrel between a barber's boy and a sentry, +stationed in King Street below the east end of the Town House.<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> Boys +and men gathered, the sentry called out the guard, fire-bells were rung, +and the crowd increased. The captain of the guard was not the man for +the emergency. Said Henry Knox, afterward general and Secretary of War, +"I took Captain Preston by the coat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> and told him for God's sake to take +his men back again, for if they fired his life must answer for the +consequence; he replied he was sensible of it, or knew what he was +about, or words to that purpose; and seemed in great haste and much +agitated." The gathering still increased, there was crowding and +jostling, snowballs and possibly sticks were thrown; the soldiers grew +angry and the officer uncertain what to do. "The soldiers," testified +John Hickling, "assumed different postures, shoving their bayonets +frequently at the people, one in particular pushing against my side +swore he would run me through; I laid hold of his bayonet and told him +that nobody was going to meddle with them. Not more than ten seconds +after this I saw something white, resembling a piece of snow or ice, +fall among the soldiers, which knocked the end of a firelock to the +ground. At that instant the word 'Fire!' was given, but by whom I know +not; but concluded it did not come from the officer aforesaid, as I was +within a yard of him and must have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> heard him had he spoken it, but am +satisfied said Preston did not forbid them to fire; I instantly leaped +within the soldier's bayonet as I heard him cock his gun, which that +moment went off.... I, thinking there was nothing but powder fired, +stood still, till ... I saw another gun fired, and the man since called +Attucks, fall. I then withdrew about two or three yards.... During this +the rest of the guns were fired, one after another, when I saw two more +fall.... I further declare that I heard no other affront given them than +the huzzaing and whistling of boys in the street."</p> + +<p>After the firing, other soldiers were summoned to the spot, and more +townspeople appeared. The soldiers, says the official narrative, "were +drawn up between the State House and main guard, their lines extended +across the street and facing down King Street, where the town people +were assembled. The first line kneeled, and the whole of the first +platoon presented their guns ready to fire, as soon as the word should +be given.... For<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> some time the appearance of things were dismal. The +soldiers outrageous on the one hand, and the inhabitants justly incensed +against them on the other: both parties seemed disposed to come to action."</p> + +<p>Had the affair gone further, so that the soldiers fired again, or the +townspeople stormed the barracks, then the affray would have resembled +the riots not uncommon in Europe at that time, and known even in +England. In such a case the turbulence of Boston might have been proved. +But the good town was later able to claim that up to the actual breaking +out of hostilities not one soldier or Tory had been harmed in +Massachusetts. In the present case nothing further happened. The +stubborn people stood their ground, but the eager troops were restrained +and led away. The punishment of the offenders took place according to +law, with John Adams and Josiah Quincy, Jr., leaders of the Whigs, as +successful defenders of the captain.</p> + +<p>The important consequences were political. Though the people dispersed +that night, they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> assembled on the morrow in a crowded town meeting, +where Samuel Adams guided the actions of the assembly. Adjourning from +Faneuil Hall to the Old South, which itself could not accommodate them +all, the throng passed the very spot of the Massacre and under the +windows of the State House, where the lieutenant-governor viewed them. +This man was Hutchinson, acting governor in the absence of Bernard, and +at last about to arrive at the goal of colonial ambition.</p> + +<p>Thomas Hutchinson has been too much condemned, and of late years almost +too much commended. He had spent thirty years in the service of the +colony, holding more offices, and more at the same time, than any man of +his generation. Now he was unpopular and misjudged, yet he was a man for +his day and party honest and patriotic; his end, in exile in England, +was one of the tragedies of American loyalty. But though a braver man +than Bernard and more public-spirited, his methods were equally +underhanded, and he fatally mistook the capacity<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> of his countrymen to +govern themselves. A man who could wish for less freedom of speech in +England was not the man to sympathize with the spirit of Americans.</p> + +<p>He now, backed by a few councillors and officials, was to face Sam Adams +and the Boston town meeting. With a committee from the meeting, Adams +came to the State House to demand the withdrawal of the troops to the +Castle. Hutchinson answered that he would withdraw one regiment, but had +not the power to remove both. Retiring at the head of his committee, +Adams passed through a lane of people on his way to the Old South. "Both +regiments or none!" he said right and left as he passed, and every one +took up the word. "Both regiments or none!" cried the meeting. Voting +his report unsatisfactory, it sent him back to the governor to repeat his demand.</p> + +<p>"Now for the picture," wrote John Adams many years after. "The theatre +and the scenery are the same with those at the discussion of the writs +of assistance. The same<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> glorious portraits of King Charles the Second, +and King James the Second, to which might be added, and should be added, +little miserable likenesses of Governor Winthrop, Governor Bradstreet, +Governor Endicott, and Governor Belcher, hung up in obscure corners of +the room. Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson, commander-in-chief in the +absence of the governor, must be placed at the head of the +council-table. Lieutenant-Colonel Dalrymple, commander of his majesty's +military forces, taking rank of all his majesty's councillors, must be +seated by the side of the lieutenant-governor and commander-in-chief of +the Province. Eight-and-twenty councillors must be painted, all seated +at the council-board. Let me see,—what costume? What was the fashion of +that day in the month of March? Large white wigs, English scarlet-cloth +coats, some of them with gold-laced hats; not on their heads indeed in +so august a presence, but on the table before them or under the table +beneath them. Before these illustrious persons appeared <span class="smcap">Samuel Adams</span>,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> a +member of the House of Representatives and their clerk, now at the head +of the committee of the great assembly at the Old South Church."<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></p> + +<div class="center"><a name="illus06.jpg" id="illus06.jpg"></a><img src="images/illus06.jpg" width='477' height='600' alt="1722 Samuel Adams 1803 By John Singleton Copley" /></div> + +<h4>1722—<span class="smcap">Samuel Adams</span> 1803<br /> +By John Singleton Copley</h4> + +<p>It is this moment that Copley chose to represent Adams. Facing the +governor, the officers, and the councillors, Adams stood in his simple +"wine-colored suit," and appealed to the charter and the laws. "If you +have power to remove one regiment, you have power to remove both. It is +at your peril if you do not. The meeting is composed of three thousand +people. They are become very impatient. A thousand men are already +arrived from the neighborhood, and the country is in general motion. +Night is approaching; an immediate answer is expected."<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p> + +<p>Hutchinson was a man learned in the history of the province and the +people, and the occasion had impressed him already. As the meeting had +passed under his windows on the way to the Old South, a friend at his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> +side had remarked that this was not the kind of men that had sacked his +house. He had noted the resolute countenances of the best men of the +town, and had—to use his own words—judged their spirit to be as +strong, and their resolve as high, as those of the men who had +imprisoned Andros. Adams, narrowly watching him now, marked the tumult +in Hutchinson's mind.</p> + +<p>"I observed his knees to tremble," said Adams afterward; "I saw his face +grow pale; and I enjoyed the sight."<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> For Hutchinson, poorly +supported and irresolute, the strain was too great. He temporized and +parleyed, but he thought again of Andros, and gave way. It was a +complete triumph for the town. The troops, until their removal to the +Castle could be effected, were virtually imprisoned in their barracks by +a patrol of citizens. From that time they bore the name of the "Sam Adams regiments."</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> Bancroft, vi, 48.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Farmer's Letters, quoted in Bancroft, vi, 105.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Hosmer, "Life of Samuel Adams," 48.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Bancroft's "United States," vi, 128.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> "American Revolution," Part 1, 43.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Hosmer's "Life of Adams."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Sabine's "Loyalists."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> King Street is now State Street, and the Town House is the +Old State House.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> Hosmer's "Samuel Adams," 172.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> Bancroft, vi, 344.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Bancroft, vi, 345.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>THE TEA-PARTY AND ITS CONSEQUENCES</h3> + +<p>Step by step the mother country and its colonies were advancing to a +rupture. The first step was taken at the test concerning the writs of +assistance, the second at the passage of the Stamp Act and its repeal, +the third resulted in the Massacre and the withdrawal of the troops from +Boston. Each time the colonies gained the practical advantages which +they sought; each time the king's party, while yielding, became more +exasperated, and presently tested the strength of the colonies once +more; and each time it was Boston that stood as the head and front of +opposition. The town was marked for martyrdom.</p> + +<p>In the case of the Townshend Acts, the victory of the colonists was +temporarily complete. The movement had come to a head at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> Boston in an +actual outbreak, the Massacre, which obscured the greater issues; +nevertheless the issues were won. America would not submit to the new +revenue laws. Very calmly it had avoided them by refusing to import from +England. A thorough test of nearly two years showed that from north to +south the colonies were almost a unit in rejecting English and foreign +goods, and in relying on home manufactures. From importations of more +than a million and a quarter pounds, two-thirds fell clean away,<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> and +the merchants of England felt the pinch. There was but one thing to do, +and England grudgingly did it. The withdrawal of the troops from Boston +was acquiesced in, and the revenue acts, the cause of all the trouble, +were repealed, except for a duty still maintained upon tea.</p> + +<p>The response was such that England was relieved. New York began to +import those articles which had been made free of duty. The +non-importation agreement was broken,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> as the colonies perceived. "You +had better send us your old liberty pole," wrote Philadelphia scornfully +to New York, "since you clearly have no further use for it."<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> Whigs +and Tories both saw that, the agreement thus broken, other colonies +would follow the example of New York.</p> + +<p>The advantage was now clearly with the king, and he endeavored to make +the most of it, not by abiding in peace, but by taking a further step. +He ordered that colonial judges should in future be paid from the +English treasury. No one in the colonies could fail to see that the blow +was aimed directly at the independence of the judiciary.</p> + +<p>Massachusetts was alarmed. Boston sent resolutions to the governor, but +Hutchinson, now at last in the chair, refused to listen to the town +meeting. In this moment of indignation, Samuel Adams conceived a scheme +which was the longest step yet taken toward independence.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p><p>This was the idea of Committees of Correspondence, to be permanently +maintained by each town and even by each colony. The idea of such +committees was not novel. It had been suggested years before by Jonathan +Mayhew, and had more than once been used in emergencies. But permanent +committees, watching affairs and at any time ready to act, were new. +Naturally composed of the best men in each town, they would at all times +be ready to speak, and to speak vigorously. The plan, when perfected, +eventually enabled the colonies to act as a unit. From the first it gave +strength to the Americans; in the present instance it spread the news of +the king's action and roused indignation, and before long it brought +about an act which startled the English-speaking world.</p> + +<p>This was the Boston Tea-Party. The king had a hand in making the fire +hot. He had been vexed by his unsuccessful tariff, and was now +especially irritated that his concessions had brought about no result in +one important particular.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p><p>Until the present every shipmaster had been a smuggler, and all the +Whigs dealt in smuggled goods. This was according to old English +practice, but as a matter of fact illicit trade was more decorous in +America than in England. Whereas in Cornwall the forces of the smugglers +were so strong that they chased the revenue cutters into harbors and +landed their goods by bright moonlight, in America the appearances of +legality were gravely preserved.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless the result was the same, and in one quarter was actually +serious. The recent tariff had brought to the royal treasury scarcely +three hundred pounds from tea. The situation was no better now that the +tea-duty was the only one remaining. So completely did America, while +still drinking tea in quantity, avoid the duly imported article, that +the revenue of the East India Company fell off alarmingly. On pathetic +representations of the financial state of the company, the king gave +permission, through a subservient Parliament, for the company to export<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +tea to America free even of the English duty. The company had lost +hundreds of thousands of pounds since the Townshend Acts went in force; +now by favorable terms it was to be enabled to undersell in the colonial +market even the smuggled teas. Taking advantage of this new ruling, tea +was promptly shipped, in the autumn of 1773, to different consignees in +Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston.</p> + +<p>It was confidently expected that the colonies would buy the tea. No one +in the government supposed that the Americans would be blind to their +own interests. This much, indeed, was admitted by the leaders among the +Whigs, that once the tea was on sale Yankee principle might be sorely +tempted by Yankee thrift. Indignant at the insidious temptation, +determined that no such test should be made, and resenting the +establishment of a practical monopoly throughout the colonies, the +leaders resolved that the tea should not be landed.</p> + +<p>It is an odd fortune that connected the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> Chinese herb so closely with +the struggle of principle in America. To this day, while the issues are +obscured in the mind of the average American, he remembers the tax on +tea, and that his ancestors would not pay it. Picturesque tales of +ladies' associations depriving themselves of their favorite beverage, of +men tarring and feathering unpopular tradesmen, have survived the +hundred and thirty odd years which have passed since then; and the +impression is general that the colonists would not pay a tax which bore +heavy on them. But it will be noticed by those who have attentively read +this account that the colonists were refusing to pay less, in order that +they might have the satisfaction of paying more. They balked, not at the +amount of the tax, but at its principle.</p> + +<p>In the case of the tea-ships the duty of action fell upon Boston. +Charleston and Philadelphia had taken a positive stand resolving not to +receive the tea; but the ships were due at Boston first. The eyes of +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> continent were upon this one town. Boston made ready to act, yet of +the preparations we know nothing. While the story as it is told is +interesting enough, there is no record of the secret meetings in which +the events were prepared. Hints are dropped, and it is asserted that +within the Green Dragon tavern, a favorite meeting-place of the Whigs, +were finally decided the means by which the workmen of the town should +carry out the plans of the leaders. But of these meetings nothing is +positively known; all we can say with certainty is that the plans worked +perfectly, and that Sam Adams must have had a hand in their making.</p> + +<p>The Sons of Liberty took the first step toward forcing the consignees of +the tea to resign. "Handbills are stuck up," writes John Andrews, +"calling upon Friends! Citizens! and Countrymen!" To Liberty Tree the +"freemen of Boston and the neighboring towns" were invited, by placard +and advertisement, "to hear the persons, to whom the tea shipped by the +East India Company is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> consigned, make a public resignation of their +office as consignees, upon oath."<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p> + +<p>But the consignees did not come, though the freemen did. The +townspeople, forming themselves into a "meeting," sent a committee to +the consignees, demanding that they refuse to receive the tea. But the +consignees believed themselves safe. They were merchants of family and +property, the governor's sons were among them, and it was rumored that +Hutchinson had a pecuniary interest in the success of the venture. They +refused to give the pledge.</p> + +<p>The official town meeting now took up the matter. Before the tea +arrived, and again after the appearance of the first ship, the town +called upon the consignees to resign. Each time the consignees refused. +The second town meeting, after thus acting in vain, dissolved without +the customary expression of opinion. Hutchinson himself records that +"this sudden dissolution struck more terror into the consignees than the +most minatory<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> resolves." From that moment the matter was in the hands +of the Boston Committee of Correspondence.</p> + +<p>By means of the committee, at whose head was Adams, communication was +held with the towns throughout Massachusetts. The province was greatly +excited, and repeated demands for resignation were made upon the +consignees, but they clung to their offices and the hope of profit. +Delays were skilfully secured, and the first ship was entered at the +customs, after which according to law it must within twenty days either +clear for England or land its cargo. The governor was resolved not to +grant a clearance, and rejoiced over his opponents. "They find +themselves," he said, "in invincible difficulties."</p> + +<p>But everything was prepared. To the last minute of the twenty days the +Whigs were patient. Petition after petition, appeal after appeal, went +to the governor or the consignees. There was no success. On the last +day, the 16th of December, 1773, all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> three of the tea-ships were at +Griffin's Wharf, watched by the patriots. A town meeting, the largest in +the history of Boston, crowded the Old South, and again resolved that +the tea should not be landed. "Who knows," asked John Rowe, "how tea +will mingle with salt water?" The remark was greeted with cheers, yet +one more legal step might be taken, and the meeting, sending Rotch, the +master of the first tea-ship, to the governor at Milton to ask for a +clearance, patiently waited while he should traverse the fifteen miles +of his journey. During the hours of his absence there was no +disturbance; when he returned, the daylight had gone, and the Old South +was lighted with candles. Seven thousand people were silent to hear the +report. It was brief, and its meaning was clear: the governor had +refused; the last legal step had been taken. Then Samuel Adams rose.</p> + +<p>"This meeting," he declared, "can do nothing more to save the country."</p> + +<p>It was the expected signal. Immediately<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> there was a shout from the +porch, and the warwhoop sounded out of doors. The meeting poured out of +doors and followed some fifty men in the garb of Indians, who suddenly +appeared in the street. They hurried to Griffin's Wharf. There they +posted guards, took possession of the tea-ships, and hoisting the chests +from the holds, knocked them open and emptied the tea into the water. +Under the moon the great crowd watched in silence, there was no +interference from the troops or the war-ships, and in three hours the +last of the tea was overboard. Nothing remained except what had sifted +into the shoes of some of the "Indians," to be preserved as mementoes of the day.</p> + +<p>"They say," wrote John Andrews dryly two days later, "that the actors +were <i>Indians</i> from <i>Narragansett</i>. Whether they were or not, to a +transient observer they appear'd as <i>such</i>, being cloath'd in Blankets +with the heads muffled, and copper color'd countenances, being each +arm'd with a hatchet or axe, and pair pistols, nor was their <i>dialect</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> +different from what I conceive these geniusses to <i>speak</i>, as their +jargon was unintelligible to all but themselves. Not the least insult +was offer'd to any person, save one Captain Conner, a letter of horses +in this place, not many years since remov'd from <i>dear Ireland</i>, who had +ript up the lining of his coat and waistcoat under the arms, and +watching his opportunity had nearly fill'd 'em with tea, but being +detected, was handled pretty roughly. They not only stripp'd him of his +cloaths, but gave him a coat of mud, with a severe bruising into the +bargain; and nothing but their utter aversion to make <i>any</i> disturbance +prevented his being tar'd and feather'd."</p> + +<p>Such was the Boston Tea-Party, "the boldest stroke," said Hutchinson, +"that had yet been struck in America." Much has been written about it. +It has been minimized into a riot and magnified into a deed of glory. As +a matter of fact, it was neither the one nor the other, yet if either it +was nearer the latter. Carried out by Boston<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> mechanics, but doubtless +directed by Boston leaders, it was a cool and deliberate law-breaking, +the penalty for which, could the offenders but have been discovered, +would have been severe. But none of the actors in the affair were +betrayed at the time, though hundreds in the town must have had positive +knowledge of their identity. Names, like those of the burners of the +<i>Gaspee</i> eighteen months before, were not given out until after the +Revolution, and even to-day the list of them is not complete.</p> + +<p>The project of the king and the East India Company was a failure. In one +way or other the other three seaports either destroyed or sent back +their tea. But Boston was the first and most violent offender. It was on +her that punishment was to descend.</p> + +<p>The news of the Tea-Party came to England at a time when king and +Parliament were less amiably disposed than usual toward Massachusetts. +Some weeks before had happened the affair of the Hutchinson letters. +Benjamin Franklin, then Postmaster-General<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> of England, and agent for +Massachusetts, had secured possession of certain letters written by +Governor Hutchinson and by others in office in the colony. These letters +proved beyond doubt that the Massachusetts officials had been secretly +urging upon the home government repressive measures against the colony. +This was but what Bernard had done, and what had been suspected of his +successor; yet the actual proof was too much for Franklin. He sent the +letters, under pledge of secrecy, home to be read by the leaders among +the Massachusetts Whigs. But the pledge of secrecy could not be kept. +The letters were read in the Assembly and then published. "He had +written," says Bancroft of Hutchinson, "against every part of the +Constitution, the elective character of the Council, the annual choice +of the Assembly, the New England organization of the towns; had advised +and solicited the total dependence of the judiciary on the Crown, had +hinted at making the experiment of declaring Martial Law, and of +abrogating English liberty; had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> advised to the restraint of the +commerce of Boston and the exclusion of the Province from the +fisheries."<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> Hutchinson's defence was that he "had never wrote any +public or private letter that tends to subvert the Constitution." But he +was thinking of the Constitution rather than the Charter. The province +was thoroughly roused, and sent to England a firm yet respectful +petition demanding his dismissal.</p> + +<p>But Hutchinson had been serving the king as the king wished to be +served. The wrath of the government fell upon Franklin. In a crowded +meeting of the Privy Council, with scant respect for the forms of law, +Franklin was subjected to elaborate abuse. There were none to defend him +who could gain a respectful hearing; he stood immovable under the +tongue-lashing of the Solicitor-General, and made no reply. "I have +never," he said afterwards, "been so sensible of the power of a good +conscience, for if I had not considered the thing for which I have been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> +so much insulted, as one of the best actions of my life, and what I +should certainly do again in the same circumstances, I could not have +supported it."<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> The suit which he wore that day he put carefully +away, and did not wear it again until as Commissioner for the United +States he signed in Paris the treaty of alliance with France.</p> + +<p>Franklin was deprived of his office under the crown, and the king who +directed the punishment, the council who condemned him, and the +Parliament which cheered them both on, were not yet satisfied. When the +news of the Tea-Party came, they felt that their chance had come to +strike at the real culprit. The king consulted General Gage, who was +fresh from Boston, and listened eagerly to his fatally mistaken account +of the situation. "He says," wrote the king to Lord North, "'They will +be lions while we are lambs; but if we take the resolute part they will +undoubtedly prove very meek.' Four regiments sent to Boston will, he +thinks, be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> sufficient to prevent any disturbance."<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> On such a basis +the king and his prime minister planned the laws which should punish the town of Boston.</p> + +<p>The first act was the Boston Port Bill. It closed the port to all +commerce until the East India Company should be paid for its tea, and +the king satisfied that the town was repentant. Nothing except food and +fuel was to be brought to the town in boats; in fact, as Lord North +promised the Commons, Boston was to be removed seventeen miles from the +ocean. For Salem was made the port of entry, and there the governor and +the collector, the surveyor and the comptroller, and all underlings were +to go. It was planned to station war-ships in Boston Harbor to enforce the law.</p> + +<p>The second law was the "Bill for the better Regulating the Government of +the Massachusetts Bay," generally called the Regulating Act. This +virtually swept away the charter of Massachusetts. It provided first +that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> Council was to be appointed by the king, and next that without +the consent of the Council the governor might appoint or remove all +officers of justice, from judges to constables. By the provisions of the +law even the jury lists could be controlled by appointive officers. +Finally town meetings were made illegal throughout the province, except +for the election of town officers, and other necessary local business.</p> + +<p>The third proposal of the government was a bill "for the Impartial +Administration of Justice," in proposing which "it was observed that +Lord North trembled and faultered at every word of his motion." It +provided that magistrates, officers, or soldiers might be tried for +"murder, or any other capital offence," in Great Britain.</p> + +<p>The fourth act made provision for quartering troops in Boston.</p> + +<p>The bills went through Parliament without much opposition. Says +Trevelyan, "Even after the lapse of a century and a quarter the debates +are not pleasant reading for an <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>Englishman."<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> It was assumed that +the punishment was just, and that not only Boston but also the whole +continent would take it meekly. A few voices were raised in protest, but +as a rule even the Opposition was silent. One by one the bills became +law. One more step was taken toward separation.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Trevelyan, "American Revolution," Part I, 104.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> "A Card from the Inhabitants of Philadelphia," Bancroft, +vi, 366.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> "Memorial History of Boston," iii, 45.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> Bancroft, vi, 461, 462.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Bancroft, vi, 498.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> Avery, "History of the United States," v, 190.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> "American Revolution," Part I, 181.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>THE OCCUPATION OF BOSTON</h3> + +<p>Early in May of 1774 Hutchinson, ostensibly called to England to advise +the king, gave up his offices in Massachusetts. His exile was +approaching. Never again was he to see the fair hill of Milton, nor to +look from its top upon the town and harbor that he loved. The Whigs +exulted over the fall of "the damn'd arch traitor;" yet surely, though +as an official he failed in his task, and as a patriot misread the +temper and the capacity of his countrymen, he commands our pity. Amid +the booming of the cannon which welcomed his successor he prepared for +his departure. Except for his pathetic letters and journals he made no +further mark upon his times or ours. His Milton estate remains, but his +house is gone, and the very street that he lived on bears<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> the name of +Adams, his most persistent enemy.</p> + +<p>Hutchinson's successor was Thomas Gage, the first governor sent to +Boston with an army at his back. He was well known in the colonies, for +he had fought well at Braddock's defeat, had married an American wife, +and was courteous and affable. It remained to be seen whether one of his +hesitating temperament could meet the situation. With four regiments he +had undertaken to pacify Massachusetts. He had his four regiments and +more, yet he must occasionally have wondered why he found no more signs +of weakness in the ranks of his opponents.</p> + +<p>At this time there were in Boston four chief classes of Whigs. The first +were the ministers, and these for many years had been American to the +core. As the first settlers of Massachusetts, whether Puritan or +Pilgrim, had fled away from prelacy, so their spiritual descendants +still hated the name of bishop. In fact, episcopacy in New England was +still weak, and its greater part was concentrated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> in Boston itself. +Some few of its ministers preached submission; but they either had to +content themselves with Tory congregations, or lost their pulpits, or +had them boarded up against them. The wiser part was taken by most in +avoiding politics. The sole Congregational minister who supported the +king was Mather Byles, famed for his witticisms, and he likewise +declined to bring into the pulpit any mention of the affairs of the day. +"In the first place," he told those who demanded an expression of his +opinion, "I do not understand politics; in the second place you all do, +every man and mother's son of you; in the third place you have politics +all the week, so pray let one day in the seven be devoted to religion; +in the fourth place I am engaged in work of infinitely greater +importance. Give me any subject to preach on of more consequence than +the truth I bring to you, and I will preach on it next Sabbath."<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a></p> + +<p>Gage's support from the pulpit was therefore weak, while at the same +time the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>opposition from the same source was strong. Those country +ministers who were of the political creed of Sam Adams confessed it each +Sabbath, and desisted not on week days from strengthening the wills of +their congregations. More than that, like their predecessors in older +times, many held chaplaincies in the militia, and on training days +turned out, not only to approve by their presence the object of the +drill, but also to stir the spirit of the homespun soldiery by prayers +to the God of Moses, and of Joshua, and of David. Those in Boston, under +the very nose of the general and in the presence of his soldiery, abated +nothing of their zeal, but preached resistance as before. Gage, as he +looked among them for signs of wavering, could have found very little comfort.</p> + +<p>The lawyers next, like the clergymen, had supplied the Whigs much of +their strength. Surely, up to the present the patriot party had been +distinguished by pliancy and persistence. These characteristics had come +from the lawyers, whose rejoinders and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>remonstrances, petitions, +resolves, and appeals were familiar professional devices. Yet Gage might +have found hope in these men. For the purpose of all their delays had +been compromise, and their hope was the avoidance of bloodshed. The +lawyers had showed, too, a love of fair play; for while they pressed the +Tories hard, they had also taken the lead in protesting against mob +violence. Again, leading Whig lawyers had defended—and acquitted—the +perpetrators of the Massacre. Possibly such men might be made to see reason.</p> + +<p>A more numerous class than the lawyers was made up of the merchants, +small and large. Some few of these men had made their own way in the +world, yet most of them may almost have been said to have held +hereditary positions in the provincial aristocracy. By far the larger +number of them were Whigs, some of considerable estate, others—like +that John Andrews from whose letters I have already quoted and shall +quote more—were men of moderate means, shrewdly working for a +"competency." Gage,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> looking forward to the enforcement of the Port +Bill, could see that these men would be hard hit. While they had so far +been firm in the colonial cause, the coming temptation to desert their +party would be very strong. Income, security, and the favor of the king awaited them.</p> + +<p>At the end of this series was the largest class of all, the mechanics. +Until now these men had been eager in their demonstrations against +technical oppression—which yet was technical after all. No Boston Whig +had ever known a tithe of the wrongs of the French peasant or the +Russian serf. No laboring class on earth enjoyed or ever had enjoyed +greater freedom or less hampered prosperity. But with the enforcement of +the Port Bill all this would change. Gage hoped, and the Tories +declared, that the mechanics, so soon as pressure was applied, would +"fall away from the faction."</p> + +<p>The first results of the new régime were not promising. To begin with, +on the news of the passage of the Port Bill the Committee<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> of +Correspondence of Boston called a meeting of the committees of the +neighboring towns. This meeting scouted the idea of paying for the tea, +and in a circular letter to the other colonies proposed a general +cessation of trade with Great Britain. Similarly the town meeting of +Boston discussed the situation, pronounced against the Port Bill, and +appealed to all the sister colonies, entreating not to be left to suffer +alone. In more homely language the merchants appealed to their friends. +"Yes, Bill," wrote John Andrews to his brother-in-law in Philadelphia, +"nothing will save us but an entire stoppage of trade, both to England +and the West Indies.... The least hesitancy on your part <i>to the +Southerd</i>, and the matter is over."</p> + +<p>There was little hesitancy. The suggestion made by the Boston Whigs was +taken up, and the maritime towns, which had been expected to take +advantage of Boston's predicament, began to discontinue trade, not +merely with Great Britain, but also with the West Indies. Then Salem, +which was to be the capital in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> place of Boston, formally repudiated the +idea of profiting by the situation. The news spread to the other +colonies, and they began to act. New York proposed, and the sister +provinces agreed in, a call for "a general Congress." In less than a +month after the coming of the news of the Port Bill, Boston was assured +that the continent would not leave her to suffer alone.</p> + +<p>But then, on the first of June, 1774, the Port Bill went into effect. So +literally was it interpreted, that all carriage by boat in the harbor +was forbidden. No owner of a pasture on the harbor islands might bring +his hay to the town; no goods might be brought across any ferry; not +even carriage by water from wharf to wharf in the town was allowed. +Further, while food and fuel, according to the provisions of the act, +might be brought to Boston by water, all vessels carrying them were +forced to go through troublesome formalities. They must report at the +customs in Salem, unload, load again, and receive a clearance for +Boston. Returning, they might<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> carry enough provision to last them only +to Salem. Besides all this, the Commissioners of Customs at Salem +undertook to decide when Boston had enough provisions. The blockade, as +enforced by them and the ships of war in Boston Harbor, was minutely +complete and vexatious.</p> + +<p>Yet at their mildest its provisions were complete enough. Trade by sea +with the town was stopped. Consequently, so maritime were the town's +activities, prosperity was instantly checked. All the workers +immediately dependent on the sea for a living, sailors, wharfingers, +longshoremen, and fishermen, were at once thrown out of employment. Then +by a severe interpretation of the act all ship-building was stopped, +since the authorities declared that, on launching, any boat would be +confiscated. The shipyards shut down, the boats ready to launch were +filled with water "for their preservation,"<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> and ship-carpenters, +calkers, rope-makers, and sailmakers were thrown out of work.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> Much +misery to the unemployed would have been the result but for the +forethought of the patriot leaders.</p> + +<p>These men, early realizing the threatened hardship, called for help from +the rest of the country. The response was prompt. "A special chronicle," +says Bancroft, "could hardly enumerate all the generous deeds." While +Lord North, fresh from an interview with Hutchinson, cheered the king +with the belief that the province would soon submit, South Carolina was +sending a cargo of provisions in a vessel offered for the purpose by the +owner, and sailed without wages by the captain and her crew. Sheep were +driven into Boston from all New England; provisions of every kind were +brought in; wheat was sent by the French in Quebec; money was subscribed +and sent from the more distant points. All supplies thus received were +put in the hands of a donation committee, who distributed the gifts to the needy.</p> + +<p>Yet in spite of such relief as this, and though for a short time +employment was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> given to workmen by permitting them to finish, launch, +rig, and send away the ships then on the stocks, the situation was hard +at best. It was felt not only by the lower classes, but by the +merchants, whose profits ceased, and by all who depended for their +income on the current trade and activity of the town. Gossipy John +Andrews gives us the situation as it affected him. "If you'll believe me +(though I have got near two thousand sterling out in debts and about as +much more in stock), I have not received above eighty or ninety pounds +Lawful money from both resources for above two months past; though +previous to the port's being shut, I thought it an ordinary day's work +if I did not carry home from twenty to forty dollars every evening." So +little ready money circulated in the town "that really, Bill, I think +myself well off to satisfy the necessary demands of my family, and you +may as well ask a man for the teeth out of his head as to request the +payment of money that he owes you (either in town or country, for we +are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> alike affected), for you'll be as likely to get the one as the +other."<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a></p> + +<p>Now was, indeed, the time to discover the weak points in the cause and +organization of the Americans. Even strong Whigs were at times +discontented, and chiefly among the middle class, without whom the +leaders could have no strong support. Much of the distress of the +shopkeepers and merchants came from the "Solemn League and Covenant" +which, proposed on the first news of the Port Bill, was now in actual +operation. Andrews's case must have been typical of many. He had +countermanded all goods on the news of the Port Bill, and acquiesced in +the non-importation agreement: "but upon y<sup>e</sup> measure not being adopted +by the Southern Colonies, I embraced the first opportunity and +re-ordered about one-fourth part of such goods as I thought would be in +most demand, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>behold! in about three or four weeks after that, I +heard of y<sup>e</sup> amazing progress the non-consumption agreement had made +through y<sup>e</sup> country; which, in my opinion, has serv'd rather to create +dissensions among ourselves than to answer any valuable purpose."</p> + +<p>Many of the Tories held the same opinion. Could not the waverers, they +asked Gage, be induced to change their political faith, and especially +could not the leaders be tempted?</p> + +<p>Among these leaders the influence of Otis was waning. He had always been +eccentric and unreliable, and now his intellect was threatened. An +assault upon him had nearly ruined both his health and his reason. But +his place had been taken by others. Samuel Adams, John Adams, Joseph +Warren, and John Hancock were the men whose names were oftenest +mentioned. Sinister rumors were frequent that Gage had been directed to +seize them and deport them to England. Whether or not more evidence +against them was needed, no arrest was as yet attempted.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> Instead, in at +least three quarters there was some hope of corruption.</p> + +<p>Warren the general left untempted; it is no small tribute to the +patriot's character that there could be no doubt of his integrity. +Warren was not yet thirty-five years old, was of good social position, +had an excellent practice and an assured future. His temperament was +frank and manly, and so enthusiastic as to be fiery. Once already, on +the anniversary of the Massacre in 1772, he had addressed the town +meeting in condemnation of the government measures; on many other +opportunities, before and since, he had either spoken in public or +expressed his opinions through the press. While no advocate of violence, +he was unreservedly a Whig, and nothing could be made of him. So far as +is known, no attempt was made to corrupt him.</p> + +<p>The case of John Adams was different, at least to Tory eyes. He was +ambitious: no one who knew him could doubt that he was conscious of his +own ability. Further, he was poor, with a growing family to support;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> he +was known, with the troubled times which he clearly foresaw, to be +anxious for his children's future. Surely there was a possibility that +Adams might be wise, and be tempted to the safer course; and fortunately +there was at hand an instrument to induce him to become a Tory. Adams +was the close personal friend of Jonathan Sewall, the king's +attorney-general for the province, and an admirable character. The +chance of distinction, the certainty of prosperity, and the +importunities of such a friend, might in the end persuade Adams.</p> + +<p>Of John Hancock it was often argued among the Tories that he might +almost be left to himself. If Adams was ambitious, Hancock was more so; +known to be vain, he was believed to be jealous by nature. With these +weaknesses, he was also instinctively an aristocrat. How long, asked the +Tories, would he continue to consort with men of low social position? +How soon would he rebel at being led by the nose by the wily Adams? +Position and influence were ready for him as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> soon as he chose to go +over to the king. The bait was always plain, and he might be counted on +eventually to take it.</p> + +<p>Even Samuel Adams, so reasoned the advisers of Gage, might be bought. +For Adams was poor. In his devotion to public affairs he had let his +business go to ruin, had seen his money melt away, had even sold off +parts of his own house-lot. His sentiments were, no better known in +Boston than his threadbare clothes. His sole income was from his salary +as clerk of the house of representatives, only a hundred pounds a year. +To the new governor it was the most natural thing in the world to +suppose that the discontent of such a man could soon be removed. He +forgot Hutchinson's words: "Such is the obstinacy and inflexible +disposition of the man, that he never would be conciliated by any office +or gift whatever."<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a></p> + +<p>Gage sent, therefore, Colonel Fenton to Adams with offers which would +tempt any man that had a price. No definite <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>knowledge of the +inducements has come down to us: money, place, possibly even a patent of +nobility. We know, however, that they were coupled with a threat in the +form of advice to make his peace with the king. And we can imagine Adams +as, rising from his seat, and standing with the habitual nervous tremor +of head and hands which often led his adversaries to mistake his mettle, +he delivered his fearless reply.</p> + +<p>"Sir, I trust I have long since made my peace with the King of kings. No +personal consideration shall induce me to abandon the righteous cause of +my country. Tell Governor Gage that it is the advice of Samuel Adams to +him no longer to insult the feelings of an exasperated people!"<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a></p> + +<p>And this was in the face of a situation the like of which had never been +known in America. "Notwithstanding which," wrote John Andrews, "there +seems to be ease, contentment, and perfect composure in the countenance +of almost every person you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> meet in the streets, which conduct very much +perplexes the Governor and others, our lords and masters, that they are +greatly puzzled, and know not what to do or how to act, as they expected +very different behaviour from us."</p> + +<p>There is but one explanation of such a state of mind in the Whigs, in +the face of the evidently approaching trial. Their consciences were +clear. This revolution, when finally it came about, was quite within the +spirit of the British Constitution. The Whigs believed they were right, +and had no fear of the consequences. No testimony to their virtues, as +the backbone of a new nation, will speak louder than their present +attitude. External testimony is not hard to quote. "The people of Boston +and Massachusetts Bay," wrote Thomas Hollis but a few weeks before this +time, "are, I suppose, take them as a body, the soberest, most knowing, +virtuous people at this time upon earth." Other English opinion to the +same effect, and French admiration by the chapter, might be quoted.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> Yet +a truer proof of the quality of the people is to be found in the calm +self-confidence which "very much perplexed" the governor.</p> + +<p>One more comment may safely be ventured here. Before two years were over +it was known that Gage, and perhaps even Hutchinson during his +administration, had had the most complete information of the secret +doings of the Whig leaders. In fact, even the deliberations of the +workmen's caucuses must have been known to Gage. That no arrests were +made can mean but one thing: that the Whigs were honest in their +endeavor to work their ends by legal means. Samuel Adams may have +foreseen the eventual outcome, and knowing it to be inevitable may have +striven to make it speedy and complete. But there was no general scheme +for independence, no plot for a revolt. "The Father of the Revolution" +laid his plans in silence, and waited for the ripening of the times.</p> + +<p>Gage and his advisers, "greatly puzzled," also watched the crystallizing +of opinion. Of the temper of the Bostonians, although<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> oppressed by the +Port Bill, there could presently be no doubt. Emboldened by the presence +of troops in the town, the Tories called town meetings, first to resolve +to pay for the tea, and then to dismiss the Committee of Correspondence. +These two actions, if taken, would have totally changed the situation. +The meetings were crowded, every courtesy was shown the Tories, and in +the second meeting, since Adams was absent, the Whigs had to be content +with the leadership of Warren. But there was no hesitation in either +case. The first meeting rejected the proposal to pay for the tea. In the +second the discretion of Warren proved equal to his zeal, his management +of the meeting was perfect, and the vote upheld the Committee of +Correspondence by a large majority.</p> + +<p>The next action explains the absence of Adams from Boston at such an +important time. According to the new laws, the Assembly met at Salem, +under the eye of the governor and in the presence of his troops. Gage +knew very well that a call<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> had been sent throughout the colonies for an +election of delegates to a general Congress which should deliberate on +the present situation. He had no intention that delegates should be +elected from Massachusetts. He had partisans in the Assembly, and an +informant on the committee to introduce legislation. Every move was +reported to him. Never did Sam Adams dissemble more cleverly. So dull +and spiritless did public matters seem, that Gage's informant thought it +safe to go home on private business. Then Adams acted. Quietly laying +his plans, on the morning of the seventeenth of June, 1774, he locked +the door of the chamber and proposed that the Assembly elect delegates +to the Continental Congress. A Tory pleaded sickness and hurried to Gage +with the news; but the door was again locked, and the business +proceeded. Though the governor sent his secretary with a message +dissolving the Assembly, the secretary knocked in vain. The doors were +not opened until delegates had been elected to the Congress,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> a tax laid +to pay their expenses, and resolutions passed exhorting the province to +stand firm.</p> + +<p>One of the delegates-elect was John Adams. For years he had declined to +hold public office, and had even avoided town meetings. There was now a +natural Tory hope that he might refuse this office; there was even a +last chance to wean him from the Whig cause, for he was presently to +ride on circuit, and there would meet his friend Sewall. When the two +met, the Tory reasoned earnestly, pointing out the irresistible power of +Great Britain. But Adams was ready with his answer. "Sink or swim, live +or die, survive or perish with my country is my unalterable +determination."<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> And so went another hope of the Tories.</p> + +<p>The summer of 1774 wore along, with no improvement in the situation. +Rather it became worse. So much time had elapsed without definite news +of the passing of the Regulating<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> Act, that there was hope that the +measure had failed. But early in August came news of its passage, and +with it a list of appointments for the new Council. The appointees were +all chosen from among the Tories, or from those inclined to the king's +side. "It is apprehended," wrote Andrews, "that most of 'em will +accept."</p> + +<p>Now at last it was natural to suppose that the Whigs had come to the end +of their resources. Their Assembly was dissolved, a Tory held each +appointive position, Boston was filled with soldiers, and the harbor was +guarded by ships of war. Active opposition to the troops would have been +madness, and it seemed impossible to conduct even the ordinary business +of the town, for now town meetings might legally be called only for the +purpose of electing officers. Yet when Gage called the selectmen before +him, and graciously indicated his willingness to allow meetings for +certain harmless purposes, the reply surprised him. There was no need, +said the selectmen, to ask his permission for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> a meeting: they had one +in existence already. In fact they had two, the May meeting and the June +meeting, each legally called before the enforcement of the Regulating +Act, and each legally "adjourned" until such time as it was needed. The +technical subterfuge was too much for Gage, and the adjournments +continued in spite of the law.</p> + +<p>As the Massachusetts delegates prepared for their journey to +Philadelphia, where the Congress was to be held, there occurred, if we +can believe the story told by John Andrews—it was certainly believed in +Boston at the time—a demonstration of affection for Samuel Adams. "For +not long since some persons (their names unknown) sent and ask'd his +permission to build him a new barn, the old one being decay'd, which was +executed in a few days. A second sent to ask leave to repair his house, +which was thoroughly effected soon. A third sent to beg the favor of him +to call at a taylor's shop and be measur'd for a suit of cloaths and +chuse his cloth, which were finish'd and sent home for his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> acceptance. +A fourth presented him with a new whig,<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> a fifth with a new Hatt, a +sixth with a pair of the best silk hose, a seventh with six pair of fine +thread ditto, a eighth with six pair shoes, and a ninth modestly +inquired of him whether his finances want rather low than otherways. He +reply'd it was true that was the case, but he was very indifferent about +these matters, so that his <i>poor</i> abilities was of any service to the +Publick; upon which the Gentleman obliged him to accept of a purse +containing about 15 or 20 Johannes." It is possible that these +attentions to Adams grew out of the desire that he, so well known in +Boston that his shabbiness meant nothing, should appear well at the +Congress, where his dress might prejudice others against him. True or +not, this little story has its significance, for, says Andrews to his +correspondent, "I mention this to show you how much he is esteem'd here. +They value him for his <i>good</i> sense, <i>great</i> abilities, <i>amazing</i> +fortitude, <i>noble</i> resolution,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> and <i>undaunted</i> courage: being firm and +unmov'd at all the various reports that were propagated in regard to his +being taken up and sent home,<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> notwithstanding he had repeated +letters from his <i>friends</i>, both in England as well as here, to keep out +of the way."</p> + +<p>If the governor desired to arrest Adams, he had plenty of opportunity. +There was even a public occasion to take all the delegates together, +when they left the town on their way to Philadelphia. "A very +respectable parade," wrote Andrews, "in sight of five of the Regiments +encamp'd on the Common, being in a coach and four, preceded by two white +servants well mounted and arm'd, with four blacks behind in livery, two +on horseback and two footmen." Perhaps Gage breathed a sigh of relief +with the "brace of Adamses" away, but his real troubles were only +beginning.</p> + +<p>Massachusetts would have nothing to do with the newly appointed +officers. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>thirty-six councillors, appointed under writ of mandamus, +excited the most indignation. Of the Boston nominees thirteen accepted, +two declined, and four took time to consider; throughout the province +the proportion was about the same. But those who wavered and those who +accepted presently heard from their neighbors. Leonard of Taunton, +hearing of a surprise party mustering from the neighboring towns, +departed hastily for Boston. His father, by promises that he would urge +his son to resign, with difficulty prevailed on the disgusted neighbors +to leave the councillor's property unharmed. In Worcester, Timothy Paine +was taken to the common, and, in the presence of two thousand standing +in military order, he read his declination of his appointment. Ruggles +of Hardwick was warned not to return home; his neighbors swore that he +should never pass the great bridge of the town alive. Murray of Rutland, +like Leonard of Taunton, escaped the attentions of his townspeople, who +scorned the threat of confiscation and death, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> demanded his +resignation. "This," wrote his brother to him, "is not the language of +the common people only: those that have heretofore sustained the fairest +character are the warmest in this matter; and, among the many friends +you have heretofore had, I can scarcely mention any to you now."</p> + +<p>The people did not always act with violence, but the compulsion which +they put upon their fellow-townsmen was strong. Watson of Plymouth, long +respected in the town, had been appointed by the king to the Council, +and had intended to accept. But when he appeared in church on the +following Sunday, his friends rose and left the meeting-house. In the +face of their scorn he bowed his head over his cane, and resolved to +resign.<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a></p> + +<p>More than twenty of the thirty-six councillors either declined their +appointment, or resigned. The rest could find no safety except in +Boston, under the protection of the troops. Even the courts were +prevented from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> sitting, in one case by the ingenious method of packing +the court-room so solidly with spectators that judge and sheriff could +not enter. Only among the garrison at Boston was there comfort for the +Tory officials.</p> + +<p>Boston itself was troublesome enough. When Gage, regarding himself as +"personally affronted" by John Hancock,<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> removed him from command of +the Cadets, the company sent a deputation to Salem and returned him +their standard, declining longer to keep up their customary service as +the governor's body-guard. The governor, vexed, replied that had he +previously known of their intentions, he would have dismissed them +himself.</p> + +<p>The town meetings troubled him also. Salem held one under his nose, in +spite of a feint to interrupt them by the soldiers. When he summoned the +committee of correspondence of the town to answer for the meeting, they +were stubborn and defiant, refused to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> give bail when arrested, and were +consequently—released! Other towns held meetings to elect delegates to +a county convention, and the governor was powerless to stop them. +Although he had many more troops than the four regiments with which he +first declared that he could do so much, he felt his helplessness, and, +cursing the town meetings, waited for more soldiers. He summoned the +remnant of his council to meet in Salem; but the members were afraid to +come, and, departing from his orders, he allowed them to sit in Boston.</p> + +<p>And now, as the weeks passed on, even Boston was rumbling with the +thunder of the coming storm. Israel Putnam, having driven to Boston a +flock of sheep, the gift to the poor of Boston from his Connecticut +town, became the lion of the day. Meeting on the Common some of his old +friends in the regular army, they chaffed him on the military situation. +Twenty ships and twenty regiments, they told him, were to be expected if +the country did not submit. "If they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> come," returned the stanch old +Indian fighter, "I am ready to treat them as enemies."</p> + +<p>At length the forms of law failed even in Boston. When the judges +summoned a jury, it not only refused to take oath, but presented a +written protest against the authority on which the court acted. The +judges gave up the attempt in despair, and the governor and his advisers +thought that matters were come to a pretty pass when a mere petit juror +could declare "that his conscience would not let him take oath whiles +Peter Oliver set upon the bench."<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> There was apparently no punishment +to meet such obduracy.</p> + +<p>But at last news came to Gage on which he felt compelled to act. Much +powder had been stored in the magazine at Quarry Hill in Charlestown. He +was informed that during August the towns had removed their stock, until +there remained only that which belonged to the province. This stock Gage +determined to secure against possible illegal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> seizure, by seizing it +himself. On the morning of the first of September, by early daylight, +detachments of troops in boats took the powder to the Castle, and also +secured two cannon from Cambridge. Rumors of violence and bloodshed +spread rapidly, and by nightfall half of New England was in motion, +marching toward Boston.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> Sabine's "Loyalists," 190.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> Andrews Letters.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> The Andrews Letters, as already noted, are in the +Massachusetts Historical Society's Proceedings for the volume of +1864-1865. I shall refer to them frequently without quoting pages.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> Wells, "Life of Adams," ii, 193.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> Wells, "Adams," ii, 193.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> Bancroft, edition of 1876, iv, 344. Subsequent references +to Bancroft will be to this edition.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> Sic!</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> Note the use of the word, as meaning England.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> I take these facts from Bancroft and the Andrews Letters.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> Hancock seems to have practised upon Gage the subterfuge +which he afterwards used with Washington, pretending to be too ill to +wait upon him.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> Andrews Letters.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>THE POWDER ALARM AND THE WINTER OF 1774-1775</h3> + +<p>Gage had by this time given up hope of winning to his side the leaders +of the Whigs. If he still retained a doubt of the temper of the people, +the events of the first and second of September would have made him +certain. Marching in companies, they converged upon Cambridge, whence +the Lieutenant-Governor, Andrew Oliver, hastily departed to Boston, to +implore Gage to send out no troops, lest not a man of them should return +alive. On his way in, Oliver passed Warren hastening out. But his +influence was not needed. The militia companies had already laid aside +their weapons and were parading peacefully upon Cambridge common. There +they were addressed by two of the Mandamus Council, who confirmed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> their +resignations and promised in no way to be concerned in the acts of +Gage's government. Then the high-sheriff came under the attention of the +meeting, and likewise promised to do nothing under the new laws.</p> + +<p>Hallowell, the Commissioner of Customs, escaped more serious handling. +Passing by the common and its assemblage of Whigs, he "spoke somewhat +contemptuously of them." They promptly sent some mounted men after his +chaise. On seeing them coming he stopped his chaise, unhitched his horse +and mounted, and ran his pursuers a close race to Boston Neck, where he +found safety with the guard.</p> + +<p>Oliver, returning to Cambridge with the governor's promise to send out +no troops, was waited upon by the great assemblage. The Whigs demanded +his resignation as a councillor. This, after demurring, Oliver gave, and +offered to resign also from the lieutenant-governorship. But this the +company allowed him to keep. Andrews records, "It is worthy remark that +Judge Lee remarked to 'em, after he had made his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>resignation, that he +never saw so large a number of people together and preserve so peaceable +order before in his life."</p> + +<p>This orderly meeting, proceeding with parliamentary forms, passed a +resolve that Gage was within his legal rights in removing the powder +from the store-house. They then "voted unanimously their abhorrence of +mobs and riots,"<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> and with these lessons given for any one to learn, +they peaceably turned toward their homes. On their way they turned back +those who, from further away, were eagerly coming to avenge the rumored +death of their countrymen and the bombardment of the town. Putnam, after +disbanding his Connecticut company, wrote to urge the men of +Massachusetts to take better care of the remainder of their powder.</p> + +<p>The "Powder Alarm" stirred the country everywhere. At Philadelphia its +exaggerated reports greatly disturbed the Congress, but the response was +significant. "When the horrid news was brought here of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>bombardment +of Boston," wrote John Adams, "which made us completely miserable for +two days, we saw proofs both of the sympathy and the resolution of the +continent. War! war! war! was the cry, and it was pronounced in a tone +which would have done honor to the oratory of a Briton or a Roman. If it +had proved true, you would have heard the thunder of an American +Congress."<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a></p> + +<p>Gage now, for the first time, seems to have had a glimmer of an idea of +the formidable forces that were against him. He began to consider the +military situation, and the defence of the town against another such +rising. If on the next occasion the provincials should attempt to pursue +a commissioner not merely to the Neck, but past it, there must be means +of stopping them. Gage gave orders to fortify the Neck, which was in +those days the single land approach to Boston.</p> + +<div class="center"><a name="illus07.jpg" id="illus07.jpg"></a><img src="images/illus07.jpg" width='700' height='428' alt="THE INVESTMENT OF BOSTON" /></div> + +<h4>THE INVESTMENT OF BOSTON</h4> + +<p>The modern city in no way resembles the old town. Now, between South +Boston and Cambridge, a score of highways lead into the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> city. Bridges +and even tunnels give direct communication from South Boston, Cambridge, +Charlestown, Chelsea, and East Boston. But in 1774 South Boston was a +mudflat; the Back Bay—at least at high water—was what its name +implies; Chelsea was Winnisimit, with but half a dozen houses; and East +Boston was an island, having but two houses on it. Now the flats have +been filled up, the mainland brought closer, and the approaches bridged. +In Governor Gage's day Boston was still a peninsula, roughly +pear-shaped, and connected with the mainland by a strip of land which +was, at high tide, scarcely a hundred yards wide.</p> + +<p>Batteries commanding the road which crossed this isthmus seemed, at the +time, quite sufficient to defend the town. It was not till later that +Gage began to consider the heights of Dorchester and Charlestown, which, +to the south and north, threatened Boston. Now he set to work upon an +earthwork at the Neck, brought cannon there, and began to build +block-houses. It was reported that he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> was to cut a ditch across the +Neck, and confine traffic to a narrow bridge; but at the objection of +the selectmen such an idea, if he had considered it, was given up. +Protest against the new earthworks was also lodged. The selectmen of the +town, and a committee from the convention for Suffolk County which then +happened to sit, came to Gage with remonstrances. Warren, from the +convention, twice urged his demands. "Good God, gentlemen," responded +the harried governor, "make yourselves easy, and I will be so."<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a></p> + +<p>There was no more ease of mind for Governor Gage. Within the limits of +Boston and Charlestown were several cannon belonging to the militia +organizations of the town. When the general tried to secure the +Charlestown guns from secretion by the provincials, they disappeared. +"Ever since," wrote Andrews a fortnight later, "the General has ordered +a double guard to y<sup>e</sup> new and old gun houses, where y<sup>e</sup> brass field +pieces <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>belonging to our militia are lodged: notwithstanding which ... +We'n'sday evening, or rather night, our people took these from the Old +house (by opening the side of the house) and carried away through Frank +Johonnot's Garden. Upon which he gave it in orders the next day to the +officer on guard to remove those from the New house (which stands +directly opposite the encampment of the 4th Regiment and in the middle +of the street near the large Elm tree), sometime the next night into the +camp; and to place a guard at each end, or rather at both doors, till +then. At the fixed hour the Officer went with a number of Mattrosses to +execute his orders, but behold, the guns were gone!" Lest the guns in +the North Battery should similarly be spirited away, the bewildered +general ordered them to be spiked.</p> + +<p>His state of mind was not improved when he received, as he did early in +September, the resolutions passed by the Suffolk convention. The Suffolk +Resolves, as they are called, covered the whole of the existing +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>situation. Repudiating the king's claim to unconditional obedience, +they declared the Regulating Act unconstitutional, and called on all +officers under it to resign their places. They advised that all taxes +should be withheld from the king's treasury, and suggested a provincial +congress to deal with the affairs of Massachusetts. The resolves further +declared that the Americans had no intention of aggression, advised +peaceful measures, but threatened to seize all crown officers if any +political arrest were made. Looking forward to the eventual rupture, the +resolves advised the towns to choose their military officers with great +care, and finally made provision to spread alarm or summon assistance at +a moment's notice.</p> + +<p>Affairs had now reached a new phase. The barrier which Gage had erected +at the Neck had effectually cut him off from the province which he had +been sent to govern. From that time on he had no authority beyond the +range of his batteries.</p> + +<p>Boston was his, to be sure. In spite of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> alarms (for once the field day +of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, the pride of the +province, aroused the fleet; and once the little navy was awake all +night against an attack that never came), in spite of such alarms, no +attempt was made upon his army or his ships. The town was quiet, and +Tory ladies and gentlemen were at last at ease. On the Mall they might +daily watch the parade of the troops, speak their minds about the +faction, and agree upon the cowardice of the provincials. Yet the Whigs +of Boston made no submission. They were, as Warren wrote of them, +"silent and inflexible." At the same time they had everything at stake. +Their leaders Hancock and Warren still lived openly among them, in the +face of the threat of arrest. The artisans, too, at this period put +behind them a great temptation. For many months they had been idle; now +within a few weeks the governor had commenced building barracks for the +troops, upon which Boston workmen were engaged. For the first time since +the Port Bill went into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> effect they were earning a comfortable living. +But now they refused to work longer for the king. In vain Gage appealed +to the selectmen and to Hancock. One and all the artisans withdrew, to +subsist, as before, upon the donations that still continued to come in +from the other towns and colonies.</p> + +<p>Outside the barrier at the Neck was an unparalleled state of affairs. In +Massachusetts there was no legal government. The charter had been +abrogated, but the new system had been rejected by the people. There +were no judges and no courts, no sheriffs; there was no treasury, and no +machinery of government whatever. Consequently there was a striking +opportunity for lawlessness. Yet the quiet in the province was +remarkable. In the absence of executive and judicial officers, the +selectmen of the towns and the Committees of Correspondence took upon +themselves the work that was to be done, and did it quietly and well. +There was no thievery, no murder, no repudiation of debts. So far as +their ordinary<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> life was concerned, the people simply lived on in their +ancient way.</p> + +<p>There was, nevertheless, plenty of lawlessness of the new kind. Just as +soon as the people could catch the newly appointed officials, they +forced them to resign; and whenever the courts attempted to sit they +were made to adjourn. There continued the little migration of Tories +toward Boston, always in the expectation that the sojourn was to be +brief, and that presently Gage would have the situation in hand. Most of +the refugees, however, never saw their homes again. As for Gage, he was +suspected of detaining the remaining councillors in Boston, lest he +should not have any left to him. Indeed, his position in Salem had +already become so undignified and uncomfortable that early in September, +with the Commissioners of Customs and all other officials, he returned +to Boston. There he also withdrew the two regiments with which he had +ineffectually endeavored to sustain his prestige in Salem. Yet he had +not been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> long in Boston before he was forced to watch the preparations +for a new act of defiance.</p> + +<p>Already, unfortunately for him, he had convened the Assembly to meet at +Salem. Now that he was in Boston he desired the legislators to meet +there also; yet he could not adjourn them until they met. This he +planned to do. The delegates, however, knew that if they came to Boston +they must take their oaths of office before the Mandamus Council. To +this the representatives would never submit, and accordingly planned +another move. Boston carried out its part under the eye of the governor. +The town elected its representatives, chief among whom were Hancock, +Warren, and the absent Samuel Adams. The meeting then deliberately, +reminding the delegates that they could not conscientiously discharge +their duty under the conditions which the governor would impose, +"empowered and instructed" them to join with the delegates from other +towns in a general provincial congress, to act upon public matters in +such a manner as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> should appear "most conducive to the true interest of +this town and province, and most likely to preserve the liberties of all America."</p> + +<p>Thus the town of Boston, inflexible but no longer silent, calmly ignored +the governor and his troops. A strong governor would have imprisoned the +delegates and dissolved the meeting; Gage allowed it to proceed for the +rest of the day with illegal business, and did nothing.</p> + +<p>It was at this time that the conduct of affairs fell into the hands of +Warren. Adams was away at Philadelphia, and Hancock, though older than +Warren and an excellent figurehead, had neither Warren's wisdom nor his +fiery energy. It was Warren who corresponded with the Congress at +Philadelphia and with the Committees of Correspondence of the +Massachusetts towns, and it was to him that the province naturally +turned. When we remember him as the hero of Bunker Hill, it is well also +to recall him as the tried servant and the excellent adviser of the public.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span></p><p>One act of his at this point is worth remembering. As we have seen, +Episcopalians were not in good odor with the Massachusetts Whigs; the +colony had been founded as an asylum from "prelacy," and still, after +nearly two hundred and fifty years, the few members of the English +church were chiefly supporters of the crown. Warren now took occasion to +remind his brethren that to the south conditions were different, and +that "the gentlemen of the Established Church of England are men of the +most just and liberal sentiments." In a printed letter he requested fair +treatment of all Episcopalians, and ended by quoting from a letter of +Samuel Adams an account of the Episcopal chaplain of the Philadelphia +Congress, whose first prayer moved many of the members to tears. +Although this chaplain later turned his coat, the reminder was timely +and valuable, for many southern Whigs, among them Washington himself, +were members of the Established Church.</p> + +<p>As to the proposed provincial congress,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> Gage now hastened to forestall +the consequences of his own action. He declared the convening of the +Assembly inexpedient, and removed the obligation to attend. Nevertheless +ninety of the delegates came together, waited a day for the governor, +then formed themselves into a provincial congress, and adjourned. On the +11th of October they met again at Concord, this time with nearly two +hundred more members, and in the old meeting-house began their sessions +with Hancock as their president, but with Warren as the most influential +member of their body.</p> + +<p>His influence was thrown on the side of moderation. There were plenty in +the province ready to urge violence. They argued that the old charter +should be resumed; and as if the present acts were not sufficiently +revolutionary, were ready to proceed to violent measures. But the time +had not yet come. Massachusetts sentiment, responding to persecution, +was far in advance of the feelings of the rest of the country. No action +could safely be taken until the other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> colonies were ready to support +New England. In constant touch with Samuel Adams—for Paul Revere and +other trusted couriers were always on the road with letters—Warren was +able to remind his colleagues of the need of patience, and to cool their +ardor by his warnings that in open rebellion they would stand alone. His +services, and those of the steadfast band who supported him, were +invaluable. In these days he rose to the full stature of political +leadership, in guiding the actions of the provincial congress and in +constraining it to patience.</p> + +<p>And yet its acts were revolutionary enough. It must be remembered that +until this time the Whigs of Massachusetts had remained within their +constitutional rights. Apart from the Tea-Party, no word or act of town +meeting or of legislature, or even of any prominent citizen, needed for +justification anything more than the ancient charter rights of the +province. But now the provincial congress went beyond anything that had +ever been done before. It appointed a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> Committee of Safety, which should +prepare for equipping and raising an army. It appointed a Committee of +Supplies, which presently gathered together a few hundred spades and +pickaxes, some muskets, a thousand wooden mess-bowls, four thousand +flints, and a small supply of peas and flour—a pitiful attempt to +compete with the vast resources of Great Britain. More than this, it +appointed a Receiver-General, to keep the public money of the province. +It might be argued that all these acts were still within the charter +rights, yet the Whig position was no longer so strong as on the +occasions when it had caused the crown lawyers to doubt. With a +treasurer engaged in receiving the taxes which the towns willingly paid +him, and with generals appointed to command an army, it began to look as +if Massachusetts were in rebellion.</p> + +<p>Gage was perplexed. His province was out of his control, and now came +the news that the Continental Congress, before adjourning, had voted +approval of the course of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> Massachusetts. In fact, Congress had voted +its support. "Resolved, that this congress approve of the opposition +made by the inhabitants of the Massachusetts Bay to the execution of the +late acts of Parliament; and, if the same shall be attempted to be +carried into execution by force, in such case all America ought to +support them in their opposition." With such words in his mind, Gage had +to listen to the ringing of the church bells in welcome to Samuel Adams +as he returned from Philadelphia. Adams and Cushing, two of the Boston +delegates, now took their seats in the provincial congress, and the +remaining two delegates were invited to attend. The public acts of the +congress continued bold and uncompromising, and every little while there +came to the harried governor some public letter of remonstrance, or some +delegation from an aggrieved town or county convention, to object, to +expostulate, or to demand. Never were people better trained to politics +than the Americans at this moment. Gage was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> quite unfitted to cope with +them. Hutchinson would have been more vigorous, and even Bernard more +clever. The king fitly characterized his governor as "the mild general."</p> + +<p>Gage, in his perplexity, now made trouble by suggesting the recruiting +of Indians against the day of rebellion, and called for more troops from +England. The disgusted king sought to replace him as commander-in-chief +by the one English soldier whom the Americans held in respect, in fact, +as the hero of the French war, almost in reverence. But Sir Jeffrey +Amherst bluntly told the king that he would not serve against the +Americans, "to whom he had been so much obliged." The king was forced to +content himself by sending to Gage's support three major-generals, as if +in the hope that their divided counsels would bring about a uniform policy.</p> + +<p>Of these three men America was to hear a good deal in the next seven +years. The least important of them was Sir Henry Clinton, of respectable +military skill. More striking in character was Sir John Burgoyne, poet,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> +dramatist, parliamentarian, upon whom America will ever look with the +indulgence which the victor feels for one who is signally and completely +defeated. "General Big-talk," the Yankee balladist called him when once +the siege was in progress. It is true that Burgoyne had an easy flow of +words, and we shall before long find him doing his share to make Gage +ridiculous. But Burgoyne had his manly parts, and though he lacked +greatness, he commands at times our sympathy and our respect. He made a +romantic marriage, which proved a happy one; and his real claim to +literary distinction lies in the letter in which, on his departure for +America, he commended his wife to the care of the king. Burgoyne, in a +still brutal age, was a humanitarian, and was one of the first, not only +to oppose flogging in the army, but also to advocate friendly personal +relations between officers and men. America seldom took Burgoyne +seriously, but he is to us of to-day a pleasing and picturesque character.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p><p>The third of the new generals was Sir William Howe, whose chief +misfortune was that fate had set him to oppose Washington. He came of a +family well known in American annals, for one brother was now an admiral +popular in the colonies, and another was still mourned in America for +his brilliant talents and magnetic personality. William Howe had gained +his seat in Parliament by appeals to the memory of that brother, and by +promises to take no active military command against America. But on +being offered the post under Gage, Howe asked if this were a request or +an order. The adroit king returned the proper answer, and Howe, +protesting that no other course was open to him, prepared to sail for Boston.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Gage, alone, made various futile moves, at which the province +looked with patience. From time to time his troops marched a few miles +into the country, and returned again. In January he sent a detachment to +Marshfield, to occupy the village so that the loyal residents might +drink their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> tea in peace. It was a comfort to him to think that there +was one town in the province in which a militia company was drilling for +his support, and with the king's muskets. A month later Gage sent troops +to Salem, in order to seize some cannon; but the commander, finding the +country in arms to receive him, wisely withdrew his little force +after—to use a term yet to be invented—"saving his face" by crossing a +bridge under promise of immediate return.</p> + +<p>The Reverend Jonas Clark, speaking of this event, adds an indignant note +to an equally indignant sermon.<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> "This unsuccessful expedition was +made on Lord's day, Feb. 26, 1775. The party consisted of 200 or 300 +men; it was commanded by Lieut. Col. Leslie. The vessels which brought +them to <i>Marblehead</i>, arrived in the harbour, on the morning of the +sabbath; and the better to conceal their intentions, lay quietly, at +anchor, near to the wharves, with but very few hands upon deck (the +troops being kept close) 'till<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> the people of the town were assembled +for the services of religion.—While the inhabitants were thus engaged +in their devotions to God, the party landed and made a speedy march to +Salem. But all their precaution did not avail them for the +accomplishment of their enterprize. The <i>eagle-eyes</i> of a watchful and +wary people, justly jealous of every measure of their oppressors, are +not easily evaded. Their motions were observed, and such timely notice +given, that such numbers were collected and such measures taken, before +they arrived, as effectually frustrated their design and obliged them to +return defeated and chagrined."</p> + +<p>So, throughout the winter, the garrison and its governor accomplished +nothing—or less than nothing, if one considers that Gage proved to the +provincials the weakness of his character, while at the same time he +angered them by issuing, when the provincial congress appointed a day of +prayer, a proclamation against hypocrisy.</p> + +<p>As the winter passed there was at times hope that the political +situation might be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> relieved by action of Parliament. Yet though the +worst House of Commons in history had been dissolved, the one which took +its place was, at its beginning, little better. It learned wisdom only +from the events of the war. To this Parliament Chatham and Burke now +appealed in vain; even Fox, at last definitely taking his stand with the +supporters of America, could not move it from its subservience to the +king. When finally a bill was introduced to deprive America of its +fisheries, it began to seem that legislative oppression could go no further.</p> + +<p>And now to other Americans than Samuel Adams it became evident that +there was no hope of concession from England. The second provincial +congress began its sittings. Warren was still on the Committee of +Safety. Preble, Ward, and Pomeroy were reappointed generals, and to them +were added Thomas and Heath. Supplies were voted for an army of fifteen +thousand. There was still hope of conciliation, but, wrote Warren, +"every day, every hour, widens the breach."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span></p><p>The town of Boston knew how wide the breach was, and how different the +points of view. The letters and diaries of the time show the constant +little irritations which exasperated both sides. In those days, if the +British soldier was not so sober as now, the British officer was far +more given to drink. From "the Erskine incident" until almost the +outbreak of hostilities, drunken officers made trouble with the +inhabitants, and found them less submissive than the average British +citizen. Yankee burghers had an uncomfortable trick of arming themselves +with cudgels and returning to the attack; the watch occasionally locked +up Lieutenant This and Ensign That; and more dignified citizens, +disdaining personal conflict, brought their complaints to the general, +thus adding to his troubles. John Andrews tells the story of the school +boys who, in the phrase of the day, "improv'd" the coast on School +Street. "General Haldiman, improving the house that belongs to Old Cook, +his servant took it upon him to cut up their coast and fling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> ashes upon +it. The lads made a muster, and chose a committee to wait upon the +General, who admitted them, and heard their complaint, which was couch'd +in very genteel terms, complaining that their fathers before 'em had +improv'd it as a coast from time immemorial, &ca. He ordered his servant +to repair the damage, and acquainted the Governor with the affair, who +observ'd that it was impossible to beat the notion of Liberty out of the +people, as it was rooted in 'em <i>from their Childhood</i>."</p> + +<p>Gage did his best to be fair to the inhabitants, and they acknowledged +his endeavor. But the officers, less experienced than he and with fewer +responsibilities, and also less acquainted with the spirit of the +colonists, were angry with him for what they called his subservience. +They dubbed him Tommy, and confided their indignation to their diaries. +"Yesterday," wrote Lieutenant Barker of the King's Own,<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> "in +compliance with the request<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> of the Select Men, Genl Gage order'd that +no Soldier in future shou'd appear in the Streets with his side Arms. +Query, Is this not encouraging the Inhabitants in their licentious and +riotous disposition? Also orders are issued for the Guards to seize all +military Men found engaged in any disturbance, whether Agressors or not; +and to secure them, 'till the matter is enquired into. By Whom? By +Villains that wou'd not censure one of their own Vagrants, even if He +attempted the life of a Soldier; whereas if a Soldier errs in the least, +who is more ready to accuse than Tommy? His negligence on the other hand +has been too conspicuous in the affair of Cn. Maginis to require a further comment."</p> + +<p>Doubtless there is much to be said for the soldiers, both officers and +privates, since the Bostonians had not abandoned their irritating ways, +even in the midst of an army. But the army was also very hard to live +with. On the first of January our discontented officer records, "Nothing +remarkable but the drunkenness among the Soldiers, which is now got<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> to +a very great pitch; owing to the cheapness of the liquor, a Man may get +drunk for a Copper or two." The officers, we have seen, did not set +their men a very good example; but even in their sober senses they were +scarcely conciliatory. They formed burlesque congresses, and marched in +mock procession in the streets, absurdly dressed to represent the +leaders of the Whigs. On the queen's birthday a banquet was held, and +from the balcony of the tavern the toasts were announced, while in the +street a squad of soldiers fired salutes. Toasts to Lord North were not +relished in Boston, and reminders of Culloden were too significant for +those whom the army already called rebels. It is an interesting proof of +the weakness of Gage's hold upon his own army that such childishness +should have been permitted, or that such threats should have been made +to a town that still was within its legal rights.</p> + +<p>Beneath these petty quarrels we perceive the fundamental differences. +Over these the more learned of both sides carried on a war<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> of words. +The newspapers teemed with letters, poems, essays, and dissertations; +and Novanglus, Massachusettensis, Vindex, and other pseudo-Romans +endeavored to convert each other, or else to point solemn warnings. +"Remember," writes a yeoman of Suffolk County, "the fate of Wat Tyler, +and think how vain it is for Jack, Sam, or Will to war against Great +Britain, now she is in earnest!... Our leaders are desperate bankrupts! +Our country is without money, stores, or necessaries of war,—without +one place of refuge or defence! If we were called together, we should be +a confused herd, without any disposition to obedience, without a general +of ability to direct and guide us; and our numbers would be our +destruction! Never did a people rebel with so little reason; therefore +our conduct cannot be justified before God!... Rouse, rouse ye, +Massachusetians, while it be yet time! Ask pardon of God, submit to our +king and parliament, whom we have wickedly and grievously offended."<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span></p><p>This exclamatory appeal plainly shows a type of mind which often has +saved the British Empire, yet which at periods in history has come near +to ruining it. English conservatism has at most times been invaluable to +the country; but when, as repeatedly under the Stuart kings and again +under George III, it has forsaken its true task in order to support +absolutism, it has brought the ship of state very near to wreck. In +reminding of the fate of Wat Tyler our Suffolk yeoman forgot, if indeed +he ever knew, the fate of Charles and James Stuart. The majority of +Englishmen have never been willing to admit that in defending their +constitutional rights they were guilty of impiety. Though such warnings +and appeals were at this time frequent enough, the Whigs paid no regard to them.</p> + +<p>When we leave the Tories and turn to the soldiery we find one other +common English failing—underrating an adversary. England had so long +been victorious on land and sea that it was almost a natural assumption<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> +that she was superior to any force that could be brought against her. +But that she was always right, or her opponents always cowards, were +corollaries that did not necessarily follow. Yet both of these were +implicitly believed, not only by supporters at home, but also by the +army in America. As to Yankee cowardice, many a Tory could, and later +did, warn the troops against belief in it. But now, at any rate, the +belief was fully indulged. From it was an easy step to general contempt. +Rascal and Scoundrel were common synonyms for Whig. Lord Percy was a +brigadier-general and old enough to form his own conclusions, yet after +living in the camp at Boston for a month, he gives us a complete +analysis of the American character—the summary, no doubt, of British +military opinion. "The People here," he wrote home, "are the most +designing, Artfull Villains in the World. They have not the least Idea +of either Religion or Morality. Nor have they the least Scruple of +taking the most solemn Oath on any Matter that can assist their +Purpose,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> tho' they know the direct contrary can be clearly & evidently +proved in half an Hour."<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a></p> + +<p>We see, then, the situation fully prepared: an inflexible people, a weak +governor, a party of believers in divine right, and a contemptuous +soldiery. The next event, which all but ended in violence, showed that +there needed but a little tenser situation in order to bring about the rupture.</p> + +<p>Now occurred the annual oration on the Massacre. Since that tragedy, +five years ago, there had been an annual commemoration of it in the form +of a speech by one of the Whig leaders. This year the post was one of +evident responsibility and even of danger, but Warren, true to his +character, solicited the appointment. He announced his subject as "The +Baleful Influence of Standing Armies in Time of Peace." On the fifth of +March the crowd that came to hear him filled the Old South to the doors.</p> + +<p>The chance was one which, had Gage received the orders which were +supposed to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> have been sent him, and had he been the man he ought to +have been, he never should have let slip. There in one building were, of +the chiefs of the "faction," Warren, Samuel Adams, Hancock, and many +lesser men. They could be taken at one blow. Some forty British officers +were present, whether to effect a capture or merely to cause a +disturbance was not known. At Samuel Adams' instance they were given +front seats, or places on the steps of the pulpit. There they listened +quietly to Warren's words.</p> + +<p>The oration was, in the style of the day, florid; but it was full of +genuine feeling. Warren spoke of the rise of the British Empire in +America, the hope of its future, the policy of the king, and the +Massacre. Turning then to the present situation, he spoke in words which +no one could mistake, bolder, perhaps, than ever before had been +publicly spoken in the presence of hostile soldiers. He reminded his +countrymen of their martial achievements, he spoke of the critical +situation, and, while disclaiming the desire for independence,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> +encouraged the colonists to claim their rights. "An independence of +Great Britain is not our aim. No: our wish is, that Britain and the +colonies may, like the oak and ivy, grow and increase in strength +together. But, whilst the infatuated plan of making one part of the +empire slaves to the other is persisted in, the interest and safety of +Britain as well as the colonies require that the wise measures +recommended by the honorable, the Continental Congress be steadily +pursued, whereby the unnatural contest between a parent honored and a +child beloved may probably be brought to such an issue that the peace +and happiness of both may be established upon a lasting basis. But, if +these pacific measures are ineffectual, and it appears the only way to +safety lies through fields of blood, I know you will not turn your faces +from our foes, but will undauntedly press forward until tyranny is +trodden under foot, and you have fixed your adored goddess, Liberty, +fast by a Brunswick's side, on the American throne."<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p><p>These were fearless words, and full of meaning. Had there been men of +sense among the officers present, they must have been impressed by the +solemnity of the warning; in fact, they were silent until the end. It +was not until after the oration, when the meeting was voting thanks to +the orator, that the officers endeavored to interrupt the proceedings. +The cry of Fie! was mistaken for that of Fire, and there was a moment's +panic. We have opposing accounts of it.</p> + +<p>"It was imagined," wrote our discontented Lieutenant of the King's Own, +"that there wou'd have been a riot, which if there had wou'd in all +probability have proved fatal to Hancock, Adams, Warren, and the rest of +those Villains, as they were all up in the Pulpit together, and the +meeting was crowded with Officers and Seamen in such a manner that they +cou'd not have escaped; however it luckily did not turn out so; it wou'd +indeed have been a pity for them to have made their exit in that way, as +I hope before long<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> we shall have the pleasure of seeing them do it by +the hands of the Hangman."</p> + +<p>John Andrews looked at the matter differently. "The officers in general +behave more like a parcel of children, of late, than men. Captain —— +of the Royal Irish first exposed himself by behaving in a very +scandalous manner at the South meeting.... He got pretty decently +frighted for it. A woman, among the rest, attacked him and threatened to +wring his nose." An outbreak may have been what the officers wanted. +"But," says Samuel Adams, who acted on his maxim that it is good +politics to put and keep the enemy in the wrong, "order was restored, +and we proceeded regularly, and finished the business. I am persuaded, +were it not for the danger of precipitating a crisis, not a man of them +would have been spared."<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a></p> + +<p>The whole was a type of the existing situation. Here were the officers, +still causing petty disturbances; here too, no doubt, were Tories, +contemptuous of the proceedings.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> Deeper still appears the real +significance of the occasion. On the one side was the governor, unable, +with all the power of the king, to prevent a meeting of the citizens to +condemn his presence in the town—for the meeting was the "Port Bill +meeting," adjourned from time to time since the previous May. And on the +other side were the citizens, legally protesting and exasperatingly +defiant, evidently under perfect self-restraint, determined not to +strike the first blow.</p> + +<p>The officers took, as usual, a puerile revenge in the form of a +burlesque. "A vast number" of them assembled at the Coffee House in King +Street, and chose selectmen and an orator, "who deliver'd an oration +from the balcony to a crowd of few else beside gaping officers."<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> +Others of them caught a countryman who had been decoyed into buying a +musket from a soldier, and tarred and feathered him.</p> + +<p>But these were surface trivialities. Beneath them the true situation was +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>growing worse. Out in the country military stores were being collected +at Worcester and at Concord; and over in Parliament the fisheries bill, +designed to deprive thousands in America of their living, was sure of +passing. At last Franklin, who had stayed in London as long as there +seemed anything for him to accomplish, patiently bearing humiliation and +insults, on the 20th of March took ship for Philadelphia. It was the +sign that there was no further hope of peace.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> Bancroft.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> Adams Letters, 39.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> Andrews Letters.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> A Sermon preached at Lexington, April 19, 1776, 26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> His diary is published in the <i>Atlantic Monthly</i> for April +and May, 1877, 384 and 544. I shall use it freely without further +definite reference.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> Frothingham's "Life of Warren," 413</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> Bulletin of Boston Public Library, x, No. 87, 320.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> Frothingham's "Life of Warren," 435-436.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> Wells, "Life of Adams," ii, 281.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> Andrews Letters.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>MILITARY PREPARATIONS</h3> + +<p>As the spring of 1775 advanced, matters took on a constantly more +threatening aspect. The governor's force in Boston was steadily +increasing, and was approaching a total of four thousand men. Vessels of +war were with equal steadiness being added to the little fleet in the +harbor. With each budget of news from England it became evident that +Parliament would not yield, and at last came word that Lord North had +offered a joint resolution that New England was in a state of rebellion, +which both houses pledged their lives and fortunes to suppress. With +such a military force at his command, and with such moral support from +King and Parliament, Gage was in a position to take decided action.</p> + +<p>No one could doubt what that action would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> be. Since September the +province had been gathering its meagre military supplies. It was but +common sense to seize them before they could be used. Soon after the new +year Gage began his measures. "Genl. Orders," writes disgruntled +Lieutenant Barker. "If any officers of the different Regts. are +<i>capable</i> of taking sketches of a Country, they will send their names to +the Dep. Adj. Genl ... that is an extraordinary method of wording the +order; it might at least have been in a more genteel way; at present it +looks as if he doubted whether there were any such." However, there were +such, and in February the governor chose Captain Brown and Ensign De +Berniere (or Bernicre, as the name is sometimes spelled) and sent them +out to map the roads.</p> + +<p>The little expedition was somewhat absurd, for the disguise which the +officers wore was sufficient to conceal them only from their friends. +When, at the first tavern at which they stopped, they remarked that it +was a very fine country, the black woman who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> waited on them answered, +"So it is, and we have got brave fellows to defend it, and if you go any +higher you will find it so." "This," admits Ensign De Berniere, whose +account of the expedition was left in Boston at the evacuation, and was +"printed for the information and amusement of the curious," "this +disconcerted us a good deal." From that time on, any one who took the +trouble to "eye them attentively" was in no doubt as to their real character.</p> + +<p>They went first to Worcester, where it was possible that the governor +might wish to send troops, to protect the courts as well as to seize +stores. The weather was rough and snowy, and the officers' task +correspondingly difficult; the countrymen, by persevering sociability, +kept them in an uneasy state of mind. After roughly mapping roads +concerning which the general should long before have had accurate +information, the two officers made their way to Sudbury, where they +hoped to rest with a sympathizer, after walking in a snow-storm for +hours. But the town doctor, though long<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> a stranger at the house, came +to call, and the townspeople showed their host various other undesirable +attentions, so that in twenty minutes the two officers were glad to +leave the place. They arrived again safely at Worcester, "very much +fatigued, after walking thirty-two miles between two o'clock and +half-after ten at night, through a road that every step we sunk up to +the ankles, and it blowing and drifting snow all the way."</p> + +<p>In spite of this experience, the two officers, a month later, undertook +a similar journey to Concord. In this they succeeded, returning with a +rough sketch of the roads, but bringing also their Concord host, who did +not think it safe to remain after entertaining them. They brought +information that in Concord there were "fourteen cannon (ten iron and +four brass) and two cohorns," with "a store of flour, fish, salt, and +rice; and a magazine of powder and cartridges."</p> + +<p>They might, in their two journeys, have brought better information than +that the Concord Whigs "fired their morning gun,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> and mounted a guard of +ten men at night." The stores at Concord had far better protection than +these, as the two officers should have learned at Framingham, where they +watched the drill of the militia company. "After they had done their +exercise, one of their commanders spoke a very eloquent speech, +recommending patience, coolness, and bravery (which indeed they very +much wanted), particularly told them they would always conquer if they +did not break, and recommended them to charge us coolly, and wait for +our fire, and everything would succeed with them—quoted Cæsar and +Pompey, brigadiers Putnam and Ward, and all such great men; put them in +mind of Cape Breton, and all the battles they had gained for his majesty +in the last war, and observed that the regulars must have been ruined but for them."</p> + +<p>Had the two officers known it, every town in the province had just such +a militia company, which at set seasons met, and drilled, and listened +to good old-fashioned <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>exhortations to valor. It would not take long, +therefore, for the neighboring towns to send their companies to +reinforce the guard of ten men which Concord set over its stores every +night. And yet the province was not satisfied with this ancient militia +organization, for it had set up another to strengthen it.</p> + +<p>The militia was composed, as it had been since the foundation of the +colony, of the whole body of male inhabitants of proper military age. In +some cases even clergymen drilled in the ranks. More than once this +militia had gathered to repel an expected attack of French or Indians; +it had stood between the settlers and their foes from the days of Miles +Standish down to the French and Indian War. The martial spirit still +prevailed among the youth of the colony, and each town took pride in its +company. In 1774 John Andrews thus records his innocent delight in the +appearance of the Boston trainbands:—</p> + +<p>"Am almost every minute taken off with agreeable sight of our militia +companies<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> marching into the Common, as it is a grand field day with +us.... They now vie with the best troops in his majesties service, being +dress'd all in blue uniforms, with drums and fifes to each company +dress'd in white uniforms trim'd in y<sup>e</sup> most elegant manner; with a +company of Grenadiers in red with every other apparatus, that equal any +regular company I ever saw both in appearance and discipline, having a +grand band of musick consisting of eight that play nearly equal to that +of the 64th. What crowns all is the Cadet company, being perfectly +compleat and under the best order you can conceive of, with a band of +musick likewise, that perform admirably well. What with these and +Paddock's company of artillery make y<sup>e</sup> completest militia in America; +not a drummer, fifer, and scarcely a soldier but what are in compleat +uniforms and thoroughly instructed in the military exercises."</p> + +<p>It was this Boston Cadet company that, at the affront to its leader +Hancock had returned its standard to the governor and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>disbanded. Gage +knew too well that others of the companies were thoroughly disaffected. +In fact, many of the Boston young men left the town before hostilities +began, and were ready to join with their country brethren in showing +that their military training was worth something.</p> + +<p>Yet early in the fall it was recognized in the colony that the militia +system was not sufficient, being too slow of movement to meet any such +sudden expedition as that which Gage sent to seize the powder. It is not +surprising, therefore, to find John Andrews reporting on October 5 the +existence of a new body of troops, "which are call'd <i>minute men</i>, +<i>i.e.</i> to be ready at a minute's warning with a fortnight's provision, +and ammunition and arms." There is doubt of the origin of this body, but +it was first officially accepted in Concord, where the town adopted +definite terms of enlistment, the more important of which reads:—</p> + +<p>"We will ... to the utmost of our power and abilities, defend all and +every of our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> charter rights, liberties, and privileges; and will hold +ourselves in readiness at a minute's warning, with arms and ammunition +thus to do."<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a></p> + +<p>Tradition says that the terms of the enlistment were interpreted +literally, and that wherever the minute men went, to the field, the +shop, or to church, gun and powder-horn and bullet-pouch were ready to +hand. It is scarcely an exaggeration to suppose that, as represented by +French's statue, the farmers actually left the plough in the furrow and +snatched up the ready rifle.</p> + +<p>One further preparation was also made. The rallying point was possibly +Worcester, where were the courts and some few stores; but it was more +probably Concord. The shortest route to Concord, or to the road between +Concord and Boston, was known to the captain of every company of minute +men within a hundred miles. But that the captains should be notified of +any emergency was essential. A complete system of couriers for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> +spreading news was projected in September, and now was in good working +order, so that, with Boston as a radiating point, the summons could be +sent over the province with the greatest rapidity. By virtue of his +efficiency, trustworthiness, and picturesque personality, Paul Revere is +accepted as the type of the men who stood ready for this service.</p> + +<p>This system, further, had been tested. The spontaneous response to the +Powder Alarm in September had been ready enough, for the men of +Connecticut and New Hampshire were in motion before the next day. But +through the winter of 1774-1775 there had been minor alarms at each +little expedition on which Gage sent his soldiers. By these the new +system was proved efficient. Whether the troops marched to Jamaica Pond, +to the "punch bowl" in Brookline, or even went, by sea and land, as far +as Salem, the militia of the surrounding towns showed a prompt curiosity +as to the object of the excursion. These fruitless musters, far from +making the minute men callous to alarms,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> served to prepare them to meet +the great occasion which they foresaw would finally come. For that they +were in excellent practice.</p> + +<p>As to Concord itself, it had become very important. The Congress, which +after its first week in Concord had been sitting in Cambridge, now +returned, and from the 22d of March until the 15th of April<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> sat +daily in the meeting-house. The Committee of Safety remained still +longer, busy with the gathering of supplies. It is within this period +that Berniere and Brown came on their spying expedition to Concord, and +were directed by a woman to the house of Daniel Bliss. A threat of the +Whigs to tar and feather her sent her to the officers for refuge, and +word presently came to Bliss that the Whigs "would not let him go out of +the town alive<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> that morning." This fate the officers and their host +avoided by leaving in the night. What became of the woman is not said, +but we may be easy about her: no injury, and in fact no serious +indignity, was put upon a woman in New England at this period. The +officers returned to Boston with a report of the stores in Concord.</p> + +<p>This may have increased the anxiety of the Committee of Safety. Already +they had voted, "requiring Colonel Barrett of Concord to engage a +sufficient number of faithful men to guard the Colony's magazines in +that town; to keep a suitable number of teams in constant readiness, by +day and night, to remove the stores; and to provide couriers to alarm +the neighboring towns, on receiving information of any movements of the +British troops."<a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> A watch was kept upon the British movements; and +finally, when, on the 15th, Warren sent Paul Revere from Boston with +warning of suspicious movements, the Committee felt that soon Gage must +strike. On<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> the 18th it ordered the removal of some of the stores. "That +very night," says Tolman, without knowledge of affairs in Boston, the work was begun.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, in response to another vote of the committee, the British had +been under close observation. The vote was that "members of this +Committee belonging to the towns of Charlestown, Cambridge, and Roxbury, +be required at the Province expense to procure at least two men for a +watch every night to be placed in each of these towns, and that said +members be in readiness to send couriers forward to the towns where the +magazines are placed, when sallies are made by the army by night." In +view of these preparations, it scarcely needs to be said that there was +nothing accidental about Concord fight. Some day Gage was bound to +strike at Concord, and for that day the Whigs were ready.</p> + +<p>It is now that Paul Revere comes prominently into the course of events. +Revere was a Boston craftsman of Huguenot descent, who was and is well +known as a silversmith,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> engraver, and cartoonist. His prints and +articles of silverware sell to-day for high prices, and his house in +North Square has recently been fitted up as a public museum, chiefly on +account of a single act at a critical moment. One is glad to know, +however, that Revere's fame is not accidental. His pictures are +historically interesting; we should be the poorer without his prints +which give views of Boston, and without his picture of the Massacre. His +silver—we have mentioned his punch-bowl for the "immortal +Ninety-two"—is usually beautiful. From the foundry which he established +later in life came cannon, and church-bells which are in use to-day. And +finally his famous ride, the object of which would have been brought +about had Revere been stopped at the outset, was but one out of many.</p> + +<div class="center"><a name="illus08.jpg" id="illus08.jpg"></a><img src="images/illus08.jpg" width='700' height='386' alt="Revere's Picture of Boston in 1768" /></div> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Revere's Picture of Boston in 1768.</span></h4> + +<p>"In the year 1773," says Revere of himself,<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a> "I was employed by the +selectmen of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> the town of Boston to carry the account of the Destruction +of the Tea to New York, and afterwards, 1774, to carry their despatches +to New York and Philadelphia for calling a Congress; and afterwards to +Congress several times." Revere does not mention the fact that he was +himself a member of the Tea-Party. When he goes on to speak of still +more important events, he suppresses the fact that he was one of the +leaders, if not the chief leader, of the Boston artisans.</p> + +<p>"In the fall of 1774, and winter of 1775, I was one of upwards of +thirty, chiefly mechanics, who formed ourselves into a committee for the +purpose of watching the movements of the British soldiers, and gaining +every intelligence of the movements of the Tories. We held our meetings +at the Green Dragon Tavern. We were so careful that our meetings should +be kept secret, that every time we met, every person swore upon the +Bible that they would not discover any of our transactions but to +Messrs. Hancock, Adams, Doctors Warren, Church, and one or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> two more.... +In the winter, towards the spring, we frequently took turns, two and +two, to watch the soldiers, by patrolling the streets all night."</p> + +<p>Such was the watch, then, kept upon the royalists, and such were the +preparations to receive the troops when they should march out. We know +now that Gage was informed of them, for among those whom Revere names as +confidants of the mechanics there was a traitor to the cause. Yet though +Gage knew of the organization of the Whigs, of its efficiency he had +apparently not the glimmer of an idea. It was with no expectation of +serious results that, when at last he learned that the resolution +declaring the colonies to be in rebellion had passed Parliament, he +slowly put himself in motion to seize the stores of the provincials.</p> + +<p>The Americans were keenly aware of all his movements. There were two +common methods of leaving the town, one by the Neck, the other over +Charlestown ferry. But these routes lay through towns, either <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>Roxbury +or Charlestown, and to march so openly meant to give the alarm. The +Americans were ready for Gage to take a third route: across the Charles +by means of boats, and then by unfrequented roads until striking the +highway at Cambridge Common. This way the Whigs suspected he might +choose, and this they found he did.</p> + +<p>Gage's preparations were almost open. The boats of the men-of-war were +hauled up and repaired at the foot of the Common. On the 14th, in the +night, they were launched, and moored at the sterns of the men-of-war. +On the 15th was given out in general orders that "'The Grenadiers and +Light Infantry in order to learn Grenadrs. Exercise and new evolutions +are to be off all duties till further orders.'—This," remarks +Lieutenant Barker of the King's Own, "I suppose is by way of a blind. I +dare say they have something for them to do."</p> + +<p>This "something" was either one or both of two objectives: the stores at +Concord, and the persons of Adams and Hancock,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> then known to be staying +at the house of the Reverend Jonas Clark in Lexington. That this latter +objective was seriously considered, at least by the Americans, we shall +see from Revere's narrative. There never has been proof that Gage +endeavored to seize either them or Warren. But in any case the stores +were in danger, and strict watch was kept.</p> + +<p>There was evidence enough of a coming expedition. As before the +Massacre, there were soldiers' rumors that something was to happen, and +the name of Concord was whispered about. On the night of the 18th word +came in from the country that parties of officers were riding here and +there. This same notice was sent by vigilant patriots to Hancock at +Lexington. In Boston itself different persons noticed that the troops +were astir. Word of all this came from various sources to Warren who, +relinquishing for a while his sittings with the Committee of Safety, had +for some days been working for it at the post of responsibility and +danger.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> Warren finally decided that he must act. He sent for the men +who had pledged themselves for this service, and gave them his directions.</p> + +<p>One of these men was William Dawes, of whom, except for his actions on +this night, we know little. Obeying his instructions, he took horse, and +rode across the Neck to go to Lexington by way of Roxbury and Watertown.</p> + +<p>"About ten o'clock," writes Revere, "Dr. Warren sent in great haste for +me, and begged that I would immediately set off for Lexington, where +Messrs. Hancock and Adams were, and acquaint them of the movement, and +that it was thought they were the objects." Revere was ready. In +returning on the 15th he had arranged signals to his friends in +Charlestown to inform them what route the British would take; he knew, +also, how he should cross—for the ferry was closed at nine o'clock—and +where he should get his horse. From Warren's Revere went home, got his +"boots and surtout," and started. Two of his friends rowed him to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>Charlestown in a boat which was kept ready for the purpose, another was +already despatched to make certain of the route the British would take.</p> + +<div class="center"><a name="illus09.jpg" id="illus09.jpg"></a><img src="images/illus09.jpg" width='426' height='700' alt="The Old North Church + (From which Paul Revere's signals were displayed.)" /></div> + +<h4><span class="smcap">The Old North Church</span></h4> + +<h4>(From which Paul Revere's signals were displayed.)</h4> + +<p>Of the person and the actions of this other friend there has been much +dispute. The weight of evidence seems to show that on making sure of the +route of the British, he went to the Old North Church, still standing in +Salem Street, and from its steeple displayed the signal. I make no +positive assertion that he spent any time in watching the British; +Revere, knowing the route, may have signalled in order to make sure that +the news crossed the river, even though he himself might fail. The +person who displayed the signals seems to have been one Newman, the +sexton of the church, rather than Captain Pulling, a friend of Revere's. +At any rate, the signals were hung while Revere was crossing the river +to Charlestown. He passed unobserved not far from the <i>Somerset</i> +man-of-war, and remarks that "it was then young flood, the ship was +winding, and the moon was rising." On landing, his Charlestown<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> friends +told him they had already seen the signals. Revere (if we still suppose +that he needed to make sure of the route) himself must have taken a look +at the signal lanterns, as in Longfellow's poem. "Two if by sea." This +poetical language means merely that the troops were preparing to cross +the river in their boats. This is the traditional account of Revere's +action. A contemporary memorandum states, however, that on landing +Revere "informed [us] that the T [troops] were actually in the boats."</p> + +<p>"I got a horse," says Revere, "of Deacon Larkin," which horse the deacon +never saw again. Before Revere started he again received warning that +there were British officers on the road, but he was quite cool enough to +take note of the beauty of the night, "about eleven o'clock and very +pleasant." Crossing Charlestown Neck, he started on the road for +Cambridge, when he saw before him two horsemen under a tree. As Revere +drew near, they pushed out into the moonlight, and he saw their +uniforms. One of them blocked<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> the road, the other tried to take him, +and Revere, turning back, galloped first for Charlestown and then +"pushed for the Medford road." Revere made the turn successfully; the +officer who followed, ignorant of the locality, mired himself in a clay +pond. Revere's road was now clear. He reached Medford, and roused the +captain of the minute men; then, hastening on through Menotomy, now +Arlington, and thence to Lexington, he "alarmed almost every house." He +reached Lexington about midnight, and went directly to the house of the +Reverend Jonas Clark, where Hancock and Adams were sleeping under a +guard of the militia. Revere asked admittance, and the sergeant informed +him that the family had requested that no noise be made.</p> + +<p>"Noise!" replied Revere in the phrase familiar to every schoolboy, +"you'll have noise enough before long—the regulars are coming out!"<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> +The family was accordingly at once aroused.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span></p><p>Meanwhile the troops had actually started. "Between 10 and 11 o'clock," +says Lieutenant Barker, "all the Grenadiers and Light Infantry of the +Army, making about 600 Men, (under command of Lt. Coll. Smith of the +10th and Major Pitcairn of the Marines,) embarked and were landed on the +opposite shore of Cambridge Marsh." This phrasing is not immediately +clear to one of to-day. In those days every regiment had two special +companies, the heavy-armed grenadiers, so called because they originally +carried hand-grenades, and the light-infantry company. These were +frequently detached for special duty, as the present, when the Light +Infantry would be used for flanking purposes. Thus every regiment in +Boston was represented in the expedition—and we may add in the list of +killed and wounded on the following day. The number is generally +estimated at eight hundred. They were commanded by the colonel who had +been longest on duty in New England. Smith was in character too much +like Gage himself. The general<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> would have done better to send one of +his brigadiers.</p> + +<p>One at least of the brigadiers was reasonably alert. According to +Stedman, Lord Percy was crossing the Common after learning from the +general that a secret expedition had just started. Perceiving a group of +men talking together, the nobleman joined them in time to hear one say, +"The British troops have marched, but have missed their aim."</p> + +<p>"What aim?" asked Lord Percy.</p> + +<p>The reply was, "The cannon at Concord." Percy, in much perturbation, at +once returned to the general and told him that his secret was known. +Poor Gage complained that his confidence had been betrayed, "for that he +had communicated his design to one person only besides his lordship."</p> + +<p>The student of the time sees in this story a side-thrust at Mrs. Gage, +on whom, as an American, the officers were ready to blame the knowledge +of secrets which were gained by Yankee shrewdness alone. In this case we +have seen that it was Gage that betrayed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> himself to the eyes of +Revere's volunteer watch. The general hastily sent to order the guard at +the Neck to let no one leave the town. But he was too late: Dawes was +gone, Revere was on the water, and the news was out.</p> + +<p>The expedition was bungled at the very start. "After getting over the +Marsh, where we were wet up to the knees," says Lieutenant Barker, "we +were halted in a dirty road and stood there till two o'clock in the +morning, waiting for provisions to be brought from the boats and to be +divided, and which most of the men threw away, having carried some with +'em." As they waited there they might have heard signal guns, and +learned that in a constantly widening circle of villages, "the bells +were rung backward, the drums they were beat." The news had three hours' +start of them. At last, at two on the 19th, having "waded through a very +long ford up to our middles," wet, dirty, and loaded with the heavy +equipment of the period, they started on their march.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> Tolman, "The Concord Minute Man," 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> I take many facts in the following pages from the three +pamphlets by George Tolman, "The Concord Minute Man," "Preliminaries of +Concord Fight," and "Events of April Nineteenth." These, published by +the Concord Antiquarian Society, are invaluable to the student of this +period.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> "Preliminaries," 23-24.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> After the Revolution, Revere wrote a narrative of the +events in which he was concerned. It is to be found in several books, +notably Goff's "Life of Revere."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> Most of these facts are from Frothingham's "Siege," 57-59, +and from Revere's letter.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>THE NINETEENTH OF APRIL</h3> + +<p>John Hancock never showed better in his life than on the morning of the +19th of April. Many times the Tories had tried to win him over. +Hutchinson himself had written: "At present, Hancock and Adams are at +variance. Some of my friends blow the coals, and I hope to see a good +effect." Yet Adams and Hancock were still enlisted in the same cause on +this morning when blood was to be shed. And Hancock, when roused from +his sleep at midnight, was hot with the desire to take his musket and +fight on Lexington Green.</p> + +<p>Adams and his friends—among them his sweetheart—dissuaded him. The two +Whig leaders finally took the road to Woburn, and in the succeeding days +passed on to Worcester and Hartford, planned the taking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> of Ticonderoga, +and, joining the other delegates from Boston, in May met with the second +Continental Congress. If Gage had meant to seize Hancock and Adams, he +had lost his chance. The outcome lay in the hands of the fighting men.</p> + +<p>Revere waited at Mr. Clark's house for about half an hour, when Dawes +arrived. The two then set out for Concord, and were joined on the way by +"a young Dr. Prescott, whom we found to be a high son of liberty."<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> +They began to rouse the farmers along the road, and had already gone +halfway when they saw in the road horsemen whom Revere knew at once to +be British officers. Revere and Prescott, blocked in front and rear, +turned into a pasture; but this was a trap where other officers were +waiting. Prescott, knowing the country, put his horse at a fence and got +away; Revere found himself surrounded by six horsemen who, with swords +and pistols ready, ordered him to dismount. There was nothing for him to +do but comply.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> Dawes, who had been behind upon the road, turned to go +back, and was pursued. He rode into a farmyard, shouted out as to +friends in waiting, and frightened off his pursuers. Both he and +Prescott were useful in spreading the alarm farther.</p> + +<p>But Revere was caught. His chief captor examined him, and got slight +satisfaction. "I told him, and added that their troops had catched +aground in passing the river and that there would be five hundred +Americans there in a short time, for I had alarmed the country all the +way up." His anxious captors consulted together, and were conducting him +back toward Lexington, "when the militia fired a volley of guns, which +seemed to alarm them very much." They asked if there were any other road +to Cambridge, took Revere's horse, and left him. He hurried back to +Lexington, to give Hancock and Adams the news that sent them on their +way. Revere himself remained long enough to save a trunk of papers +belonging to Hancock.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p><p>Meanwhile the militia of the town, alarmed by Revere, assembled and +waited for the troops. They sent two messengers toward Cambridge to +bring certain news, but each of these blundered into the advancing +regulars, and were seized and held. The militia waited for some hours, +but on hearing no word they were finally dismissed, with a warning to be +ready to come together again instantly. Some went to their homes, some +to the near-by tavern, to finish out the night.</p> + +<p>News came at last to Captain Parker that the British were scarcely a +mile away, and in such numbers that his company could not hope to oppose +them. He called his men together, nevertheless, "but only with a view to +determine what to do, when and where to meet, and to dismiss and +disperse."<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> The minute men were still standing in their ranks when +the British suddenly appeared.</p> + +<p>The succeeding events caused much controversy at the time. Gage reported +"that the troops were fired upon by the rebels out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> of the +meeting-house, and the neighboring houses, as well as by those that were +in the field; and that the troops only returned the fire, and passed on +their way to Concord."<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> But in number the little company of minute +men were, according to Revere, who had just passed through them, "about +fifty"; the Reverend Jonas Clark says "fifty or sixty, or even seventy." +Had there been even the two or three hundred of the British reports, +these men, drawn up without protection on an open green, are scarcely +likely to have attacked a force of more than twice their number. The +logic of the situation seems against Gage.</p> + +<p>There is one more factor to consider. It is well enough known that both +the British officers, and the Americans as a whole, were under +instructions not to fire, and earnest to obey. But what of the British +privates? Their eagerness for blood at the time of the Massacre was so +great as to account for that tragedy; it was now not likely to be less. +There were even among the troops at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>Lexington two companies from one of +the "Sam Adams regiments." When we learn from Lieutenant Barker that +after the skirmish "the Men were so wild they cou'd hear no orders," we +may even suspect that, as at the Massacre, the men may have taken +matters into their own hands.</p> + +<p>"For," says the minister of Lexington, "no sooner did they come in sight +of our company, but one of them, supposed to be an officer of rank, was +heard to say to the troops, 'Damn them, we will have them!'—Upon this +the troops shouted aloud, huzza'd, and rushed furiously towards our +men.—About the same time, three officers (supposed to be Col. Smith, +Major Pitcairn and another officer) advanced, on horse back, to the +front of the body, and coming within five or six rods of the militia, +one of them cried out, 'ye villains, ye Rebels, disperse; Damn you, +disperse!' or words to this effect. One of them (whether the same, or +not, is not easily determined) said, 'Lay down your arms, Damn you, why +don't you lay down your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> arms!'—The second of these officers, about +this time, fired a pistol towards the militia, as they were +dispersing.—The foremost, who was within a few yards of our men, +brandishing his sword, and then pointing towards them, said, with a loud +voice, to the troops, 'Fire!—By God, fire!'—which was instantly +followed by a discharge of arms from the said troops, succeeded by a +very heavy and close fire upon our party, dispersing, so long as any of +them were within reach.—Eight were left dead upon the ground! Ten were +wounded."<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a></p> + +<div class="center"><a name="illus10.jpg" id="illus10.jpg"></a><img src="images/illus10.jpg" width='700' height='411' alt="The Battle of Lexington" /></div> + +<h4><span class="smcap">The Battle of Lexington</span></h4> + +<p>This is the best contemporary account which we have of the affair. It is +evident from his careful language and semi-legal terms that the Reverend +Mr. Clark, though not on the ground until half an hour afterwards, took +all possible pains to gather the facts, and considered himself upon oath +in reporting them. He was himself a witness of the exultation of the +troops at their victory, and expresses his indignation.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p><p>Tradition gives Major Pitcairn, of the Marines, a prominent part in the +affair. "A good man," says Stiles, "in a bad cause," and adds that had +Pitcairn ever been able to say that he was sure the Americans fired +first, he would have believed him. Honest Major Pitcairn could only state his belief.</p> + +<p>So the first blood in the Revolution was spilt. The death of one of the +Americans, Jonathan Harrington, was pitiful: shot within sight of his +home, he crawled to the door, and expired at his wife's feet. To the +heavy volleys they received, the Americans returned but a scattering +fire; some of them did not fire at all.<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a> Two British privates were +wounded, and Pitcairn's horse.</p> + +<p>The troops, as soon as they could be marshalled again, fired a volley +and gave three cheers, rested for a little while, and marched on toward +Concord. There, since early morning, had gathered some of the militia +from Bedford and Lincoln, and about sunrise the little company marched +out of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> town. "We thought," says Amos Barrett quaintly, "we would go and +meet the British. We marched down towards Lexington about a mile or mile +and a half, and we saw them coming." But on seeing their numbers the +militia turned back, "and marched before them with our drums and fifes +going, and also the British. We had grand musick."<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> The provincials +halted once or twice on the hill that ran along the high road, and came +at last to the liberty pole, overlooking the town. "The Yankees," +records Lieutenant Barker of the King's Own, "had that hill but left it +to us; we expected they wou'd have made a stand there, but they did not +chuse it." The militia, still withdrawing before superior numbers, +retreated across the river, and the British occupied the town.</p> + +<p>In place of the five bridges which to-day, within a mile of the +meeting-house, encircle Concord, the town in 1775 had but two. The first +of these was the South Bridge, on the present Main Street route to +Marlborough<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> and South Acton. The other was the North Bridge, on a +highway now abandoned, which in those days led to Acton, Carlisle, and +Bedford. Colonel Smith took possession of both these bridges, and while +his men searched the town for stores, he sent a detachment across the +North Bridge to the farm of Colonel Barrett, where it was known that +supplies had been kept. Of our two British informants of the events of +the day, Ensign Berniere guided the troops that went to the Barrett +farm, Lieutenant Barker remained with a detachment that stayed to guard +the bridge. Meanwhile, on a hillside beyond the river, almost within +gunshot of the bridge, the militia watched the first detachment pass on +its errand, and counted the numbers of the redcoats that held the nearer +side of the passage.</p> + +<p>Colonel Smith speedily learned that his journey had been nearly in vain. +As we have seen, already on the night before, without news from Boston, +the removal of the stores had been begun. The alarm brought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> in by Dr. +Prescott hastened the work. Men and boys, and even women and girls, were +busy in hiding the stores or carrying them away. Some of them were +skilfully secreted under the very eyes of the British. The troops found +little. In the town some few gun-carriages, barrels of flour, wooden +mess-bowls, and wooden spoons were found and destroyed. At Colonel +Barrett's, acknowledges Berniere, "we did not find so much as we +expected, but what there was we destroyed." He was unaware that the +cannon had been laid in a ploughed field, and concealed by turning a +furrow over them, the work continuing even while the troops were in sight.</p> + +<p>Of proceedings in the town we get the best picture from the petition of +Martha Moulton, "widow-woman," who in her deposition "humbly sheweth: +That on the 19th day of April, 1775, in the forenoon, the town of +Concord, wherein I dwell, was beset with an army of regulars, who, in a +hostile manner, entered the town, and drawed up in form before the house +in which I live; and there they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>continued on the green, feeding their +horses within five feet of the door; and about fifty or sixty of them +was in and out of the house, calling for water and what they wanted, for +about three hours." The neighbors had fled, and poor Mrs. Moulton was +left with "no person near but an old man of eighty-five years, and +myself seventy-one years old, and both very infirm. It may easily be +imagined what a sad condition your petitioner must be in." But she +committed herself to Providence, "and was very remarkably helpt with so +much fortitude of mind, as to wait on them, as they called, with what we +had,—chairs for Major Pitcairn and four or five more officers,—who sat +at the door viewing their men. At length your petitioner had, by +degrees, cultivated so much favor as to talk a little with them. When +all on a sudden they had set fire to the great gun-carriages just by the +house, and while they were in flames your petitioner saw smoke arise out +of the Town House higher than the ridge of the house. Then your +petitioner did put her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> life, as it were, in her hand, and ventured to +beg of the officers to send some of their men to put out the fire; but +they took no notice, only sneered. Your petitioner, seeing the Town +House on fire, and must in a few minutes be past recovery, did yet +venture to expostulate with the officers just by her, as she stood with +a pail of water in her hand, begging them to send, &c. When they only +said, 'O, mother, we won't do you any harm!' 'Don't be concerned, +mother,' and such like talk." But the widow Moulton persisted, until "at +last, by one pail of water and another, they did send and extinguish the +fire."<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> It is pleasant to know that the courageous old lady received +three pounds for her services, and that the smoke which rose higher than +the Town House served only to give the signal for Concord fight.</p> + +<p>All this while the numbers of the militia had been growing. They were +stationed on the slope of Punkatasset Hill, and from minute to minute +squads and companies<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> came in from the neighboring towns. It has been +made a reproach to Concord that so few of her men were there, but they +were engaged in the far more important duty of saving the stores. +Nevertheless, one of her militia companies was on the ground, with those +individuals who were able to hurry back after putting the stores in +safety. The Carlisle and Acton men had joined the waiting provincials, +whose numbers at last became so threatening that the guard at the +bridge, in full sight of them, became uneasy.</p> + +<p>The militia became uneasy also. Beyond the bridge, in the town, they saw +more smoke than seemed warranted by merely burning cannon wheels and +spoons. The officers consulted, and Captain Smith, of Lincoln, urged +that the bridge be forced. Davis of Acton, speaking of his company, +said, "I haven't a man that's afraid to go!" The movement was decided +upon, and the militia, in double file, marched down toward the bridge. +The Acton company had the lead, with Davis at its head; beside him +marched Major John<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> Buttrick, of Concord, in command, with +Lieutenant-Colonel Robinson, of Westford, as a volunteer aid. As the +provincials drew near, the British hastily retreated across the bridge, +and their commander awkwardly marshalled his three companies one behind +the other, so that only the first could fire. As some of the soldiers +began to take up the planks of the bridge, the Americans hastened their +march, and presently the British fired. There is no question that they +began the fight, with first a few scattering guns, "up the river," and +then a volley at close range.</p> + +<p>The whole was seen by the Concord minister, William Emerson, from his +study in the Manse, close by. For a moment, he records, he feared that +the fire was not to be returned; but he need not have doubted. The +British volley killed the Acton captain, Davis, and Hosmer, his +adjutant. Then Major Buttrick, leaping into the air as he turned to his +men, cried, "Fire, fellow-soldiers; for God's sake, fire!"</p> + +<p>"We were then," records Amos Barrett,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> of the second company, "all +ordered to fire that could fire and not kill our own men." The return +fire, though from the awkward position of double file, was effective. +Two of the British were killed outright, another fell wounded, and the +whole, apparently doubting their ability to hold the bridge, hastily +retreated upon the main body. "We did not follow them," records Barrett. +"There were eight or ten that were wounded and a-running and a-hobbling +about, looking back to see if we were after them."</p> + +<p>As reminders of the fight, besides the bridge which Concord, many years +after its disappearance, rebuilt on the centenary of the day, the town +points to the graves of the two soldiers killed in the fight, who were +buried close by. Another memorial is seen in the bullet-hole in the +Elisha Jones house near at hand, at whose door the proprietor showed +himself as the regulars hastily retreated. On being fired at, Jones +speedily removed himself from the scene, and from subsequent history.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p><p>There were no further immediate consequences. The Americans crossed the +bridge, and stationed themselves behind the ridge that overlooked the +town; the search-party that had gone to Colonel Barrett's returned. +"They had taken up some planks of the bridge," says Berniere of the +Americans, though the work was done by the British. "Had they destroyed +it, we were most certainly all lost; however, we joined the main body." +Colonel Smith now had his force together, and had done all that could be +done, yet for two hours more he, by futile marchings and +countermarchings, "discovered great Fickleness<a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a> and Inconstancy of +Mind." The delay was serious; he had earlier sent to Gage for +reinforcements, and he ought now to have considered that every minute +was bringing more Americans to the line of his retreat. When, about +noon, he started for Boston, the situation was very grave.</p> + +<p>The British left the town as they had come<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> in, with the grenadiers on +the highway, the light infantry flanking them on the ridge. On this +elevation, above the house he later inhabited, Hawthorne laid the scene +of the duel between Septimius Felton and the British officer. At +Merriam's Corner the ridge ends. Here the flankers joined the main body, +and together noted the approach of the Americans, who had dogged them. +The regulars turned and fired, only to be driven onward by an accurate +response. "When I got there," says Amos Barrett, "a great many lay dead, +and the road was bloody." From that time ensued a scattering general +engagement along the line of the retreat.</p> + +<p>In this kind of fighting the odds were greatly with the Americans, as +Gage, with his memory of Braddock's defeat, might have foreseen. The +British complained with exasperation that the militia would not stand up +to them. The provincials knew better than to do so. Lightly armed, +carrying little besides musket or rifle, powder horn and +bullet-pouch,—and all these smaller and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> lighter than the British +equipment,—the farmers were able with ease to keep up with the troops, +to fire from cover, to load, and then again to regain the distance lost. +Every furlong saw their numbers increase. At Merriam's Corner came in +the Reading company; before long the survivors of the Lexington company +joined the fight to take their revenge; and from that time on, from +north, from south, and from the east, the minute men and militia came +hurrying up to join the chase.</p> + +<p>Before five miles were passed, the retreat had degenerated into a mere +rout. "We at first," says Berniere, "kept our order and returned their +fire as hot as we received it, but when we arrived within a mile of +Lexington, our ammunition began to fail, and the light companies were so +fatigued with flanking they were scarce able to act, and a great number +of wounded scarce able to get forward, made a great confusion; Col. +Smith (our commanding officer) had received a wound through his leg, a +number of officers were also wounded, so that we began to run rather<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> +than retreat in order.... At last, after we got through Lexington, the +officers got to the front and presented their bayonets, and told the men +that if they advanced they should die: Upon this they began to form +under a heavy fire." There was, however, no hope for them unless they +should be reinforced.</p> + +<p>In the nick of time the succor came. Early in the morning Gage had +received word that the country was alarmed, and started to send out +reinforcements. There were the usual delays; among other mistakes, they +waited for Pitcairn, who was with the first detachment. The relief party +as finally made up comprised about twelve hundred men, with two +six-pounder field-pieces, under Lord Percy. Percy went out through +Roxbury with his band playing Yankee Doodle, and as he went a +quick-witted lad reminded him of Chevy Chase. More than once before +night Percy must have thought of the Whig youngster. He was momentarily +delayed at the Cambridge bridge, where the Committee of Safety had taken +up the planks, but had frugally<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> stored them in full view of the road. +Percy relaid some of the planks and hurried on with his guns, leaving +behind his baggage train and hospital supplies, which were presently +captured by a company headed by a warlike minister. Percy was again +delayed on Cambridge Common for want of a guide; when again he was able +to push on he spared no time, and reached Lexington at the critical +moment. He formed his men into a hollow square, to protect Smith's +exhausted men, who threw themselves down on the ground, "their tongues +hanging out of their mouths like those of dogs after a chase."<a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a> Percy +turned on the militia his two field-pieces, "which our people," grimly +remarks Mr. Clark, writing after Bunker Hill, "were not so well +acquainted with then, as they have been since." Percy had the +satisfaction, which both Berniere and Barker express, of silencing the provincials.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span></p><p>He knew too well, however, that the Americans were willing to be quiet +only because they awaited their own reinforcements. Every minute of +delay was dangerous, for now the American military leaders were +gathering. If Hancock and Adams had left the field, Warren hastened to +it. We know some of his sayings as he left Boston. "They have begun +it,—that either party can do; and we'll end it,—that only one can do." +To the remark, "Well, they are gone out," he replied, "Yes, and we will +be up with them before night." Warren probably was present at a meeting +of the Committee of Safety which was held that morning, but his +biographer says: "I am unable to locate him until the afternoon, about +the time Lord Percy's column rescued Colonel Smith's party from entire +destruction, which was at two o'clock."</p> + +<p>Warren was no mere adviser. With General Heath he had been planning for +the work of the day, and when, after half an hour's rest, Percy's troops +moved onward, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> time came for the measures to be put into effect. +Warren went with Heath to the scene of battle. Yet little could be done +in organized form, at least in the open country, and the minute men +continued to pick off the British. But when the troops were among +houses, and in revenge for their losses began to plunder<a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> and burn, +the Americans for the first time began to close in. Many of them fired +from barricaded houses, and were killed in consequence. The Danvers +company, the only one that tried to fight as a body, were caught between +the main column of the regulars and a strong flanking party, and many +were killed in an improvised enclosure. But even without defences the +Americans became very bold, and the fight fiercer. Warren, rashly +exposing himself, had a pin shot out of his hair. Percy, on the other +hand, lost a button from his waistcoat. Nothing can explain the +comparatively slight<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> losses of the British except the rapidity of their +march to safety. As it was, the regulars were almost worn out with their +exertions when they saw ahead of them the hills of Charlestown, and +looking across the Back Bay, might perceive on the slopes of Beacon Hill +half the population of Boston watching their disgrace.</p> + +<p>Boston had been in suspense since early morning. All the Whigs had +suspected the meaning of Gage's preparations, and the town was no sooner +astir than the news was abroad that the expedition had started. Next +came word that an officer had come in haste with a message for Gage. At +about eight came news of the death of five men in Lexington. Already +Lord Percy's detachment was parading, waiting for the Marines, who in +turn waited for their absent commander. Thousands of people were in the +street, and even the schoolboys were running about, for Master Lovell +had dismissed his school with the words, "War's begun, and school's +done." Through the day came <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>conflicting rumors. "About twelve o'clock +it was gave out by the General's Aide camps that no person was kill'd, +and that a single gun had not been fir'd, which report was variously +believ'd."<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a> Fairly correct accounts of the fight at Lexington began +to come in, embellished with the addition that men had been killed in +the meeting-house. In the afternoon people began to watch from the hills +for the return of the troops, and before sunset the noise of firing was heard.</p> + +<p>Of the three British commanders, Lord Percy was the only one who +displayed any military ability. He showed it in the route which he chose +for his retreat. From Cambridge Common, where at last he arrived, the +road to Boston was long, and was broken by the bridge whose difficult +passage in the morning he remembered. Therefore he avoided it—and +wisely, for the planks of the bridge were up again, and this time in use +as barricades, while the militia were ready for him. Instead, Percy +shook off<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> many of his waylayers, and saved some miles of march, by +taking the direct road to Charlestown. Yet even this route was hard +beset. "I stood upon the hills in town," says Andrews, "and saw the +engagement very plain." Many a Whig exulted as he watched, many a Tory +cursed, at the sight of the weary regulars struggling forward, and of +red figures that dropped and lay still. Percy was barely in time. Had +the men of Essex, whose strong regiment arrived just too late, been +quick enough to intercept them, and resolute enough to throw themselves +across the retreat, it is more than likely that Percy must have +surrendered, for his ammunition was almost gone. The exasperation of the +Americans at losing their prey was later expressed in a court-martial of +the Essex colonel. At any rate, Percy was not headed, and the regulars +at last streamed across Charlestown Neck, to find protection under the guns of the fleet.</p> + +<p>"Thus," grumbles Lieutenant Barker, "ended this expedition, which from +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>beginning to end was as ill plan'd and ill executed as it was possible +to be.... For a few trifling Stores the Grenadiers and Light Infantry +had a march of about 50 miles (going and returning) and in all human +probability must every Man have been cut off if the Brigade had not +fortunately come to their Assistance."</p> + +<p>Speaking for the reinforcing brigade, Lord Percy confessed that he had +learned something. "Whoever looks upon them [the Americans] merely as an +irregular mob will find himself much mistaken. They have men among them +who know very well what they are about, having been employed as rangers +against the Indians and Arcadians.... Nor are several of their men void +of a spirit of enthusiasm, ... for many of them concealed themselves in +houses, and advanced within ten yards to fire at me and other officers, +though they were morally certain of being put to death.... For my part I +never believed, I confess, that they would have attacked the King's +troops, or have had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> the perseverance I found in them yesterday."<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a></p> + +<p>This was the day which Massachusetts now celebrates as Patriots' Day. Of +her sons forty-nine were killed, thirty-nine were wounded, and five were +taken prisoners. Berniere's figures of the British losses are 73 killed, +174 wounded, and 26 missing. The totals, for a day more important, as +says Bancroft, than Agincourt or Blenheim, are very small. But the +significance of the day was indeed enormous. Previously, said Warren, +not above fifty persons in the province had expected bloodshed, and the +ties to England were still strong. Within ten weeks Warren himself had +written of England as "home." After this day there was no turning back +from bloodshed, and no American ever again spoke of Britain by the endearing name.</p> + +<p>And the military situation was entirely changed. In the morning Gage was +still the nominal governor of the province, free<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> to come and go at +will. At night he looked out upon a circle of hostile camp-fires. "From +a plentiful town," says Berniere mournfully, "we were reduced to the +disagreeable necessity of living on salt provisions, and fairly blocked +up in Boston."</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> Revere's narrative.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> Clark's narrative.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> Clark's narrative.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> Clark's narrative.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> Clark's narrative.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> Letter of Amos Barrett, privately printed.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> Frothingham's "Siege," Appendix, 369-370.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> "Feekelness," Emerson's letter, "Source Book of the +American Revolution," 146.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> This quotation from Stedman, himself a British officer, is +perhaps as well known as Revere's midnight remark, already given.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> "The plundering was shameful," says Lieutenant Barker +indignantly. See also depositions in Frothingham's "Siege," Appendices.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> Andrews Letters.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> "Memorial History of Boston," iii, 102.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3>BOSTON BELEAGUERED</h3> + +<p>Gage and his army were at first surrounded by a mere collection of +militia companies. As the pursuit ceased on the evening of the 19th the +baffled Americans withdrew from the range of the guns of the fleet. As +well as they could they gathered into their organizations and made some +kind of a camp, sleeping either out of doors, or in convenient houses. A +watch was set at Charlestown Neck, and at Roxbury Prescott of Pepperell +and his men stood on guard against a sortie. The circuit between these +points, comprising the whole sweep of the Charles River and the Back +Bay, was likewise occupied. Headquarters were at Cambridge. On the +following days men from the more distant towns came in, until before +long the minute men and militia from the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> adjoining provinces, New +Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, were upon the ground.</p> + +<p>Some of the records are striking. The men of Nottingham, New Hampshire, +gathered by noon of the 20th and, after being joined by men of the +neighboring towns, set out at two o'clock. "At dusk," says Bancroft, +"they reached Haverhill Ferry, a distance of twenty-seven miles, having +run rather than marched; they halted in Andover only for refreshments, +and, traversing fifty-five miles in less than twenty hours, by sunrise +of the twenty-first paraded on Cambridge common."<a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a></p> + +<p>Israel Putnam, working on his farm in Brooklyn, Connecticut, received +the news the morning after the fight at Concord. He left his work at +once, and, mounting a horse, started out to rouse the militia, who, upon +mustering, chose him leader. As his idea of a leader was one who went in +front, he set out at once for Boston, ordering them to follow. He +arrived in Cambridge at the time when the Nottingham men are reported<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> +as parading, "having ridden the same horse a hundred miles in eighteen +hours."<a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a></p> + +<p>Others followed in similar haste. Among them, Benedict Arnold first +began to attract to himself public notice. Sabine says of him, "I am +inclined to believe, that he was a finished scoundrel from early manhood +to his grave." Nevertheless, his fiery nature kept him for a time with +the Americans, and at the very outset he showed his independent spirit, +having characteristically refused to "wait for proper orders." From New +Hampshire came Stark, the hero of the frontier wars. And from all the +towns came the militia leaders, who, gathering their companies into +regiments, began the loose organization and crude subordination which +should make of the crowd an army.</p> + +<p>In all this convergence of the militia toward Boston, there was one side +current. This set toward Marshfield, where for some weeks had been a +detachment of regulars. During this time there had been peace in the +town but strong feeling on both sides—Marshfield had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> already produced +a general for the king, and now was about to give one to the +provincials. There had been one or two threatening demonstrations from +neighboring towns, which now were repeated in earnest. On hearing the +news from Lexington and Concord, the militia of the neighborhood +gathered for an attack on the regulars. But they came too late. The +British were embarking at Brant Rock, hastened by the signal guns of the +Marshfield men from a neighboring hill. Yet though the regulars got +safely away, they left behind them the three hundred muskets with which +the Tory militia had drilled, and which presently formed a part of the +equipment of the Whigs before Boston. That equipment, while most +irregular, was not to be despised. By the 22d a strong army covered all +land approach to Gage, who began to consider himself between two fires.</p> + +<p>"The regulars encamped," says one British account of the Concord +expedition, "on a place called Bunker's Hill."<a name="FNanchor_75_75" id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a> There, under<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> the +guns of the fleet, the tired troops found safety; and there, for all +that any one can see, it would have been wise of Gage to leave them. +With Bunker Hill at his command, and with Dorchester Heights once +occupied by his forces, Boston would be safe from all attack by the +Americans—and not till then.</p> + +<p>But on the next morning Gage withdrew the troops to Boston. As a matter +of fact, he doubted his own strength, and greatly exaggerated the power +of the rebels, since his first sensation was a dread lest the town +should rise at his back, and his army be destroyed. Of this there was no +real chance at any time. Yet he drew in his men in order to make himself +secure, and began with the selectmen negotiations looking to his safety.</p> + +<p>There were many in the town who were eager to leave it, and many outside +anxious to come in. The governor made the rule that for the purpose of +taking out family effects but thirty wagons might enter the town at a +time. The ruling drew from Warren the following very characteristic letter.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p> + +<blockquote><p class="right"><span class="smcap">Cambridge</span>, April 20, 1775.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sir:</span>—The unhappy situation into which this colony is thrown gives +the greatest uneasiness to every man who regards the welfare of the +empire, or feels for the distresses of his fellow-men: but even now +much may be done to alleviate those misfortunes which cannot be +entirely remedied; and I think it of the utmost importance to us, +that our conduct be such as that the contending parties may +entirely rely upon the honor and integrity of each other for the +punctual performance of any agreement that shall be made between +them. Your Excellency, I believe, knows very well the part I have +taken in public affairs: I ever scorned disguise. I think I have +done my duty: some will think otherwise; but be assured, sir, as +far as my influence goes, everything which can reasonably be +required of us to do shall be done, and everything promised shall +be religiously performed. I should now be very glad to know from +you, sir, how many days you desire may be allowed for such as +desire to remove to Boston with their effects, and what time you +will allow the people in Boston for their removal. When I have +received that information, I will repair to congress, and hasten, +as far as I am able, the issuing a proclamation. I beg leave to +suggest,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> that the condition of admitting only thirty wagons at a +time into the town appears to me to be very inconvenient, and will +prevent the good effects of a proclamation intended to be issued +for encouraging all wagoners to assist in removing the effects from +Boston with all possible speed. If Your Excellency will be pleased +to take the matter into consideration, and favor me, as soon as may +be, with an answer, it will lay me under a great obligation, as it +so nearly concerns the welfare of my friends in Boston. I have many +things which I wish to say to Your Excellency, and most sincerely +wish that I had broken through the formalities which I thought due +to your rank, and freely told you all I knew or thought of public +affairs; and I must ever confess, whatever may be the event, that +you generously gave me such opening, as I now think I ought to have +embraced: but the true cause of my not doing it was the vileness +and treachery of many persons around you, who, I supposed, had +gained your entire confidence.</p> + +<p class="center">I am, &c.,</p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Joseph Warren.</span></p> + +<p>His Excellency General Gage.<a name="FNanchor_76_76" id="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a></p></blockquote> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span></p><p>In striking contrast to the manly regret expressed by Warren in this +letter is the scene enacted that afternoon at Cambridge, where the +Committee of Safety met. Doctor Benjamin Church, one of the trusted +leaders of the Whigs, an orator on the Massacre, and a pamphleteer, was +a member of the committee, for which Warren had recently engaged Paul +Revere as messenger. Revere writes, in the letter already quoted: "I was +sitting with some, or near all that committee, in their room ... in +Cambridge. Dr. Church, all at once, started up. 'Dr. Warren,' said he, +'I am determined to go into Boston to-morrow.' (It set them all +a-staring.) Dr. Warren replied: 'Are you serious, Dr. Church? They will +hang you if they catch you in Boston.' He replied: 'I am serious, and am +determined to go at all adventures.' After a considerable conversation, +Dr. Warren said: 'If you are determined, let us make some business for +you.' They agreed that he should go and get medicine for their and our +wounded officers."<a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span></p><p>Church was the first American traitor. Although possessed of all the +Whig secrets, he had for some months, perhaps longer, been in +communication with Gage. His journey to town was for the purpose of +delivering information, and for some time yet he managed to carry on the +double rôle. Nevertheless his information, put in the hands of Gage, did +no harm. It throws but one more light upon the incompetence of the +general that, with such information as Church now gave him, he blundered so continually.</p> + +<p>We learn from John Andrews' letters of the agreement made between Gage +and the town. "Yesterday," he writes on the 24th, "we had town meetings +all day, and finally concluded to deliver up <i>all</i> our arms to the +Selectmen, on condition that the Governor would open the avenues to the +town." In this agreement the townspeople were advised by the Committee +of Safety to join. Accordingly, there were delivered to the Selectmen, +and lodged in Faneuil Hall, "1778 fire-arms, 634 pistols, 978 bayonets, +and 38 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>blunderbusses."<a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> These were marked with their owners' names, +and were later to be restored. As soon as this delivery of arms was +effected, hundreds applied for passes to leave the town. Andrews must +have reflected the feelings of many when he wrote, "If I can escape with +the skin of my teeth, shall be glad."</p> + +<p>There were for a few days much hurry and bustle, both of egress and of +ingress. At first as many as wished were allowed to go out, and the +chief difficulty was one of transportation. It is to be supposed that +for a while the admiral kept to his agreement to lend boats to the +refugees. There was a very considerable exodus. "Near half the +inhabitants," wrote Andrews on May 6, "have left the town already, and +another quarter, <i>at least</i>, have been waiting for a week past." Andrews +probably exaggerated, yet hundreds of the better class went out, and +about five thousand of the poor. These latter were quartered among the +different towns at public expense.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p><p>But the outflow from Boston was speedily checked. On the 6th Andrews +was still in Boston, and making up his mind to stay on account of his +property, but still anxious to secure a pass for his wife, whose +personal fears—she was an æsthetic person, an amateur artist whose +landscapes Lord Percy had admired—were greater than her interest in her +husband's safety. She did safely get away, amid the miserable procession +that her husband describes. "You'll see parents that are lucky enough to +procure papers, with bundles in one hand and a string of children in +another, wandering out of the town (with <i>only</i> a <i>sufferance</i> of <i>one</i> +day's permission) not knowing where they'll go." Andrews' wife went out +in a sailing vessel, but whether by land or by water she was one of the last to go.</p> + +<p>This was because the Tories interfered in the general removal. It +alarmed them to see so many leave: these Whigs, and especially those of +good social position, were the best hostages for the safety of the town +from assault. So they made vigorous expression of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> their discontent, and +to them Gage yielded. They had already formed military organizations for +his support, and when they threatened to quit the town and seek refuge +in Canada or London, the threat was too much for him. Restrictions were +at once put upon the issuing of passes, and in a very short time the +conditions imposed were so severe that it was practically impossible for +people of the better class to leave the town. "There are but very few," +wrote Abigail Adams, "who are permitted to come out in a day; they delay +giving passes, make them wait from hour to hour, and their counsels are +not two hours together alike. One day, they shall come out with their +effects; the next day, merchandise is not effects. One day, their +household furniture is to come out; the next, only wearing apparel; the +next, Pharaoh's heart is hardened, and he refuseth to hearken to them, +and will not let the people go."<a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a> Nevertheless the poor were still +welcome to depart, and from time to time were even sent out in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> order to +relieve Gage of the necessity of feeding them.<a name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a></p> + +<p>During this period a number of Tories came to Boston. These were the +families of men already in the town, or were others who felt that, +though until the present their homes had been safe for them, the future +was too doubtful. They hastened to put the British defences between them +and the Whigs. Among them the most notable was Lady Frankland of +Hopkinton, who once had been Agnes Surriage, the barefooted serving-maid +of the tavern at Marblehead. She now was a widow of nearly fifty, and +came down from Hopkinton only to be detained before the lines, and made +the subject of memoranda and petitions. The lieutenant who detained her +person was reprimanded, and by vote of the provincial congress she was +permitted to enter Boston with "seven trunks; all the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> beds with the +furniture to them; all the boxes and crates; a basket of chickens, and a +bag of corn; two barrels and a hamper; two horses and two chaises, and +all the articles in the chaise, excepting arms and ammunition; one +phaeton; some tongues, ham, and veal; and sundry small bundles."<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a> +Evidently thinking that Lady Frankland's household was well enough +supplied, the congress did not allow to pass her seven wethers and two pigs.</p> + +<p>There were others who left their homes, though not to go to Boston. Of +these Judge Curwen of Salem is a type. He was considered—unjustly, he +protests—as a Tory, and finding his neighbors daily becoming "more and +more soured and malevolent against moderate men," he left Massachusetts. +In this case it was the wife who remained behind, "her apprehensions of +danger from an incensed soldiery, a people licentious and +enthusiastically mad and broken loose from all the restraints of law and +religion,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> being less terrible to her than a short passage on the +ocean."<a name="FNanchor_82_82" id="FNanchor_82_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a> Curwen went to Philadelphia, but finding the situation the +same, proceeded to London and there lived out the war. Many others, like +him, repaired to the capital, and formed a miserable colony, living on +hope, watching the news from home, pensioned or grudgingly maintained by +the government, and sadly feeling themselves strangers in a strange land.</p> + +<p>Without doubt the times were very hard for men who, like Judge Curwen, +wished to take no side, but to live at peace with all men. Of such men +there was a very large class, so large in fact that more than one Tory +sympathizer has claimed that the Revolution was fought by a minority of +the people of the colonies, who were so virulent as to force the +moderates into their ranks from dread of personal consequences. Such a +claim is weak upon its very face, and will not bear examination. Most of +the moderates were but waiting to see how the cat would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> jump, and when +once a preponderance of sentiment showed they speedily took sides. Had +there been in the colonies a majority desirous of a return to +allegiance, the Whig cause surely could not have survived the dark days +of the war. We can safely conclude the majority to have been in favor of +the rights of the colonies, always understanding that they desired +nothing more than they had always had since the accession of George the +Third. A man of such a type is clearly seen in John Andrews, with his +occasional fits of depression and doubt, and his impatient exclamations +against the radicals among the Whigs. Note, for instance, what he says +on the death of William Molineux, one of the prominent Boston Whigs, +whose death was a loss to the cause. "If he was too rash," remarked +Andrews, "and drove matters to an imprudent pitch, it was owing to his +natural temper; as when he was in business, he pursued it with the same +impetuous zeal. His loss is not much regretted by the more prudent and +judicious part of the community."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> Yet though Andrews could thus express +himself, he could again speak quite otherwise, as the remarks quoted in +this book have already shown. He doubted at times, and was petulant +against the fortune that brought him discomfort and loss, but in the +main he was stanch. Andrews was, then, a type of the moderate who threw +in his lot with his country. Judge Curwen, on the other hand, was one of +the smaller class which, in doubt and despair, withdrew to the +protection of the crown. Many of them were too old to fight; many had +not the heart to lift their hands against their neighbors. Every country +sees such men at every war. Often they may live peaceably, anguished +with doubt, and distressed for humanity. But in a civil war there is +seldom a refuge for them. It was certainly so at the Revolution. A very +few among the Tories, venerated by their neighbors, might remain +neutral; the remainder must take sides, or go. The fighting men felt +that those who were not with them were against them, and among the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>stay-at-home Whigs were plenty who were willing to express the feeling. +Hence the reproaches and menaces which drove Judge Curwen from his home, +and hence the doubtful looks in Philadelphia which made him "fearful +whether, like Cain, I had not a discouraging mark upon me, or a strong +feature of toryism." Curwen crossed the water, and other moderates +slipped into Boston, to find themselves as unhappy within the town as +they had been outside, in spite of the strength which Gage was slowly gaining.</p> + +<p>This strength was, so far, purely defensive. Gage did not consider +himself ready to take the offensive. Those Tories who came to town +informed him of the numbers outside, and he saw very plainly the result +of sending an expedition against a militia which would melt before the +head of his column, only to attack it in flank and rear. So no action +was considered, especially as the rebels offered, so far, nothing to +strike at. Gage made himself as strong as he could, and waited reinforcements.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span></p><p>His strength was partly, as we have seen, in the organization of the +Tories. Their men began at once to form themselves in companies, under +the general leadership of Timothy Ruggles, who had long been a political +tower of strength, and was now assuming military importance. The new +volunteer companies were, as we have seen, of such value to Gage that +they were able to make him break his promise to let the townspeople +leave Boston. Yet so far as is known they did nothing more in the siege +than to parade and mount guard.</p> + +<p>Gage's chief attention was directed to fortifying. His situation was +easily defensible at certain points, and of them he first made sure. At +the south, across the passage to Roxbury, were the "lines" of which all +contemporary accounts speak. These Gage strengthened until by the 4th of +May Lieutenant Barker records that the works were almost ready for ten +twenty-four-pounders. From the Neck the western line of the peninsula of +Boston ran in a general northerly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> direction for about a mile and a +half; it then ran east for nearly a mile; then turning south, it finally +swept inward to the Neck. The outline had three projections, each caused +by a hill: Barton's Point at the northwest; Copp's Hill at the +northeast; and Fort Hill on the middle of the eastern side. Each of +these was fortified as soon as possible. The four points were Gage's main defences.</p> + +<div class="center"><a name="illus11.jpg" id="illus11.jpg"></a><img src="images/illus11.jpg" width='538' height='700' alt="Plan of the Siege" /></div> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Plan of the Siege</span></h4> + +<p>When these forts were finished, the town was by no means secure. The +forts commanded most of the northerly and easterly sides, of which the +war-ships commanded the remainder; but the whole western side of the +town, along the Common and the foot of Beacon Hill, was open to attack. +This was, roughly speaking, along the line of the present Charles +Street, prolonged into Tremont Street. The Back Bay beyond this +water-line was so shallow that no war-ship could anchor there; a night +attack, delivered in boats, might surprise the soldiers on the Common in +their barracks or their tents. In order to command the western shore,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> +and also to quell a possible rising in the town, Gage erected a "small +work" on Beacon Hill. Later in the siege every one of these points was +strengthened; a low hill, near the present Louisburg Square, was +protected; and redoubts were thrown up to defend the shore-line of the +Common. But the four main works, and the Beacon Hill fort, were all that +Gage was able to accomplish before Bunker Hill battle. He managed, +however, to put his army under strict military discipline, which before +the 19th of April he had not imposed on them.</p> + +<p>From letters and diaries we get glimpses of the situation of the troops. +They were short of fresh provision, disgusted with their situation, and +at times not a little alarmed. What other unexpected qualities the +Yankees might show no one could predict. They were still, however, +regarded as low in the scale of humanity. On the fifth of May Lieutenant +Barker records the discovery of a "most shocking" plot. "It was a scheme +to cut off all the officers of the Garrison.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> Upon the 24th, the day we +were to keep St. George's day, the Rebels were to make a feint Attack at +night upon the Lines: a number of men were to be posted at the Lodgings +of all the Officers, and upon the Alarm Guns firing they were to put the +Officers to death as they were coming out of their houses to go to their +Barracks. What a set of Villains must they be to think of such a thing! +but there is nothing be it ever so bad that these people will stick at +to gain their ends." The horrified lieutenant ascribes to this discovery +the fact that Gage ordered the officers to sleep at barracks. It is, +however, more likely that the general paid no attention to the tale, but +thought it time for officers and men to be together.</p> + +<p>Once more the army was shocked. A fire broke out near property owned by +Hancock, and in putting out the blaze there was discovered a chest of +bullets "in Hancock's store." The news spread rapidly, and was regarded +as another proof of the desperate nature of the Whigs.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span></p><p>So the army, uncomfortable and uneasy, looked for its reinforcements, +which before long began to come in. Troop-ships arrived, but the most +welcome was the <i>Cerberus</i>, with the three major-generals. The relief of +the garrison found expression in waggery; they called the generals the +three bow-wows, and circulated the doggerel:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>"Behold the Cerberus the Atlantic plow,</div> +<div>Her precious cargo Burgoyne, Clinton, Howe,</div> +<div class="i4">Bow wow wow!"</div> +</div></div> + +<p>Burgoyne at this time made a special nickname for himself. Hailing a +ship as they entered the harbor, the generals learned that the army was +shut up by the provincials. "What!" cried Burgoyne. "Ten thousand +peasants keep five thousand king's troops shut up! Well, let <i>us</i> get +in, and we'll soon find elbow-room!"<a name="FNanchor_83_83" id="FNanchor_83_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a> And Elbow-room was Burgoyne's +name for a long time thereafter.</p> + +<p>Yet the three new generals for a while did nothing. Lieutenant Barker +regretfully <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>records: "Tho' we have new Generals come out, yet they have +brought no more authority than we had before, which was none at all." It +is safe to assume that on learning the quality of the "peasants," +Burgoyne was not anxious to attack them with an inferior force. The +British therefore continued to await reinforcements.</p> + +<p>From Burgoyne's voluminous correspondence we learn his state of mind. He +had come to the country unwillingly: "I received your Majesty's commands +for America with regret," he wrote in his letter to the king, and +elsewhere records that the event was one of the most disagreeable in his +life. Nevertheless, once enlisted in the campaign, he had thrown himself +into it. Perceiving in advance how little, as junior major-general, he +would have to do, he endeavored to have himself transferred to the post +at New York, where he rightly perceived that there was much to be done. +He was in favor of attempting conciliation. Had that post at this time +been occupied by Burgoyne, his quick wit, true<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> sympathies with the +Americans, and real abilities might have made for him a different name +in the history of America. But his attempt failed, and now, almost +inactive in his post at Boston, he was studying the situation, probing +the weakness of Gage and learning the difficulties of his position. Gage +had little money for secret service, it is true, and the provincials +were stubborn foes whose true measure Burgoyne had not yet taken,<a name="FNanchor_84_84" id="FNanchor_84_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a> +but he saw how poorly Gage had provided against the calamities which had +come upon him. Burgoyne doubted the outcome, and fretted at the situation.</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile the rebels had been working to make that situation +worse. Their first need was to get some semblance of order among the +troops. At the head of the Massachusetts army was Artemas Ward, a +veteran of the French wars, no longer vigorous, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> never used to +independent command. He drew his authority from the Provincial Congress +of Massachusetts, which now hastily came together, and communicated with +Ward chiefly through the Committee of Safety, of one of whose meetings +we have already had a glimpse. The active head of the committee was +Warren, who kept in close touch with Ward.</p> + +<p>Organization proceeded slowly, complicated by the fact that the other +provinces maintained separate armies. The names of some of the +commanders are still familiar. Putnam and Spencer were the heads of the +Connecticut troops; John Stark was prominent among the New Hampshire +men; while to command the Rhode Islanders came Nathanael Greene. With +praiseworthy suppression of provincial jealousies the commanders +speedily agreed to subordinate themselves to Ward, as the oldest among +them, and the head of the largest body of troops. He was regarded as +commander-in-chief, and his orders were to be observed by all. Yet the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> +means to communicate orders and to receive reports were long lacking. +The combined armies were far from being a unit, and if attacked could +resist little better than on the 19th, as scattered bands, and not as a whole.</p> + +<p>The very size of the army was uncertain. On paper there were more than +twenty thousand men; as a matter of fact there can seldom have been more +than four-fifths of that number. Of the actual total Massachusetts +provided 11,500, Connecticut 2300, New Hampshire 1200, Rhode Island +1000.<a name="FNanchor_85_85" id="FNanchor_85_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a> Further, in its variable size this was the very type of a +volunteer army, of which every man owned his equipment, clothed himself, +and considered himself still, to a large extent, his own master. Of the +thousands living within twenty-five miles of Boston, who sprang to arms +on the 19th, knowing that if they were quick they might strike the +British before night, few had the foresight to prepare themselves +properly for the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>campaign that was to follow. There were no commissary +stores to supply them. Their affairs at home they left just where they +stood. In the next few days many of these men went home, for the +necessary arrangement of their affairs and for more clothing. The larger +number of them returned to camp immediately, some were slower, and yet +others stayed for a longer time. Even those who joined the army after +more preparation often had business that called them home, in which case +they considered it a hardship to be denied. The officers sympathized, +especially when that business was haying. Cases occurred in which the +men on furlough were making their officers' hay, while at the same time +drawing the pay of the province. The position of the general commanding +such troops was not to be envied.</p> + +<p>Further, military supplies were very few. In spite of the preparations +of the provincial congress, there were on hand only sixty-eight +half-barrels of powder, a scanty stock with which to begin the siege of +a military<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> garrison. Of cannon a varying number is reported, few of +them as yet of value, for lack of shot to fit them. It was doubtless a +great relief to Ward that he was not called upon to use his cannon, +since they would have drawn too heavily upon his scanty supply of +ammunition, which could be replaced but slowly.</p> + +<p>Altogether, the position of senior major-general was a difficult one. To +knit into an army such a mass of units, to create supplies out of +nothing, to organize a commissary and means of communication, and +maintain a firm front over a line of ten miles, these were the needs of +the situation. We need scarcely marvel that Ward, old and enfeebled, +with his hands tied by uncertain authority, could not meet them. A +genius was needed in his place, and the good fortune was that the genius +eventually came. In the meanwhile Ward, pottering at his task, depended +much on the initiative of his subordinates. The passage from the Neck to +Roxbury was now guarded by Brigadier-General John Thomas<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> of +Marshfield,<a name="FNanchor_86_86" id="FNanchor_86_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a> who to deceive the enemy as to his numbers occasionally +marched his force of seven hundred round and round a hill. The ruse was +successful, for Lieutenant Barker wrote that "at Roxbury there must be +between 2 and 3000." Nevertheless, it is hard to believe that so +important a post was long left so slightly guarded. Thomas exercised his +men with equal profit in cutting down trees to obstruct the passage, and +in throwing up earthworks. Of other entrenchments, at this stage, we +hear little. Putnam wanted to fortify Prospect Hill, commanding the +passage from Charlestown Neck, but could not get permission. Yet the +whole country about Boston was dotted with low hills, on which might +easily be made a chain of fortifications.</p> + +<p>Besides such work as Thomas's, for a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> month little was done. To be sure, +early in May a party of provincials, gathered in Connecticut and +Vermont, and headed by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, took Ticonderoga +by surprise, and gained for America a fine supply of cannon. We shall +later see what was done with this artillery, but there was no present +means of transporting it to Boston, and no powder for its use, and so +there was no profit to the country save in encouragement. Until the 21st +of May nothing happened near Boston save small skirmishes, and brushes +of outposts. Here and there a floating battery of the British warped up +near land and fired a few shots, and occasionally a squad of riflemen +did a little pot-hunting on its own account. These skirmishes, except as +they accustomed the provincials to the smell of powder, had no effect on +the situation, until at last the opposing sides found that they had +something worth contending for.</p> + +<p>Gage had in Boston no supply of fresh meat, but plenty of horses needing +hay. It<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> occurred to him, finally, that the islands in the harbor were +plentifully stocked with sheep and cattle, and besides grew plenty of +grass. He sent, therefore, on the 21st of May, a party to bring hay from +Grape Island, near Weymouth. The Americans took the alarm, soldiers were +sent from the camp, the militia who were at home turned out, and much +long-range shooting was indulged in. "It was impossible to reach them, +for want of boats," wrote Abigail Adams, "but the sight of so many +persons, and the firing at them, prevented their getting more than three +tons of hay, though they carted much more down to the water. At last a +lighter was mustered, and a sloop from Hingham, which had six port +holes. Our men eagerly jumped on board, and put off for the island. As +soon as they perceived it, they decamped. Our people landed upon the +island, and in an instant set fire to the hay, which, with the barn, was +soon consumed,—about eighty tons, it is said."</p> + +<p>Emboldened by this success, the provincials began to take steps to +remove from the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> islands the whole stock of cattle, sheep, and hay. +Though, on the 25th of May, the garrison of Boston was largely +reinforced and ships were added to the squadron, the Americans began +work boldly with the islands nearest at hand. Noddle's Island, now East +Boston, stretched within easy cannon shot of the town; it was reached +from Hog Island by means of a couple of fords, passable at low tide. In +broad day, on the 27th, the Americans occupied the islands, and were +promptly assailed by the British in a schooner and a sloop. The skirmish +grew very obstinate, but the schooner was left by the fleet to fight it +out by her own means and those of her smaller consort. As a result, when +she ran aground she was seized, stripped, and burned. On this day the +Americans drove off the stock on Hog Island, which, with their capture +of the schooner, was considered a great achievement. Three days later +the stock was driven from Noddle's Island: "a trifling property," says +Lieutenant Barker, "which we have no connexion with." This <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>nonchalant +dismissal of five hundred sheep and lambs<a name="FNanchor_87_87" id="FNanchor_87_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a> scarcely comes well from +one who had recently recorded that his mess had "luckily got a Sheep." +Within a week other large islands, which the army and the fleet might +naturally have regarded as their own storehouses, were stripped of +livestock and hay. By these means the Americans were made still more +used to war, and according to contemporary accounts acted boldly, +running considerable risks. The total of stock saved by this means was +about twenty-two hundred, and the loss of life trifling.</p> + +<p>But the time was coming for more serious work. Gage felt his courage +rise with his strength, and with his major-generals to back him he +planned action. But first he had to fulminate. Much irritation had been +caused by mock proclamations mysteriously appearing on the walls of the +residences of the new generals, and Gage now determined to issue one in +earnest. He called Burgoyne to his aid, and the literary general drafted +a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span>masterpiece. It was published on the 12th of June.</p> + +<p>Beginning "Whereas the infatuated multitudes," it proceeded in pompous +style to the statement that the rebels were adding "insult to outrage," +for "with a preposterous parade of military arrangement, they affected +to hold the army besieged." Gage offered to pardon all who would lay +down their arms, except Samuel Adams and John Hancock, "whose offences +are of too flagitious a nature" for forgiveness.</p> + +<p>The bombastic proclamation delighted the Tories, who hoped for results +from it. But it deeply angered the Americans. "All the records of time," +wrote Abigail Adams,<a name="FNanchor_88_88" id="FNanchor_88_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a> "cannot produce a blacker page. Satan, when +driven from the regions of bliss, exhibited not more malice. Surely the +father of lies is superseded." The provincial congress prepared a +counter proclamation, which similarly offered amnesty to all on the +other side, "excepting only ... Thomas Gage, Samuel Graves, those +counsellors who were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> appointed by Mandamus and have not signified their +resignation, Jonathan Sewall, Charles Paxton, Benjamin Hallowell,<a name="FNanchor_89_89" id="FNanchor_89_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a> +and all the natives of America who went out with the British troops on +the 19th of April." We get from this an interesting glimpse of those who +most excited American resentment, but the proclamation was never issued. +More exciting events occurred to prevent it.</p> + +<p>Gage was planning to make himself secure in Boston. Even he could not +fail to see that the heights of Charlestown and of Dorchester threatened +his army. Now that his three major-generals had come, and that his +reinforcements were arriving (the troop-ships, said Lieutenant Barker, +were "continually dropping in"), he felt strong enough to take and hold +the dangerous posts. His plan was first to seize Dorchester Heights, and +for the action was set a date—the night of the eighteenth of June. But +Gage's counsel<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> was never well kept. While Burgoyne complained that the +British "are ignorant not only of what passes in Congress, but want +spies for the hill half a mile off," the Americans were in no such +embarrassment. They had spies at every corner, and—we may +suppose—listeners at many a door. Gage had already arrested men +supposed to have been signalling from steeples. We do not know how the +news got through on this occasion; at any rate the Americans were +informed as early as the 13th.<a name="FNanchor_90_90" id="FNanchor_90_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a></p> + +<p>The chiefs of the provincial army felt that they were called upon to +act. In the seven weeks of the siege they had to some degree tested the +mettle of their men, and now believed they could be depended on to keep +together against an attack. The troops had, on one occasion, made an +expedition to Charlestown, which lay practically deserted on its +peninsula, as if conscious of the fate which was to overtake it. On the +13th of May, Putnam, to give his men confidence, marched<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> his command, +some twenty-two hundred men, into the town, over Bunker and Breed's +Hills, where some of them were soon to lay down their lives, along the +water-front close by the British shipping, and out of the town once +more. "It was," wrote Lieutenant Barker, "expected the Body at Charles +Town wou'd have fired on the Somerset, at least it was wished for, as +she had everything ready for Action, and must have destroyed great +numbers of them, besides putting the Town in Ashes." But no powder was burned.</p> + +<p>Now it was destined that Charlestown should smell powder enough. On +learning the news of Gage's projected move, the Committee of Safety +called for an accounting of the condition and supplies of the various +regiments, advised an increase in the army, recommended that all persons +go armed, even to church, and finally on the 15th of June took the +decisive step of advising the seizure of Bunker Hill. "And as the +particular situation of Dorchester Neck is unknown to this Committee, +they advise that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> the council of war take and pursue such steps +respecting the same, as to them shall appear to be for the security of this colony."</p> + +<p>Thus inadequate was still the American military organization: Ward was +too old and too weak to assume actual leadership, and we find two +consultative bodies advising each other, with no responsible head. Up to +this time the Massachusetts congress had hoped that the second +Continental Congress, now in session in Philadelphia, would adopt the +army as its own and send it a general; but so far no answer had come to +their requests. Nevertheless, even with this deficient organization +something was effected. A detachment was made up, consisting on paper of +fifteen hundred men, but in fact of about twelve hundred. These were +placed under the command of Colonel William Prescott of Pepperell, a +veteran of Louisburg and an excellent soldier. Assembling on Cambridge +Common on the night of the 16th, "after prayer by President Langdon, +they marched to Bunker Hill."<a name="FNanchor_91_91" id="FNanchor_91_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_91_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> Bancroft, iv, 535.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> Bancroft, iv, 536.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> "Memorial History of Boston," iii, 15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> Frothingham's "Warren," 467.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> Revere's narrative.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> Frothingham's "Siege," 95.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> "Familiar Letters of John and Abigail Adams," 54.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> Lieutenant Barker makes a suggestion that must have been +popular among the officers. "I wonder the G——l will allow any of their +people to quit the Town till they return the Prisoners; one wou'd think +he might get 'em if he'd try."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> "Memorial History of Boston," iii, 77.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_82_82" id="Footnote_82_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> Curwen's "Journal," 25.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_83_83" id="Footnote_83_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> Current newspapers, quoted in Frothingham's "Siege," 114.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_84_84" id="Footnote_84_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> "There was hardly a leading man among the rebels, in +council, or in the field, but at a proper time, and by proper +management, might have been bought."—<span class="smcap">Burgoyne</span> to Lord Rochfort, June, +1775. Fonblanque's "Burgoyne," 149-150.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_85_85" id="Footnote_85_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> Frothingham's "Siege," 101.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_86_86" id="Footnote_86_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86_86"><span class="label">[86]</span></a> "And yet to-day, if you should ask ten Boston men, 'Who +was Artemas Ward?' nine would say he was an amusing showman. If you +asked 'Who was John Thomas?' nine would say he was a flunky commemorated +by Thackeray."—<span class="smcap">E. E. Hale</span>, "Memorial History of Boston," iii, 100.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_87_87" id="Footnote_87_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87_87"><span class="label">[87]</span></a> Frothingham's "Siege," 110.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_88_88" id="Footnote_88_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88_88"><span class="label">[88]</span></a> Adams Letters, p. 64.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_89_89" id="Footnote_89_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89_89"><span class="label">[89]</span></a> Graves was the admiral, Sewall the attorney-general, and +Paxton and Hallowell were commissioners of customs.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_90_90" id="Footnote_90_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90_90"><span class="label">[90]</span></a> Frothingham's "Siege," 116.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_91_91" id="Footnote_91_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91_91"><span class="label">[91]</span></a> Inscription in Cambridge.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL</h3> + +<p>The strategy of Bunker Hill battle has been criticised as often as the +battle has been described. We have already seen that the choice of +Charlestown instead of Dorchester was owing to ignorance, on the part of +the Committee of Safety, of the advantages of the latter. From +Dorchester Heights the town could equally well have been threatened, the +shipping more effectively annoyed, reinforcements more safely summoned, +and retreat much better secured. Nevertheless, since at this stage the +British might have taken any fortification, it is fortunate that the +Americans chose as they did, and left Dorchester for a later attempt.</p> + +<p>Prescott's party of twelve hundred marched in silence to Charlestown, +and on the lower slope of Bunker Hill the men rested for some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> time +while the officers discussed the situation. On the ground were Prescott, +Putnam, and "another general,"<a name="FNanchor_92_92" id="FNanchor_92_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a> with Colonel Richard Gridley, the +chief engineer. Their discussion was as to the proper point to fortify.</p> + +<p>The peninsula of Charlestown, as has already been said, stretched toward +Boston from the northwest. The approach to it was by a narrow neck of +land, on one side of which, the northeast, ran the Mystic River; while +on the southwesterly side was an inlet from the Charles. The town, a +settlement of several houses, was on the bulge of the peninsula nearest +Boston; but along the Mystic rose a series of three hills, from the +lowest at Morton's or Moulton's Point, to the highest at Bunker Hill. +Morton's Hill was 35 feet high, Breed's, in the centre, was 75 feet, and +Bunker's was 110. The question arose, should Bunker Hill be fortified, +as in the orders, or Breed's, which was nearer Boston and the shipping?</p> + +<p>Much time was spent in the discussion.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> Bunker Hill was higher and the +safer, and commanded most landing points; but Breed's Hill seemed better +suited to the eager spirits of the officers. When at last Gridley +reminded that time was passing, the question seems to have been decided +by the urgency of the unknown general, and a redoubt was laid out by the +engineer on the summit of Breed's Hill. In the bright moonlight Prescott +at once set his men at work digging, endeavoring to raise a good +protection before morning.</p> + +<p>In this he was successful. His men were all farmers, used to the shovel +and pick; the earth was soft and scarcely stony; and there was no +interruption. Cheered from time to time by the cry of the sentry on the +nearer ship, "All's Well!" they pushed on the work. When at daybreak the +redoubt was seen, the British could scarcely believe their eyes, for a +completed fort seemed to stand there.</p> + +<p>And now was a chance for a display of military science on the part of +Gage and his three major-generals. There stood the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> little low redoubt, +unflanked and unsupported by any other fortifications, easily cut off +from its own line of relief or retreat. If now Gage had promptly seized +the isthmus, drawn his ships up close, and dragged a battery to the top +of Bunker Hill, the American force could very soon have been driven to +surrender. Ruggles, the Tory brigadier, is known to have advised this, +and there were some among the British leaders who urged it. The general +feeling, however, seems to have been that it would be unmanly to catch +the Americans in the trap which they had laid for themselves. In a hasty +council of war it was decided to assault the redoubt in the good old +British fashion of marching up to its face. Gage was in no hurry even +for this. Contenting himself with ordering the shipping and the Boston +batteries to fire upon the little fort, he gave the Americans every +chance to complete their defences, while leaving the way open for +reinforcements. In a leisurely way he set about preparing an expedition +to cross Charlestown<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> ferry. The men were mustered, and equipped as for +a march.</p> + +<p>Howe was to take charge of the assault, and Burgoyne and Clinton to +direct the Boston batteries. The fleet joined in the fire. From Copp's +Hill, from Barton's Point, from five ships of war, and from a couple of +floating batteries, such a storm of roundshot was poured upon the +redoubt that its defenders were amazed, and on the death of a comrade +were ready to stop work. But Prescott, coolly insisting—against the +protest of a horrified chaplain—that the body be immediately buried, +took his stand upon the parapet, and from there directed the finishing +of the redoubt.</p> + +<p>In this position he was seen from Boston. Gage, handing his +field-glasses to a Tory who stood near him, asked if he recognized the +rebel. The Tory was Willard of Lancaster, a mandamus councillor, who +well knew Prescott's declared intention never to be taken alive.</p> + +<p>"He is my brother-in-law," he replied.</p> + +<p>"Will he fight?" asked Gage.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span></p><p>"I cannot answer for his men," said Willard; "but Prescott will fight +you to the gates of hell!"<a name="FNanchor_93_93" id="FNanchor_93_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a></p> + +<p>At the redoubt one of Prescott's aids followed his example, and walking +back and forth on the parapet the two gave courage to their men. These +fell to and completed the work. The rampart was raised to a considerable +height, platforms of earth or wood were made inside for the defenders, +and at about eleven o'clock the men stacked their tools and were ready.</p> + +<p>The redoubt, when thus finished, was roughly square, about "eight rods +on the longest side," which had a single angle projecting toward the +south. Running northwards from the northeast corner Prescott had made a +breastwork of perhaps two hundred feet,<a name="FNanchor_94_94" id="FNanchor_94_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a> to prevent flanking. It +stretched toward the Mystic River, but fell short by more than a hundred yards.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span></p><p>Cooped up in this little fort, inadequately protected against flanking, +with shot continually striking on the sides of the redoubt, Prescott's +men waited. They had worked all night and most of the morning, had +little food and water, saw as yet nothing of the relief that had been +promised them, and could tell by the fever of activity visible in +Boston's streets that the red coats soon would come against them. There +is no wonder that when Putnam rode up and asked for the entrenching +tools (proposing, with the best of military good sense, to make a +supporting redoubt on Bunker Hill), many of Prescott's men were glad of +the excuse to remove themselves from so dangerous a neighborhood. Of +those who carried back the tools, few returned.</p> + +<p>But Prescott's remainder was stanch. The men were already veterans, +having endured the work and the cannonade. Waiting in the fort, some of +them could appreciate the marvel of the scene: a great stretch of +intermingled land and water, the shipping spread below, close at hand +the town of Charlestown, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> across the narrow river the larger town of +Boston, with its heights and house-tops already crowded by +non-combatants, viewing the field that was prepared for the slaughter. +It was all in bright and warm weather, under a cloudless sky. Since the +world began, there had been few battle-fields so spectacularly laid out.</p> + +<p>At last the bustle in Boston's streets produced results. From the +wharves pushed out into the placid water the boats of the fleet, loaded +to the gunwales with soldiers in full equipment. As they neared the +Charlestown shore, the fire upon the redoubt was doubled, and under its +cover the troops landed upon Moulton's Point. There Howe at first +deployed them, but after inspecting the ground sent back for +reinforcements. For the men in the redoubt there were two more hours of waiting.</p> + +<p>Those two hours very nearly decided the fate of the struggle, for had +Howe moved immediately to the assault there could have been no such +resistance offered him as later<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> he met. Prescott decided to send to +Cambridge for reinforcements; but such was the confusion that the +messenger could get no horse, and had to walk the six miles to +headquarters. There he was ill received, for Ward, who during the whole +day did not leave his house, feared an attack on Cambridge, dreaded to +deplete his supply of powder, and only upon repeated representations +ordered a couple of regiments in support of Prescott. These regiments +had to draw their powder and make up their cartridges, and arrived when +the battle was just about to begin.</p> + +<p>The student of this day finds it difficult to disentangle the varied +accounts. Who was on the field and who was not, what part was taken by +each, who was in command at this point and who there, and the total of +men engaged, all either were or still are disputed points. It seems to +be beyond doubt, however, that Prescott from the first was in command at +the redoubt, and that Putnam assumed, and tried to execute, general +oversight<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> of the field of contest outside the redoubt and beyond the +breastwork.</p> + +<p>While Howe's troops lunched quietly at Moulton's Point, the aspect of +affairs for the Americans became brighter. Prescott, seeing that he must +have better protection toward the Mystic River, ordered a detachment of +Connecticut troops, under Captain Knowlton, and with them six +field-pieces—which seem to have figured not at all in the result—to +"go and oppose" the enemy. Avoiding a marshy spot of ground, Knowlton +chose a position some two hundred yards to the rear of the redoubt and +its breastwork. Here was a fence, the lower part of stone, the upper of +rails. The men brought forward from the rear another rail fence, leaned +it against the first, and wove in between the rails hay which they found +recently cut upon the ground. This, the "rail fence" mentioned in all +accounts of the battle, was their sole protection.</p> + +<p>Now began slowly to come across the isthmus the first of the +reinforcements that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> strengthened the hands of the provincials. They +came partly as individuals, of whom the most noted was Warren, who but +the day before had been appointed general by the provincial congress. He +came as a volunteer, knew his risk, and was prepared to die.</p> + +<p>Curiously James Otis, it is said, was also among the defenders of the +redoubt, coming, like Warren, as a volunteer. It was a strange fate +which sent him safely home, to live, still wrecked in intellect and +useless to his country, while Warren was to fall.</p> + +<p>By this time a lively hail of shot and shell was falling on Charlestown +Neck, and to cross it was a test of courage. Seth Pomeroy, +brigadier-general, veteran of Louisburg, came on a borrowed horse, and, +sending back the animal, crossed on foot. Others, alone, in groups, or +in semi-military formation, followed him, to be directed by Putnam to +the rail fence, which needed defenders. At last came one who needed no +directions—Stark, at the head of his New Hampshire regiment. Although +requested to hurry his men across<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> the Neck, Stark replied, "One fresh +man in action is worth ten fatigued ones,"<a name="FNanchor_95_95" id="FNanchor_95_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a> and would not change his +step. Marching down the slope of Bunker Hill, he quickly noted that +between the rail fence and the water the beach was unguarded. "I saw +there," he said afterward, "the way so plain that the enemy could not +miss it."<a name="FNanchor_96_96" id="FNanchor_96_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a> Before the attack could begin, Stark's men threw up a rude +breastwork of cobbles behind which they could find a little +shelter.—And now at last the American defences were completed, just as +the troops were in motion to attack them.</p> + +<p>At this point Howe neglected a method of attack which would have made +his victory immediate. The rail fence, and Stark's defence upon the +beach, were open to attack from the river. We have seen that two +floating batteries ("large flat boats," says Lieutenant Barker, "sides +raised and musquet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> proof") were used to bombard the redoubt. These, +like the shipping and the Boston batteries, did no good whatever. But +placed in the Mystic in the proper position, they could have raked the +rail fence. "Had these boats been with us," says our lieutenant, " ... +they would have taken a part of the Rebels entrenchment in flank, and in +their retreat wou'd have cut off numbers." But Howe was only a soldier, +such an aid apparently never occurred to him, and the floating +batteries—gondolas, as they were called—remained on the southern side +of the peninsula. He ordered the attack.</p> + +<p>The attack was triple, but the artillery fire, on which Howe had +counted, was at first valueless, because for the six-pounders had been +sent over mostly nine-pound shot, thanks to the chief of artillery, who +was afterward supposed to be making love to the schoolmaster's daughter. +The cannon, further, got into the marshy ground, and could not find an +effective position. So the real assault was first delivered by the +troops alone, one <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>detachment marching against the redoubt, and one +against the rail fence.</p> + +<p>The troops moved with great confidence. According to the habit of the +time, they were completely equipped as for an expedition, with blankets +and three-days' rations. It has been computed that each soldier carried +about a hundred and twenty pounds.<a name="FNanchor_97_97" id="FNanchor_97_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a> They were, therefore, greatly +burdened at best; and on so hot a day, with the grass to their knees, +and many fences to cross, their task was the worse. But they advanced +with great composure, and apparently forgetting the 19th of April they +were deployed in open order, as if to present each marksman with a +separate target. Howe led those who marched at the rail fence, and +General Pigot led the assault upon the redoubt. Both bodies of the +regulars advanced with occasional ineffective volleys.</p> + +<p>At first, says tradition, a few Americans fired when the troops came in +range, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> Prescott and his officers, leaping upon the parapet of the +redoubt, kicked up the muzzles of the guns. If the men would but obey +him, Prescott told them, not a British soldier would get within the +redoubt. At the rail fence the men were likewise prevented from firing, +Putnam threatening to cut down any who disobeyed. They were ordered not +to shoot until the regulars passed a stake which Stark set up for a +mark. Many familiar sayings were passed among the provincials: "Wait +till you see the whites of their eyes! Aim at the crossing of the belts! +Pick out the handsome coats!"</p> + +<p>As if to add to the impressiveness of the scene, it was about this time +that Charlestown, set on fire a little while before, that it should not +give cover to the Americans, and that the smoke should confuse the +rebels, burst into general conflagration. The town had been for weeks +almost deserted, in dread of this fate; now at the command of Howe +red-hot shot were thrown in among the houses, and marines landed from +the ships and fired<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> the wharves and waterside buildings. The act was, +however, a wanton one, for no advantage was gained or lost to either +side by the fire.<a name="FNanchor_98_98" id="FNanchor_98_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a></p> + +<p>At last the troops were near enough.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> They had themselves been firing +for some time, volleying as they advanced, but firing too high. Now, as +they reached a line some eight or ten rods from the redoubt, Prescott +gave the word to fire, and to continue firing. The discharge from the +redoubt was close, deadly, and incessant, while at the rail fence the +reception of the British was even more fatal. For a few minutes the +regulars held their ground, returning the fire as best they might, yet +decimated by the American bullets, and seeing their officers falling all +about them. There was no hope to advance, and sullenly they withdrew.</p> + +<p>If ever there was a moment that marked the fate of our nation, it was +that one. It forecast Bennington, Saratoga, and Yorktown, Gettysburg and +the Wilderness. Well might the provincials exult as they saw the retreat +of the regulars; and well might Washington exclaim, when he learned that +the farmers had driven the British, "Then the liberties of the country +are safe!"<a name="FNanchor_99_99" id="FNanchor_99_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_99_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span></p><p>But the battle was not yet won. The slaughter among the officers was +frightful, yet the leaders were uninjured. Howe gave the order, the +troops formed again, and again advanced to the attack. The Americans +admired them as they approached, preserving unbroken order, and stepping +over the bodies of the slain as if they had been logs of wood. This time +the troops were allowed to come nearer yet, but when the provincials +fired at the word the carnage was greater than before. In the smoke the +officers were seen urging their men, striking them with their sword +hilts, and even pricking them with the points. But it was in vain. The +officers themselves were shot down in unheard-of proportion, and at the +rail fence those who survived out of full companies of thirty-nine were +in some cases only three, or four, or five. Nothing could be done under +such a fire. Leaving their dead within a few yards of the American +lines, for a second time the British retreated.</p> + +<p>At last Howe had learned his lesson. While<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> his officers, for the sake +of the men, implored him to find some other way to conquer the redoubt, +he determined on a third assault. He ordered that the knapsacks be left +behind, and that the troops be formed in column. In the work of rallying +the disheartened men he was ably helped by Clinton, who, observing a +detachment in disorder near their boats, impetuously hurried across the +river, reformed their ranks, and put himself at their head. Some four +hundred marines came over as reinforcements; according to Lieutenant +Barker, the 47th regiment came also. Howe disposed his forces in three +columns, to attack the three faces of the redoubt.</p> + +<p>Between the first and second assaults there had been less than half an +hour's interval. This time the wait was longer, and the Americans +ineffectually sought to take advantage of it. Messengers were again sent +to Ward; the general, learning at last that so many of the British +forces were occupied in the battle that Cambridge was safe from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> an +attack, gave orders that more regiments should go to Prescott's +assistance. To save the day there was yet time, but of the regiments +thus ordered, few companies reached the ground, and fewer still took +part in the action. And in this the weakness of the American +organization was sadly evident. From first to last Ward seems to have +sent to Bunker Hill sufficient force to have won the battle; but as he +never left his house he could take no pains to make sure that his orders +were obeyed. As a matter of fact, of the regiments despatched, one went +to Lechmere's Point, where it must have secured an excellent view of the +battle, but was completely useless. Being next ordered "to the hill," it +was conducted by its colonel, James Scammans, to Cobble Hill; thence he +sent to Bunker Hill to learn if he was wanted. Receiving a vigorous +reply from Putnam, Scammans at last marched his men to Bunker Hill, +reaching the top in time to witness the end of the battle. In similar +fashion young Major Gridley of the artillery battalion,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> whom "parental +partiality" had given too much responsibility, took post at a distance, +and fired at the shipping. Both Scammans and Gridley were later +court-martialled. Other officers lost their way, or, like Colonel +Mansfield, who stayed with his regiment to "support" Gridley in his +position of safety, disobeyed orders.</p> + +<p>These facts serve to show not only the confusion of the day, but also +the bad judgment, to use no stronger phrase, of unseasoned soldiers. It +is fair to say that the hesitancy of some was offset by the heroism of +others. When Colonel Gerrish, who was later cashiered, could bring his +men no further forward than Bunker Hill, his adjutant, Christian +Febiger, a Dane, led a part of the command to the rail fence, and fought +bravely there. One of the captains of artillery, disregarding Gridley's +commands, took his two guns to Charlestown, and served one of them at +the rail fence. Other individuals named and unnamed, with or without +orders, went to the field, took post where they could,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> and fought for +their own hand. Yet these are scattered instances in the midst of too +many failures to obey. Those who did march down to the field of carnage, +with "no more thought," as one of them confessed, "of ever rising the +hill again than I had of ascending to Heaven, as Elijah did, soul and +body together,"—those who thus devoted themselves left many behind on +the safe side of Bunker Hill, or posted ineffectively behind distant +fences or trees. Of the thousand Americans who during this last pause in +the battle might have reached the post of danger, not enough arrived to +affect the result.</p> + +<p>At last, while aides were still beating up for more support, and Putnam +himself was returning from a similar errand, Howe put his troops in +motion. This time the movement against the rail fence was but a feint; +and now for the first time the artillery of either side did effective +service in the battle. Against the protest of the artillery officers +that the ground was too soft to take better<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> position, Howe ordered them +forward, and they loyally obeyed. They found a post from which they +could enfilade the breastwork, and at their first discharge of grape +sent its defenders into the redoubt for safety. It was the beginning of +the end. Prescott, as he saw the breastwork abandoned, and marked the +three advancing columns, saw that the redoubt was doomed.</p> + +<p>And yet the day ought not to have been lost. Had Ward but sent a hundred +pounds of powder, the fight might have been won. But Prescott looked for +it in vain. Or had those men, whom he saw shooting at long range from +positions of safety, come forward to reinforce the defenders of the +redoubt, the scales might have been turned. But the fight was to end as +it had begun, with Prescott's small detachment still unsupported, left +all day without food or water, and now at the end without powder. As the +troops climbed the hill a few artillery cartridges were opened and their +powder distributed among the provincials. Some of the men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> thus had +three or four charges to their guns, some had only one; besides this, +there were few bayonets among them. The wonder is that the men awaited the assault.</p> + +<p>This time the regulars came within twenty yards of the redoubt before +the word was given to fire. The heads of the columns were swept away, +but the rest came on, and mounted the parapet. The first who topped it +were shot down, among them Pitcairn. But then the American powder was +spent, and from three sides the British swarmed into the redoubt. +Reluctantly Prescott gave his men the word to retreat.</p> + +<p>For a few moments the fighting was fierce. Some of the provincials were +unwilling to run, and fought till they were killed. Some used stones, +and some their clubbed muskets, retiring unwillingly. It might be +supposed that the slaughter was great. But the British, for the very +reason that they had entered from three sides, were afraid to fire on +the farmers for the sake of their own men; the dust rose up in clouds, +and so in the confusion most<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> of the defenders escaped, like Peter +Brown, who wrote his mother: "I was not suffered to be touched, although +I was in the front when the enemy came in, and jumped over the walls, +and ran half a mile, where balls flew like hailstones, and cannon roared +like thunder."<a name="FNanchor_100_100" id="FNanchor_100_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_100_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a></p> + +<p>Prescott came off unhurt. Those who saw him said that he "stepped long, +with his sword up." He saved his life by parrying the bayonets which +were thrust at him, although some of them pierced his clothes.</p> + +<p>That more were not killed in the pursuit was due to two factors. The +first was the exhaustion of the soldiers, who, tired with carrying heavy +loads in the unwonted heat (and an American summer is like the tropics +to an Englishman), were winded with their last charge up the hill. They +were therefore in no good condition to follow up their victory, and the +fugitives were soon away beyond Bunker Hill. Yet that the pursuit was so +poor was due partly to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> defenders of the rail fence. These men, more +like veteran regiments than fragments of many commands, withdrew in a +body, continually threatening those who offered to close in from behind. +The end of the fight was as honorable to them as its beginning.</p> + +<p>But there was much loss. A number were killed in the redoubt, and the +slopes of Bunker Hill were dotted with slain, killed by bullets and +cannon shot. At the Neck some few more were killed. The total of dead, +according to Ward's record, was 115, of the wounded 305, of the captured +30. Slightly varying totals are reported.<a name="FNanchor_101_101" id="FNanchor_101_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_101_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a></p> + +<p>The great personal loss on the part of the Americans was in the death of +Warren. There had been no need of his coming, and his value for higher +services—he was president of the provincial congress and had just been +appointed a major-general—was greater than at the post of actual +conflict.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> But his fiery spirit, of which we have seen so much, would +not be denied. That day he waked with a headache, but on learning of the +expected battle he declared himself well. Friends tried to detain him, +but he replied with the Latin phrase, "It is sweet and becoming to die +for one's country." On reaching the field he met Putnam, who offered to +take his orders. But Warren had come as a volunteer, and asked where he +should go. Putnam showed him the redoubt, saying, "There you will be covered."</p> + +<p>"Don't think," said Warren, "that I come to seek a place of safety; but +tell me where the onset will be most furious."</p> + +<p>Putnam still sent him to the redoubt. "That is the enemy's object."</p> + +<p>Warren went to the redoubt, where the men received him with cheers, and +Prescott offered him command. But Warren still declined, took a musket, +and fought with the men. There is no doubt that part of the credit of +the stout defence belongs to him. When the retreat was ordered he +withdrew<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> unwillingly, and was among the last to leave the redoubt. +After he had gone but a little way in the open field he was shot in the +head, and died instantly. Once, when the British questioned the courage +of the Americans, he had said, "By Heavens, I hope I shall die up to my +knees in blood!" He had had his wish.</p> + +<p>Warren's death at the time was not certainly known to either friend or +foe; his body was buried on the field, and was disinterred and +identified only after the evacuation. Of the Boston leaders, he was the +only one who gave his life for the cause. He was sadly missed, a man of +keen intellect and excellent political sense, of deep sympathies, and +high honor. A magnetic leader, he could ill be spared.</p> + +<p>The last figure on the battle-field was Putnam's. At the unfinished +fortification on Bunker Hill he implored the fugitives to rally and +"give them one shot more." The profanity which he used on this occasion +he afterwards penitently acknowledged in church.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> He retired only when +the pursuers were close behind, but went no further than Prospect Hill. +There, seizing on the chance which so long had been denied him, without +orders he collected men and commenced another redoubt. The next day he +was found there, unwashed, still digging, and ready for another battle.</p> + +<p>Prescott returned to Cambridge, reported at headquarters, and offered if +given sufficient troops to retake the hill. But Ward was afraid of his +own position, and would not sanction the attempt.</p> + +<p>The British loss was very heavy, about one thousand and fifty, of whom a +quarter were killed, while ninety-two among the dead were officers. +Pitcairn was carried to Boston, and died there. Colonel Abercrombie was +killed, and many others of lesser note. As soon as it was possible the +wounded officers were conveyed to Boston for medical attendance, and we +have in Major Clarke's narrative a dismal picture of one sad procession. +"In the first carriage was Major <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span>Williams, bleeding and dying, and +three dead captains of the fifty-second regiment. In the second, four +dead officers; then another with wounded officers."</p> + +<p>The Americans, at first discouraged by their defeat, in the course of +time came to regard it as a victory. This it certainly was not, yet it +had all the moral effect of a British defeat. The regulars learned that +the provincials would stand up to them. "Damn the rebels," was the +current phrase; "they would not flinch."<a name="FNanchor_102_102" id="FNanchor_102_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_102_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a> Many of the officers felt +called upon to explain, in letters home, the reason for the defeat. The +American rifles, argued one, were "peculiarly adapted to take off the +officers of a whole line as it advances to an attack." They reasoned +that the redoubt, whose perfection when examined was astonishing, must +have been the work of days. As to the comparative uselessness of the +British cannon, it was explained by the nine-pound shot (some say +twelve) sent for the six-pounders. Said one newspaper: "It<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> naturally +required a great while to ram down such disproportioned shot; nor did +they, when discharged, fly with that velocity and true direction they +would have done, had they been better suited to the size of the +cannon."<a name="FNanchor_103_103" id="FNanchor_103_103"></a><a href="#Footnote_103_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a></p> + +<p>But aside from a few such absurdities, the body of the army and the +British public recognized at last that they had formidable antagonists. +This was no such fight as that on the 19th of April, when the shifting +provincials gave the regulars nothing to strike at. This was a pitched +battle, and the farmers had all but won it. The British were amazed by +the stubborn defence, and the rapidity and accuracy of the American +fire. The proportion of killed among the officers was greater than any +before known, and veterans admitted that the slaughter was worse than at +Minden, the deadliest of recent European battles. It is with reason, +then, that Boston still celebrates Bunker Hill. It<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> was the first signal +proof of American courage, and forecast the success of the siege. +Indeed, it is not too much to say that Bunker Hill battle had influence +in deciding the outcome of the war. Howe, destined to be the leader of +the British forces, never forgot the lesson of the redoubt on Breed's +Hill, or of the flimsy fence of rails and hay. It was seldom that he +could resolve to send his men against a rebel entrenchment.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_92_92" id="Footnote_92_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92_92"><span class="label">[92]</span></a> Frothingham's "Siege," 123.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_93_93" id="Footnote_93_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93_93"><span class="label">[93]</span></a> Frothingham's "Siege," 126, and Sabine's "Loyalists," +707.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_94_94" id="Footnote_94_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94_94"><span class="label">[94]</span></a> Reports vary from eighty to three hundred feet.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_95_95" id="Footnote_95_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95_95"><span class="label">[95]</span></a> Dearborn's account of the battle, <i>Historical Magazine</i> +for 1864.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_96_96" id="Footnote_96_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96_96"><span class="label">[96]</span></a> Bancroft, v, 612.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_97_97" id="Footnote_97_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97_97"><span class="label">[97]</span></a> Ross's "Life of Cornwallis," quoted in Fonblanque's +"Burgoyne," 159.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_98_98" id="Footnote_98_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98_98"><span class="label">[98]</span></a> The picturesqueness of this scene has been remarked by +many writers. The best contemporary description is, of course, +Burgoyne's. "To consider this action as a soldier, it comprised, though +in a small compass, almost every branch of military duty and curiosity. +Troops landed in the face of an enemy; a fine disposition; a march +sustained by a powerful cannonade by moving field artillery, fixed +batteries, floating batteries, and broadsides of ships at anchor, all +operating separately and well disposed; a deployment from the march to +form for the attack of the entrenchments and redoubt; a vigorous +defence; a storm with bayonets; a large and fine town set on fire by +shells. Whole streets of houses, ships upon the stocks, a number of +churches, all sending up volumes of smoke and flame, or falling together +in ruins, were capital objects. A prospect of the neighboring hills, the +steeples of Boston, and the masts of such ships as were unemployed in +the harbor, all crowded with spectators, friends and foes alike in +anxious suspense, made a background to the piece; and the whole together +composed a representation of war that I think the imagination of Lebrun +never reached."—<span class="smcap">Fonblanque</span>, "Burgoyne," 156.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_99_99" id="Footnote_99_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_99_99"><span class="label">[99]</span></a> Lodge's "Washington," i, 133.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_100_100" id="Footnote_100_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_100_100"><span class="label">[100]</span></a> Appendix to Frothingham's "Siege," 393.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_101_101" id="Footnote_101_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_101_101"><span class="label">[101]</span></a> Washington reported later 139 killed, 36 missing, 278 +wounded.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_102_102" id="Footnote_102_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_102_102"><span class="label">[102]</span></a> Moore's "Diary of the Revolution," 110.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_103_103" id="Footnote_103_103"></a><a href="#FNanchor_103_103"><span class="label">[103]</span></a> These two quotations are from Frothingham's "Siege."</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3>WASHINGTON TAKES COMMAND</h3> + +<p>The immediate effect of the battle of Bunker Hill upon the American +army—or rather armies—was one of dismay. The result was confusion. In +fact, no study of the battle can fail to impress the examiner with the +belief that outside the redoubt the whole conduct of the Americans was +haphazard. Except for Stark's regiment, which itself came on in +detachments, the reinforcements dribbled to the field in companies, +platoons, or squads. They placed themselves where the hasty judgment of +Putnam directed them, or if he was absent to beat up for more troops, +chose their own positions and fought under their own officers. Putnam +gave orders, yet was not always obeyed; and sent urgently for +reinforcements, but, though his demands were received by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> officers from +other colonies, got no response.<a name="FNanchor_104_104" id="FNanchor_104_104"></a><a href="#Footnote_104_104" class="fnanchor">[104]</a> In this individual character of +the fighting the day was much like that of the 19th of April.</p> + +<p>And after the battle conditions were much the same. Putnam commenced +independently to fortify Prospect Hill. On Winter Hill the New Hampshire +troops made a redoubt, and at Roxbury General Thomas hastily +strengthened his position. Even at Cambridge Ward began to fortify. Word +had been sent out to summon the militia, and as on the 19th of April +these responded with alacrity and in great numbers. It was hourly +expected that the British would sally from Boston, and the provincials +kept themselves in a confused readiness. In the meantime the British +cannon played steadily on the American fortifications, and the thunder +of the artillery spread apprehension in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> neighboring country. +Abigail Adams wrote from Braintree: "The battle began upon our +intrenchments upon Bunker's Hill, Saturday morning about three o'clock, +and has not ceased yet, and it is now three o'clock Sabbath afternoon. +It is expected they will come out over the Neck to-night, and a dreadful +battle must ensue."<a name="FNanchor_105_105" id="FNanchor_105_105"></a><a href="#Footnote_105_105" class="fnanchor">[105]</a> Yet the British did not come out, quiet +gradually fell on the two armies, the militia returned to their homes, +and the conduct of the siege entered on a new phase.</p> + +<p>Now more than ever the Americans recognized that conditions were +precarious, and that the greatest need was for a better organization. +Zeal was not wanting. Whenever the British cannonade recommenced, +whenever there were rumors of an attack, the troops were ready for a +fight. But means of communication, and prompt and efficient +subordination, still were lacking. Nor does it appear that those on the +ground were able, handicapped as they were by orders from the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> different +provincial assemblies, to produce the necessary system. Higher political +and military authority both were needed before the army could be +efficient. Very fortunately events had been preparing to supply them.</p> + +<p>Since the middle of May the second Continental Congress had been sitting +in Philadelphia. Among the Massachusetts delegates were Hancock and the +two Adamses. Gage on the 12th of June had consigned Samuel Adams and +Hancock to the gallows, but Hancock was serving as president of the +Congress, while the Adamses were important members of committees. They +watched and waited for the growth of a sentiment which should support +New England in its resistance.</p> + +<p>The position of the Congress was without precedent. An illegal body, its +delegates were elected by conventions improperly constituted. It had no +authority to raise money, to purchase arms, or to direct the actions of +the provinces. Though in New England war was in progress, many of the +delegates loved the old order of things, and were not yet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> ready to move +toward independence. The first actions of the Congress were for conciliation.</p> + +<p>There were those who saw that this was impossible. Of the New England +delegates, very few ever again hoped for what was called "an +accommodation." Washington, on his part, saw clearly that the end of the +old order had come. Franklin knew that independence would be the result +of the changes then in progress. Yet these men, and others like them, +knew also that they could not hurry the Congress into radical action, +and waited the effect of time. For weeks the Congress discussed and +argued, and finally passed a resolve that "an humble and dutiful +petition be presented to his majesty."<a name="FNanchor_106_106" id="FNanchor_106_106"></a><a href="#Footnote_106_106" class="fnanchor">[106]</a> This would give a chance for +feelings to cool, and for the supporters of the king to work for his interest.</p> + +<p>But events would not stand still. In England the news of Concord had not +moved the king to lenity; he saw no lesson in the tragedy,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> and insisted +on pressing his policy. Lord North's feeble endeavor to resign was +checked, supplies were sent to Virginia to support the governor in his +project of a rising of the slaves, a scheme was pressed to raise in +Carolina a regiment of veteran Highlanders, and orders were sent to +rouse the Iroquois against the rebels. Further, the king planned to +strengthen his forces by hiring troops from the continent of Europe.</p> + +<p>News of all this, coming across the Atlantic, by degrees changed the +aspect of affairs, and made the members of the Congress doubtful of +reconciliation. They began to look to their own positions, and to feel +that, as Franklin said, unless they hung together they would all hang +separately. To remind them what they could do in self-defence the needs +of the army around Boston were frequently brought to their attention. +Its discipline, equipment, and leadership were poor. At last came a +petition from Massachusetts, begging that Congress should "take command +of the army by appointing a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span>generalissimo."<a name="FNanchor_107_107" id="FNanchor_107_107"></a><a href="#Footnote_107_107" class="fnanchor">[107]</a> Such a step was open +and complete rebellion, and the Congress hesitated. By private letters +to Samuel Adams the desired leader was pointed out: Washington.</p> + +<p>The choice was doubly wise. To the Adamses it had been plain that, +though Hancock was desirous of the post, it should not be given to a New +Englander. The New England army would be knit together, and its +provincial jealousies appeased, by the appointment of a general from +another section. Further, in all the continent there was not another man +of Washington's experience, ability, and steadfastness.</p> + +<p>Washington was then in the prime of life, forty-three years of age, and +of such physique as was needed for the bearer of the greatest burden +that had ever been put upon an American. He was tall, finely built, +majestic in carriage and impressive of feature, and accustomed from his +youth to exposure, hardship, and constant exertion. He had long been +used to depending upon himself,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> and had acquired an independent +judgment that was almost unerring. Further, that judgment had been +exercised on military matters. While Hancock had been at best the +captain of a militia company in time of peace, Washington had from his +nineteenth year been commissioned with higher commands, and had seen +much active service. More than one campaign owed its success against the +Indians largely to him, and it was he and his Virginians who saved the +remnant at Braddock's defeat. He had a strong temper under almost +perfect control, patience and persistence in equal amounts, and, with a +wonderful reserve, the quality of winning the confidence of all honest men.</p> + +<p>Besides all this, he was heart and soul in the cause. While others had +discussed and hesitated, he had long ago made up his mind, not only that +the quarrel with the king would come to violence, but that all Americans +should resist to the utmost. "Shall we," he asked in a letter to a +friend, after enumerating Gage's despotic acts, "shall we after this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> +whine and cry for relief, when we have already tried it in vain? Or +shall we supinely sit and see one province after another fall a +sacrifice to despotism?" In a letter to a British officer at Boston, he +says, "Permit me with the freedom of a friend (for you know I always +esteemed you), to express my sorrow that fortune should place you in a +service that must fix curses to the latest posterity upon the +contrivers, and, if success (which, by the by, is impossible) +accompanies it, execrations upon all those who have been instrumental in +the execution.... Give me leave to add as my opinion that more blood +will be spilled on this occasion, if the ministry are determined to push +matters to extremity, than history has ever yet furnished instances of +in the annals of North America, and such a vital wound will be given to +the peace of this great country, as time itself cannot cure or eradicate +the remembrance of." Few in those days had such certainty of the result +of an outbreak, and few were so ready to participate in one. In the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span>Virginia convention he said, "I will raise a thousand men, subsist them +at my own expense, and march them to the relief of Boston." No wonder +this was designated "the most eloquent speech that ever was made." He +was not called on to make good his promise, but was sent to the two +continental congresses. At the second it was noticed that he attended +the sittings in his uniform of a Virginia colonel. Though he took no +part in the debates, he made himself felt. Patrick Henry said of him at +this time: "If you speak of solid information and sound judgment, +Colonel Washington is unquestionably the greatest man on the +floor."<a name="FNanchor_108_108" id="FNanchor_108_108"></a><a href="#Footnote_108_108" class="fnanchor">[108]</a></p> + +<p>To make the Congress "adopt" the army at Boston, and to have Washington +appointed generalissimo, became the task of John Adams, who at this time +did the country perhaps his greatest service. There were objections to +putting a Virginian at the head of New Englanders, for colonial +jealousies, and even colonial lack of mutual understanding, might<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> bring +about a fatal sullenness in the men. Adams discussed the matter in +private with many delegates, and could not succeed even in making the +Massachusetts and Virginia representatives agree. At last, determined to +force action, one morning he announced to Samuel Adams that something +must be done. "I am determined this morning to make a direct motion that +Congress should adopt the army before Boston, and appoint Colonel +Washington commander of it. Mr. Adams," he added in his diary, "seemed +to think very seriously of it, but said nothing."</p> + +<p>Alone, then, but determinedly following his inspiration, John Adams laid +before the Congress his proposal. First he spoke in favor of accepting +the New England army as the army of the continent; then he began a +eulogy of Washington. Hancock's eyes flashed with resentment, and +Washington himself slipped from the room. There were a few days of delay +and debate, but the energy of Adams carried his proposals. The Congress +adopted the army, appointed four<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> major-generals and eight brigadiers, +and finally, on the 15th of June, chose the commander-in-chief. On the +17th of June, the day of Bunker Hill, Adams wrote joyfully to his wife: +"I can now inform you that the Congress have made choice of the modest +and virtuous, the amiable, generous, and brave George Washington, +Esquire, to be General of the American Army."<a name="FNanchor_109_109" id="FNanchor_109_109"></a><a href="#Footnote_109_109" class="fnanchor">[109]</a></p> + +<p>This was a step which the Congress could not retrace. The colonies were +now in rebellion, and the members, as they realized that the noose was +preparing for their necks, voted the meagre sum of twenty-five thousand +dollars to supply with powder the army which alone stood between them +and a sudden taking off. Yet the significance of the act was not yet +understood by the colonies at large, for a few days later the assembly +of New York voted military escorts both to Washington and to the +royalist governor, who happened to arrive on the same day.</p> + +<p>Washington himself, however, knew better<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> than any man the consequence +of the momentous step. He foresaw that the labor would be difficult and +the struggle long. On the 16th of June he accepted his commission, but +added: "Lest some unlucky event should happen, unfavorable to my +reputation, I beg it to be remembered by every gentleman in the room, +that I, this day, declare with the utmost sincerity, I do not think +myself equal to the command I am honored with.</p> + +<p>"As to pay, Sir, I beg leave to assure the Congress, that, as no +pecuniary consideration could have tempted me to accept this arduous +employment, at the expense of my domestic ease and happiness, I do not +wish to make any profit from it. I will keep an exact account of my +expenses. These, I doubt not, they will discharge; and that is all I +desire."<a name="FNanchor_110_110" id="FNanchor_110_110"></a><a href="#Footnote_110_110" class="fnanchor">[110]</a></p> + +<p>As soon as he could settle his affairs, Washington started for Boston. +In New York he heard the news of Bunker Hill, and was cheered by it. He +arrived on July 2 in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> Watertown, where the Massachusetts congress was +sitting, and received a congratulatory address. He then pressed on to +Cambridge, which he reached on the same day. On the 3d, a year and a day +before the Declaration of Independence, and according to tradition under +the great elm still standing near Cambridge Common, he took command of the army.</p> + +<p>The occasion was momentous, and was so appreciated by a few at the time. +Would the critical volunteer army approve of its new chief? There was +not a murmur against him. From the first Washington's magnificent +bearing and kingly self-confidence won the admiration of his men. He +brought with him to the camp at Cambridge two who were ambitious to +displace him, yet of Lee and Gates, both retired English officers, the +first never won a personal following, and the second achieved but the +meagre dignity of leadership of a cabal. From the moment when he took +command of the army, Washington was, indeed, "first in the hearts of his countrymen."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span></p><p>And the student of our history cannot help remarking how providential +it was that, almost at the outset of this struggle, Washington should +come to the front. Eighty-six years later, at the beginning of the +Rebellion, there was no accepted chief. Lincoln was doubted by the +North, and the army had no true leader. By a slow process Lincoln's +commanding strength became known; by an equally tedious sifting of the +generals the qualities of Grant, Sherman, Thomas, and Meade were +discovered. Only the tremendous resources of the North could have +withstood the strain of such a delay. Had the same process been +necessary at the outset of the Revolution, the colonies could scarcely +have maintained the struggle. Had not Washington been at hand, accepted +by the Congress and admired by the army, the virtual leader of both, the +chances of success would have been slight. But he was Lincoln and Grant +in one. Time and again, through the long years, it was Washington alone +who brought victory from defeat. Without him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> the colonies might have +won their independence as the result of an almost interminable guerilla +warfare; but with him the fight was definite, decisive, glorious, +and—for the infant republic—mercifully short.</p> + +<div class="center"><a name="illus12a.jpg" id="illus12a.jpg"></a><img src="images/illus12a.jpg" width='545' height='700' alt="The Old North Bridge The Americans marched to the attack from the further side" /></div> + +<h4><span class="smcap">The Old North Bridge</span></h4> + +<h4>(The Americans marched to the attack from the further side.)</h4> + +<div class="center"><a name="illus12b.jpg" id="illus12b.jpg"></a><img src="images/illus12b.jpg" width='545' height='700' alt="The Minute Man By Daniel C. French" /></div> + +<h4><span class="smcap">The Minute Man</span></h4> + +<h4>By Daniel C. French</h4> + +<p>The army was now in the hands of a soldier, one who knew, if any man +did, what was needed to make the raw militiaman into a professional. +Washington fell at once to work. "There is great overturning in camp," +wrote the Reverend William Emerson, he who had watched Concord Fight +from the window of his study. "New lords, new laws. The Generals +Washington and Lee are upon the lines every day. New orders from his +Excellency are read to the respective regiments every morning after +prayers. The strictest government is taking place, and great distinction +is made between officers and soldiers. Every one is made to know his +place and keep in it.... Thousands are at work every day from four till +eleven o'clock in the morning."<a name="FNanchor_111_111" id="FNanchor_111_111"></a><a href="#Footnote_111_111" class="fnanchor">[111]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span></p><p>This simple statement shows, in the wonder of the clergyman, not merely +how much was now being done, but how little had been done before. As on +the day of Bunker Hill, Ward had been a headquarters general, but +Washington was "upon the lines." Many times later we find him exposing +himself recklessly; now we see him constantly on active patrol of his +outposts, supervising the new fortifications or the carrying out of the new regulations.</p> + +<p>Apart from fortifying, which he drove early and late, his immediate +difficulties were with the army organization, and these difficulties +began immediately. He brought with him commissions for his +major-generals and brigadiers, and the commissions of the former he +bestowed at once. The fourth major-general was Putnam of Connecticut, +who had had as his colleague Joseph Spencer, of the same colony. +"General Spencer's disgust," wrote Washington on the 10th of July, "was +so great at General Putnam's promotion, that he left the army without<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> +visiting me, or making known his intention in any respect."<a name="FNanchor_112_112" id="FNanchor_112_112"></a><a href="#Footnote_112_112" class="fnanchor">[112]</a></p> + +<p>Upon this, Washington prudently withheld the other commissions, and +proceeded cautiously, with regard to jealousies among the officers. By +careful diplomacy he succeeded in retaining for the new establishment +the services of most of the colonial brigadiers, for Spencer returned, +and Thomas, who saw his juniors promoted over his head, agreed to take +rank beneath them. Only one among the new appointees, Pomeroy, the +veteran of Louisburg who had fought at the rail fence at Bunker Hill, +declined his commission. He had marvelled that in the battle Warren +should be taken and he, "old and useless," be left unhurt. Now he +withdrew from further service on account of his age; yet, going later +upon a volunteer expedition, he died of exposure.</p> + +<p>Before the jealousies of the higher officers were settled, Washington +turned to the smaller fry. He now had to meet the nature of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> New +England volunteer. "There is no such thing," he wrote before very long, +"as getting officers of this stamp to carry orders into execution.... I +have made a pretty good slam among such kind of officers as the +Massachusetts government abounds in, having broke one colonel and two +captains for cowardly behaviour in the action on Bunker Hill, two +captains for drawing more pay and provision than they had men in their +company, and one for being absent from his post when the enemy appeared +and burnt a house close by it.... In short, I spare none, and yet fear +it will not all do, as these people seem to be attentive to everything +but their own interest."<a name="FNanchor_113_113" id="FNanchor_113_113"></a><a href="#Footnote_113_113" class="fnanchor">[113]</a></p> + +<p>Washington was experiencing the difficulties which Lincoln was later to +know, in dealing with the host of fair-weather soldiers and jobbing +self-seekers who come to the front at the outset of a war. There was +every reason why for some time he should estimate the New England +character from what he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> saw of its worst side. Yet before the seven +years of war were over he knew its better aspect. Massachusetts sent to +the war nearly twice as many men as any other colony, and Connecticut +was second. Measured by this standard, Washington's own colony came +third in devotion to the cause.<a name="FNanchor_114_114" id="FNanchor_114_114"></a><a href="#Footnote_114_114" class="fnanchor">[114]</a></p> + +<p>We know that later he acknowledged his appreciation of the devotion of +New England to the cause and to his person. It is particularly +interesting to learn that he reversed his judgment in one of the cases +mentioned above. Among those cashiered for disobedience of orders and +alleged cowardice at Bunker Hill was John Callender, captain of an +artillery company. The trial went against him, and Washington dismissed +him "from all further service in the continental service as an officer." +Callender, determined to wipe off the stain on his honor, remained as a +private in the artillery service, and found his opportunity at the +battle of Long Island, where the captain and lieutenant of his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> battery +were shot. "He assumed the command, and, refusing to retreat, fought his +pieces to the last. The bayonets of the soldiers were just upon him, +when a British officer, admiring his chivalrous and desperate courage, +interfered and saved him."<a name="FNanchor_115_115" id="FNanchor_115_115"></a><a href="#Footnote_115_115" class="fnanchor">[115]</a> Washington ordered the record of +Callender's sentence to be expunged from the orderly book, effected his +exchange, and restored him his commission.</p> + +<p>Yet in too many of the cases the sentence of incompetence or cowardice +was just. Even when simple laxity of discipline was at the bottom of +trouble, the effect was exasperating. Washington had much to teach the +minor members of his army. That it was in all outward aspects a truly +volunteer assemblage, we have the testimony of an eye witness. "It is +very diverting," wrote the Reverend William Emerson, "to walk among the +camps. They are as different in their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> form as the owners are in their +dress; and every tent is a portraiture of the temper and taste of the +persons who encamp in it. Some are made of boards, and some of +sailcloth. Some partly of one and partly of another. Again others are +made of stone and turf, brick or brush. Some are thrown up in a hurry, +others curiously wrought with doors and windows, done in wreaths and +withes in the manner of a basket. Some are your proper tents and +marquees, looking like the regular camp of the enemy.... However, I +think this great variety is rather a beauty than a blemish in the +army."<a name="FNanchor_116_116" id="FNanchor_116_116"></a><a href="#Footnote_116_116" class="fnanchor">[116]</a></p> + +<p>When we consider, however, that the men were dressed as variously as +they were housed, and armed as from a museum of historical curiosities, +we can easily see that the commander would not agree with the clergyman +that such variety was to be admired. We find him advocating the purchase +of uniforms. If nothing better can be had, he will be content with +hunting-shirts, since a common<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> costume would have a "happy tendency to +unite the men, and abolish those provincial distinctions, that lead to +jealousy and dissatisfaction."<a name="FNanchor_117_117" id="FNanchor_117_117"></a><a href="#Footnote_117_117" class="fnanchor">[117]</a> Washington strove also, but by the +end of the siege was still unable, to provide for his men some form of regulation firearm.</p> + +<p>He found, further, that the number of the troops had been overestimated. +After waiting eight days for returns which he expected in an hour after +his requisition, he found that, instead of the twenty thousand troops he +had been led to hope for, he had but sixteen thousand effective men. +With these he had to maintain a front of eight miles, against an enemy +who could at will strike at any point.</p> + +<p>In such a situation the only safeguard was fortification. Before +Washington's arrival the redoubts on Prospect and Winter Hills had been +completed, with scattered minor works. Washington at once began by +strengthening these, and by finishing all uncompleted works. Then, in a +manner <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span>characteristic of the whole siege, and which never failed to +take the British by surprise, one August evening he sent a party to +Plowed Hill, "within point blank shot of the enemy on Charlestown Neck. +We worked the whole night incessantly one thousand two hundred men, and, +before morning, got an intrenchment in such forwardness, as to bid +defiance to their cannon."<a name="FNanchor_118_118" id="FNanchor_118_118"></a><a href="#Footnote_118_118" class="fnanchor">[118]</a></p> + +<p>The British cannonaded for two days, but the Americans, finding to their +disappointment that no assault was intended, finished the work at their +ease. Similarly, as we shall see, Washington later took Lechmere's +Point, commanding the river and the Back Bay. Before many weeks the +works at Roxbury were made "amazing strong," and the rebels were in +position to welcome an encounter. But there was no assault, and +Washington had instead to meet the vexations of his office.</p> + +<p>These were often trivial enough. A company would protest against the +appointment<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> of an officer unknown to them, a town would apply for +special guard, a prisoner would demand the privilege of wearing his +sword.<a name="FNanchor_119_119" id="FNanchor_119_119"></a><a href="#Footnote_119_119" class="fnanchor">[119]</a> Washington met such requests with unvarying courtesy, but +with firmness; even to the governor of Connecticut he refused troops for sea-coast protection.</p> + +<p>One little correspondence throws a gleam of unconscious humor on the +dull routine of Washington's correspondence. Hearing of hardships +suffered in Boston by prisoners taken at Bunker Hill, Washington wrote +to remonstrate. Gage returned answer two days later; its original is +found in Burgoyne's letter book, "as wrote by me." It begins in the +usual style of the literary general: "Sir, To the glory of civilized +nations, humanity and war have been made almost compatible, and +compassion to the subdued is become almost a general system. Britons, +ever pre-eminent in mercy, have outgone<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> common examples, and overlooked +the criminal in the captive." Entering a general denial of Washington's +charges, the letter goes on to bring counter-accusations, and finally, +after giving valuable advice, the writers exhort Washington—of all +men!—to "give free operation to truth."</p> + +<p>Truly, as Burgoyne's biographer admits, there is something irresistibly +ludicrous in the spectacle of such generals lecturing such a man. The +sequel was honorable to the American chief. At first determined to +retaliate upon some prisoners in his hands, he changed his mind, +apparently because they, having been captured off Machias as their +vessel neared land, had "committed no hostility against the people of +this country."<a name="FNanchor_120_120" id="FNanchor_120_120"></a><a href="#Footnote_120_120" class="fnanchor">[120]</a> The general therefore gave them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> the practical +freedom of the town of Northampton.</p> + +<p>One other correspondence caused about this time a flutter of excitement. +Charles Lee was one of Washington's four major-generals, a man who had +seen military service in many parts of Europe and America. He had served +in the British army from 1747 until 1763, when, his regiment being +disbanded, he served in Poland and Turkey, and finally, in 1772, came to +America. Here he took up, almost violently, the cause of freedom, +perhaps because of disappointment in the English service, perhaps +because he foresaw opportunity. At any rate, he made himself +conspicuous, and was generally regarded as the foremost military man in +America, Washington alone excepted. Events proved that Lee acknowledged +no superior, and impatiently desired to be rid of his chief. Washington +was always on formal terms with his subordinate, no doubt because he +read in his character, besides a certain ability, an unstable +temperament and a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span> hasty judgment. When once Lee was at Cambridge he +immediately rushed into a correspondence with Burgoyne, under whom he +had served in Portugal thirteen years before.</p> + +<p>The tone of his letter was highly literary. Lee reminded Burgoyne of +their old friendship, and then, with many flourishes, went at his +business. He lamented the infatuation of the times, when men of the +stamp of Burgoyne and Howe could be seduced into an impious and +nefarious service, and reminding Burgoyne of various bygone incidents, +called to his mind his experience with the wickedness and treachery of +the present court and cabinet. He spread himself at large on the +principles of the present struggle, rejoiced that Burgoyne came by +command of the king rather than his own desire, and warned him of the +miscreants who had infatuated Gage. Then, explaining how his three years +in America had acquainted him with facts, Lee begged Burgoyne to +communicate the substance of the letter to Howe, who to his horror +seemed to be becoming the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span> satrap of an Eastern despot. Protesting his +devotion to America as the last asylum of liberty, Lee signed himself +with the greatest sincerity and affection.</p> + +<p>The letter was written before Bunker Hill, but not answered until the +8th of July. In his reply, Burgoyne hinted, with references to Locke, +Charles the First, and James the Second, that he was equally well +grounded in the principles of liberty. He urged Lee to lay his hand upon +his heart, and say whether the Americans wanted freedom from taxation or +independency. He, Burgoyne, with the army and fleet, and the king +himself, was actuated only by the desire to maintain the laws. Then, +having letters from England which were to be delivered into Lee's own +hands, Burgoyne proposed a personal interview at the lines on Boston +Neck, and sent the compliments of Howe, Clinton, and Percy.</p> + +<p>It must be admitted that Burgoyne's purpose in this proposal was quite +other than to deliver letters, or even to argue upon political +differences. In a letter to Lord<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> North Burgoyne explained his real +purpose in entering into correspondence with a rebel. In the proposed +interview he would have cut Lee short in his paltry jargon, and pressed +upon him the real facts in the case. Next he would have shown him the +glory accruing to a successful mediator, and then, playing upon his +pride, his interest, and his ambition, would have suggested a return to +his allegiance. Burgoyne supposed that the reference to a mediator would +have brought to Lee the memory of General Monk, and would have flattered +him with the same intention to restore the state.</p> + +<p>There is upon this plan of Burgoyne's but one comment to be made, and +that has been clearly stated by his own biographer. "If an American +General could have been found base enough to purchase his restoration to +the favour of his late Sovereign by gross treachery to his adopted +country, an English General should surely not have thought it worthy of +his character and position to bribe him to such an act."<a name="FNanchor_121_121" id="FNanchor_121_121"></a><a href="#Footnote_121_121" class="fnanchor">[121]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span></p><p>Lee was not caught in the trap, though perhaps not owing to his own +caution. Burgoyne's letter was laid before the Provincial Congress, +which forbade the meeting. In a brief letter Lee explained that it was +feared that the interview might create jealousies and suspicions. +Burgoyne caught at this statement as showing, in the American staff, +dissensions fruitful of future results; but the hope was never +justified. Lee's future share in the siege faded into insignificance, +and his damage to the American cause was not to come until later.</p> + +<p>Washington may have supervised the correspondence and influenced its +result. It affected him not at all, but in the midst of many such little +affairs he found opportunity for really aggressive work. Once he was +well fortified, the next step was to vex and disturb the enemy by +cutting off supplies by sea, and making the approach to Boston +difficult. For the latter purpose a detachment went boldly in broad +daylight and burned the lighthouse at the harbor's mouth. Since<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> the +first attempt was not satisfactory, the same men went again, and +finished the job. Other little expeditions, carried on against either +the harbor islands or the shipping near the town, were successfully +undertaken. The men for such purposes were the fishermen of the +sea-coast towns, thrown out of work by the fisheries bill, and burning +with patriotic feeling.</p> + +<p>Washington turned them to still better account in beginning a navy. To +be sure, the little fleet which presently was busily at work was at +first a spontaneous growth, for whenever a store-ship or king's sloop +ran aground or made land at the wrong harbor, dories and fishing-vessels +swarmed out to board it. Even before Washington's coming privateers were +acting for the country, but with no better standing than pirates, for +they sailed under no flag and bore neither commission nor letters of +marque. The provinces of Connecticut and Rhode Island legalized the +achievements of those who were busy in their waters, but for the +adventurous spirits<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> who dared the men of war in Massachusetts Bay +nothing was done until Washington found the way. Since, even though the +need was imperative, he could not properly authorize the existence of a +navy, we find him, on the second of September, wording a commission in +the following manner: "You being appointed a captain in the army of the +United Colonies of North America, are hereby directed to take command of +a detachment of said army, and proceed on board the schooner <i>Hannah</i>, +at Beverly." And thus the American Navy began its existence. Its vessels +were few and small, being chiefly "converted" fishermen; its purpose was +to intercept stores and gain information; and it was especially +forbidden to engage with armed vessels, "though you may be equal in +strength, or may have some small advantage." Before the end of the siege +this little company of vessels was invaluable to Washington.</p> + +<p>But in Washington's army lay his chief hopes—and also his chief +difficulties. That whenever there was a chance for a fight the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> men were +very ardent, he was glad to acknowledge. But that when there was nothing +to relieve the monotony of the camp they were indifferent to all +discipline, he knew only too well. They were incorrigible traders of +uniforms and equipment, sticklers for seniority upon but a few months' +service, insistent for furloughs for return to labor on their own +affairs, and troublesome even in demanding pay by lunar instead of +calendar months. In order that their Yankee ingenuity might find less +time to invent more trouble for him and for themselves, Washington very +sensibly worked them hard at his fortifying, "Sundays not +excepted."<a name="FNanchor_122_122" id="FNanchor_122_122"></a><a href="#Footnote_122_122" class="fnanchor">[122]</a></p> + +<p>There were, however, difficulties which could be got over neither by +work, nor by thought, nor by gradually licking an army into shape. +Powder and arms both were lacking.</p> + +<p>Powder was scarcely to be had anywhere. It was little made in the +colonies, especially not in the neighborhood of Boston. Again<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> and again +we find Washington writing for it, and occasionally reporting his exact +situation. More than once the army had but nine rounds to a man. On the +twenty-fourth of August Washington writes: "We have been in a terrible +situation, occasioned by a mistake in a return; we reckoned upon three +hundred quarter casks, and had but thirty-two barrels."<a name="FNanchor_123_123" id="FNanchor_123_123"></a><a href="#Footnote_123_123" class="fnanchor">[123]</a> A few days +later the situation was better, but still was bad enough, for he writes: +"We have only one hundred and eighty-four barrels of powder in all +(including the late supply from Philadelphia), which is not sufficient +to give twenty-five musket cartridges to each man, and scarcely to serve +the artillery in any brisk action one single day." He sent to Bermuda to +seize a supply, but his vessels arrived too late. Supplies did slowly +dribble in, and sometimes came in encouraging quantities when a +store-ship was captured. But there never was plenty on hand, and too +often not enough, for the powder would deteriorate in bad weather, as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span> +was shown at a skirmish at Lechmere's Point. As the troops formed for +duty, cartridge boxes were examined, "when the melancholy truth +appeared."<a name="FNanchor_124_124" id="FNanchor_124_124"></a><a href="#Footnote_124_124" class="fnanchor">[124]</a> Further, the men, from whom the lack of powder was +concealed, were fond of amusing themselves by indiscriminate shooting. +We find General Greene, in an order to his troops, threatening severe +punishment to those who shot at geese passing over the camp. And so, +with little acquisitions of powder, and steady depletion, Washington was +never for a day properly supplied.</p> + +<p>His difficulty in finding muskets, though never so great, was always +considerable. The gunsmiths of Philadelphia, who had been expected +speedily to equip his army, were not able to supply a satisfactory +portion of the arms required, so that Washington was reduced to sending +agents through the neighboring towns to buy guns. Their success was +small. He tried also to buy the muskets of those men who, on the +expiration of their term of service, went home. Here again the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span> result +was poor, for the men, mindful of the possibility of militia service, +were very unwilling to part with their arms.</p> + +<p>Yet the men had an ineradicable propensity to dicker among themselves. +Arms and equipment changed hands in true Yankee fashion; even clothing +was traded in, and the camp, when the men were off duty, must at times +have been as busy as a market. Nothing better shows this than the diary +of David How, whose brief entries prove him to be a true New Englander. +Months later than Washington's first attempts to buy arms from the men, +we find entries as follows.</p> + +<p>"13 (January, 1776) I Bought a gun & Bayonet & Cateridge Box of Joseph +Jackson and gave 42/6 Lawfull Money for the Whole. I have been Makeing +Cateridges this Day....</p> + +<p>"20 I Bought a frock & Trouses of Parley Macingtyre and give 6/Law.</p> + +<p>"22 Peter Gage Staid Hear Last Night and I bought 3 Pare of Shoes of him +@ 5/6 per pare</p> + +<p>"23 I sold a pare of Shoes for 6/8.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span></p><p>"26 I Sold my Cateridge box For 4/6 Lawfull Money.</p> + +<p>"16 March I sold my gun to Timothy Jackson for Three pound Lawfull Money."</p> + +<p>We see in David How, even when soldiering, the qualities which later +made him one of the richest men in Haverhill. The diary shows, also, +what appears to be the visit to the camp of a shoe pedler. Modern +disciplinarians would scarcely condone this, nor would they permit How's +opportunity of making money when cooking for his company. For he writes:—</p> + +<p>"24 day (January, 1776) I Cook this day & Bought 3 Barrels of Cyder for 9/per Barrel.</p> + +<p>"25 day I Bought 7 Bushels of Chesnuts & give 4 pisterens per bushel.</p> + +<p>"30 We have Sold Nuts and Cyder Every Day This Week."</p> + +<p>It was in the face of this well-nigh incorrigible tendency to make money +out of the situation that Washington struggled to turn his militiamen +into soldiers. We gather from his orderly books that he had difficulties +with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span> disorders of many kinds, not the least of which were caused by the +visits of "pretended suttlers"<a name="FNanchor_125_125" id="FNanchor_125_125"></a><a href="#Footnote_125_125" class="fnanchor">[125]</a> who sold bad rum. To check +drunkenness he licensed the sutlers and limited their activities, and +for general discipline he worked steadily to show officers and men alike +what was expected of them. And all the time he diligently tried to +purchase weapons, though with so little success that at last he even +took up the question of implements more primitive than muskets. There +was in camp a company of Stockbridge Indians, who were so successful as +to waylay a British sentry or two and kill them with arrows. Franklin, +perhaps taking the hint from this, wrote to prove that the long-bow +might be revived, but Washington would have none of it. Pikes, however, +whose use in European warfare was fairly recent, he would consider. A +number were ordered, and after them a second set of stronger make, the +first being "ridiculously short and light."<a name="FNanchor_126_126" id="FNanchor_126_126"></a><a href="#Footnote_126_126" class="fnanchor">[126]</a></p> + +<p>In October came to light the treason of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span> Dr. Benjamin Church. As already +shown, he had for some time before the 19th of April been in +communication with Gage. On the 22d, when he went into Boston with the +knowledge of the Committee of Safety, he doubtless saw the general in +person. An occurrence now showed that he was writing to the British +commander, though his agency was not at first suspected. From Newport +came a letter, brought by an American patriot to whom it had been given +by a woman from Cambridge, who had requested to have it delivered to +some officer of the British vessel stationed in the harbor. The American +kept the letter, and, suspecting its purport, opened it. It was in +cipher. This in itself was suspicious, and the letter was brought to +Washington, who caused the woman to be arrested and questioned. At first +she was obstinate, but finally she named Church as the writer of the +letter. He in his turn was put under guard, but had had time to destroy +any papers that might betray him. The letter when deciphered proved to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span> +give little information besides the numbers of the American forces. From +first to last Church had been of little value to Gage.</p> + +<p>But the army and country, as Washington wrote, were "exceedingly +irritated." Church was a man of pleasing address and ready language, and +had stood high in Boston for years. He had written Whig pamphlets, had +been an orator on the Massacre, and had served on many committees, +notably the Committee of Safety. In consequence he had been given the +highest office that a physician could look for, that of surgeon-general +to the army. Resentment at his betrayal was extreme, and Abigail Adams +was probably right when she wrote, "If he is set at liberty, even after +he has received a severe punishment, I do not think he will be safe."</p> + +<p>Church was not set free. As a member of the Massachusetts Congress he +was brought before the House, and allowed to make his defence, which was +elaborate and able. Church claimed that he was writing to his brother, +and that his intentions were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span>harmless; but he was not believed, and was +expelled from the House. Later the Continental Congress adjudged him +guilty, and ordered him confined in jail. Released later on account of +his health, he was allowed to sail for the West Indies. His vessel was +never again heard from.</p> + +<p>This was Washington's foretaste of the treason of Arnold. It may have +disturbed him deeply, but of that he gave no sign. So far as we can see, +he dismissed the matter from his mind and went on with his work of +providing a way for assaulting the town. Congress desired this, the +country looked for it, and his own fiery nature urged him to the risk.</p> + +<p>On the 11th of September, having previously notified his generals that +he would lay the question before them, he had called a council of war, +and proposed an attack upon Boston. They were unanimously against it. +Now, in October, he again laid the matter before his council of war, and +reached practically the same result, General Greene alone<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span> thinking the +scheme practical, "if ten thousand men could be landed at Boston."<a name="FNanchor_127_127" id="FNanchor_127_127"></a><a href="#Footnote_127_127" class="fnanchor">[127]</a> +If it is true that councils of war do not fight, the result was natural; +but the situation was a very difficult one. The British had made +Charlestown practically impregnable against anything except surprise, by +a powerful redoubt on Bunker Hill. As for Boston itself, it was +fortified at all prominent points, and was very strongly garrisoned by +veteran troops. The Neck could not be forced, and to cross in boats over +the Back Bay was a hazardous undertaking. It was common sense, +therefore, to wait until ice should make it possible to assault the town +at several points. With his wonderful patience Washington accepted the +situation, and contented himself with wishing that the British would +attack him. There were continual rumors that the British plan was laid, +and deserters frequently came from Boston prophesying a sally; but still +the regulars lay in their fastness, and did not move.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_104_104" id="Footnote_104_104"></a><a href="#FNanchor_104_104"><span class="label">[104]</span></a> One Massachusetts colonel, who had urgently applied to +Ward for permission to go to the Hill, but was refused, three times +ignored the order of Putnam to come to his assistance—Putnam being from +Connecticut. See Frothingham's "Siege," 168, note.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_105_105" id="Footnote_105_105"></a><a href="#FNanchor_105_105"><span class="label">[105]</span></a> Adams Letters, 67.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_106_106" id="Footnote_106_106"></a><a href="#FNanchor_106_106"><span class="label">[106]</span></a> Bancroft, iv, 583.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_107_107" id="Footnote_107_107"></a><a href="#FNanchor_107_107"><span class="label">[107]</span></a> Bancroft, iv, 590.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_108_108" id="Footnote_108_108"></a><a href="#FNanchor_108_108"><span class="label">[108]</span></a> These quotations are from Lodge's "Washington," i.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_109_109" id="Footnote_109_109"></a><a href="#FNanchor_109_109"><span class="label">[109]</span></a> Adams Letters, 65.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_110_110" id="Footnote_110_110"></a><a href="#FNanchor_110_110"><span class="label">[110]</span></a> Sparks, "Writings of Washington," iii, 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_111_111" id="Footnote_111_111"></a><a href="#FNanchor_111_111"><span class="label">[111]</span></a> "Writings of Washington," iii, 491.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_112_112" id="Footnote_112_112"></a><a href="#FNanchor_112_112"><span class="label">[112]</span></a> "Writings of Washington," iii, 23.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_113_113" id="Footnote_113_113"></a><a href="#FNanchor_113_113"><span class="label">[113]</span></a> Lodge's "Washington," i, 138.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_114_114" id="Footnote_114_114"></a><a href="#FNanchor_114_114"><span class="label">[114]</span></a> Trevelyan's "Revolution," Part 1, 378, footnote.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_115_115" id="Footnote_115_115"></a><a href="#FNanchor_115_115"><span class="label">[115]</span></a> See Frothingham's "Siege," and Appendix III of Vol. 3 of +the "Writings of Washington." Both of these books quote Swett's "History +of Bunker Hill Battle."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_116_116" id="Footnote_116_116"></a><a href="#FNanchor_116_116"><span class="label">[116]</span></a> "Writings of Washington," iii, 491.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_117_117" id="Footnote_117_117"></a><a href="#FNanchor_117_117"><span class="label">[117]</span></a> "Writings of Washington," iii, 22.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_118_118" id="Footnote_118_118"></a><a href="#FNanchor_118_118"><span class="label">[118]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, iii, 71.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_119_119" id="Footnote_119_119"></a><a href="#FNanchor_119_119"><span class="label">[119]</span></a> Washington's correspondence with Major Christopher French +is an interesting instance of the patience of a great man with the +impatience of a small one.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_120_120" id="Footnote_120_120"></a><a href="#FNanchor_120_120"><span class="label">[120]</span></a> The letters that passed between Washington and Gage, and +later between him and Howe, are to be found in the volumes of his +"Writings," and make interesting reading. Washington had at this time no +prisoners in his hands other than those taken as described, because the +prisoners of the 19th of April had been exchanged on the 6th of June.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_121_121" id="Footnote_121_121"></a><a href="#FNanchor_121_121"><span class="label">[121]</span></a> Fonblanque's "Burgoyne."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_122_122" id="Footnote_122_122"></a><a href="#FNanchor_122_122"><span class="label">[122]</span></a> "Writings of Washington," iii.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_123_123" id="Footnote_123_123"></a><a href="#FNanchor_123_123"><span class="label">[123]</span></a> "Writings of Washington," iii.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_124_124" id="Footnote_124_124"></a><a href="#FNanchor_124_124"><span class="label">[124]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_125_125" id="Footnote_125_125"></a><a href="#FNanchor_125_125"><span class="label">[125]</span></a> Henshaw's "Orderly Book."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_126_126" id="Footnote_126_126"></a><a href="#FNanchor_126_126"><span class="label">[126]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_127_127" id="Footnote_127_127"></a><a href="#FNanchor_127_127"><span class="label">[127]</span></a> Trevelyan's "Revolution," Part I.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3>EVENTS IN BOSTON FROM JUNE TO DECEMBER, 1775</h3> + +<p>The history of events in Boston after the battle of Bunker Hill is of a +quite different tenor from that which we have just been considering. +From the time when the wounded, and the more distinguished of the dead, +were carried over from Charlestown on the evening of the seventeenth of +June, the sober truth struck home, not yet to the Tories and the common +run of officers, but to the generals. They were in a tight place, from +which it would be difficult to escape with credit.</p> + +<p>They might—and some of them did—reckon it out by common arithmetic. If +it cost a thousand men to take a hill, and required another thousand to +garrison it when taken, how much could the British army<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span> master of the +rolling country that lay before its eyes? Beyond the exit from either +peninsula the next hill was already fortified, and the Americans +prepared to "sell it at the same price."<a name="FNanchor_128_128" id="FNanchor_128_128"></a><a href="#Footnote_128_128" class="fnanchor">[128]</a></p> + +<p>The British generals wrote very plainly in explaining the situation to +their superiors at home. To be sure, Gage was a trifle disingenuous in +reviewing the past. While admitting that the recent trials at arms +proved the rebels "not the despicable rabble too many have supposed them +to be," he ignored his original boast concerning lions and lambs. In +stating that in all previous wars the Americans had never showed so much +"conduct, attention, and perseverance," he admitted his ignorance of +colonial history. But Gage was endeavoring to salve his smart and +conceal his own shame.</p> + +<p>Burgoyne, with nothing to palliate, wrote very frankly. "Look, my Lord," +he said to the Secretary of State for the Colonies,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span> "upon the country +near Boston. It is all fortification." His mathematics has been already +quoted; he adds that the army had nothing for transport in an active +campaign of any duration. Proceeding, he delicately points out that Gage +was not the man for the situation, and laments again that the general +had no means of knowing what passed in the American councils, or even +within the American lines.</p> + +<p>This is but another proof, if one were needed, of the poor use to which +Church had put his opportunities. Surely he, as Arnold later, sold his +soul to little purpose. Few things in this campaign are more honorable +to America than the fact that Washington's most precious secret, his +lack of powder, though known to many, never came to the ears of the +British generals. One may question if the truth, if told, would have +been believed, for men of Gage and Howe's training could scarcely +suppose a man capable of such daring and dogged obstinacy as to hold his +post before them without powder, or guns, or, as it finally turned out, +almost without men.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span> But no statement has been made that the commanders +heard even rumors of Washington's difficulties.</p> + +<p>After Bunker Hill, then, the British generals plainly saw that they +could never campaign successfully with Boston as a base. As to what +should best be done, Gage had no idea; Burgoyne, however, was ready with +a plan. He proposed to keep in Boston as small a garrison, supported by +as small a fleet, as could safely be left, and to send the rest of the +troops and ships to harry the coast. This proposition, if by the vague +term of chastisement he meant the burning of defenceless towns, was +unworthy of Burgoyne; but when later he proposed with this detached +force to occupy Rhode Island, doubtless using Newport as a base, he +outlined a plan which, if followed, would have seriously embarrassed the +Americans. But the advice was not taken, and for months the British +generals contented themselves with wishing they were at New York, +without taking any steps toward going there.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span></p><p>One thing at least they should have done. It will be remembered that +the American occupancy of Bunker Hill had been precipitated by knowledge +of a British plan to take Dorchester Heights. This plan of Gage's was +not abandoned after the battle. It is spoken of in a letter of +Burgoyne's, and is laid down as a part of his scheme to make Boston +secure while his marauding fleet menaced southern New England. We are +even able to suppose that feeble moves toward seizing the Heights were +twice made. Once a couple of regiments, on transports, dropped down the +channel; and once two regiments were withdrawn from Charlestown to +Boston, with various companies from the castle. Lieutenant Barker gives +the reason why in the latter case nothing was done: "the Genl. hearing +that they had got intelligence and reinforced that place with 4000 men." +But this is mere rumor; the Americans had not yet sent any troops into +Dorchester. This leaves us very much in the dark as to why the Heights +were not occupied; but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span> occupied they were not; the plan receives no +further mention, and though from month to month the British watched +Washington seizing posts ever nearer to Boston, they behaved in all +respects as if he were under pledge to avoid Dorchester.</p> + +<p>Gage's chief activity was in fortifying. He strengthened his existing +works, and entrenched himself particularly well at Bunker Hill. As the +American redoubt was of little value to the British, they made their +main defence upon the top of the higher hill, and mounted guns to sweep +Charlestown Neck and the country beyond. Little by little both Gage and +his successor strengthened this post, cutting down trees for abatis, and +making advanced posts similar to those at Boston Neck. Before the end of +the siege it was the strongest British post, and Washington knew better +than to molest it, especially when he had a better move to make.</p> + +<p>Actual military operations were trifling. In retaliation for an American +attack, on the 30th of July the regulars made a sally from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span> Boston +toward Roxbury, drove in the American advance guard, and burnt a house +or two. The undertaking appears to have been without object, and +resulted in nothing except some harmless cannonading. At other times +armed boats ventured along the Cambridge shore, or tried the rivers, +always to be sent back by the bullets of Yankee sharpshooters. When the +Virginia riflemen appeared, however, there was less of this diversion. +These men, finding themselves debarred from the larger field operations, +resolved at least to get something in return for their long march. So +they set themselves to watch for the appearance of British exploring +parties, and even stalked the sentries. The officers indignantly +complained that this was not war according to rule, but both they and +their sentries took care not to expose themselves. The largest operation +undertaken by the British was at the approach of winter, when early in +November they sent a small force to Lechmere's Point, at a time when a +very high tide had converted the place into an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span> island. They took a few +cows, and lost a couple of men; on retiring they pointed to the American +unwillingness to attack them, but this, as we have already learned, was +on account of the spoiled cartridges.</p> + +<p>All these operations, it will be seen, took place practically within the +limits of the Back Bay and its adjacent waters, into which flowed the +Charles River and a few creeks. Once or twice British boats tried to +explore the Mystic, but with the coming of the riflemen that diversion +stopped. When finally the Yankees dragged whale-boats to the Mystic and +Charles, and began building floating batteries on their own account, +British curiosity as to the American shore-line lapsed entirely.</p> + +<p>Down the harbor Gage did nothing, except to send, tardily, to repel +American expeditions. We have seen that the British could not save the +lighthouse. The Yankee fishermen now took occasion to remove from the +islands the hay and live stock which they had not taken before Bunker +Hill. Their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span> activities drew from Burgoyne an indignant letter.</p> + +<p>"It may be asked in England, 'What is the Admiral doing?'</p> + +<p>"I wish I were able to answer that question satisfactorily, but I can +only say what he is <i>not</i> doing.</p> + +<p>"That he is <i>not</i> supplying us with sheep and oxen, the dinners of the +best of us bear meagre testimony; the state of our hospitals bears a +more melancholy one.</p> + +<p>"He is <i>not</i> defending his own flocks and herds, for the enemy have +repeatedly plundered his own islands.</p> + +<p>"He is <i>not</i> defending the other islands in the harbour, for the enemy +in force landed from a great number of boats, and burned the lighthouse +at noonday (having first killed or taken the party of marines which was +posted there) almost under the guns of two or three men-of-war.</p> + +<p>"He is <i>not</i> employing his ships to keep up communication and +intelligence with the King's servants and friends at different parts<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span> of +the continent, for I do not believe that General Gage has received a +letter from any correspondent out of Boston these six weeks.</p> + +<p>"He is intent upon greater objects, you will think,—supporting in the +great points the dignity of the British flag,—and where a number of +boats have been built for the enemy; privateers fitted out; prizes +carried in; the King's armed vessels sunk; the crews made prisoners; the +officers killed,—he is doubtless enforcing instant restitution and +reparation by the voice of his cannon and laying the towns in ashes that +refuse his terms? Alas! he is not."<a name="FNanchor_129_129" id="FNanchor_129_129"></a><a href="#Footnote_129_129" class="fnanchor">[129]</a></p> + +<p>Burgoyne finishes his indictment by lumping with the admiral's +inefficiencies the weaknesses of quartermaster-generals, +adjutant-generals, secretaries, and commissaries. In all this we catch a +glimpse of one result of the king's policy, which was to reward his +friends and rebuke his enemies. Since he classed with his enemies the +Whigs<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span> who were at home, he had only Tories to draw from. From them came +Admiral Graves, and the crowd of incompetents who filled offices in +America. The royal service was now paying the piper.</p> + +<p>One result Burgoyne has noted very plainly, in the lack of fresh +provision. The admiral could have protected the stock on the harbor +islands, and without unnecessary violence could have seized provisions +from the shore towns. This, however, he did not do, and we soon find the +army complaining of its fare. It was not that the commissary was +negligent; even the moneyed officers were at times unable to satisfy +their desire for fresh meat, the supply of which was uncertain. For lack +of hay, the milk supply soon disappeared, since cows could not be fed +and had to be killed. Cheerful news came to the American camp that the +venerable town bull had been sold for beef. The army even tired of its +supply of fish, which, to be sure, never was great, though then as now +Boston lay close to good fishing grounds.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span> Salt pork was the main +reliance, and before the middle of the summer the army had had +altogether too much of that.</p> + +<p>In consequence of this restricted diet the wounded from Bunker Hill died +in great numbers. Of the wounded American prisoners very few survived. +Some, as Washington heard, were operated on in the common jail, in which +most of them were confined, and where the chances of their recovery were +slight. They fared "very hard," said John Leach, who had opportunity to +know; not one of them survived amputation. As to the rest, there can be +no question that they were badly treated. Their doctor complained that +they had had no bread for two days; the Provost replied "they might eat +the Nail Heads, and knaw the plank and be damn'd."<a name="FNanchor_130_130" id="FNanchor_130_130"></a><a href="#Footnote_130_130" class="fnanchor">[130]</a> Their more +fortunate fellow-prisoners, who were not taken in arms and who received +food from their families in Boston, sent the Bunker Hill prisoners what +comforts they could bribe the soldiers to take to them; but, says<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span> +Leach's diary, "they have no Wood for days together, to Warm their +Drink, and dying men drink them cold." By the 21st of September eighteen +out of twenty-nine prisoners had died in the jail.</p> + +<p>Yet even the British wounded showed a high mortality. This was largely +on account of the food, which, although it was the best that was to be +had, was none too good for suffering men. The high death rate was in +part due to the American marksmanship, which caused many body wounds. +What with such wounds, and such food, and the unaccustomed heat, there +were so many deaths among the wounded that it was seriously stated that +the American bullets were poisoned.</p> + +<p>There was, then, considerable discontent among the British soldiery. Of +it at one time the Americans took ingenious advantage. When the wind was +setting toward the British lines at Charlestown, the Americans at the +Medford lines scattered handbills that were driven to the British +sentries. On the bills<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span> was to be read a comparison intended to increase +British discontent. It ran:—</p> + +<table summary="handbill"> + <tr> + <td class="center">PROSPECT HILL</td> + <td class="center">BUNKER'S HILL</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> I. Seven dollars a month.</td> + <td> I. Three pence a day.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> II. Fresh provisions and in plenty.</td> + <td> II. Rotten salt pork.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>III. Health.</td> + <td>III. The scurvy.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>IV. Freedom, ease, affluence, and a good farm. </td> + <td>IV. Slavery, beggary, and want.</td> + </tr> +</table> + +<p>These handbills thus coming into the hands of the privates were passed +about secretly, until the officers got wind of the device, and +complained to the Americans. The retort was that the British themselves +had already been tempting sentries to desert. This deserting did go on +throughout the siege, from either side, though it would seem as if more +of the British fled from their service. Into whichever lines they went, +the deserters always brought highly colored tales to buy their welcome. +The leaders very soon learned how little reliance could be placed upon +such<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span> information. "We ought not to catch at such shadows as that. We +have nothing under God to depend upon, but our own strength."<a name="FNanchor_131_131" id="FNanchor_131_131"></a><a href="#Footnote_131_131" class="fnanchor">[131]</a></p> + +<p>If the British private was discontented, that was his habit; and though +the officers grumbled as well, they had comparatively little to complain +of. To be sure, the food was coarse, but it was plentiful. Even the +unaccustomed heat would seem comfortable to a Bostonian of to-day. The +marine officers had more pleasant conditions, with their open ports and +harbor breezes, and decks frequently sluiced with water. But the town +itself had no tall buildings or confined spaces; generally speaking, it +was open from water to water, with plentiful shade. Boston in 1775 must +have been as cool as its own summer resorts of the twentieth century.</p> + +<p>The Tories, at least, found it bearable. They were accustomed to the +summer heat, and knew themselves much better off than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span> the unfortunate +members of their party who had been unable to escape to the British +lines. Many of the country Tories were confined to their estates, and +forbidden to communicate with each other. "I wish to God," wrote Samuel +Paine, "all our friends were here out of the hands of such Villains." +Compared with such treatment, serenades by thirteen-inch mortars and +twenty-four pounders were apparently trifling—though the ladies did not +think so. One, writing of the skirmish on the night of July 30, spoke of +the "most dreadful cannonading," and "the apprehensions that naturally +seize every one, either of the enemy breaking in, or the town being set +on fire."<a name="FNanchor_132_132" id="FNanchor_132_132"></a><a href="#Footnote_132_132" class="fnanchor">[132]</a> Even Samuel Paine saw the serious side of the situation. +"These," he asks, "are Governor Hutchinson's countrymen that would not fight, are they?"</p> + +<p>It was because he realized that fight they would, "and like the devil," +that he and others considered enlisting in the various corps which were +organized in the town.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span> According to Frothingham, who could find no +statistics of the numbers of Tory volunteers, there were at least three +corps formed: the Loyal American Associators under Timothy Ruggles, the +Loyal Irish Volunteers under James Forrest, and the Royal Fencible +Americans under Colonel Graham.<a name="FNanchor_133_133" id="FNanchor_133_133"></a><a href="#Footnote_133_133" class="fnanchor">[133]</a> According to Samuel Paine, there +was a fourth corps, but it is not named. A commission in one of these +organizations was particularly attractive, as the service was expected +to be short, and at its expiration the officers were to go upon half +pay. Further, the duties were very light, being confined to drilling and +patrolling the town. In the military events of the siege these corps +took no part whatever.</p> + +<p>It must be remembered, however, that out of this situation England did +gain some valuable soldiers. The mettle of a few of the Tories was shown +at Bunker Hill, where they went as individual volunteers, and served +with the troops. Others, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span>disdaining the toy-soldiering of their +friends, seized the chance to join the regular army, and fought in it +throughout the war, or until their deaths. Such men were John Coffin, +Leverett Saltonstall, and the two Thomas Gilberts.</p> + +<p>Yet men of this quality were few, and at least at this stage of the war +the Tories were of little service to their king. Most of them were +content to wait until the time when the regulars should scatter the +besiegers and conduct the loyalists to their homes. Meanwhile they +enjoyed the society into which they were thrown. "We have here," wrote +Samuel Paine, "Earls, Lords, and Baronets, I assure you Names that Sound +grand." These names did bring to the Tories a fair amount of social +gayety. Mrs. Gage was at the head of her own little circle, not always +enjoyed by those who could not forget her American birth. There were +other groups of ladies who, whether English or Tory, contrived to make +the time pass pleasantly for themselves and for the men. With<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span> few +responsibilities, and with confidence in the future, the loyalists had a +pleasant enough summer, and saw ahead of them a comfortable winter.</p> + +<p>The situation of the Whigs was not so enjoyable. Before Bunker Hill, +every one of them who could leave Boston had done so. But there were +many of them left, and among them were a number of the more respectable +and prominent of the Whigs. None of them wrote letters, and few indeed +kept diaries; there is, therefore, a notable lack of information +concerning their doings. We do know, however, that they were at a great +disadvantage as against their Tory acquaintances. No privileges of the +commissary were theirs, and no favors were to be had from the military +authorities. When there was fresh meat in the town the Whigs could get +little of it without repudiating their political creed; when the supply +was scant, the Whigs went without. "They even denied us," wrote John +Andrews, looking back upon this period, "the privilege of buying the +surplusage of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span> the soldiers' rations." Even before Bunker Hill he had +written, "It's hard to stay cooped up here and feed upon salt +provisions, more especially without one's wife.... Pork and beans one +day, and beans and pork another, and fish when we can catch it." +Throughout the summer the situation was little bettered. "A loaf of +bread the size we formerly gave three pence for, thought ourselves well +off to get for a shilling. Butter at two shillings. Milk, for months +without tasting any."</p> + +<p>There were certain Whigs whose experiences were more grim. To Gage, +always in fear of betrayal to the enemy, there came rumors pointing to +men whose known sentiments, or whose actions, subjected them to +suspicion. Among these were one Carpenter, a barber, who had swum to +Cambridge and back; one "Dorrington, his son and maid, for blowing up +flies"<a name="FNanchor_134_134" id="FNanchor_134_134"></a><a href="#Footnote_134_134" class="fnanchor">[134]</a>; but particularly John Leach and James Lovell, +schoolmasters, with Peter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span> Edes, printer, and his father's partner, John +Gill. All of these four were obnoxious to the Tories, being outspoken +Whigs and teachers of sedition, whether in their schools or their +publications. One by one they were imprisoned in the common jail, and +held there during various terms. Their treatment was harsh and +ungenerous, held in close neighborhood with felons and loose livers, and +not informed of what they were accused. Leach and Edes kept diaries when +in prison. "From the 2d July to the 17th," writes Leach, "a Complicated +scene of Oaths, Curses, Debauchery, and the most horrid Blasphemy, +committed by the Provost Marshal, his Deputy and Soldiers, who were our +guard, Soldier prisoners, and sundry soldier women, confined for Thefts, +&c.... When our Wives, Children, and Friends came to see us, (which was +seldom they were permitted) we seemed to want them gone, notwithstanding +we were desirous of their Company, as they were exposed to hear the most +abandon'd language, as was grating to the ears of all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span> sober persons." +This Leach suspected to be intentional, but the offensive actions and +words were incessant, especially on Sundays.</p> + +<p>On the 17th Leach's son died, "whom I left well in my house"; but he was +not allowed to attend the funeral, nor to be tried, nor dismissed. Three +weeks after he and Lovell had been put in jail they first learned of +what they were accused: Lovell of "being a Spy, and giving intelligence +to the rebels," and Leach of "being a spy, and suspected of taking +plans." Their examination was a farce, the witness against them not +knowing them apart. They were remanded to jail, and lay there until +October. Lovell fell sick, and got a little better food, but no +attention from his jailers—"no Compassion toward him any more than a +Dog." On the same day Leach noted that the Provost "Cursed and Damned my +little Child, for a Damn'd Rebel; he even Trembles at bringing my Diet." +Lovell grew better, and the vexatious treatment continued with petty +tyrannies. At last, although no trial had yet been held, Edes,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span> Gill, +and Leach were released upon sureties of two inhabitants that they would +not leave the town.</p> + +<p>Lovell was kept in jail. He was son of Master John Lovell of the Latin +School, in which he was usher until the opening of the war. His frank +utterances had so incensed the authorities that they kept him in prison +until the end of the siege, and then carried him with them to Halifax. +His father was a Tory, and, so far as the diaries of the prison mates +show, made no attempt to visit his son in prison. James Lovell was +exchanged in the summer of 1776.</p> + +<p>Through Edes' prison diary, and the brief jottings which pass for the +journal of Timothy Newell, selectman, we get a glimpse of a turncoat. +The incident in which he figures is the only one that caused Newell, who +gave a scant hundred and twenty-five words to Bunker Hill battle, to +write at any length. One John Morrison, formerly minister at +Peterborough, New Hampshire, had been "obliged," says Edes, "to quit his +people<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span> on account of his scandalous behaviour." He joined the +provincial army, and is said to have fought at Bunker Hill; but a week +later he joined the British with the usual misstatements of the American +intentions. In the middle of September, Morrison moved for permission to +use for his services the Brattle Street Church, "Dr. Cooper's +Meetinghouse," of which Timothy Newell was a member of the parish +committee. Newell, "with an emotion of resentment," roundly refused to +deliver the key to Morrison and his friends, and made his way into the +presence of the governor, where he stated that Morrison was a man of +infamous character. But the turncoat had respectable backers. Gage +required the key of Newell, and got it; and Morrison held at least one +service in the church. It was to this service, on the 17th of September, +that Edes was conducted, doubtless as a privilege, and heard a political +sermon on the ingratitude of the provincials. Edes remarked that the +Tories present affected to grin, but it was horribly, with a ghastly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span> +smile. The newspapers, however, called it an excellent discourse to a +genteel audience, and announced regular services. Morrison, still +contemptuously styled the deserter, figures again in Newell's diary in +November, when he informed against an old Dutch woman for trying to +carry out of town more money than her permit allowed. His profit on this +was ten dollars. When winter approached, the Brattle Street Church was +taken for use as a barracks, and Morrison got himself a place in the +commissary department, which perhaps was more to his liking than +sermonizing.<a name="FNanchor_135_135" id="FNanchor_135_135"></a><a href="#Footnote_135_135" class="fnanchor">[135]</a></p> + +<p>The interview with Newell gives us a glimpse of Gage in almost the last +of his troubles with the stiff-necked Bostonians. Less than a fortnight +later<a name="FNanchor_136_136" id="FNanchor_136_136"></a><a href="#Footnote_136_136" class="fnanchor">[136]</a> he received word from London that the king desired his +presence, in order to consult upon future operations. Probably the +unlucky commander saw<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span> in the message the end of his commission, but he +went as one expecting to return. As was customary, he was presented with +adulatory addresses, and on October 10 departed in state. His welcome in +England was not so stately. The king did give him an interview, and +listened attentively to his explanations, but it was popularly suggested +that the unsuccessful general be created Lord Lexington, Baron of Bunker +Hill. Gage's command was not restored to him, and he never again went on active service.</p> + +<p>One legacy indeed he left, perhaps the worst act of his administration +and the most far-reaching, although the personal blame does not lie with +Gage himself. On the 4th of October he sent out a small fleet of vessels +which accomplished more harm than good. It skirmished with privateers, +and eventually, reaching Falmouth, now Portland in Maine, but then in +Massachusetts territory, attempted to levy upon the town. Captain +Mowatt, the commander, picked a quarrel with the inhabitants, and +finding<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span> them unyielding, burnt their village. The blame lies between +Mowatt and Admiral Graves, both of whom had grudges against the town on +account of a previous incident. The ministry repudiated the act, but the +fact is undeniable that it was within the spirit of the instructions +given to a later expedition, to "destroy any towns" that would not +submit.<a name="FNanchor_137_137" id="FNanchor_137_137"></a><a href="#Footnote_137_137" class="fnanchor">[137]</a> The effect on the Americans, however, was very far from +teaching submission. The news of the burning of Falmouth did as much as +any other event to impress the provincials with the impossibility of an +agreement with the king.</p> + +<p>In Gage's place now stood Howe, on whom the British hopes centred. +According to the Tory Samuel Paine, Howe united the spirit of a Wolfe +with the genius of a Marlborough. Without prizing him quite so highly, +both the army and the administration looked to Howe for action and +results. It seemed to them that now at last something must happen.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span></p><p>But Howe, though with a willing army at his back, disciplined and well +equipped, did nothing. He strengthened the Charlestown lines and the +fort on Bunker Hill, he improved the defences at Boston Neck, and he +began various batteries on Beacon Hill and the shores of the Common. He +demolished a number of buildings in the north end of the town, in order +to make communication between his posts more direct. But except for the +little expedition across the Back Bay to Lechmere's Point, which netted +a few cows, Howe attempted no offensive operations. As already shown, +the regulars returned from Lechmere's Point as soon as the provincials +assembled in numbers, and no attempt was made to hold the little hill. +Other skirmishes there were from time to time, but these were +insignificant, and they were all.</p> + +<p>The fact is that Howe's opinion coincided exactly with those of Gage and +Burgoyne. The country was too strong to be forced, especially since the +Americans had spent a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span> summer on their entrenchments. There was no +profit in taking a rebel fort if the army and its situation were to be +weakened thereby. Howe looked with longing eyes toward New York, took up +Burgoyne's idea of a post in Rhode Island, and believed that if he had +twenty thousand men holding all three positions the rebels would be +beaten. But such an army was not forthcoming, and the question arose +whether he had best stay in Boston or go to New York. In reply to +questions from the ministry, Howe pointed out that he had not a large +enough fleet to convey himself, his stores, and the Tories, from the +place. It was therefore understood that more ships and men should be +supplied him in the spring, and that meanwhile he should go into winter quarters.</p> + +<p>This was done. Buildings in the town were arranged to accommodate the +troops, two of the churches being fitted up for this purpose. The tents +were struck, and the army made itself snug. Howe busied himself with +routine matters of the camp, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span> refused to budge. Though Washington +first fortified Cobble Hill in Somerville, the nearest he had yet come +to the British posts, and though after that he came a step nearer, +seizing Lechmere's Point, Howe simply fired from cannon, but made no +attempt to storm the works. The cannonading merely inured the Americans +to danger, and seeing that it did them good rather than harm, Howe +presently stopped it. Washington, perhaps not aware of the strength of +his own position, declared himself "unable, upon any principle +whatever," to account for Howe's inaction. He suspected it might be +intended to lull him into a false sense of security, but resolved to be +more vigilant than ever.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_128_128" id="Footnote_128_128"></a><a href="#FNanchor_128_128"><span class="label">[128]</span></a> This expression is ascribed to General Nathanael Greene.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_129_129" id="Footnote_129_129"></a><a href="#FNanchor_129_129"><span class="label">[129]</span></a> Fonblanque's "Burgoyne," 197-198.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_130_130" id="Footnote_130_130"></a><a href="#FNanchor_130_130"><span class="label">[130]</span></a> Leach's "Journal."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_131_131" id="Footnote_131_131"></a><a href="#FNanchor_131_131"><span class="label">[131]</span></a> William T. Miller, of Newport, R.I., to his wife Lydia. +Mass. Hist. and Gen. Register, 1855.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_132_132" id="Footnote_132_132"></a><a href="#FNanchor_132_132"><span class="label">[132]</span></a> Frothingham's "Siege," 230.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_133_133" id="Footnote_133_133"></a><a href="#FNanchor_133_133"><span class="label">[133]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, 279.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_134_134" id="Footnote_134_134"></a><a href="#FNanchor_134_134"><span class="label">[134]</span></a> This obscure diversion caused the Dorringtons to be +suspected of signalling at night to the rebels.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_135_135" id="Footnote_135_135"></a><a href="#FNanchor_135_135"><span class="label">[135]</span></a> Leach's and Edes' "Journals," N. E. Hist. and Gen. +Register, 1865; Newell's "Journal," Mass. Hist. Soc. Collections, i, +series iv; Frothingham's "Siege," 239; Sabine's "Loyalists."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_136_136" id="Footnote_136_136"></a><a href="#FNanchor_136_136"><span class="label">[136]</span></a> September 26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_137_137" id="Footnote_137_137"></a><a href="#FNanchor_137_137"><span class="label">[137]</span></a> Instructions for Clinton's expedition to the southward. +Frothingham's "Siege," 292.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h3>WASHINGTON'S DIFFICULTIES</h3> + +<p>The situation at Boston in the fall of 1775 presents an interesting +comparison: two generals of opposing armies, each ready to welcome an +attack, but each unable to deliver one. The difference between the two, +and the fact which determined the outcome, was in the natures of the two +men. Howe, from a certain sluggishness of disposition, was content to +sit tight, and wait until the government at home should send him his +relief. Though at each move his enemy came nearer, Howe still appeared +to believe that Dorchester was safe from seizure, and was content so to +believe. But Washington was not satisfied to be still. His nature urged +him to action, and though he knew himself too weak for an assault, he +constantly schemed and worked to put his army into condition to strike.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span></p><p>In some ways his organization was already complete. He had under him +many of the men who were to serve him through the war. To be sure, he +had Charles Lee, "the worst present that could be made to any army;" but +Lee's part in the siege was slight, for Washington frequently employed +him for distant undertakings. Gates was still present also, but in a +subordinate capacity. And another of those who, before the war was over, +did their best to wreck the American cause, was present for a while in +the person of Benedict Arnold, already distinguished by his share in the +taking of Ticonderoga. Early in September, however, Arnold was sent on +his fruitless mission against Quebec.</p> + +<p>But besides these men, not one of whom had as yet proved his weakness, +Washington had already at his back some of the best soldiers whom the +war produced. Among the higher officers were Putnam, Thomas, Sullivan, +Heath, and more particularly Greene. Of lower grade were Stark, Morgan, +Prescott, and, not yet well known, Knox, the Boston<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span> bookseller whom we +have seen endeavoring to prevent the Massacre, who had studied tactics +in his own volumes and at the manœuvres of the regulars, and who had +escaped from Boston just before the 17th of June. There were yet others +who were destined to distinguish themselves, and Washington knew that he +had, among his officers, as courageous and intelligent soldiers as were +to be found anywhere.</p> + +<p>Yet they were but a nucleus, while his supplies remained few and poor, +and the organization of the army unsatisfactory. As the winter +approached, Washington looked forward uneasily to the expiration of the +terms of enlistment of his troops. Some would lapse in December, the +rest at the first of January. His regiments were not uniform in size, +and they retained too much of the provincial jealousy which had already +troubled him, and which had perhaps lost Bunker Hill. It was very +evident to him that an entirely new army should be organized.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span></p><p>It was therefore welcome to him that Congress should send a committee +to help him in the matter of reorganization. On October 18 the +committee, with Franklin at its head, met with Washington, his staff, +and delegates from the four colonies which until now had, practically +alone, been prosecuting the siege. The subject had been already +discussed by the council of war, and the little convention was made +acquainted with the discrepancies in the organizations of the different +regiments, and the needs of the army. It was decided to reduce the +number of regiments from thirty-eight to twenty-six. This meant not so +much to reduce the number of men as the number of officers. The term of +reënlistment was to be one year, and the delegates assured Washington +that he could count on twenty thousand men from Massachusetts, eight +thousand from Connecticut, three thousand from New Hampshire, and +fifteen hundred from Rhode Island. The regiments were to be uniform in +size, consisting of eight companies each; besides<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span> regular infantry, +there were to be riflemen and artillery. A system for clothing and +supplying the army was agreed upon. When the little convention had +broken up, the Committee from Congress remained for a few days, revising +the articles of war, considering the disposition of naval prizes, and +discussing a number of minor topics. Upon the committee's return to +Philadelphia, its actions were ratified by Congress.<a name="FNanchor_138_138" id="FNanchor_138_138"></a><a href="#Footnote_138_138" class="fnanchor">[138]</a></p> + +<p>Washington then set himself with new assurance to his task. Thanks to +the convention, he felt that he had a united country at his back, and +that much had been done to dissipate colonial jealousies. These are +surprising to us of to-day: one is astonished to find Greene seriously +assuring "the gentlemen from the southward" that the four New England +colonies, as soon as they had conquered King George, would not turn +their arms against the South. Yet had there been any such intention, the +New Englanders<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span> already had their hands full with the British, and +Washington was by no means out of the woods. On paper he had an +excellent organization; but in fact, everything was still to be done.</p> + +<p>With the approach of winter, the first task was to house his army. This +was gradually accomplished, and the regiments went into their winter +quarters. For a time, however, there was a scarcity of food and fuel. +This was due, not to a lack of either, but to the weakness in the system +of providing for them. For some weeks there was distress and discontent; +at times we are told that the troops ate their provision raw, and most +of the orchards and shade trees within the camp were cut down for fuel. +Washington vigorously represented the state of the case to the +Massachusetts congress; he gave permission to cut wood in private +wood-lots, promising payment; and finally the need was met. The towns +sent generous supplies of wood to the camp, rations were provided in +plenty, and the only period of hardship which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span> the Americans endured was +safely passed before the winter set in.</p> + +<p>There was not much for the army to do when once the barracks were built +and new quarters taken. The work of fortifying Lechmere's Point went on +slowly, on account of the frost; it was not until the end of February +that the redoubt was completed, and its guns mounted. But the troops +were drilled, and were kept busy in perfecting the fortifications. +Washington seized every chance to improve his defences, as we see him +when planning new redoubts to guard against the possibility of a sortie +from the Neck.<a name="FNanchor_139_139" id="FNanchor_139_139"></a><a href="#Footnote_139_139" class="fnanchor">[139]</a></p> + +<p>The news of the burning of Falmouth reached Washington on the 24th of +October, and greatly roused his indignation. As it was expected that the +British fleet might next descend upon Portsmouth, he sent General +Sullivan thither, with orders to put the harbor in a state of defence, +and at all events to save the small store of powder which had been +brought into that place. This was a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span> capture by the little navy. +Mowatt's fleet, however, made no attempt upon Portsmouth, and presently +returned to Boston. Feeling temporarily secure against further +depredations upon the coast, Washington put his whole energy into the +reorganization of his army.</p> + +<p>The period from the end of November until the early part of February was +one of the hardest in Washington's career. His difficulties were those +which we have seen already, want of powder and want of arms, but to them +was added the great fear of a lack of men. As to powder, its supply +still fluctuated, small quantities coming in irregularly, and being +steadily used in equally niggardly amounts, or slowly spoiling in the +soldiers' pouches. Muskets were still scanty, and Washington saw no hope +except in buying those of his soldiers whose terms were about to expire, +or in sending agents through the neighboring towns to secure what they +could find. There was a corresponding lack of cannon, bayonets, flints, +and small appurtenances.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span></p><p>But weaknesses of this kind were nothing as compared with the +threatened weakness in men. Washington was deeply disappointed at his +failure to recruit his newly planned army. Although the delegates of the +provinces had promised him full regiments, the new recruiting system +seemed to fail almost entirely. The general presently perceived several +distinct factors that were working against its success.</p> + +<p>In the first place, the new plan provided for fewer officers in the new +army. Many of the provincial regiments, especially those of +Massachusetts, had been over-officered, and now, when the number of +regiments was less by twelve, it was evident that scores of officers +must either accept lower rank or leave the army entirely. It was found +that most of those who could not obtain equal rank were unwilling to +remain, and that they were influencing their men to leave the army with them.</p> + +<p>Besides this, provincial jealousies worked strongly in this matter of +officers. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span>Massachusetts officers who had been forced out of service +might have found places in the Connecticut regiments, but the soldiers +of the other colony would have none of them. For each company and each +platoon held firmly to the old idea that it must be consulted concerning +its officers, and no private would consent to be commanded by a man from +another colony. This alone made plentiful trouble.</p> + +<p>Finally the men themselves had ideas of their own as to whether they +cared to enlist. To begin with, the shrewd among them reckoned that if +they only held out long enough they might secure bounties for +reënlisting. Some were finicky as to their officers, and waited until +they should be satisfied. And most of them perceived that as a reward +for patriotism they might at least receive furloughs, and stood out for them.</p> + +<p>The details of the work of enlisting were very obscure and complicated. +It was found that officers were endeavoring to recruit their own +companies, and in their zeal had enrolled men who were already +registered elsewhere.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</a></span> Outsiders, anxious for commissions, were +similarly forming companies, and presenting them for acceptance. +Washington steadily refused to receive such unauthorized organizations. +And finally it was suspected that many men who had given in their names +had no intention of serving.</p> + +<p>What would make their defection more certain was the irregularity of +pay. Congress had appropriated sums of money, but the currency reached +Washington slowly. It was very singular, he complained, that the signers +of the scrip could not keep pace with his needs. Further, Congress had a +very imperfect idea of the magnitude of his legitimate needs; the +appropriations were niggardly. As the new year approached, when it was +important that the men should be paid, and receive assurance of further +pay, Washington wrote to urge more remittances, that the soldiers might be satisfied.</p> + +<p>Even the crews of the little navy gave Washington no peace. His "plague, +trouble, and vexation" with them he was unable to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</a></span> express; he believed +that there was not on earth a more disorderly set. One crew deserted, +and its vessel was docked.</p> + +<p>To be sure, there were moments of satisfaction in these dreary weeks of +trial. Certain of the rejected officers rose above their +disappointments. One of these was Colonel Whitcomb, who was not given a +regiment in the new establishment. At this his men became so +dissatisfied that they decided not to enlist at all. Colonel Whitcomb, +in order to persuade them to remain, announced his willingness to enlist +as a private. The situation was saved by Colonel Jonathan Brewer, who +offered his command to Colonel Whitcomb. Washington, in a general order, +thanked both of the officers. Brewer was made Barrack-Master, "until +something better worth his acceptance can be provided."<a name="FNanchor_140_140" id="FNanchor_140_140"></a><a href="#Footnote_140_140" class="fnanchor">[140]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</a></span></p><p>Other relief was provided by captures of British vessels. Of great +importance to both armies was the capture of the <i>Nancy</i>, an ordnance +brig with a complete cargo of military supplies—saving only powder. So +valuable did Washington consider the capture that he at once sent four +companies to the spot where the stores were landed, impressed teams for +transportation, and called out the neighboring militia lest Howe should +make an effort to recover the royal property. The British were on their +part greatly disgusted at the loss of the brig, not merely as weakening +them, but also as strengthening the enemy. The chief prize on the ship +was a thirteen-inch brass mortar, which on its arrival in camp was +greeted with acclamation, and by means of a bottle of rum was solemnly +christened the Congress.</p> + +<p>It was about this time that Washington had the satisfaction of being +joined by his wife. There had been a suggestion that her residence on +the Potomac was not safe, but even before the naval raids Washington +had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</a></span> begun to suggest her joining him. She arrived on the 11th of +December, and resided until the end of the siege with him at his +headquarters in the old house still standing on Brattle Street, +Cambridge. The house has had an interesting history, having been built +by the Tory Vassalls, occupied by the Marblehead regiment, by +Washington, by Dr. Andrew Craigie, surgeon at Bunker Hill, by Jared +Sparks, Edward Everett, Noah Webster, and by the poet Longfellow, whose +family still owns it. The quarters were for Washington central and +pleasant; they gave him his last taste of home life for years.</p> + +<div class="center"><a name="illus13.jpg" id="illus13.jpg"></a><img src="images/illus13.jpg" width='700' height='569' alt="Washington's Headquarters" /></div> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Washington's Headquarters</span></h4> + +<p>Yet we are not to imagine him at any time free of difficulties. With +December began his troubles with the Connecticut troops, whose +enlistment had expired. In spite of previous promises to remain until +their places were filled, and against orders to leave their weapons, +many of the Connecticut men tried to slip away, guns and all. Washington +frequently speaks of them in his letters of the first half of December. +In securing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</a></span> their return he was well aided by the officers, and by the +aged but still energetic Governor Trumbull, who heard of the actions of +his men with "grief, surprise, and indignation." Trumbull called the +assembly of Connecticut together to consider the situation, but action +was forestalled by the people of the different towns. The hint that the +soldiers had best return voluntarily, lest they be sent back with a +feathered adornment that nature had not provided, was sufficient to +hurry most of them back to their service.</p> + +<p>No sooner had this matter been smoothed over, than Washington had to +meet the general situation, when on the first of January most of the +enlistments would expire. For some weeks he had been anxiously watching +the returns of the enlistments, and the figures frequently plunged him +into depression. On the 28th of November, finding that but thirty-five +hundred men had enlisted, he wrote: "Such a dearth of public spirit, +such stock-jobbing, and such fertility in all the low arts to obtain +advantages of one kind<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</a></span> or another, in this great change of military +arrangement, I never saw before, and pray God's mercy I may never be +witness to again." A week later he found himself under obligations to +give furlough to fifteen hundred men a week, in order to satisfy them. +To fill their places and those of the Connecticut troops, he called on +Massachusetts and New Hampshire for five thousand militia. By the middle +of December scarcely six thousand men had enlisted, and on Christmas Day +only eight thousand five hundred. On New Year's Day his army, which was +to have been at least twenty thousand men, was not quite half that number.</p> + +<p>Under such circumstances many a weaker man would have thrown up his +office or abandoned his post. Washington stuck to his task. If Howe +would but remain inactive, the laggard country would in time retrieve +itself. As a matter of fact, many of the soldiers, after a brief period +of liberty, returned of their own accord to the standard. We find at +least one case in the diary of David How,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</a></span> which, in addition to +revealing his actions, gives a glimpse of the camp at the end of the +year, when many of the men were going away, and the others were joining +their new regiments.</p> + +<p>"This Day," writes How on the 30th of December, "we paraded and had our +guns took from us By the Major to prise them.</p> + +<p>"31. This Day we have been In an uprore about packun our Things up In +order to go home a Monday morning as Soon as we Can.</p> + +<p>"Jan 1. We have ben all Day a pecking up our Things For to go home.</p> + +<p>"2d we all Left Cambridg this morning I went to mr. Granger and staid +all night.</p> + +<p>"3d I went to methuen.</p> + +<p>"5d I went to Haver hill to by some Leather for Bretches.</p> + +<p>"6 day I come to Andover and Staid at Mr. osgoods.</p> + +<p>"7 day I come to Cambridge about Six a Clock at Night.</p> + +<p>"Jany the 8 1776 This Day I Began with Mr. Watson....</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</a></span></p><p>"Jan 14.<a name="FNanchor_141_141" id="FNanchor_141_141"></a><a href="#Footnote_141_141" class="fnanchor">[141]</a> This Day I wint to Cobble Hill & to Litchmor point and to +prospeck hill & So Home again. Nothing new.</p> + +<p>"22. I listed with Leut David Chandler in Coln Sergant Regment."</p> + +<p>And so David How, veteran of Bunker Hill, and doubtless many other young +men, found the lure of the camp, and let us say the chance to serve the +country, too much to withstand. Freedom to earn their own wages, and to +stroll about the fortifications on Sundays, were not to be measured +against the romance of soldiering and the hope of battle.</p> + +<p>This same New Year's Day, 1776, occurred an event of importance in the +hoisting of the flag with the thirteen stripes. Previously the colonies +had used different devices, in the South a rattlesnake flag with the +motto, "Don't tread on me," and for the Connecticut troops the colony +arms and the motto <i>Qui transtulit sustinet</i>, "which we construe thus: +'God, who transplanted us hither, will <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</a></span>support us.'"<a name="FNanchor_142_142" id="FNanchor_142_142"></a><a href="#Footnote_142_142" class="fnanchor">[142]</a> Massachusetts +had used the pinetree flag and the motto "Appeal to Heaven," and the +little navy had a sign by which its ships were known to each other, "the +ensign up to the main topping-lift." Now for the first time the thirteen +stripes with the British crosses in the corner were raised, amid much enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>Curiously, this coincided with the coming of the king's recent speech in +Parliament, and a strange interpretation was put upon the appearance of +the new flag. The British had caused to be sent to the American lines +many copies of the speech, expecting that its expression of the king's +determination to prosecute the war, even by the use of foreign troops, +would bring the rebels to their knees. The cheering in the American +camp, all the louder on account of the sentiments of his gracious +majesty, and the appearance of the new flag, combined to make the +British suppose that the provincials were weakening. "By this time," +wrote Washington grimly on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</a></span> the 4th, "I presume they begin to think it +strange, that we have not made a formal surrender of our lines."</p> + +<p>It was well that he could jest, however sternly, for his situation was +newly complicated by the permission of Congress to attack Boston +whenever he might think expedient, "notwithstanding the town and +property in it may be destroyed." Such permission was equivalent to a +broad hint, and there were not lacking suggestions from many obscure +quarters that the country would be more content if its general should +relieve it of the presence of the British army. Of "chimney corner +heroes" Washington had a genuine contempt, but the resolve of Congress +was another matter, especially when it came through the hands of John +Hancock. He was the largest property-owner in the town, and +prospectively the greatest sufferer by its destruction, yet he +cheerfully wrote, "May God crown your attempt with success!"</p> + +<p>Long before now, had Washington been able, he would have attempted to +storm the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</a></span> town. But as often as he called a council of war to consider +the matter, so often did his generals advise against the attempt. The +Americans were doubtful, and Lee, affecting to mistrust the temper of +the troops, would not advise the venture. As to burning the town by +throwing carcasses<a name="FNanchor_143_143" id="FNanchor_143_143"></a><a href="#Footnote_143_143" class="fnanchor">[143]</a> into it, Lee told the others that the town could +not be set on fire by such means. Washington looked for a chance to +assault the town by crossing on the ice, but for a long time the Back +Bay did not freeze, and when at last it did, he had neither men nor +powder. Such then was his situation when he answered the letter of +Hancock.<a name="FNanchor_144_144" id="FNanchor_144_144"></a><a href="#Footnote_144_144" class="fnanchor">[144]</a> He begged Congress to consider his situation if, in spite +of their wishes, he did not act. And that they should clearly +understand, he wrote these words:—</p> + +<p>"It is not in the pages of history, perhaps,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</a></span> to furnish a case like +ours. To maintain a post within musket shot of the enemy, for six months +together, without [missing words] and at the same time to disband one +army, and recruit another, within that distance of twenty-odd British +regiments, is more, probably, than was ever attempted."</p> + +<p>The significant omission in this passage is the word "powder." At +another time, when doubtful of the safety of his letter, he used the +paraphrase, "what we greatly need." He knew that his correspondents +would supply the omission and interpret the reference. But once at +least, on the 14th of January, when writing to Joseph Reed, formerly his +aide, to whom at this period he seems to have written more freely than +to any one else, Washington gave a complete account of his situation +when almost at its worst, and ended with an explanation of his state of +mind. Conditions are so completely summarized, and his thoughts are so +frankly given, that the paragraphs had best be given entire.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</a></span></p><p>"Our enlistments are at a stand; the fears I ever entertained are +realized; that is, the <i>discontented officers</i> (for I do not know how +else to account for it) have thrown such difficulties or +stumbling-blocks in the way of recruiting, that I no longer entertain a +hope of completing the army by voluntary enlistments, and I see no move +or likelihood to do it by other means. In the last two weeks we have +enlisted but about a thousand men; whereas I was confidently led to +believe, by all the officers I conversed with, that we should by this +time have had the regiments nearly completed. Our total number upon +paper amounts to about ten thousand five hundred; but as a large portion +of these are returned <i>not joined</i>, I never expect to receive them, as +an ineffectual order has once issued to call them in. Another is now +gone forth, peremptorily requiring all officers under pain of being +cashiered, and recruits of being treated as deserters, to join their +respective regiments by the 1st day of next month, that I may know my +real strength; but if<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</a></span> my fears are not imaginary, I shall have a +dreadful account of the advanced month's pay.<a name="FNanchor_145_145" id="FNanchor_145_145"></a><a href="#Footnote_145_145" class="fnanchor">[145]</a> In consequence of the +assurances given, and my expectation of having at least men enough to +defend our lines, to which may be added my unwillingness to burthen the +cause with unnecessary expense, no relief of militia has been ordered +in, to supply the places of those, who are released from their +engagements tomorrow, and as to whom, though many have promised to +continue out the month, there is no security for their stay.</p> + +<p>"Thus I am situated with respect to men. With regard to arms I am yet +worse off. Before the dissolution of the old army, I issued an order +directing three judicious men of each brigade to attend, review, and +appraise the good arms of every regiment; and finding a very great +unwillingness in the men to part with their arms, at the same time not +having it in my power to pay them for the months of November and +December,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[Pg 385]</a></span> I threatened severely, that every soldier, who should carry +away his firelock without leave, should never receive pay for those +months; yet so many have been carried off, partly by stealth, but +chiefly as condemned, that we have not at this time one hundred guns in +the stores, of all that have been taken in the prize ship and from the +soldiery, notwithstanding our regiments are not half complete. At the +same time I am told, and believe it, that to restrain the enlistment to +men with arms, you will get but few of the former, and still fewer of +the latter which would be good for anything.</p> + +<p>"How to get furnished I know not. I have applied to this and the +neighboring colonies, but with what success time only can tell. The +reflection of my situation, and that of this army, produces many an +unhappy hour when all around me are wrapped in sleep. Few people know +the predicament we are in, on a thousand accounts; fewer still will +believe, if any disaster happens to these lines, from what cause it +flows. I have often<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[Pg 386]</a></span> thought how much happier I should have been, if, +instead of accepting the command under such circumstances, I had taken +my musket on my shoulder and entered the ranks, or, if I could have +justified the measure to posterity and my own conscience, had retired to +the back country, and lived in a wigwam. If I shall be able to rise +superior to these and many other difficulties, I shall most religiously +believe, that the finger of Providence is in it, to blind the eyes of +our enemies; for surely if we get well through this month, it must be +for want of their knowing the difficulties we labor under.</p> + +<p>"Could I have foreseen the difficulties, which have come upon us; could +I have known, that such a backwardness would have been discovered among +the old soldiers to the service, all the generals on earth should not +have convinced me of the propriety of delaying an attack upon Boston +till this time."<a name="FNanchor_146_146" id="FNanchor_146_146"></a><a href="#Footnote_146_146" class="fnanchor">[146]</a></p> + +<p>One more blow Washington was to receive,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[Pg 387]</a></span> in the news of the failure of +the expedition against Quebec. This came to him on the 17th of January. +But from about that time, though very slowly, the prospect began to +brighten. His army strengthened, money was loaned him by Massachusetts, +and though early in February he reported that he had in camp two +thousand men without guns, even muskets were eventually provided. +Moreover, cannon were now supplied him, through the exertions of Henry +Knox. Washington had detached him in November to go to Ticonderoga and +Crown Point, and provide means for bringing the captured cannon to camp. +The general had even hoped that more might be had from Quebec, but that +expectation was now gone. Knox, in the face of many difficulties, +fulfilled his mission. On December 17 he wrote from Lake George that he +had got the cannon as far as that point, and with forty-two "exceedingly +strong sleds" and eighty yoke of oxen expected to make the journey to +Springfield, whence fresh cattle would bring him to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[Pg 388]</a></span> Cambridge. The +artillery, in this humble manner, at last arrived, howitzers, mortars, +and cannon, fifty-five pieces of iron or brass. With what had been +captured elsewhere the supply was ample, and the guns, after a delay at +Framingham, were mounted at the fortifications, or reserved for the +attempt to take Dorchester. Powder also had slowly come in faster than +it was used or could spoil, and Washington found himself almost ready to act.</p> + +<p>When at last he could draw a long breath, with the feeling that the +worst of the situation was over, he gave, in letters to Joseph Reed and +John Hancock, his opinion of his army as it then was, and of the means +to make it better. Placed behind any kind of shelter, his provincials +would give a good account of themselves. But they could not yet be +depended on to make an assault in the open field. For this they would +have to receive severer training, and in order to acquaint them with +their proper duties a longer term of service was necessary. Even now, at +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[Pg 389]</a></span> beginning of another year of service, the men had the officers too +much in their power, for indulgence was necessary in order to make them +enlist again. He was therefore firmly of the opinion that his present +army, and all new recruits, should be enlisted "for and during the war." +Thus Washington, looking beyond his still uncompleted task, like Lincoln +many years later, perceived the only means to final success.</p> + +<p>But with the means which he had at hand he was now impatient to act. It +was almost March, and at any time Howe might receive the reinforcements +which would enable him to take the offensive. Washington prepared to +fortify Dorchester as soon as the state of the ground would permit of +digging, and in order to lessen the work he prepared fascines—which +were bundles of sticks—and chandeliers or frameworks to hold the +bundles in place in order to serve as the body of an embankment. +Remembering how at Bunker Hill the regulars had been led to suppose that +the troops at the rail fence,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[Pg 390]</a></span> protected by nothing except the rails and +hay, were behind an embankment, he collected ropes of hay to use if +necessary for the same purpose, but also to bind the wheels of his carts +that they might make no noise. Carts he collected to the number of three +hundred. In the Charles River he prepared boats enough to carry +twenty-eight hundred men. Two floating batteries were also made ready +there; a third had earlier been destroyed by the bursting of its cannon +when firing at the camp on the Common. Washington was about to strike, +with the suddenness which characterized him, but also with the thorough readiness.</p> + +<p>For his camp, even if temporarily, was now full. Early in February came +in ten regiments of militia, summoned on service until the first of +April. They manifested, he wrote with satisfaction, the greatest +alertness, and the determination of men engaged in the cause of freedom. +And on the first of March he called into camp the militia of the +neighboring towns, who were to report at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[Pg 391]</a></span> Roxbury fully equipped for +three days' service. To these men was read his general order, preparing +their minds for action. They were forbidden to play at cards or other +games of chance, and advised to ponder the importance of the cause in +which they were enlisted. "But it may not be amiss for the troops to +know," he added, "that if any man in action shall presume to skulk, or +hide himself, or retreat from the enemy without the orders of his +commanding officer, he will be instantly shot down." And with this +exhortation and warning Washington concluded his preparations.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_138_138" id="Footnote_138_138"></a><a href="#FNanchor_138_138"><span class="label">[138]</span></a> See the "Writings of Washington," iii, 123-124, note.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_139_139" id="Footnote_139_139"></a><a href="#FNanchor_139_139"><span class="label">[139]</span></a> See letter to Ward, "Writings," iii, 161.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_140_140" id="Footnote_140_140"></a><a href="#FNanchor_140_140"><span class="label">[140]</span></a> See the "Writings of Washington," iii, 161, note. The +facts concerning Washington's difficulties with enlisting are taken +chiefly from this volume, where they can best be studied.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_141_141" id="Footnote_141_141"></a><a href="#FNanchor_141_141"><span class="label">[141]</span></a> This was a Sunday.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_142_142" id="Footnote_142_142"></a><a href="#FNanchor_142_142"><span class="label">[142]</span></a> Frothingham's "Siege," 104.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_143_143" id="Footnote_143_143"></a><a href="#FNanchor_143_143"><span class="label">[143]</span></a> Carcasses were hollow shells with several openings. They +were filled with combustibles, and when thrown into a town were intended +to set fire to buildings.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_144_144" id="Footnote_144_144"></a><a href="#FNanchor_144_144"><span class="label">[144]</span></a> Washington's communications to Congress were addressed to +Hancock, as its President.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_145_145" id="Footnote_145_145"></a><a href="#FNanchor_145_145"><span class="label">[145]</span></a> He had paid in advance all who had enlisted.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_146_146" id="Footnote_146_146"></a><a href="#FNanchor_146_146"><span class="label">[146]</span></a> "Writings of Washington," iii, 238-241.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[Pg 392]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h3>THE WINTER IN BOSTON</h3> + +<p>When the British army went into winter quarters it was nearly at the end +of its difficulties concerning food. Supplies from England had been very +meagre, and the occasional raids had provided poorly for the wants of +the town. But since October matters had improved, largely because of the +criticism of the English Whigs in Parliament. These pointed out the +inactivity of the troops, the humiliation of the situation, the sickness +and want in Boston. In order that nothing should be left undone to +remedy the last, the perplexed ministry spent money lavishly to +provision its garrison. Five thousand oxen, fourteen thousand sheep, +with a great number of hogs, were purchased, and shipped alive. +Vegetables, preserved by a new process, were bought in quantities; wheat +and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[Pg 393]</a></span> flour were collected; wood, coal, hay, and other fodder, with beer, +porter, rum, Geneva, and the more innocent vinegar, were generously +provided. To be sure, the commissions on all these purchases provided +fortunes for the relatives of those in office, and the ship-owners found +excuses for setting sail as late as possible, in order to increase the +hire of their craft. As a result, much of the vast expense—some six +hundred thousand pounds for provisions alone—was wasted. Contrary gales +detained the ships; the live stock died by wholesale, and was thrown +overboard; the vegetables spoiled; and numbers of the ships were lost +outright. Others, arriving without convoy at the American coast, were +captured by the watchful privateers. But of such vast supplies enough +reached Boston to relieve the worst distresses of the inhabitants. +Though the poorer of the Whigs had either to sign humiliating +declarations in order to share in the rations of the troops, or else to +continue on meagre fare, there was enough in the general market for the +well-to-do<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[Pg 394]</a></span> among them to supply themselves. John Andrews, for instance, +though he lived at the rate of six or seven hundred sterling a year, +after October ate scarcely three meals of salt meat, "for I was +determined to eat fresh provissions, while it was to be got, let it cost what it would."</p> + +<p>There was, however, for months a great shortage of fuel. As the winter +set in early, and with severity, large quantities were needed, and there +was little on hand. The troops, of their own initiative, had already, +even in the summer, begun to make depredations on private property, +stealing gates and breaking up fences. This the commanders endeavored to +stop, but took the hint and did the same by official condemnation. As so +many of the inhabitants had left the town, the abandoned houses were +torn down for fuel. When the winter came, the troops again began on +their own account to steal wood. Howe threatened to hang the next man +caught in the act, but still was forced to follow the example.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[Pg 395]</a></span></p><p>In choosing buildings for destruction, it was very natural to select +Whig property. Perhaps the harshest assault on provincial sentiment had +been made in summer, when during August Liberty Tree was felled. The +Whigs felt very indignant, but took a peculiar pleasure in the +reflection that during the operation a soldier had been accidentally +killed. In the various poems written on the occasion the wretch's soul +was unanimously consigned to Hades. It was besides remarked that the +genuine tree of liberty, of which this had been but a symbol, had now +grown so great as to overshadow the continent.</p> + +<p>Besides Liberty Tree, the property of leading Whigs suffered, "My house +and barn," writes Newell the selectman, on the 16th of November, "pulled +down by order of General Robinson." Leach the schoolmaster, whose +imprisonment had made him a marked man, had a hard fight to save his +property. On Christmas Day he found a party of soldiers destroying his +wharf, which had been allotted, as was the custom, to one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[Pg 396]</a></span> of the +regiments, in this case the light dragoons. In spite of his efforts +Leach was not able to stop this destruction, as evidently in the present +state of the town there was no use for wharves. But when his schoolhouse +was threatened he carried the matter to headquarters. Howe said Leach +had corresponded with the people without. "I denied the charge.... +Finally I told him, as an Englishman, and a subject of the King's, I +claimed protection of my property; and if my House was pulled down, I +would follow him to England, or to China, for satisfaction. I expected +he would get angry, and order me under Guard, or else to Gaol again. +However, in General he behaved kindly." Howe referred him to his +subordinates, who delayed giving orders until the soldiers had already +broken into the schoolhouse. With much resolution Leach got them from +the house and stood on guard at the door until by referring to Howe the +schoolhouse was saved. But Leach had meanwhile lost "valuable Books and +Instruments, Drawings, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[Pg 397]</a></span>Colours, Brushes, several curious Optick +Glasses, and sundry things of Value that I brought from India and China, +that I cannot replace for money."<a name="FNanchor_147_147" id="FNanchor_147_147"></a><a href="#Footnote_147_147" class="fnanchor">[147]</a></p> + +<p>At this time was pulled down the Old North Church, the steeple of the +West Church, and John Winthrop's house, one of the oldest landmarks in +the town. Over in Charlestown the troops used for fuel the deserted +houses that had not been consumed on the 17th of June. At one time they +were demolishing a mill near the American lines, but the provincials +drove them away and presently burnt the mill. At another time, by a +similar endeavor to lessen the British supply of fuel, there was brought +about one of the more amusing incidents of the siege.</p> + +<p>The officers in Boston, having little active work to do, were +endeavoring to forget the irksomeness and the humiliation of their +situation. Through no fault of their own the position was a hard one; +they had boasted, and were not allowed to make good their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[Pg 398]</a></span> vainglory; +they had despised their adversaries, and were cooped up in a provincial +town. In letters home they uneasily endeavored to explain their +inaction; by return mail they learned what the wits of London had to say +of both them and the country. "Mrs. Brittania," remarked Horace Walpole, +"orders her Senate to proclaim America a continent of cowards, and vote +it should be starved, unless it would drink tea with her. She sends her +only army to be besieged in one of her towns, and half her fleet to +besiege the <i>terra firma</i>; but orders her army to do nothing, in hopes +that the American Senate in Philadelphia will be so frightened at the +British army being besieged in Boston that it will sue for peace." There +was sting in these words, but no remedy for the smart.</p> + +<p>In order to forget such flings, and to banish the consideration of +crowded quarters, irregular rations (for there still were periods of +lean supply), slow pay, and inaction, the officers tried to kill time. +The cavalry regiments searched for a means of exercising their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[Pg 399]</a></span> horses, +and Burgoyne is credited with the solution of their problem. Newell +recorded in his journal how his church, after being profaned by +Morrison, was examined by the colonel of the light horse, to see if the +building was available for a riding-school. "But when it was considered +that the Pillars must be taken away, which would bring down the roof, +they altered their mind—so that the Pillars saved us."</p> + +<p>A more notable building had to suffer instead. The Old South was taken +for the purpose. The furnishings were torn out, and Deacon Hubbard's +carved pew was carted away to be used as a hog-sty. The dismantled +church was transformed into a riding-ring, with tanbark on the floor, +and a leaping-bar. One of the galleries was fitted up for a social +meeting-place; the remainder were used for spectators, for whose comfort +was put in a stove into which disappeared for kindling many of the books +and manuscripts stored in the building. For the rest of the siege the +Old South, once so formidable, was a centre of Tory fashion.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[Pg 400]</a></span></p><p>Burgoyne was credited, also, with the design of putting an almost +equally sacred edifice to a purpose still more horrifying to the good +Calvinists of Boston. Faneuil Hall, the cradle of liberty, was made a +theatre. Various plays were performed, and the amateurs were even so +ambitious as to attempt the tragedies of <i>Zara</i> and <i>Tamerlane</i>. For the +latter performance Burgoyne wrote a prologue and epilogue, which were +spoken by Lord Rawdon, who had distinguished himself at Bunker Hill, and +"a young lady ten years old." But the great event of the season was to +be the production of a farce called the <i>Blockade of Boston</i>. It was +this performance which the Americans interrupted, to the perennial +satisfaction of all students of local history.</p> + +<p>The play was to be performed on a January night. The <i>Busy Body</i> had +just been given, and the curtain rose on the farce, presenting a view of +the American camp, and the figure of Washington absurdly burlesqued in +uniform, wig, and rusty sword. At this moment a sergeant suddenly +appeared on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[Pg 401]</a></span> the stage, calling out, "The Yankees are attacking our +works on Bunker's Hill!" Conceiving this spirited action a part of the +play, the audience began to applaud. But the sergeant vigorously +repeated his statement, the sounds of distant cannonading were heard, +and an aide called out, "Officers, to your posts!" The officers +responded in all haste, and the performance was over for the evening. +The reason for this interruption was that Washington had despatched a +party to burn some of the houses still standing in Charlestown. The +success of the attempt had caused the cannonading, and the consequent +interruption of the play. No historian of the siege has failed to remark +that the Whig ladies had the laugh of their Tory sisters, forced to +return without their escorts.</p> + +<p>A month before this incident, on the 5th of December, Burgoyne had +sailed for home, recalled largely at his own instance, but already under +consideration for the disastrous expedition from Canada. He did not +return<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[Pg 402]</a></span> to Boston until 1777, when he came as a prisoner. It was when +entering the town that he learned that the townspeople had long memories +for his real or ascribed indignity to the Old South, for when he +remarked to a friend upon the Province House, the headquarters during +the siege, a voice from the crowd reminded him that the riding-school +was close at hand. Since on the same occasion an old lady loudly +beseeched her neighbors to "give the general elbow-room," Boston may be +said to have taken its mild revenge on him.</p> + +<p>Theatrical performances, balls, and parties were the amusements of the +officers at this period of the siege, and persons of fashion doubtless +were pleasantly situated. It was not so comfortable for the troops and +their dependents, as we have already seen. The lack of fuel and +consequent depredations on property led to plundering of a different +kind, and petty thievery, which Howe put down with a stern hand. Heavy +floggings were meted out to delinquents, and a wife of one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[Pg 403]</a></span> of the +privates was even sentenced to public whipping for receiving stolen +goods. While there were no true horrors at this siege, there was thus +much roughness of conduct among the soldiery, and of this the Whigs were +sure to be the victims. With the example of Leach and Lovell before +their eyes, the wiser among the provincials spoke cannily and walked +softly, and attracted as little attention as possible. But among the +poorer class there was much distress for lack of food and fuel, for even +when the troops had plenty, it was difficult for the patriots to buy.</p> + +<p>With their strength somewhat depleted, it was not to be wondered at that +the poorer class was visited by smallpox. The epidemic was a mild one, +and few persons died, but the visitation created great uneasiness. To +lessen his burden, during the winter Howe sent out several companies of +the poorer folk from the town landing them at Point Shirley, with the +certainty that the Americans would care for them. But his action called +down much reproach, and he was accused of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[Pg 404]</a></span>sending out persons with the +smallpox, in order to infect the besieging army. It was even charged +that he had purposely inoculated some of the evicted. This, of course, +is not to be believed; but it is curious to find the British at last +taking satisfaction in the epidemic, since it would prevent Washington from attacking.</p> + +<p>Gradually a feeling of security came over the besieged town. Admiral +Graves had been recalled, and Shuldham took his place. The lighthouse +was rebuilt and guarded. Howe felt strong enough to detach a squadron +from the fleet in order to carry Clinton with a body of troops to the +southward. This was the expedition that made the unsuccessful attack +upon Charleston. Howe sent other vessels to the northern provinces and +the West Indies, which brought in supplies. The store-ships from England +continued to come in, and though Howe was vexed and at times alarmed by +the loss of the valuable stores that fell into Washington's hands, on +the whole he felt very strong. So<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[Pg 405]</a></span> much fuel arrived that in January the +destruction of houses and wharves was stopped, and the men who had been +on duty for the purpose were commanded to make themselves presentable. +Neatness was a hobby with Howe, and he enforced it on his men, though at +times the untidiness of his troops seems to have been remarkable.<a name="FNanchor_148_148" id="FNanchor_148_148"></a><a href="#Footnote_148_148" class="fnanchor">[148]</a></p> + +<p>There are two expressions which show the confidence entertained at this +period, not only by the garrison at large, but by the British general. +One Crean Brush had made himself a place in the service, not in a +military capacity, but as a useful hanger on. In January, anticipating +the result of the spring campaign, he offered to raise a body of +volunteers, not less than three hundred, with which he proposed, after +the "subduction of the main body of the rebel force," to keep order +along the Connecticut, and to maintain communication westward with Lake +Champlain. There is no record that Howe took him at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[Pg 406]</a></span> his word, but he +well might have done so, so completely did he misjudge the situation. +For about the same time he wrote to Lord Dartmouth that he was not +apprehending any attempt by Washington, "by surprise or otherwise."<a name="FNanchor_149_149" id="FNanchor_149_149"></a><a href="#Footnote_149_149" class="fnanchor">[149]</a></p> + +<div class="floatr"> + <a name="illus14.jpg" id="illus14.jpg"></a> + <img class="plain" src="images/illus14.jpg" width='250' height='584' alt="Tower on Dorchester Heights commemorating the Evacuation +of Boston" /> +<h4><span class="smcap">Tower on Dorchester Heights<br />commemorating the<br />Evacuation +of Boston</span></h4> +</div> + +<p>But the surprise came. On the night of the second of March the American +batteries, so long silent, began to play. From Cobble Hill, Lechmere +Point, and Lamb's Dam in Roxbury, the three redoubts nearest to Boston, +the Americans bombarded the town, and Howe's gunners instantly +responded. The American fire was ineffective. "Our people," wrote David +How, "splet <i>the Congress</i> the Third Time that they fired it." Other +heavy mortars were likewise burst, doubtless owing to the inexperience +of the gunners. But Washington's purpose, to "divert the attention" of +the British from Dorchester, was fulfilled. They had no eyes save for +the opposing batteries. For three nights the diversion continued; on the +4th it was, wrote Newell,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[Pg 407]</a></span> "a most terrible bombardment and cannonade, +on both sides, as if heaven and earth were engaged." At Braintree, miles +away, Abigail Adams listened to the roar, and recorded the rattling of +the windows, and the continual jar of the house. "At six in the +morning," she writes, "there was quiet," but the quiet was from +satisfaction on the one side, and amazement on the other.</p> + +<p>On the two heights of Dorchester, commanding the town and the harbor, +stood two American redoubts, larger and stronger than the redoubt at +Breed's Hill. On lesser elevations stood smaller works. Seen from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[Pg 408]</a></span> +below, Washington's preparations seemed complete.</p> + +<p>All that moonlit night, while the cannonade proceeded, the Americans had +been busy. Everything had been prepared: the forts were staked out, the +carts were loaded, the men were ready. As soon as the cannonade began, +the men and carts were set in motion; the road was strewn with hay, and +bales were piled to screen the carts as they passed to and fro. The +troops worked with a will, first placing fascines in chandeliers to form +the outlines of their works, and then covering them with earth. There is +no better contemporary account given than in the diary of an unnamed +officer, published some ninety years later.<a name="FNanchor_150_150" id="FNanchor_150_150"></a><a href="#Footnote_150_150" class="fnanchor">[150]</a> He wrote:—</p> + +<p>"A little before sunset marched off from Roxbury; but for more than half +a mile before we came to Dorchester lines,<a name="FNanchor_151_151" id="FNanchor_151_151"></a><a href="#Footnote_151_151" class="fnanchor">[151]</a> we overtook teams in +great plenty, nor did we find<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[Pg 409]</a></span> any vacancy till we came to the lines; in +some places they were so wedged in together, we were obliged to leave +the road to get forward; we reached the lines at seven o'clock, where we +waited half an hour for orders, when a signal was given and the +cannonade began at Lamb's fort, and was immediately answered by a very +warm fire from the enemy's lines; a brisk fire between N. Boston and our +fortifications on Cambridge side, began soon after. It was supposed +there was a thousand shot hove this night, by both armies, more than +three fourths of which were sent from Boston.<a name="FNanchor_152_152" id="FNanchor_152_152"></a><a href="#Footnote_152_152" class="fnanchor">[152]</a> Our party, consisting +of about 2400 men, with 300 teams, were crossing the marsh, onto the +Neck, which together with a fresh breeze from the S. W.<a name="FNanchor_153_153" id="FNanchor_153_153"></a><a href="#Footnote_153_153" class="fnanchor">[153]</a> concealed +us from the enemy till they could see our works by daylight. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">[Pg 410]</a></span> +division to which I was assigned, commanded by Col. Whitcomb, was +ordered onto the northerly hill, where in one hour's time we had a fort +enclosed, with fascines placed in shandelears; and we immediately +employed as many men at intrenching as could be advantageously used for +that purpose. A larger party was assigned to the high hill, where they +erected a larger fort, built much in the same manner as ours. There were +four other smaller forts and batteries erected this night on other +eminences on the Neck."<a name="FNanchor_154_154" id="FNanchor_154_154"></a><a href="#Footnote_154_154" class="fnanchor">[154]</a></p> + +<p>It is not to be wondered that the British, on making the discovery, +"seemed to be in great confusion."<a name="FNanchor_155_155" id="FNanchor_155_155"></a><a href="#Footnote_155_155" class="fnanchor">[155]</a> The labor that had been expended +appeared prodigious. Washington himself was satisfied with the works; +he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[Pg 411]</a></span> knew them to be secure against the British cannon. To Howe the +achievement was amazing, and he is said to have exclaimed that his whole +army could not have done as much in a month. He wrote to Lord Dartmouth +that the rebels must have employed at least twelve thousand men, whereas +it was accomplished by two details of little more than two thousand men +each. But in those days the British soldier was a poor hand with a +shovel, while the Americans were all farmers. Nevertheless it is worth +noting the difference in organization displayed in the taking of +Dorchester and in the earlier seizure of Breed's Hill. Instead of a +small detachment sent to unsurveyed ground, and unaided during both the +work and the battle, Washington had his ground prepared,<a name="FNanchor_156_156" id="FNanchor_156_156"></a><a href="#Footnote_156_156" class="fnanchor">[156]</a> his +detachments ready, and his cannon in reserve to send upon the Heights. +In the morning the redoubts, presenting the appearance of finished +fortifications, were manned with fresh men.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[Pg 412]</a></span></p><p>Howe called at once a council of war. To it the admiral was summoned, +and declared positively that his fleet was at the mercy of the rebels. +There was but one opinion as to the situation: the honor of the army was +at stake, and in addition the military reputation of the general. It was +promptly decided to storm the works.</p> + +<p>For this purpose twenty-four hundred men were sent to the Castle, which +lay close under the Heights to the east, with but a narrow channel +between. The command of these men was given to Lord Percy, who hoped now +for the distinction which illness had prevented his achieving at Bunker +Hill. The attack was to be made at night. Within the lines at Boston +Neck was to be gathered another force of troops, which was to second the +attack from that direction. This last, in the face of the strong +batteries at Roxbury, was a forlorn hope; according to Lieutenant Barker +the troops were not to load, but to advance with fixed bayonets, and may +have hoped to carry the works by surprise.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[Pg 413]</a></span></p><p>Washington would have welcomed the main attack. During the day his +works were strengthened and his men reinforced. Orchards had been cut +down to serve as abattis, and barrels of earth were ready to roll down +upon the British. The men were confident; they were commanded by Thomas, +one of the best of the brigadiers, and Washington was there in person +with a reminder that put courage into the breast of every American. For +the day which he had chosen to decide the fate of Boston was the fifth +of March, the anniversary of the Massacre.</p> + +<p>Besides all this, Washington had another weapon in reserve. In the +Charles River, out of sight of Boston, were his two floating batteries +and his bateaux filled with soldiers. They were under Putnam, Sullivan, +and Greene; and at a given signal, if Washington deemed the opportunity +good, they were to cross the Back Bay and attack the town.—Truly the +preparations were for such fighting as had never been seen in America.</p> + +<p>But they came to naught, for nature took<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[Pg 414]</a></span> a hand in the struggle. +Mercifully, since amid the projected battles the town itself might have +perished with its inhabitants, there sprang up a gale. "A Hurrycane," +wrote Newell, "or terrible sudden storm." The violence of the wind was +such that no boat could live in the channel between the Castle and +Dorchester, two of Percy's transports were driven ashore, and the attack +was postponed. The next day the wind continued, accompanied by heavy +rain. The Americans continued to labor on their works, until to every +eye they were impregnable by any force that Howe might send against +them. Howe called another council, and asked it to concur in his +intention to evacuate the town. There was no other decision to make, and +on the 6th of March<a name="FNanchor_157_157" id="FNanchor_157_157"></a><a href="#Footnote_157_157" class="fnanchor">[157]</a> the orders were given.</p> + +<p>"Blessed be God," wrote Newell, "our redemption draws nigh."</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_147_147" id="Footnote_147_147"></a><a href="#FNanchor_147_147"><span class="label">[147]</span></a> "N. E. Hist. and Gen. Register," 1865, 313-314.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_148_148" id="Footnote_148_148"></a><a href="#FNanchor_148_148"><span class="label">[148]</span></a> See his general order enumerating faults, in Sparks, +"Writings of Washington," iii, 236, note.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_149_149" id="Footnote_149_149"></a><a href="#FNanchor_149_149"><span class="label">[149]</span></a> See Frothingham's "Siege," 294-295.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_150_150" id="Footnote_150_150"></a><a href="#FNanchor_150_150"><span class="label">[150]</span></a> See the <i>Historical Magazine</i> for 1864, 328-329.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_151_151" id="Footnote_151_151"></a><a href="#FNanchor_151_151"><span class="label">[151]</span></a> These were a line of fortifications facing Dorchester, +made earlier in the siege.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_152_152" id="Footnote_152_152"></a><a href="#FNanchor_152_152"><span class="label">[152]</span></a> According to Knox's return, given in Frothingham's +"Siege," 298, footnote, the Americans threw only 144 shot and 13 shells. +The British seem to have needed only an occasional stimulus.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_153_153" id="Footnote_153_153"></a><a href="#FNanchor_153_153"><span class="label">[153]</span></a> This breeze would bring the smoke of the Roxbury +cannonade between the Heights and Boston.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_154_154" id="Footnote_154_154"></a><a href="#FNanchor_154_154"><span class="label">[154]</span></a> It seems generally to be considered that there was but +one fort at Dorchester. The statement in the text is confirmed by the +Revolutionary Journal of Colonel Baldwin, one of the engineers. "Six +works thrown up this night at different places on the Hills & high +ground a very Great work for one Night."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_155_155" id="Footnote_155_155"></a><a href="#FNanchor_155_155"><span class="label">[155]</span></a> Washington's letter to Hancock, "Writings," iii, 304.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_156_156" id="Footnote_156_156"></a><a href="#FNanchor_156_156"><span class="label">[156]</span></a> Colonel Baldwin records that he was on the ground in the +afternoon.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_157_157" id="Footnote_157_157"></a><a href="#FNanchor_157_157"><span class="label">[157]</span></a> Frothingham says the 7th. But see the diaries of Barker +(<i>Atlantic</i>, 39, 553) and Newell (Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 1, Series 4, +272).</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[Pg 415]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h3>THE EVACUATION</h3> + +<p>Washington, looking into Boston from the Heights of Dorchester, +witnessed the confusion of the British at the discovery of his works, +and watched with grim pleasure the preparations made to attack him. The +abandonment of the assault was to him a great disappointment. He had +never seen men more alert and willing than his soldiers on the Heights. +If Howe had sent a small force against them, Washington felt confident +of repulsing it. Had the attacking force been so large as to have +appreciably weakened the army in Boston, Washington would have delivered +his counterstroke by means of the men in boats under command of Putnam. +"He would have had pretty easy work of it,"<a name="FNanchor_158_158" id="FNanchor_158_158"></a><a href="#Footnote_158_158" class="fnanchor">[158]</a> wrote Washington,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">[Pg 416]</a></span> +still after nearly a month regretting the issue. He wrote his brother, +"that this most remarkable interposition of Providence is for some wise +purpose, I have not a doubt. But ... as no men seemed better disposed to +make the appeal than ours did upon that occasion, I can scarcely forbear +lamenting the disappointment."</p> + +<p>Washington lay for a while inactive while the enemy prepared for their +departure. But upon Howe's shoulders was thrown a tremendous task. He +had under him, in the army and the fleet, about eleven thousand +men.<a name="FNanchor_159_159" id="FNanchor_159_159"></a><a href="#Footnote_159_159" class="fnanchor">[159]</a> For them he had been gathering military stores and provisions; +he had many<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[Pg 417]</a></span> horses, much artillery, and at least a partial equipment +for field service, in preparation for the spring campaign. His army had +been at Boston for many months, some of the regiments for nearly two +years; consequently there had been a natural accumulation of personal +effects, for the convenience of the officers, with their wives and +families. To carry away this army, its stores, and its belongings, there +was not at hand enough shipping.</p> + +<p>But the difficulty was greater than this, for Howe had to consider the +Tories and their families. Long before this, when Gage was in command, +the ministry had written that in case of evacuation "the officers and +friends of government must not be left to the rage and insult of rebels, +who set no bounds to their barbarity." Howe's ships, therefore, were to +be at the service of the Tories, and with full knowledge of the involved +results, he so informed them.</p> + +<p>When the realization of the situation burst upon the Tories, they were, +said a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">[Pg 418]</a></span>contemporary letter, "struck with paleness and +astonishment."<a name="FNanchor_160_160" id="FNanchor_160_160"></a><a href="#Footnote_160_160" class="fnanchor">[160]</a> "Not the last trump," wrote Washington, "could have +struck them with greater consternation."<a name="FNanchor_161_161" id="FNanchor_161_161"></a><a href="#Footnote_161_161" class="fnanchor">[161]</a> Until the very last, no +suspicion of such a result seems to have disturbed them; they had borne +themselves confidently, and had expected to see their enemies scattered +when the new forces should arrive. Among their Whig brethren they had +been very high-handed. "The selectmen say," wrote Eldad Taylor, who must +have been at Watertown when the selectmen arrived there with the news of +the evacuation, "that the Tories were the most dreadful of any, that all +the sufferings of the poor for the want of provisions and the +necessaries of life, were not equal to the dreadful scorn, derision, and +contempt from them."</p> + +<p>Upon the Tories was now put the hard decision, whether to go or stay. In +order to decide, they needed to know what the Whigs<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[Pg 419]</a></span> would do to them; +and to know that, they had but to consider what they would do to the +Whigs in similar case. In their own prison languished the Whig Lovell. +They thought of the Whig prisons which might be waiting for them, and +they decided to go.</p> + +<p>It is not to be denied that the decision was, under the circumstances, +wise. The loyalists were right in supposing that the treatment which +they would have meted to the Whigs, the Whigs would mete to them. For +the country was inflamed against the Tories; Washington himself shared +the sentiment against them. Much as we may regret this feeling, we must +remember that it was natural to the age. Kind treatment to an opponent +in civil war was not yet generally practised; it was Lincoln who made +the lesson acceptable to mankind.</p> + +<p>Practically all of the Tories, therefore, made up their minds to go. +Some few, indeed, remained behind, counting upon their humble station, +or inoffensiveness. No harsh treatment of them is recorded. The one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[Pg 420]</a></span> +prominent Tory who remained, Mather Byles the minister, soon weathered +the storm that rose against him. The remaining loyalists, who planned to +depart, were some eleven hundred in number. It was necessary that they +should be accommodated in the ships, necessary also that they should +take with them such of their valuables as were easily portable. Howe +gave orders that room be made for them, and the orders were unselfishly +obeyed by the army and navy.</p> + +<p>But the haste, the disorder, even the tumult, in the days immediately +following the order to depart, were extreme. Each regiment had to be +assigned its transports, each Tory to find space for himself and his +family, and if possible his goods. There was sorting of effects, +bundling up of valuables, and strenuous efforts to get all in safety +before Washington should bombard. Diarists agree in the concise terms +with which they describe the town. Says Newell for the 8th: "The town +all hurry and commotion, the troops with the Refugees and Tories all +embarking."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">[Pg 421]</a></span> For the 9th he adds: "D<sup>o</sup>. D<sup>o</sup>. D<sup>o</sup>." And for the 10th +writes Lieutenant Barker: "Nothing but hurry and confusion."</p> + +<p>In the meantime the Americans at Dorchester strengthened their works, +and fortified one more eminence, which commanded the channel. Washington +did not wish to cannonade the British, for if not attacked he saw no +advantage in attacking, lest the town should be set on fire and burned. +He therefore bided his time. All his action until now, he wrote Hancock, +was but preparatory to taking post on Nook's Hill, a low promontory +which ran so far out upon Dorchester flats that from its top cannon +could enfilade the British lines at the Neck, and could command almost +any part of Boston. An attempt to fortify it upon the night of the 9th +was betrayed by the folly of the men, who kindled a fire and were +dispersed by British cannon. But by this Washington was not disturbed. +He was willing that Howe should delay for a while, if the delay were not +too long. He himself had reasons for waiting, since he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">[Pg 422]</a></span> reasoned that +the British would, on departing, attempt to seize New York, and he +wanted time to prepare and despatch a force to hold that place. So he +watched the British army, sent a regiment of riflemen to strengthen New +York, and made ready five other regiments to depart as soon as the +British fleet should leave the harbor.</p> + +<p>But at this time the inhabitants of Boston were very uncertain of their +own fate. Nothing was more natural than that Washington should attack, +or that the exasperated British should on departing, even if unassailed, +set fire to the wooden town. The selectmen, as spokesmen for the +inhabitants, therefore inquired of Howe what his intentions were. Howe +wrote in reply that he had no intention of destroying the town, if he +were unmolested. This reply the selectmen sent in haste to Washington, +begging for a similar assurance. Washington was not willing to bind +himself, and returned answer that as Howe's note was "unauthenticated, +and addressed to nobody," he could take no notice<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">[Pg 423]</a></span> of it. Nevertheless, +since no threat was made, the Bostonians felt more at ease.<a name="FNanchor_162_162" id="FNanchor_162_162"></a><a href="#Footnote_162_162" class="fnanchor">[162]</a></p> + +<p>All this time the wind was contrary, and the troops unable to set sail. +They therefore remained in their quarters, while completing their +preparations for departure. As the days passed Howe began to destroy +what he could not take with him, and to seize what would be of advantage +to the rebels. His troops spiked cannon, burned artillery and transport +wagons, or else threw them into the harbor, and ruined bulky stores. +What he did deliberately, his men increased through malice. The 13th +seems to have been the worst day of this period. "The Inhabitants," +wrote Newell, "in the utmost distress, thro' fear of the Town being +destroyed by the Soldiers, a party of New York Carpenters with axes +going thro' the town breaking open houses, &c. Soldiers and sailors +plundering of houses, shops, warehouses—Sugar and salt &c. thrown into +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">[Pg 424]</a></span> River, which was greatly covered with hogsheads, barrels of flour, +house furniture, carts, trucks &c. &c.—One Person suffered <i>four +thousand pounds sterling</i>, by his shipping being cut to pieces +&c.—Another <i>five thousand pounds sterling</i>, in salt wantonly thrown +into the river." No wonder that the sturdy old selectman thought these +to be "very distressed times."</p> + +<p>Howe's agent in the work of plundering was that Crean Brush who had +offered to police the western part of Massachusetts with three hundred +men. Him the general directed to receive all linen and woollen goods +which were on sale, and to take those which were not delivered, giving +certificates for the same. There is on file the petition of one Jackson, +begging for payment for goods taken from him. Brush interpreted his +commission very freely, and it was suspected that he was plundering on +his own account. Every soldier or sailor who could give his officer the +slip was doing the same, in spite of Howe's honest efforts to stop the plundering.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">[Pg 425]</a></span></p><p>There was a little genteel thievery as well. Some of the Tories had +unfairly secured more than their share of room on shipboard, and found +this the chance to take their pick of the furniture of their Whig +relatives. "Wat," wrote John Andrews to his brother-in-law in +Philadelphia, "has stripped your uncle's house of everything he could +conveniently carry off.... He has left all the looking glasses and +window curtains, with some tables and most of the chairs; only two +bedsteads and one bed, without any bedding or sheets, or even a rag of +linnen of any kind. Some of the china and the principal part of the +pewter is the sum of what he has left, save the Library, which was +packed up corded to ship, but your uncle Jerry and Mr. Austin went to +him and absolutely forbid it, upon his peril."</p> + +<p>Another library did not fare so well. At this time disappeared that part +of the Prince collection which had not been used for kindling the fires +in the Old South. With it vanished the Bradford manuscript history of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">[Pg 426]</a></span> +the Plymouth plantation, which a later generation freely returned.</p> + +<p>While the Tories were so carefully looking to the future, the Whigs were +obliged to guard what they could. Newell covers too many incidents with +etceteras, but John Andrews who, as soon as the siege was lifted, was +free to begin again his correspondence, speaks clearly of his +difficulties. Through the siege he had had the care of six houses with +their furniture, and as many stores filled with goods; but now he +underwent more fatigue and perplexity than for the past eleven months, +for "I was obliged," he says, "to take my rounds all day, without any +cessation, and scarce ever fail'd of finding depredations made upon some +one or other of them, that I was finally necessitated to procure men at +the extravagant rate of two dollars a day to sleep in the several houses +and stores for a fortnight<a name="FNanchor_163_163" id="FNanchor_163_163"></a><a href="#Footnote_163_163" class="fnanchor">[163]</a> before the military plunderers went +off—for so sure as they were left alone one night, so sure they were +plundered." Later<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">[Pg 427]</a></span> he was obliged to pay at the rate of a dollar an hour +for hands to assist him in moving; but "such was the demand for +laborers, that they were taken from me, even at that, by the tories who bid over me."</p> + +<p>So, while the wind continued contrary, the plundering and the +destruction continued. Before long the seashore dwellers might do their +share of rescue, as the articles which were thrown into the +harbor—"mahogany chairs, tables, etc.," records Abigail Adams—were +cast up on the beaches. But one by one the transports filled and dropped +down the harbor, until at last Washington grew impatient, and on the +night of the 16th made his last move. Though the British, aware of the +attempt, fired with their remaining guns all night at Nook's Hill, the +Americans doggedly entrenched without returning a shot, and in the +morning showed a finished redoubt. It was, as Trevelyan well says, +Washington's notice to quit.</p> + +<p>Howe meekly accepted it. "At 4 o'clock in the Morn.," writes Lieutenant +Barker,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">[Pg 428]</a></span> "the troops got under arms, at 5 they began to move, and by +about 8 or 9 were all embarked, the rear being covered by the Grenadiers +and Light Infantry." The ships sailed down the channel, no shot was +fired from the American batteries, and in return the <i>Fowey</i>, the last +of the fleet, which Howe had threatened should fire the town before she +departed, carried away with her her "carcases and combustibles," and +Boston stood free and unharmed.</p> + +<p>In half an hour the Americans were in possession. From Roxbury a company +of five hundred, picked for the service because they had had the +smallpox, entered the British lines, and manned the fortifications which +looked toward the harbor. In the redoubt at Bunker Hill sentries +appeared to be still doing their duty; but two men who were sent to +reconnoitre found them to be dummies, and signalled their companions to +follow them. General Putnam was given command of the town, from entering +which the army in general, and all civilians, were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">[Pg 429]</a></span> prohibited until it +was ascertained whether there was danger of smallpox.</p> + +<p>Washington's other measures were decisive. He directed Manly, admiral of +his little squadron, to follow the British fleet and cut off as many +vessels as possible. One result of this order gave the greatest +satisfaction. "The brave Captain Manly," wrote Andrews, "has taken the +Brig that contained that <i>cursed</i> villain, Crean Brush, with great part +of the plunder he rob'd the stores of here, that I immagine she must be +the richest vessell in the fleet." Other ships were either similarly +taken, or were forced to put ashore from lack of provision or of preparation.</p> + +<p>Another of Washington's moves was to despatch his five regiments to New +York. They went by way of Norwich, Connecticut, and from there, to save +fatigue and time, were taken by water to the city. They arrived fresh +and ready for the expected struggle, but though they watched long for +the British fleet, it did not come.</p> + +<p>Washington's third action was to defend<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430">[Pg 430]</a></span> Boston against a possible +return of the British. The "lines" at Boston and Charlestown necks were +demolished, and on the day after the evacuation Putnam and his men were +at work building on Fort Hill a redoubt to command the harbor. With this +and the Dorchester batteries the Bostonians might have been satisfied, +but within a month they began fortifying Noddle's Island against any +possible attempt by sea.</p> + +<p>In all these precautions the Americans were hastened by the fact that +the British, though they had left the upper harbor, were still in the +lower, lying off Nantasket. "From Penn's Hill," wrote Abigail Adams to +her husband, "we have a view of the largest fleet ever seen in America. +You may count upwards of a hundred and seventy sail. They look like a +forest." Their stay greatly puzzled Washington: "what they are doing," +he wrote, "the Lord knows." He was troubled as well. The ten regiments +of militia, which had strengthened his army since the first of February, +had promised to remain<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431">[Pg 431]</a></span> only until the first of April, and he knew that +it was "as practical to stop a torrent, as these people, when their time +is up." He therefore feared lest the British, by striking with all their +force upon his rear, might do him great injury.</p> + +<p>This was not the first time that Washington, reasoning according to his +own nature, expected from Howe that vigorous action which the British +general was unable to perform. Howe, humiliated as he must have felt at +receiving, while his vessel passed down the harbor, a despatch from the +ministry applauding his decision not to evacuate the town, had no +thought of revenge. He blew up the fortifications at the Castle, and +prepared to destroy the lighthouse, but his purposes in remaining were +to fit his fleet for sea, and to warn those British vessels which were +bound for Boston. Nor had he the slightest intention of seizing New +York. The statements which had come to Washington's ears, that Howe's +destination was Halifax, in spite of the American's incredulity,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">[Pg 432]</a></span> were +correct. On the 27th of March, ten days after the evacuation, the +greater part of Howe's fleet weighed anchor, and sailed away for +Halifax. His army felt its shame. "I do not know the thing so +desperate," wrote an officer, "I would not undertake, in order to change +our situation."<a name="FNanchor_164_164" id="FNanchor_164_164"></a><a href="#Footnote_164_164" class="fnanchor">[164]</a> But in spite of the chagrin in the hearts of his +soldiers, and the despair in the breasts of the Tories, few of them ever +looked upon Boston again.</p> + +<p>Before this time it had been ascertained that Boston was in no serious +danger from smallpox, and on the 20th the main body of the army marched +into Boston. It was an occasion of great happiness to the inhabitants, +and they "manifested a lively joy." Two days later the town was thrown +open to all comers, and once more, as before the Port Bill, entrance by +land or ferry was free.</p> + +<p>The town was speedily examined in all particulars, and those who had +suffered by the siege were encouraged to bring in claims for damages. It +was found that, except<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">[Pg 433]</a></span> for the absolute destruction of buildings for +fuel, the injury to houses was inconsiderable. Where the common soldiers +had lived, interiors were defaced; yet externally the houses of the town +looked much as they had before the siege. Where the officers had lived, +the dwellings had suffered little, and even the homes of the prominent +Whigs had not been injured. Abigail Adams wrote to her husband that +their house was "very dirty, but no other damage has been done to it." +She looked upon it as a new acquisition of property. Washington took +pains to write Hancock, who had been so ready to sacrifice his +belongings to the cause of the country, that his house, and even his +furniture and pictures, had received no damage worth mentioning.</p> + +<p>To the immense satisfaction of all Whigs, many military stores were +found in the town. Most important were more than two hundred pieces of +ordnance, the larger part of which, though spiked, could soon be put +into serviceable condition. Balls and shells for the cannon and mortars +were found; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434">[Pg 434]</a></span>provisions, horses and their provender, medicines in +quantity, and many other articles were discovered, amounting in value to +nearly forty thousand pounds. The booty of Brush of course swelled this +amount.</p> + +<div class="floatl"> + <a name="illus15.jpg" id="illus15.jpg"></a> + <img class="plain" src="images/illus15.jpg" width='350' height='350' alt="Gold Medal commemorating Washington's Victory" /> +<h4><span class="smcap">Gold Medal commemorating Washington's<br />Victory</span></h4> +</div> + +<p>The Whigs now might see their friends again, and for a short time +enjoyed military society of a new sort. John Andrews reports "nothing +but a continual round of company." "Last week," he recorded, "I had the +honor of General Washington with his lady, General Gates, Mr. Custos and +Lady, with aid de Camps, &ca, to dine with me." It was an occasion of +which he boasted to his dying day. In the town, now flooded with +provision, there were many eager to feast Washington.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435">[Pg 435]</a></span></p><p>But he did not tarry long. While Howe and his fleet were in the bay, he +kept his men at work demolishing the British defences against the land, +and strengthening the forts which looked seaward, and he was continually +on his guard against the blow which Howe might deliver. But when the +British had sailed away to the north-east, Washington himself, on the +4th of April, set off for New York.</p> + +<p>Howe had nevertheless left vessels at Nantasket Roads, to intercept the +troop-ships and stores which were on their way to him. In this he was +partly successful, for seven ship-loads of Highlanders were by this +means saved from Yankee prisons. But even while the evacuation was in +progress British vessels were captured in the harbor, and now in sight +of the squadron and its Highlanders was taken the richest store-ship +that had yet fallen into American hands. There was a brisk fight, also, +between an American schooner, aground on Shirley Point, and thirteen +boat-loads of men from the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_436" id="Page_436">[Pg 436]</a></span>war-ships. The boats were beaten off, but +the British had accomplished the death of the captain of the schooner, +America's first naval hero, Mugford of Marblehead.</p> + +<p>At length a determined effort was made to drive away the squadron. The +militia was called out, and artillery was carried to islands down the +harbor. There was a brief cannonade between the Americans and the fleet. +Then the British commander, finding his anchorage no longer safe, blew +up the lighthouse and followed Howe to Halifax. This was on the second +anniversary of the enforcement of the Port Bill. Two days later the +remainder of the Highlanders, unsuspiciously entering the harbor, fell +into the hands of the Americans.<a name="FNanchor_165_165" id="FNanchor_165_165"></a><a href="#Footnote_165_165" class="fnanchor">[165]</a></p> + +<p>The British resentment aroused by this last mischance was mild compared +with the general indignation which burst on Howe's <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_437" id="Page_437">[Pg 437]</a></span>head at his conduct +of the defence of Boston, and his hurried evacuation. The ministry +announced the departure from Boston in the briefest fashion, but were +forced to explain and excuse it in both the Commons and the Lords. "The +General thought proper to shift his position," explained the Earl of +Suffolk to the Lords, "in order, in the first place, to protect +Halifax."<a name="FNanchor_166_166" id="FNanchor_166_166"></a><a href="#Footnote_166_166" class="fnanchor">[166]</a> But the defence was riddled, Howe's general weakness was +exposed, his neglect to fortify Dorchester was pointed out, and the +English Whigs acutely reasoned that he must have had a virtual agreement +with Washington to purchase the safety of the fleet and army at the +price of immunity to the town. Newspapers and pamphleteers took up the +subject, and Howe was eventually forced to ask for an inquiry into his +conduct of the siege. To his dying day he was severely criticised for +his generalship in America, and especially at Boston.</p> + +<p>Of the other British military leaders, not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_438" id="Page_438">[Pg 438]</a></span> one was successful. Gage was +never again given a command. Burgoyne returned to Boston only as a +prisoner. Clinton for a time commanded in America, but he was recalled.</p> + +<p>As for the master whom these generals served, the king who was the cause +of the war, his failure was complete. George III lost not only his +revolted colonies, but also the dearer prize for which he fought, +personal government. When at last peace was signed, the Americans had +gained independence, and the English people had finally established the +supremacy of Parliament. The king might reign, but he could no longer govern.</p> + +<p>The fate of the Tories cannot detain us long, painful as it was. Some +few returned to America after the war, and made again places for +themselves. Among these was Judge Curwen. Some went to England, where +they were out of their element. Dependent for the most part on the +bounty of the crown, they lived in hope of a change of fortune. They +longed for their homes, and sickened<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_439" id="Page_439">[Pg 439]</a></span> for a sight of the New England +country, to them the most beautiful on earth. Many of them were too old +to begin life anew: by the end of the war it was recorded that, of the +Massachusetts Tory leaders, forty-five died in England. One of these was +Hutchinson, upon whose life the best comment is the concluding sentence +of Sabine's brief biography: "I forget, in his melancholy end, all else."</p> + +<p>But numbers of the Tories remained in Canada. Doubtless many were +discouraged from going to England by the reports of the condition of +those already there. "As to your coming here," wrote Governor Wentworth +from London to a friend in New Brunswick, "or any other Loyalist that +can get clams and potatoes in America, they would most certainly regret +making bad worse."<a name="FNanchor_167_167" id="FNanchor_167_167"></a><a href="#Footnote_167_167" class="fnanchor">[167]</a> On such advice as this many, indeed most, of the +refugees remained in Canada, and after the war, in which many of them +fought, were of great service in building up that country. Nova Scotia +and New Brunswick<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_440" id="Page_440">[Pg 440]</a></span> received the larger number of them; they became +leaders of the bar, judges, physicians, prominent office-holders. It is +not to be denied that among them were suffering and misery; they had +lost much and had to begin again from the bottom, and many succumbed to +the difficulties of the new life. After the war attempt was made to gain +from the United States compensation for their losses; but the new +country was unable even to recompense those who had suffered in its +cause. The loyalists therefore looked to Britain for help, and in some +measure found it, in pensions, grants of money, and holdings of land.</p> + +<p>There is much to regret in this emigration, which took from New England +such numbers of men and women of good blood and gentle breeding. For the +Tories were largely of the better class, many of them had been educated +at Harvard, and they represented an element which no community can +afford to lose. Some of the difficulties of the new commonwealths were +due to the loss of the conservative balance-wheel; some further<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_441" id="Page_441">[Pg 441]</a></span> +troubles beset them from the bitterness of feeling in the new colonists +across the border. This has now died away, but boundary and fisheries +disputes long brought out the hostility latent in the descendants of the Tories.</p> + +<p>So much for the losers in the fight. Of the winners, no American needs +to be more than reminded of their fame and their successes. At the siege +Washington made his first claim to fame. He proved his tenacity, his +mastery of men, and the greatness of his resolution and daring. Some of +his generals followed him in his success, some were failures. Lee +attempted treachery, but was finally discarded by both sides. Gates +endeavored to displace Washington, but ruined himself in the attempt. +But most of Washington's other generals were able men. Greene proved +himself to be a military genius second only to Washington. Knox, the +sole Bostonian on Washington's staff, commanded the artillery throughout the war.</p> + +<p>Of the chief Boston politicians, all ended their days honorably. Soon +after the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_442" id="Page_442">[Pg 442]</a></span>evacuation the body of Warren was sought for among the dead +buried on Bunker Hill. It was found, identified, and entombed at Boston +with solemn mourning. Hancock presently signed his name on the +Declaration of Independence so large that King George could read it +without his spectacles. The Boston merchant served the Continental +Congress for another year as its president; then returning to Boston he +became "King" Hancock, the governor of Massachusetts practically for +life. John Adams passed to greater usefulness as envoy to France, first +minister to Great Britain, and finally as Washington's successor as +President. But to a student of Boston itself the mind dwells most +willingly on Samuel Adams, "the man of the town meeting," who roused the +rebellion, guided it skilfully, served usefully in many public +capacities, and became governor after Hancock's death. His statue stands +to-day in the square named after him, not far from the Old South and the +old Town House, and within sight of Faneuil Hall.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_443" id="Page_443">[Pg 443]</a></span></p><p>But we trespass beyond the period of this history. When Howe sailed +away, Boston's share in the Revolution was practically ended. No attempt +was made to retake the town, for there could be no profit in gaining +what could not be held. In the remaining years of the war the town had +no more serious duty than fitting out ships of war and privateers, and +of entertaining the officers of the French fleet. But Boston had earned +its rest. For nearly sixteen years the town had stood as the spokesman +for liberty, the leader of revolt. In bringing the country safely +through a critical period, the services of Boston were essential.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_158_158" id="Footnote_158_158"></a><a href="#FNanchor_158_158"><span class="label">[158]</span></a> Trevelyan, in concluding that Washington disapproved of +this attack by Putnam, is apparently misled by General Heath's curious +habit of referring to himself in his Memoirs as "Our General." It was +Heath who opposed the project. Against Howe's flimsy defences on the +Back Bay, if weakened of defenders, Putnam might well have prevailed, +especially in a night attack. They were, wrote Edward Bangs, +"ill-constructed, and designed for little but to frighten us." James +Warren, who reported on these works, found them to be very weak. See +Frothingham's "Siege," 329.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_159_159" id="Footnote_159_159"></a><a href="#FNanchor_159_159"><span class="label">[159]</span></a> Frothingham's "Siege," 311.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_160_160" id="Footnote_160_160"></a><a href="#FNanchor_160_160"><span class="label">[160]</span></a> Eldad Taylor to his wife, Watertown, March 18, 1776.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_161_161" id="Footnote_161_161"></a><a href="#FNanchor_161_161"><span class="label">[161]</span></a> "Writings," iii, 343.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_162_162" id="Footnote_162_162"></a><a href="#FNanchor_162_162"><span class="label">[162]</span></a> For this correspondence, see Newell's "Diary," or +"Washington's Writings," iii, 531-533.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_163_163" id="Footnote_163_163"></a><a href="#FNanchor_163_163"><span class="label">[163]</span></a> It cannot have been more than eleven days.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_164_164" id="Footnote_164_164"></a><a href="#FNanchor_164_164"><span class="label">[164]</span></a> Frothingham's "Siege," 310.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_165_165" id="Footnote_165_165"></a><a href="#FNanchor_165_165"><span class="label">[165]</span></a> See concerning these men and their commander the +interesting monograph by Charles H. Walcott: "Sir Archibald Campbell of +Inverneil, sometime Prisoner of War in the Jail at Concord, +Massachusetts." Privately printed.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_166_166" id="Footnote_166_166"></a><a href="#FNanchor_166_166"><span class="label">[166]</span></a> "The Writings of Washington," iii, 531.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_167_167" id="Footnote_167_167"></a><a href="#FNanchor_167_167"><span class="label">[167]</span></a> Sabine's "Loyalists," 217.</p></div> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Siege of Boston, by Allen French + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SIEGE OF BOSTON *** + +***** This file should be named 29199-h.htm or 29199-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/1/9/29199/ + +Produced by The Bookworm, +Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team +at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned +images of public domain material from the Google Print +project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Siege of Boston + +Author: Allen French + +Release Date: June 21, 2009 [EBook #29199] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SIEGE OF BOSTON *** + + + + +Produced by The Bookworm, <bookworm.librivox AT gmail.com>, +Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team +at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned +images of public domain material from the Google Print +project.) + + + + + + +THE SIEGE OF BOSTON + + +[Illustration: Logo] + +THE MACMILLAN COMPANY + +NEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO +ATLANTA SAN FRANCISCO + +MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED + +LONDON BOMBAY CALCUTTA + +MELBOURNE + +THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. + +TORONTO + + +[Illustration: OLD STATE HOUSE] + + + + +THE SIEGE OF BOSTON + +BY + +ALLEN FRENCH + +New York + +THE MACMILLAN COMPANY + +1911 + +_All rights reserved_ + + +COPYRIGHT, 1911, +BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. + +Set up and electrotyped. Published February, 1911. + +Norwood Press +J. S. Cushing Co.--Berwick & Smith Co. +Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. + + +TO C. E. S. + + + + +PREFACE + + +In writing this book I have endeavored to produce a brief and readable +account of the Siege of Boston, and of the events which brought it +about. These were, of course, parts of a larger history, the connection +with which I have carefully indicated. My main endeavor, nevertheless, +has been to treat my subject as a single organic series of events. To +select the more interesting and significant masses of detail, and +properly to cooerdinate them, has not been an easy task. The minor +incidents were conditioned by the scale of the book; the result, I hope, +is fluency and a more evident connection between the larger events. + +So far as possible, I have relied upon contemporary statements. But no +writer on the Siege can fail to acknowledge his deep obligations to the +"History of the Siege" by Richard Frothingham. This acknowledgment I +gladly make. Since 1849, however, the date of the publication of the +book, there has come to light interesting new material which I have +endeavored to incorporate here. The other authorities upon which I have +chiefly depended will be found by referring to the footnotes. + +ALLEN FRENCH. + +CONCORD, MASSACHUSETTS, +January, 1911. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER PAGE + + I. BEGINNINGS AND CONDITIONS 1 + + II. WRITS OF ASSISTANCE AND THE STAMP ACT 21 + + III. CHARLES TOWNSHEND, SAM ADAMS, AND THE MASSACRE 41 + + IV. THE TEA-PARTY AND ITS CONSEQUENCES 71 + + V. THE OCCUPATION OF BOSTON 91 + + VI. THE POWDER ALARM AND THE WINTER OF 1774-1775 123 + + VII. MILITARY PREPARATIONS 161 + +VIII. THE NINETEENTH OF APRIL 187 + + IX. BOSTON BELEAGUERED 216 + + X. THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL 256 + + XI. WASHINGTON TAKES COMMAND 288 + + XII. EVENTS IN BOSTON FROM JUNE TO DECEMBER, 1775 331 + +XIII. WASHINGTON'S DIFFICULTIES 361 + + XIV. THE WINTER IN BOSTON 392 + + XV. THE EVACUATION 415 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +OLD STATE HOUSE _Frontispiece_ + + PAGE +THE HUTCHINSON HOUSE 35 + +FANEUIL HALL _facing_ 58 + +SAMUEL ADAMS _facing_ 69 + +THE INVESTMENT OF BOSTON _facing_ 127 + +REVERE'S PICTURE OF BOSTON IN 1768 175 + +THE OLD NORTH CHURCH _facing_ 181 + +THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON _facing_ 193 + +PLAN OF THE SIEGE 235 + +THE MINUTE MAN _facing_ 303 + +THE OLD NORTH BRIDGE _facing_ 303 + +WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS _facing_ 374 + +DORCHESTER TOWER 407 + +GOLD MEDAL COMMEMORATING WASHINGTON'S VICTORY 434 + + + + +THE SIEGE OF BOSTON + + + + +CHAPTER I + +BEGINNINGS AND CONDITIONS + + +The Siege of Boston was the culmination of a series of events which will +always be of importance in the history of America. From the beginning of +the reign of George the Third, the people of the English colonies in the +new world found themselves at variance with their monarch, and nowhere +more so than in Massachusetts. Since the New England people were fitted +by their temperament and history to take the lead in the struggle, at +their chief town naturally took place the more important incidents. +These, which were often dramatic, had nevertheless a political cause and +significance which link them in a rising series that ended in a violent +outbreak and the eleven months' leaguer. + +As to the siege itself, it varies an old situation, for Boston was beset +by its own neighbors in defence of the common rights. Previously the +king's troops, though regarded as invaders, had been but half-hearted +oppressors; it was the people themselves who persistently provoked +difficulties. The siege proper is of striking military interest, for its +hostilities begin by the repulse of an armed expedition into a community +of farmers, continue with a pitched battle between regular troops and a +militia, produce a general of commanding abilities, and end with a +strategic move of great skill and daring. It is the first campaign of a +great war, and precedes the birth of a nation. Politically, the cause of +the struggle is of enduring consequence to mankind. Socially, the siege +and its preliminaries bring to view people of all kinds, some weak, some +base, some picturesque, some entirely admirable. The period shows the +breaking up of an old society and the formation of a new. A study of +the siege is therefore of value. + +It will be observed that the siege cannot satisfactorily be considered +as a distinct series of military or semi-military events, abruptly +beginning and still more abruptly ending. Such a view would reduce the +siege to a mere matter of local history, having little connection with +the larger movements of the American Revolution, and appearing almost as +an accident which might have happened at any other centre of sufficient +population.[1] On the contrary, neither the siege nor the Revolution +were accidents of history. That the Revolution was bound to come about, +and that its beginnings were equally bound to be at Boston, these were +conditioned in the nature, first of the colonists in general, and second +of the New Englanders in particular. However striking were certain of +the occurrences, they were of less importance than their causes and +consequences. + +Accordingly I shall consider as an organic series the more important of +those events which happened in Boston during the reign of George the +Third, and which ended when the last of his redcoats departed from the +town. In fact, in order to be perfectly intelligible I must first devote +a few pages to a consideration of previous conditions. + +"Any one," wrote George E. Ellis in the "Memorial History of Boston,"[2] +"who attempts to trace the springs, the occasions, and the directing +forces of the revolt ... cannot find his clew a year short of the date +when the former self-governed Colony of Massachusetts Bay became a Royal +Province." He is right in pointing out that in 1692 the struggle took +open form. Yet even then the controversy was not new. In other form it +had been carried on for more than half a century previous. Its ultimate +origin lay in the fact that the very charter under which the colony was +planted differed from all other documents granted by any English king. + +This difference lay in the omission of the condition, usual in such +charters, that its governing board should meet in London practically for +the purpose of supervision by the king. That the omission of this +condition was the result of wisdom on the part of the founders, and +stupidity on the part of the officers of the king, seems undeniable. The +founders, unhappy and alarmed at the political and religious situation +in England under Charles the First, were seeking to provide for +themselves and their families a refuge from his oppressions. Secure in +their charter, they presently left England for good. When they sailed +for America they did all that could be done to cut themselves off from +interference by the crown. + +At intervals, extremely valuable for the future of America, the +Massachusetts colony certainly was free of all restraint. Charles's +benediction seems to have been "Good riddance!" From the crown the +colonists received no assistance whatever, and it was long both their +boast and their plea that they had planted the colony "at their own +expense." They were left to work out their own salvation.[3] As a +result, their passionate desire for freedom from interference by the +king grew into the feeling that they had earned it as a right. +Englishmen they were still, and subjects of the king; but to the +privileges of Englishmen they had added the right to manage their own +affairs. The English king and the English law were to help them in their +difficulties and to settle cases of appeal. In return they would grant +money and fight for the king when necessary; but in the meantime they +would live by themselves. + +Taking advantage of the clause in their charter which authorized them +"to ordain and establish all manner of wholesome and reasonable orders, +laws, statutes, and ordinances," they speedily took to themselves +everything but the name of independence. They instituted courts for all +purposes, set up their legislative government, raised their own taxes, +whether general or local, and perfected that wonderful instrument of +resistance to oppression, New England town government. They even coined +money. And, different from most of the other colonies, they chose their +governor from among their own number. + +Distance and home difficulties--for the Stuart kings usually had their +hands full of trouble with their subjects--favored the non-interference +which the colonists craved. When, however, the Stuarts had any leisure +at all, they at once devoted it to quarrelling with their subjects in +New England. Even to the easy-going Charles II the cool aloofness of the +colonists was a bit too strong; to his father and brother it was +intolerable. + +The invariable methods of the colonists, when facing a demand from the +king, were evasion and delay. "Avoid or protract" were Winthrop's own +words in 1635. In 1684 the General Court wrote advising their attorney, +employed in England in defending the charter, "to spin out the case to +the uttermost."[4] Once and once only until the Revolution--in the case +of the seizing of Andros--did the men of Massachusetts proceed to +action. Their habitual policy was safe, and, on the whole, successful. +Slow communication (one voyage of commissioners from Boston to England +took three months), and the existence in England of a strong party of +friends, helped powerfully to obscure and obliterate the issues. Yet +Charles I in 1640, and James II in 1689, made preparations to reduce the +colony to proper subjection, by force if necessary. + +It was doubtless well for Massachusetts that both Charles and James were +presently dethroned, for against the power of England no successful +resistance could then have been made. New England, indeed, might have +been united against the king, but it is very unlikely that the other +colonies would have given their help. Some generations more were needed +before the aristocrats of Virginia could feel themselves at one with the +Puritans of New England. + +Yet it is interesting to notice the spirit of Massachusetts. On the news +of Charles's intentions the colony prepared for resistance. In James's +time it went a step further. When the news came of the expedition of +William of Orange, Massachusetts cast in its lot with him. Without +waiting to learn the result of the struggle, Boston rose against James's +unpopular governor, and imprisoned him in the Castle. The act was +heroic, for the Bloody Assizes had taught the world what punishment the +cowardly king meted out to rebels. + +It will be noticed that the political status of Massachusetts was +already changed. After many delays Charles II had abrogated the charter. +His death followed almost immediately, and Andros had been appointed at +the head of a provisional government. Doubtless the resistance to him +had been inspired by the hope that the old charter might be restored. +Instead, William, when once secure on the throne, issued a new charter. +Under its provisions the colony, now a province, lived until the +Revolution. In order that the events leading up to the siege may be +understood, it will be well to consider the provisions of the new +governmental machinery. + +At the head of the province were to be a governor and a +lieutenant-governor, both appointed by the king. Their powers were +executive, with the right of veto over legislation, and also over +certain appointments by the legislature. Laws passed by this legislature +and not vetoed by the governor or the king were to go in force three +years after their enactment. The legislature had two houses, the lower a +popular chamber, called the Assembly, elected by the towns. The upper +branch was called the Council. The first Council was appointed by the +king; later members were to be nominated by the Assembly for the +approval of the governor. The Assembly and Council formed together the +Great and General Court. Judges were to be chosen by the governor and +Council, but all officers were to be paid by the General Court. As will +be seen later, in the case of the Writs of Assistance, appeal could be +taken to the English courts. + +And now for the first time became evident the fact that three +generations of practical independence had bred in America a race of +men--or it may be better to say had fostered a school of thought--that +never could agree in submitting to a distant and arbitrary authority. In +the seventy years which followed, New England showed this spirit in many +ways. The most prominent cause of disagreement was the question of the +governor's prerogatives, resulting in constant bickerings with the +crown. + +The principle, of course, lay deeper still. On the one side were +sovereigns whose powers were not yet definitely restricted, and who +were likely to resent any apparent tendency to make them less. On the +other side was a people who had progressed far in self-government, and +who resisted any limitation of their rights. It is not the purpose of +this book to trace the earlier unification of the colonies under +pressure from without. By the year 1760 that process was approaching +completion; there was, therefore, in America a stronger feeling than +ever, while across the water was that new ruler into whose youthful ears +his mother had continually dinned the words, "George, be king!" + +It is well to understand the status of a colony in those days, and the +difficulties with which its inhabitants struggled. Yet it is hard for +the modern man to conceive the restrictions upon freedom. From earliest +days there had been discontent with the king's claim to the finest trees +in the public forests, the "mast trees" which, reserved for the king's +navy, no man might lawfully cut.[5] Exportation of lumber, except to +England and the British West Indies, was long illegal. Trade with the +French and Spanish islands was prohibited entirely, and trade in many +products of home manufacture (tobacco, sugar, wool, dye-stuffs, furs, +are prominent examples) was forbidden "to any place but Great +Britain--even to Ireland."[6] Certain merchandise might be imported at +will, subject to duty; but most articles could be bought, and sold, only +through Great Britain. + +Further, internal commerce and manufacture were severely hampered. No +wool or woollen product might be carried from one province to another. +The Bible might not be printed. The making of hats was almost entirely +suppressed. The manufacture of iron, on a scale sufficient to compete +with English wares, was practically prohibited--as a "nuisance."[7] + +Under all these restrictions the colonies were not as yet restive. To be +sure there were smuggling and illicit trade, and grievances in plenty; +yet the stress of colonial life, the continual danger from the north and +west, had kept the provincials satisfied as a body. And now, at the +opening of the reign of George III, with the French driven out of Canada +and the Mississippi Valley, and the Indians subdued, there should have +been concord between the colonists and the king. + +The comparison between the two is very striking, while at the same time +it is not easily brought home to the city dweller of to-day. City +government gives the individual a chance to bury himself in the mass, +and to avoid his duties; further, our cities are now many, and very +large, while we are notoriously patient under misrule. In 1760, on the +other hand, few towns had as yet adopted city government. Boston was the +largest town, and its population was little more than fifteen thousand. +So well did its enemies understand one reason for its truculence, that +they even considered means to force upon the town a city charter. The +question came, however, to no definite proposition. The town therefore +proceeded with its open discussion of all public questions, with its +right of free speech in town meetings extended even to strangers, and +with its _viva voce_ vote letting each man know where his neighbor +stood. "The town" was an entity of which each man felt himself a part. +As a whole, its self-consciousness was like that of an individual: it +could feel a trespass on its privileges as quickly as could the +haughtiest monarch of the old world. And all New England was filled with +towns whose feelings, on all essential points, were one and the same. + +Against the town-meetings of America stood George III, as determined to +assert his prerogatives as was any member of the house of Stuart. Still +comparatively young, he had not yet learned that there are limitations +of power, even to a king. And it was to the misfortune of his empire +that there were few in England to teach him. + +For the old Puritan middle class of the Stuart days was gone. Its fibre +had softened; the class itself had disappeared in the easier-going +masses of a more prosperous day. For seventy-five years England had had +no internal dissensions, and her foreign wars had added to her wealth +and contentment. To her well-wishers it seemed as if the people had +given itself to sloth and indulgence. "I am satisfied," wrote Burke, +"that, within a few years, there has been a great change in the national +character. We seem no longer that eager, inquisitive, jealous, fiery +people which we have been formerly, and which we have been a very short +time ago."[8] England was the country of Tom Jones, hearty and healthy, +but animated by no high principles and keyed to no noble actions. It +needed the danger of the Napoleonic wars to bring out once more the +sturdy manliness of the nation. Through all the earlier reign of George +III there was, to be sure, a remainder of the old high-minded spirit. +Chatham and Rockingham, Burke, Barre, and others, spoke in public and +private for the rights of the colonists, to whom their encouragement +gave strength. But the greater part of the English people was so +indifferent to the moral and political significance of the quarrel that +the king was practically able to do as he pleased. + +He proceeded on the assumption that every man had his price. The +assumption was unhappily too correct, for he was able to gather round +him, in Parliament or the civil service, his own party, the "King's +Friends," who served him for the profit that they got. No tale of modern +corruption can surpass the record of their plundering of a nation. With +this goes a story of gambling, drinking, and general loose living which, +while the attention is concentrated on it, rouses the belief that the +nation was wholly degenerate, until the recollection of the remnant, +Chatham and the party of the Earl of Rockingham, gives hope of the +salvation of the country. + +At any rate, for more than fifteen years of his reign the king was in +the ascendant. There was no party to depose him, scarcely one strong +enough to curb him, even at times of popular indignation. He was, +therefore, as no other king had been before him, able to force the issue +upon the colonies, in spite of the protests of the few friends of +liberty. In complete ignorance of the strength of the colonists, both in +resources and in purpose, he proceeded to insist upon his rights. When +it is remembered that those rights, according to his interpretation of +them, were to tax without representation, to limit trade and +manufactures, and to interfere at will in the management of colonial +affairs, it will be seen that he was playing with fire. + +The danger will appear the greater if it is considered that the +population of the colonies had not progressed, like that of England, to +days of easy tolerance. The Americans, and especially the New +Englanders, were of the same stuff as those who had beheaded Charles I, +and driven James II from his kingdom. They had among their military +officers plenty of such men as Pomeroy, who, destined to fight at Bunker +Hill, wrote from the siege of Louisburg: "It looks as if our campaign +would last long; but I am willing to stay till God's time comes to +deliver the city into our hands."[9] Many besides himself wrote, and +even spoke, in Biblical language. There were still heard, in New +England, the echoes of the "Great Awakening"; the preaching of +Whitefield and others had everywhere roused a keen religious feeling, +and the people were as likely as ever to open town-meeting with prayer, +and to go into battle with psalms. + +Such, then, were the contestants in the struggle. On the one side was +the king with his privileges, backed by his Parliamentary majority, and +having at command an efficient army and navy, and a full treasury. There +was at hand no one to resist him successfully at home, none to whose +warnings he would listen. And on the other side were the colonists, +quite capable of fighting for what they knew to be the "rights of +Englishmen." Both hoped to proceed peaceably. In ignorance, each was +hoping for the impossible, for the king would not retreat, and the +colonists would not yield. As soon as each understood the other's full +intention, there would be a rupture. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] It may appear to a hasty consideration that Frothingham's "Siege of +Boston" treats the siege as an isolated military event. It must, +however, be remembered that Mr. Frothingham had treated previous events +in a preliminary volume, his "Life of Joseph Warren." + +[2] "Memorial History of Boston," ii, 31. + +[3] "They nourished by your indulgence? They grew up by your neglect of +them!" Barre's speech in Parliament, February, 1765. + +[4] "Memorial History of Boston," i, 340, 376. + +[5] See, on this point, Sabine's "American Loyalists," 7. + +[6] Bancroft's "United States," ed. 1855, v, 265. References to Bancroft +will at first be to this edition. + +[7] Bancroft's "United States," v, 266. + +[8] Trevelyan, "American Revolution," Part i, 21. + +[9] "Memorial History of Boston," ii, 116. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +WRITS OF ASSISTANCE AND THE STAMP ACT + + +The men who, whether in America or England, took sides with the king or +the colonies as Tories and Whigs, or as "prerogative men" and "friends +of liberty," fall naturally into two classes. A line of cleavage could +be seen at the time, and can even be traced now, among the supporters of +either side, according as they followed principle or self-interest. +There were those who sought profit in supporting the colonies, as well +as those who knowingly faced loss in defending the king. It is well for +Americans to remember, therefore, that while many sided with the king +for what they could get, there were others whose minds could not +conceive a country without a king, or a subject with inalienable rights. +The best of the Tories honestly believed the Whig agitation to be +"unnatural, causeless, wanton, and wicked."[10] Such Americans were, in +the inevitable struggle, truly martyrs to their beliefs. + +Nevertheless, just as there was naturally more profit or prominence (and +the two were often the same) on the king's side, so his party had the +more self-seekers. "The cause is not worth dying for," said Ingersoll, +facing the Connecticut farmers, and spoke the sentiment of all the +stamp-officers who resigned their positions at the demand of the people. +The cause, however, did seem worth working for. There were many, in +England and America, who, like those whom Otis saw around him, "built +much upon the fine salaries they should receive from the plantation +branch of the revenue." Position, pay, and the chance to exploit the +revenues as this was done in England, were the temptations which brought +many to the side of the king, and which made men unite to urge upon him +the acts which he desired for less selfish reasons. + +Urged by principle, then, or excited by self-interest, the proposers of +new measures were strong. The earliest act of the king's reign showed +what could and what would be done, and brought upon the Boston stage the +first of the actors in the drama. On the one hand were the governor, the +justices, and the minor officials, on the other the people's +self-appointed--but willingly accepted--leaders. + +Francis Bernard was the first Massachusetts governor under George III. +Bernard arrived August 2, 1760; the old king died on October 25; and in +November the customs officials, stimulated by orders from home to +enforce the provisions of the Sugar Act of 1733, petitioned for "writs +of assistance," to empower them to summon help in forcible entries in +search of smuggled goods. Now there can be no doubt that there was +smuggling in the colony, even in Boston itself. On the other hand, the +officials were inquisitorial and rapacious. Once they were armed with +writs of assistance, no dwelling would be safe from entry by them. The +struggle was at once begun, and in the council chamber of the old Town +House was fought out before the eyes of the province. + +The scene is pictured on the walls of the modern State House. Chief +among the justices sat Thomas Hutchinson, a man of property and +education, and an excellent historian, but the very type of +office-holder, and by prejudice and interest a partisan of the king. +Against him stood James Otis, the first of the Massachusetts orators of +liberty, a man of good family, and, like so many of the patriot leaders, +a lawyer. His speech was the first definite pronouncement for a new +order of things. + +"I am determined," he said, "to sacrifice estate, ease, health, +applause, and even life, to the sacred calls of my country." He referred +to the "kind of power, the exercise of which cost one king of England +his head and another his throne." Such language, publicly spoken, was +new. His argument was, to Englishmen, irrefutable. No precedent, no +English statute, could stand against the Constitution. "This writ, if +declared legal, totally annihilates" the privacy of the home. +"Custom-house officers might enter our houses when they please, and we +could not resist them. Upon bare suspicion they could exercise this +wanton power.... Both reason and the Constitution are against this +writ.... Every act against the Constitution is void."[11] The speech, +continued for four hours, was a brilliant example of keen logic combined +with burning eloquence. + +This is Otis's great service to the cause of the Revolution. Fiery and +magnetic, but moody and eventually unbalanced, he gave place in the +public confidence to men perhaps of lesser talents, but with equal zeal +and steadier purpose. Yet his service was invaluable. His speech +expressed for his countrymen the indignation of the hour, and it pointed +the way to younger men. To one at least of his hearers, John Adams, it +was "like the oath of Hamilcar administered to Hannibal."[12] To many it +was the final appeal that settled them in their patriotism. For history +the scene has been called the beginning of the Revolution. + +Yet it had no immediate results, for Hutchinson--and the service was +forgotten by neither his friends nor his opponents--secured delay of +judgment in the case until the English courts could uphold him against +his wavering associates. Nevertheless, it is safe to assume that the +public indignation secured moderate measures on the part of the customs +officials, since we hear of few complaints. And the affair had its +influence on the public attitude toward the Stamp Act, five years later. + +The Stamp Act was the first definite assertion of the right to tax +America. In 1763 the Sugar Act had been reenacted, but its provisions, +taxing only importations from foreign colonies, yielded little revenue. +The king's treasury was already feeling the drains upon it, and a pack +of eager office-seekers was clamoring to be let loose upon the revenues +of the colonies. Together the king and his friends pushed through +Parliament the legislation which was to secure their purposes. To meet +any such danger as in the recent French and Indian wars, ten thousand +soldiers were to be quartered on the colonies, which were to pay for +their maintenance. Certain sops to public sentiment were given, in the +shape of concessions, yet new restrictions were laid on foreign trade. +And finally and most important, a stamp-tax, the easiest to collect, was +laid on business and legal formalities of all kinds. After its passage +no land title might be passed, no legal papers issued, no ship might +clear from a home port, without a stamp affixed to the necessary +documents. Not even inheritances might be transferred, nor marriages be +legalized. + +This was the first internal taxation laid by England on America. A word +is necessary as to the meaning of the phrase in those days. An external +tax, perhaps merely an export duty, was levied and paid in England; its +effect was seen in higher prices in the colonies. Internal taxation +would include all taxes actually paid in America on goods coming from +England. The provisions of the Sugar Act were regarded as "trade +restrictions," and not as intended to raise an English revenue. + +There is perhaps no better place to discuss the justice of the +Revolution than right here. Even to-day the illegality, the utter +wrongfulness of the American position, is occasionally raised among us +by those who see the great obligations to the mother country under which +the colonies lay, and who recall the needless hardships suffered by the +wretched Tories, the martyrs of a lost cause. Doubtless wrongs were +inflicted in the course of the struggle, and the great expenditures of +England were in large part unrequited. But it must be remembered that +the world had not yet reached the point where the losers in a war were +gently treated, and that no amount of financial obligation will ever +compel to the acceptance of political servitude. By habit of mind and +force of circumstances America had developed a political theory +puzzlingly novel to the old world and as yet not thoroughly understood +by the new. It was upon this unformulated theory that all future +differences were to arise. It interfered in all affairs in which the +question arose: Should the colonies be governed, and especially should +they be taxed, without a voice in their own affairs? + +No one in England doubted that Parliament had a right to tax America +without its consent. Customs restrictions were long familiar. As to +internal taxation, why, it was asked, should the colonies have a voice +in Parliament? Birmingham and Manchester, great centres of population, +were not represented, while that uninhabited heap of stones, Old Sarum, +sent a member to the Commons. Resting on these abuses, even Pitt and +Burke were content to argue that taxation of America was just. For them +it was a question whether that right should be exercised. + +With the best will in the world to be on good terms with the mother +country, America could not agree in such reasoning. The case had nothing +to do with obligations. As for these, the colonists knew that England +would never have won against the French in Canada without their aid. But +that was not the question. Should those who for a hundred and +thirty-five years had paid no tax to England pay one now? Were the +people who for seventy years had drawn a fine distinction between paying +their governor of their own accord and paying him at the command of the +king, and who in every year of royal governorship had made their +contention plain--were they to be satisfied to pay taxes because +Birmingham did? + +Undoubtedly there were other causes for discontent. "To me," says +Sabine, in the preface to his "American Loyalists," "the documentary +history, the state papers of the period teach nothing more clearly than +this, namely, that almost every matter brought into discussion was +practical, and in some form or other related to LABOR, to some branch +of COMMON INDUSTRY." He reminds us that twenty-nine laws limited +industry in the colonies, and concludes that "the great object of the +Revolution was to release LABOR from these restrictions." Undoubtedly +these restrictive laws had their effect upon the temper of the people. +Undoubtedly also there was much fear lest there should be established in +the colonies a bureaucracy of major and minor officials, corruptly, as +in England, winning fortunes for themselves. Yet the question of +taxation, a matter of merely theoretical submission, which produced no +hardship and would not impoverish the country, was the main cause of +trouble. The two branches of the race had long unconsciously parted +their ways, and the realization of it was upon them. + +Upon the proposal of the Stamp Act the colonies did everything in their +power to prevent the passage of the bill. They urged that internal +taxation had never been levied before. Protests, arguments, and +petitions were sent across the water, but in vain. The Commons fell +back upon its custom "to receive no petition against a money bill," and +would listen to nothing. "We have the power to tax them, and we will tax +them."[13] And following this utterance of one of the ministry, the bill +was passed. + +It is interesting to note that no resistance to the tax was expected. +Its operation was automatic; there was no hardship in its provisions; of +course the colonists would yield. Even Franklin, who should have known +his countrymen better, expected submission. "The sun is down," he wrote, +but "we may still light candles. Frugality and industry will go a great +way toward indemnifying us." His correspondent, Charles Thomson, had in +this case the truer foresight, and predicted the works of darkness.[14] + +Throughout the colonies there was not only sorrow, but anger. When even +Hutchinson had protested against the Stamp Act, it can be seen how the +Whigs would feel. Non-importation agreements were widely signed, and +people accustomed to silks and laces prepared to go into homespun. But +the act, passed in February, 1765, was not to go into effect until +November. Before that date, much could be done. + +What was done came from the lower as well as the upper classes. The +people acted promptly. One colony after another sent crowds to those who +had accepted, in advance, the positions of stamp-officers. One by one, +under persuasion or intimidation, the officers resigned until none were +left. In New York the governor fled to the military for protection, and +from the parapet of the fort looked helplessly on while the people burnt +before his eyes his own coach, containing images of himself and the +devil. But before this happened, Boston, first of all the capitals to +take a positive stand, began to draw upon itself the particular +resentment of the king. + +Early in August came to Boston the news of the nomination of its +stamp-collector, Andrew Oliver, long prominent upon the Tory side. The +lower class of the inhabitants, after a week of delay, stirred itself to +action. On the 14th the image of Oliver was seen hanging on the bough of +a large elm, then known as the Great Tree. Hutchinson ordered the image +down, but as the sheriff did not act, Bernard summoned his council, and +until evening fruitlessly endeavored to urge them to action. Then the +populace, having themselves removed the image, came to the Town House, +and, passing directly through it, shouted to the council, still sitting +upstairs, "Liberty, property, and no stamps!" Proceeding with perfect +order, the crowd next tore down the frame of a building which Oliver was +suspected of raising to use as his office, and, carrying the beams to +Fort Hill, burnt them and the image before Oliver's house. + +Hutchinson, who never lacked personal courage, called on the militia +colonel to summon his men and disperse the crowd, but the colonel +replied that his drummers were in the mob. Hutchinson then went with +the sheriff to order the crowd to disperse, but was himself forced to +depart in order to escape violence. The next day Bernard, the governor, +whose courage left him at the very thought of another such night, fled +to Castle William, behind whose ancient walls he considered himself +safe. Oliver hastily resigned his office, lest the mob should visit him +again. + +[Illustration: THE HUTCHINSON HOUSE] + +The people were not satisfied with the conduct of Hutchinson, who, +although he had actually opposed the passage of the Stamp Act, was +under suspicion of secretly abetting and profiting by it. After twelve +days there was a second outbreak; the mob began by burning the records +of the vice-admiralty court, went on to invade the house of the +comptroller of customs, and finally, worked to the usual pitch of a +mob's courage, attacked Hutchinson's house. With his family he escaped, +but the mob broke into the handsome mansion, and sacked it thoroughly. +His library, with priceless manuscripts concerning the history of the +colony, was scattered in the mud of the street. + +This was the most disgraceful event that happened in Boston during all +the long period preceding the Revolution. It was due to popular feeling, +wrongly directed; and to new working-men's organizations, not as yet +understanding the task that was before them. These organizations, as yet +almost formless, and never so important that records were kept, called +themselves the Sons of Liberty, after a phrase used by Isaac Barre, in a +speech in Parliament opposing the Stamp Act. The tree on which they had +hung the image of Oliver was from this time called Liberty Tree. + +The better class of Boston citizens at once, in a town meeting called +the following morning, declared their "detestation of these violent +proceedings," and promised to suppress them in future. We shall see that +one more such outbreak, and one only, was made by a Boston mob. There is +here suggested an unwritten, perhaps never to be written, chapter of the +history of this time. By what means did the Boston leaders, Samuel Adams +chief among them, manage to control the Boston workmen? However it was +done, by what conferences and through what reasoning, it is safe to say +that the loose organizations of the Sons of Liberty, and still another +set of clubs, the caucuses which met in various parts of the town, were +utilized to control the lower classes. We know the names of a few of the +leaders of the workmen: Edes the printer, Crafts the painter, and, most +noted of them all, Paul Revere the silversmith. These sturdy men, and +others in different trades, were the means of transmitting to the +artisans of Boston the thoughts and desires of the upper-class Whigs. +The organization was looser than that of a political party of to-day, +but as soon as it was completed, it produced a subordination, secrecy, +and self-control which cannot be paralleled in modern times. + +The opposition to the Stamp Act continued. More formidable than mobs +were the actions of the town meetings and legislatures. Protests and +declarations were solemnly drawn up; for the first time was heard the +threat of disaffection. Representatives from nine provinces met in the +Stamp Act Congress, and passed resolutions against the new taxation. + +It was impossible for England to ignore the situation. Reluctantly--it +was an act which the king never forgot nor forgave--more than a year +after its passage, when it was proved that its enforcement was +impossible, the Stamp Act was repealed. + +This was the time for England to change her whole policy. Not Boston +alone, but all America, had declared against American taxation. The +principles of liberty had again and again been clearly pointed out. +Further, there would have been no disgrace in admitting a mistake. The +whole colonial question was new in human history, for Roman practice was +inadmissible. "The best writers on public law," reasoned Otis, "contain +nothing that is satisfactory on the natural rights of colonies.... Their +researches are often but the history of ancient abuses."[15] The natural +rights of man should have been allowed to rule, as in the course of +time, with England's other colonies, they came to do. + +But, for better or for worse, sides had been taken. Few thought of +turning back. In England there were no breaks in the ranks of the king's +supporters; in America the office-holding class, the "best families," +the people of settled income and vested rights, were as a rule, +selfishly or unselfishly, for the king. Already "mobocracy," "the +faction," "sedition," were familiar terms among them. England was ready +to take, and the American Tories were ready to applaud, the next step. +And Boston was being marked down as the most obnoxious of the towns of +America.[16] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[10] The adjectives are those of _Massachusettensis_, the ablest Tory +pamphleteer, as quoted in Frothingham's "Siege," 33. + +[11] "Memorial History of Boston," iii, 5. + +[12] "Memorial History of Boston," iii, 7. + +[13] Bancroft's "United States," v, 247. + +[14] Fiske, "American Revolution," illustrated edition, i, 17. + +[15] Bancroft's "United States," v, 203. + +[16] The Castle, or Castle William, referred to in this chapter, was the +old fort on Castle Island. It was never put to any other use than as a +barracks and magazine. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +CHARLES TOWNSHEND, SAM ADAMS, AND THE MASSACRE + + +Unfortunately, when the Stamp Act was repealed, the way had been left +open for future trouble. The Rockingham ministry, the most liberal which +could then be assembled, even in repealing the Stamp Act thought it +incumbent upon them to assert, in the Declaratory Act, the right to tax +America. The succeeding ministry, called together under the failing +Pitt, was the means of reasserting the right. Pitt, too ill to support +the labor of leading his party in the Commons, entered the House of +Lords as Earl of Chatham, thus acknowledging the eclipse of fame and +abilities which in the previous reign had astounded Europe. It was +during one of his periods of illness, when he was unable to attend to +public affairs, that a subordinate insubordinately reversed his public +policy by proceeding once more to tax America. + +Charles Townshend was Chancellor of the Exchequer. It was he who had +urged the reenactment of the Sugar Act in 1763, and he now saw +opportunity to put through a more radical policy. In violation of all +implied pledges, disdaining restraint from his colleagues, this +brilliant but unstable politician introduced into Parliament a new bill +for raising an American revenue. "I am still,"[17] he declared, "a firm +advocate of the Stamp Act.... I laugh at the absurd distinction between +internal and external taxation.... It is a distinction without a +difference; if we have a right to impose the one, we have a right to +impose the other; the distinction is ridiculous in the sight of +everybody, except the Americans." + +"Everybody, except the Americans!" The phrase, from an important speech +at a critical moment, marks the fact that a world of thought divided +the two parts of the Empire more truly than did the Atlantic. But not as +yet so evidently. It is only in unconscious acknowledgments such as +these that we find the English admitting the new classification. In +studying the years before and after this event we find the Americans +often called Puritans and Oliverians, while the possible rise of a +Cromwell among them is admitted. Yet the parallel, though unmistakably +apt, and containing a serious warning, was never taken to heart, even in +America. + +Americans were very slow in approaching the conclusion that colonists +had irrefragable rights. Caution and habit and pride in the name of +Englishman kept them from it; the colonist, visiting England for the +first time, still proudly said that he was going "home." There was no +reason why this feeling should ever change, if only the spirit of +compromise, the basis of the British Constitution, had been kept in mind +by Parliament. But the times were wrong. Hesitate as the colonists might +before the syllogism which lay ready for completion, its minor and +major premises were already accepted. That they were Englishmen, and +that Englishmen had inalienable rights, were articles of faith among +them. The conclusion would be drawn as soon as they were forced to it. +And Townshend was preparing to force them. + +Townshend proposed small duties on lead, paints, glass, and paper. +Besides this, he withdrew the previous export duty, one shilling per +pound, on tea taken from England to America, and instead of this he laid +an import duty of threepence per pound. This was ingeniously new, being +internal taxation in a form different from that of the Stamp Act. At the +same time was abandoned the ancient contention that customs duties were +but trade regulations. The new taxes were obviously to raise an English +revenue. For the execution of the new laws provision was made in each +colony for collectors to be paid directly by the king, but indirectly by +the colonies. The head of these collectors was a board of Commissioners +of the Customs, stationed at Boston. It will be seen that thus were +begun new irritations for the colonies, in the shape of duties for the +benefit of England, and of a corps of officials whose dependence on the +crown made sure that they would be subservient tools. + +While this was done, no change was made in the plan to maintain in +America an army at colonial expense. Indeed, New York was punished for +refusing to supply to the troops quartered in the city supplies that had +been illegally demanded. Its assembly was not allowed to proceed with +public business until the supplies should be voted. Thus every other +colony was notified what to expect. + +The Revenue Acts were passed in July, 1767. Upon receiving the news the +colonies expressed to each other their discontent. Concerning the +Customs Commissioners Boston felt the greatest uneasiness. "We shall +now," wrote Andrew Eliot, "be obliged to maintain in luxury sycophants, +court parasites, and hungry dependents." The strongest expression upon +the general situation was in Dickinson's "Farmer's Letters."[18] +"This," said he, "is an INNOVATION, and a most dangerous innovation. We +being obliged to take commodities from Great Britain, special duties +upon their exportation to us are as much taxes as those imposed by the +Stamp Act. Great Britain claims and exercises the right to prohibit +manufactures in America. Once admit that she may lay duties upon her +exportations to us, for the purpose of levying money on us only, she +will then have nothing to do but to lay those duties on the articles +which she prohibits us to manufacture, and the tragedy of American +liberty is finished." + +There was but one way to meet the situation. In October the town of +Boston resolved, through its town meeting, to import none of the +dutiable articles. The example was followed by other towns until all the +colonies had entered, unofficially, into a non-importation agreement. +The question arose, What further should be done? Otis was beginning his +mental decline. It was now that Samuel Adams, or Sam Adams, as Boston +better loves to call him, came into the leadership which he ever after +exercised. + +He was a man of plain Boston ancestry, whose father had interested +himself in public affairs, and who, like his son, was of doubtful +business ability. Sam Adams's interests were evident from his boyhood, +and when in 1743 he took his degree of Master of Arts at Harvard, he +presented a thesis on the subject: "Whether it be Lawful to resist the +Supreme Magistrate, if the Commonwealth cannot otherwise be preserved." +Although he inherited a little property from his father, and although +from the year 1753 he served constantly in public offices, up to the +year 1764 he had scarcely been a success. His patrimony had largely +disappeared; further, as tax-collector he stood, with his associates, +indebted to the town for nearly ten thousand pounds. The reason for this +is not clear; the fact has been used to his disadvantage by Tory +historians, the first of them being Hutchinson, who calls the situation +a "defalcation." But in order to feel sure that the state of affairs +was justified by circumstances, we need only to consider that in the +same year Adams was chosen by the town on the committee to "instruct" +its representatives, and a year later was himself made a legislator. +From that time on, his influence in Boston and Massachusetts politics +steadily grew. + +His political sentiments were never in doubt. In his "instructions" of +1764 are found the words: "If Taxes are laid upon us in any shape +without our having a legal representative where they are laid, are we +not reduced from the Character of free Subjects to the miserable State +of tributary Slaves?"[19] Throughout the Stamp Act agitation he was +active in opposing the new measures. He was found to be ready with his +tongue, but especially so with his pen. For this reason he was +constantly employed by the town and the Assembly to draft their +resolutions, and some of the most momentous documents of the period +remain to us in his handwriting. When at last, at the beginning of 1768, +some one was needed to express the opinion of Massachusetts upon the +Townshend Acts, Samuel Adams was naturally looked to as the man for the +work. + +He drafted papers which were, one after the other, adopted by the +Massachusetts Assembly. The first was a letter of remonstrance, +addressed to the colony's agent in London, and intended to be made +public. It protested, in words seven times revised by the Assembly, +against the proposed measures. Similar letters were sent to members of +the ministry and leaders of English opinion. Another letter was +addressed to the king. Of the success of this, Adams apparently had +little hope, for when his daughter remarked that the paper might be +touched by the royal hand, he replied, "More likely it will be spurned +by the royal foot." The final one of these state papers was a circular +letter addressed to "each House of Representatives or Burgesses on the +continent." This expressed the opinion of Massachusetts upon the new +laws, and invited discussion. That nothing in this should be considered +underhanded, a copy of the circular letter was sent to England. + +It is significant that at the same time the new revenue commission sent +a secret letter to England, protesting against New England town +meetings, "in which the lowest mechanics discussed the most important +points of government with the utmost freedom,"[20] and asking for +troops. + +This begins the series of misrepresentations and complaints which, +constantly sent secretly to England, became a leading cause of trouble. +The working of the old colonial system is here seen in its perfection. +Believing in the right to tax and punish, the Ministry appointed +officers of the same belief. These men, finding themselves in hot water +in Boston, were annoyed and perhaps truly alarmed, and constantly urged +harsher measures and the sending of troops. The ministry, listening to +its own supporters, and disbelieving the assertions of the American +Whigs, more and more steadily inclined toward severity. + +Perhaps no falser idea was created than that Boston was riotous. Says +Fiske: "Of all the misconceptions of America by England which brought +about the American Revolution, perhaps this notion of the turbulence of +Boston was the most ludicrous." One of the most serious also. The chief +cause was in the timorousness of Bernard, the governor. On the occasion +of the anniversary of the repeal of the Stamp Act, when, as Hutchinson +said, "We had only such a mob as we have long been used to on the Fifth +of November," Bernard wrote that there was "a disposition to the utmost +disorder." As a crowd reached his house, "There was so terrible a yell +it was apprehended they were breaking in. It was not so; however, it +caused the same terror as if it had been so." That such a letter should +have any effect on home opinion is, as Fiske says, ludicrous. Yet the +mischief caused by these reports is incalculable. "It is the bare +truth," says Trevelyan, "that his own Governors and +Lieutenant-Governors wrote King George out of America."[21] + +Another little series of incidents at this time shows the official +disposition to magnify reports of trouble. For some weeks the ship of +war _Romney_ had lain in the harbor, summoned by the commissioners of +customs. That the ship should be summoned was in itself an offence to +the town; but the conduct of the captain, in impressing seamen in the +streets of Boston, was worse. Bad blood arose between the ship's crew +and the longshoremen; one of the impressed men was rescued, but the +captain angrily refused to accept a substitute for another. Trouble was +brought to a head by the seizure, on the order of the commissioners of +customs, of John Hancock's sloop, the _Liberty_, on alleged violation of +regulations. Irritated by the seizure, and by the fact that the sloop +was moored by the side of the _Romney_, a crowd threatened the customs +house officers, broke the comptroller's windows, and, taking a boat +belonging to the collector, after parading with it through the streets, +burnt it on the Common. + +This was the second disturbance in Boston which can be called a riot. +But it was of small size and short duration; the influence of the Whig +leaders, working through secret channels, quieted the mob, and there was +no further trouble. Nevertheless, four of the commissioners of the +customs seized the occasion to flee to the _Romney_, and to request of +the governor protection in the Castle, declaring that they dared not +return. But the remaining commissioner remained undisturbed on shore, +and a committee of the council, examining into the matter, found that +the affair had been only "a small disturbance." A committee from the +Boston town meeting, going in eleven chaises to Bernard at his country +seat, secured from him a promise to stop impressments, and a statement +of his desire for conciliation. Nevertheless Bernard, Hutchinson, and +the various officers of the customs, used the incident in their letters +home to urge that troops were needed in Boston. + +This was but an interlude, though an instructive one, in the main course +of events. Massachusetts had protested against the new Acts. The next +issue arose when the Assembly was directed, by the new colonial +secretary, Lord Hillsborough, to rescind its Remonstrance and Circular +Letter. The debate on the question was long and important; the demand +was refused by a vote of seventeen to ninety-two. The curious can still +see, in the Old State House, the punch-bowl that Paul Revere was +commissioned to make for the "Immortal Ninety-two;" and there still +exist copies of Revere's caricature of the Rescinders, with Timothy +Ruggles at their head, being urged by devils into the mouth of hell. +These are indications of the feelings of the times. The immediate result +was that in June, 1768, Bernard dissolved the house, and Massachusetts +was "left without a legislature." Upon the news reaching England, it +was at last resolved to send troops to Boston. The crisis in +Massachusetts was now serious. Against the governor and the expected +troops stood only the council, with slight powers. Some machinery must +be devised to meet the emergency, and the solution of the difficulty was +found by Samuel Adams. His mind first leaped to the ultimate remedy for +all troubles, and then found the way out of the present difficulty. + +The ultimate solution was independence. Though in moments of despondency +and exasperation the word had been used by both parties, until now no +one had considered independence possible except Samuel Adams. From this +period he worked for it, in secret preparing men's minds for the grand +change. According to a Tory accusation made in a later year, Adams +"confessed that the independence of the colonies had been the great +object of his life; that whenever he met a youth of parts he had +endeavored to instil such notions into his mind, and had neglected no +opportunity, either in public or in private, of preparing the way for +independence."[22] + +Another Tory source, a deposition gathered when the Tories were +preparing an accusation against Adams, shows the agitator at work. +During the affair of the sloop _Liberty_, "the informant observed +several parties of men gathered in the street at the south end of the +town of Boston, in the forenoon of the day. The informant went up to one +of the parties, and Mr. Samuel Adams, then one of the representatives of +Boston, happened to join the same party near about the same time, +trembling and in great agitation.... The informant heard the said Samuel +Adams then say to the same party, 'If you are men, behave like men. Let +us take up arms immediately, and be free, and seize all the king's +officers. We shall have thirty thousand freemen to join us from the +country.'" + +The statement of the deposition is crude and overdone, yet there can be +no doubt that from this time Adams did work for the one great end. At +first he was alone, yet he recognized the temper of the continent, and +saw the way that the political sentiments of the country were tending. +The methods which he followed were not always open; for never did he +avow his true sentiments, while often protesting, on behalf of the town +or the province, loyalty to the crown. Doubtless he did train the young +men up as he saw them inclined. In one case we know that he failed. +"Samuel Adams used to tell me," said John Coffin, a Boston Tory, +"'Coffin, you must not leave us; we shall have warm work, and want +you.'"[23] But in other cases Adams succeeded: one by one John Hancock, +Josiah Quincy, Jr., John Adams, and Joseph Warren were by him brought +into prominence. And at the same time he began to accustom men's minds +to new methods of political activity. + +This Adams did in the present difficulty, when, in default of the +Assembly, he yet needed an expression of the opinion of the province. +Through his means was called a convention of the towns of Massachusetts, +which met in Faneuil Hall, on the 22d of September, 1768. + +The convention was self-restrained. It called upon the governor to +convene the Assembly, and approved all the acts which had caused the +Assembly's dismissal; it resolved to preserve order, and quietly +dissolved itself. "I doubt," said the British Attorney-General, "whether +they have committed an overt act of treason, but I am sure they have +come within a hair's breadth of it." + +Immediately afterwards arrived the ships with troops. These were landed +with much parade, to find a peaceful town, yet one which from the first +was able to annoy them. Demand was made for quarters for the soldiers; +the Selectmen and Council replied by referring to the law which forbade +such a requisition until the barracks at Castle William should be +filled. By neither subtlety nor threats could the town be induced to +yield; the troops camped on the Common until, at great expense, the +crown officials were forced to hire quarters. It was but the beginning +of the discomfort of the troops, openly scorned in a town where +three-quarters of the people were against them. Where few women except +their own camp-followers would have to do with the soldiers, where the +men despised them and the boys jeered, where "lobster-back" was the +mildest term that was flung at them, there was no satisfaction in +wearing the king's uniform. + +[Illustration: FANEUIL HALL] + +Eighteen months of this life wore upon the soldiers. The townsfolk +became adepts at subtle irritations, against which there was not even +the solace of interesting occupation; for except for daily drill there +was nothing to do. In time the more violent among the troops were ripe +for any affray; while the lower classes among the inhabitants, stanch +Whigs and sober livers, were sick of the noisy ribaldry which for so +long had made unpleasant the streets of the town. Out of these +conditions grew what has been called the Boston Massacre. + +The best contemporary, and in fact the best general authority for this +event is the "Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre in Boston." This +was published by the town for circulation in England, and is still +extant in Doggett's reprint of 1849, and in Kidder's of 1870. In a +report of a special committee the town rehearses both the events of the +Massacre and the proceedings which followed it. Seventy-two pages of +depositions are appended to the report of the committee: no other single +event of those days is made so vivid to us. + +The Massacre was preceded by minor disturbances. On the second of March, +1770, insults having passed between a soldier and a ropemaker, the +former came to the ropewalk, "and looking into one of the windows said, +_by God I'll have satisfaction!_ ... and at last said he was not afraid +of any one in the ropewalks. I"--thus deposes Nicholas Feriter, of +lawful age, "stept out of the window and speedily knocked up his heels. +On falling, his coat flew open, and a naked sword appeared, which one +John Willson, following me out, took from him, and brought into the +ropewalks." The soldier returned a second and a third time, each time +with more men from his regiment. At the last they were "headed by a tall +negro drummer, with a cutlass chained to his body, with which, at first +rencounter," says valiant Nicholas, "I received a cut on the head, but +being immediately supported by nine or ten more of the ropemakers, armed +with their wouldring sticks, we again beat them off." + +For three days there was, among the two regiments stationed in the town, +anger which the inhabitants endeavored to allay by the discharge of the +ropemaker who gave the original insult, and by agreements made with the +commanding officer, Colonel Dalrymple. But, as afterwards appeared, +there were warnings of further trouble. Cautions were given to friends +of the soldiers not to go on the streets at night. The soldiers and +their women could not refrain from dark hints of violence to come. It is +even possible that violence was concerted. On the night of the fifth a +number of soldiers assembled in Atkinson Street. "They stood very still +until the guns were fired in King Street, then they clapped their hands +and gave a cheer, saying, 'This is all that we want'; they then ran to +their barracks and came out again in a few minutes, all with their arms, +and ran toward King Street." "I never," so runs other testimony, "saw +men or dogs so greedy for their prey as these soldiers seemed to be." + +But the affray was of small proportions, and soon over. The actual +outbreak originated in a quarrel between a barber's boy and a sentry, +stationed in King Street below the east end of the Town House.[24] Boys +and men gathered, the sentry called out the guard, fire-bells were rung, +and the crowd increased. The captain of the guard was not the man for +the emergency. Said Henry Knox, afterward general and Secretary of War, +"I took Captain Preston by the coat and told him for God's sake to take +his men back again, for if they fired his life must answer for the +consequence; he replied he was sensible of it, or knew what he was +about, or words to that purpose; and seemed in great haste and much +agitated." The gathering still increased, there was crowding and +jostling, snowballs and possibly sticks were thrown; the soldiers grew +angry and the officer uncertain what to do. "The soldiers," testified +John Hickling, "assumed different postures, shoving their bayonets +frequently at the people, one in particular pushing against my side +swore he would run me through; I laid hold of his bayonet and told him +that nobody was going to meddle with them. Not more than ten seconds +after this I saw something white, resembling a piece of snow or ice, +fall among the soldiers, which knocked the end of a firelock to the +ground. At that instant the word 'Fire!' was given, but by whom I know +not; but concluded it did not come from the officer aforesaid, as I was +within a yard of him and must have heard him had he spoken it, but am +satisfied said Preston did not forbid them to fire; I instantly leaped +within the soldier's bayonet as I heard him cock his gun, which that +moment went off.... I, thinking there was nothing but powder fired, +stood still, till ... I saw another gun fired, and the man since called +Attucks, fall. I then withdrew about two or three yards.... During this +the rest of the guns were fired, one after another, when I saw two more +fall.... I further declare that I heard no other affront given them than +the huzzaing and whistling of boys in the street." + +After the firing, other soldiers were summoned to the spot, and more +townspeople appeared. The soldiers, says the official narrative, "were +drawn up between the State House and main guard, their lines extended +across the street and facing down King Street, where the town people +were assembled. The first line kneeled, and the whole of the first +platoon presented their guns ready to fire, as soon as the word should +be given.... For some time the appearance of things were dismal. The +soldiers outrageous on the one hand, and the inhabitants justly incensed +against them on the other: both parties seemed disposed to come to +action." + +Had the affair gone further, so that the soldiers fired again, or the +townspeople stormed the barracks, then the affray would have resembled +the riots not uncommon in Europe at that time, and known even in +England. In such a case the turbulence of Boston might have been proved. +But the good town was later able to claim that up to the actual breaking +out of hostilities not one soldier or Tory had been harmed in +Massachusetts. In the present case nothing further happened. The +stubborn people stood their ground, but the eager troops were restrained +and led away. The punishment of the offenders took place according to +law, with John Adams and Josiah Quincy, Jr., leaders of the Whigs, as +successful defenders of the captain. + +The important consequences were political. Though the people dispersed +that night, they assembled on the morrow in a crowded town meeting, +where Samuel Adams guided the actions of the assembly. Adjourning from +Faneuil Hall to the Old South, which itself could not accommodate them +all, the throng passed the very spot of the Massacre and under the +windows of the State House, where the lieutenant-governor viewed them. +This man was Hutchinson, acting governor in the absence of Bernard, and +at last about to arrive at the goal of colonial ambition. + +Thomas Hutchinson has been too much condemned, and of late years almost +too much commended. He had spent thirty years in the service of the +colony, holding more offices, and more at the same time, than any man of +his generation. Now he was unpopular and misjudged, yet he was a man for +his day and party honest and patriotic; his end, in exile in England, +was one of the tragedies of American loyalty. But though a braver man +than Bernard and more public-spirited, his methods were equally +underhanded, and he fatally mistook the capacity of his countrymen to +govern themselves. A man who could wish for less freedom of speech in +England was not the man to sympathize with the spirit of Americans. + +He now, backed by a few councillors and officials, was to face Sam Adams +and the Boston town meeting. With a committee from the meeting, Adams +came to the State House to demand the withdrawal of the troops to the +Castle. Hutchinson answered that he would withdraw one regiment, but had +not the power to remove both. Retiring at the head of his committee, +Adams passed through a lane of people on his way to the Old South. "Both +regiments or none!" he said right and left as he passed, and every one +took up the word. "Both regiments or none!" cried the meeting. Voting +his report unsatisfactory, it sent him back to the governor to repeat +his demand. + +"Now for the picture," wrote John Adams many years after. "The theatre +and the scenery are the same with those at the discussion of the writs +of assistance. The same glorious portraits of King Charles the Second, +and King James the Second, to which might be added, and should be added, +little miserable likenesses of Governor Winthrop, Governor Bradstreet, +Governor Endicott, and Governor Belcher, hung up in obscure corners of +the room. Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson, commander-in-chief in the +absence of the governor, must be placed at the head of the +council-table. Lieutenant-Colonel Dalrymple, commander of his majesty's +military forces, taking rank of all his majesty's councillors, must be +seated by the side of the lieutenant-governor and commander-in-chief of +the Province. Eight-and-twenty councillors must be painted, all seated +at the council-board. Let me see,--what costume? What was the fashion of +that day in the month of March? Large white wigs, English scarlet-cloth +coats, some of them with gold-laced hats; not on their heads indeed in +so august a presence, but on the table before them or under the table +beneath them. Before these illustrious persons appeared SAMUEL ADAMS, a +member of the House of Representatives and their clerk, now at the head +of the committee of the great assembly at the Old South Church."[25] + +[Illustration: 1722--SAMUEL ADAMS 1803 By John Singleton Copley] + +It is this moment that Copley chose to represent Adams. Facing the +governor, the officers, and the councillors, Adams stood in his simple +"wine-colored suit," and appealed to the charter and the laws. "If you +have power to remove one regiment, you have power to remove both. It is +at your peril if you do not. The meeting is composed of three thousand +people. They are become very impatient. A thousand men are already +arrived from the neighborhood, and the country is in general motion. +Night is approaching; an immediate answer is expected."[26] + +Hutchinson was a man learned in the history of the province and the +people, and the occasion had impressed him already. As the meeting had +passed under his windows on the way to the Old South, a friend at his +side had remarked that this was not the kind of men that had sacked his +house. He had noted the resolute countenances of the best men of the +town, and had--to use his own words--judged their spirit to be as +strong, and their resolve as high, as those of the men who had +imprisoned Andros. Adams, narrowly watching him now, marked the tumult +in Hutchinson's mind. + +"I observed his knees to tremble," said Adams afterward; "I saw his face +grow pale; and I enjoyed the sight."[27] For Hutchinson, poorly +supported and irresolute, the strain was too great. He temporized and +parleyed, but he thought again of Andros, and gave way. It was a +complete triumph for the town. The troops, until their removal to the +Castle could be effected, were virtually imprisoned in their barracks by +a patrol of citizens. From that time they bore the name of the "Sam +Adams regiments." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[17] Bancroft, vi, 48. + +[18] Farmer's Letters, quoted in Bancroft, vi, 105. + +[19] Hosmer, "Life of Samuel Adams," 48. + +[20] Bancroft's "United States," vi, 128. + +[21] "American Revolution," Part 1, 43. + +[22] Hosmer's "Life of Adams." + +[23] Sabine's "Loyalists." + +[24] King Street is now State Street, and the Town House is the Old +State House. + +[25] Hosmer's "Samuel Adams," 172. + +[26] Bancroft, vi, 344. + +[27] Bancroft, vi, 345. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE TEA-PARTY AND ITS CONSEQUENCES + + +Step by step the mother country and its colonies were advancing to a +rupture. The first step was taken at the test concerning the writs of +assistance, the second at the passage of the Stamp Act and its repeal, +the third resulted in the Massacre and the withdrawal of the troops from +Boston. Each time the colonies gained the practical advantages which +they sought; each time the king's party, while yielding, became more +exasperated, and presently tested the strength of the colonies once +more; and each time it was Boston that stood as the head and front of +opposition. The town was marked for martyrdom. + +In the case of the Townshend Acts, the victory of the colonists was +temporarily complete. The movement had come to a head at Boston in an +actual outbreak, the Massacre, which obscured the greater issues; +nevertheless the issues were won. America would not submit to the new +revenue laws. Very calmly it had avoided them by refusing to import from +England. A thorough test of nearly two years showed that from north to +south the colonies were almost a unit in rejecting English and foreign +goods, and in relying on home manufactures. From importations of more +than a million and a quarter pounds, two-thirds fell clean away,[28] and +the merchants of England felt the pinch. There was but one thing to do, +and England grudgingly did it. The withdrawal of the troops from Boston +was acquiesced in, and the revenue acts, the cause of all the trouble, +were repealed, except for a duty still maintained upon tea. + +The response was such that England was relieved. New York began to +import those articles which had been made free of duty. The +non-importation agreement was broken, as the colonies perceived. "You +had better send us your old liberty pole," wrote Philadelphia scornfully +to New York, "since you clearly have no further use for it."[29] Whigs +and Tories both saw that, the agreement thus broken, other colonies +would follow the example of New York. + +The advantage was now clearly with the king, and he endeavored to make +the most of it, not by abiding in peace, but by taking a further step. +He ordered that colonial judges should in future be paid from the +English treasury. No one in the colonies could fail to see that the blow +was aimed directly at the independence of the judiciary. + +Massachusetts was alarmed. Boston sent resolutions to the governor, but +Hutchinson, now at last in the chair, refused to listen to the town +meeting. In this moment of indignation, Samuel Adams conceived a scheme +which was the longest step yet taken toward independence. + +This was the idea of Committees of Correspondence, to be permanently +maintained by each town and even by each colony. The idea of such +committees was not novel. It had been suggested years before by Jonathan +Mayhew, and had more than once been used in emergencies. But permanent +committees, watching affairs and at any time ready to act, were new. +Naturally composed of the best men in each town, they would at all times +be ready to speak, and to speak vigorously. The plan, when perfected, +eventually enabled the colonies to act as a unit. From the first it gave +strength to the Americans; in the present instance it spread the news of +the king's action and roused indignation, and before long it brought +about an act which startled the English-speaking world. + +This was the Boston Tea-Party. The king had a hand in making the fire +hot. He had been vexed by his unsuccessful tariff, and was now +especially irritated that his concessions had brought about no result in +one important particular. + +Until the present every shipmaster had been a smuggler, and all the +Whigs dealt in smuggled goods. This was according to old English +practice, but as a matter of fact illicit trade was more decorous in +America than in England. Whereas in Cornwall the forces of the smugglers +were so strong that they chased the revenue cutters into harbors and +landed their goods by bright moonlight, in America the appearances of +legality were gravely preserved. + +Nevertheless the result was the same, and in one quarter was actually +serious. The recent tariff had brought to the royal treasury scarcely +three hundred pounds from tea. The situation was no better now that the +tea-duty was the only one remaining. So completely did America, while +still drinking tea in quantity, avoid the duly imported article, that +the revenue of the East India Company fell off alarmingly. On pathetic +representations of the financial state of the company, the king gave +permission, through a subservient Parliament, for the company to export +tea to America free even of the English duty. The company had lost +hundreds of thousands of pounds since the Townshend Acts went in force; +now by favorable terms it was to be enabled to undersell in the colonial +market even the smuggled teas. Taking advantage of this new ruling, tea +was promptly shipped, in the autumn of 1773, to different consignees in +Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston. + +It was confidently expected that the colonies would buy the tea. No one +in the government supposed that the Americans would be blind to their +own interests. This much, indeed, was admitted by the leaders among the +Whigs, that once the tea was on sale Yankee principle might be sorely +tempted by Yankee thrift. Indignant at the insidious temptation, +determined that no such test should be made, and resenting the +establishment of a practical monopoly throughout the colonies, the +leaders resolved that the tea should not be landed. + +It is an odd fortune that connected the Chinese herb so closely with +the struggle of principle in America. To this day, while the issues are +obscured in the mind of the average American, he remembers the tax on +tea, and that his ancestors would not pay it. Picturesque tales of +ladies' associations depriving themselves of their favorite beverage, of +men tarring and feathering unpopular tradesmen, have survived the +hundred and thirty odd years which have passed since then; and the +impression is general that the colonists would not pay a tax which bore +heavy on them. But it will be noticed by those who have attentively read +this account that the colonists were refusing to pay less, in order that +they might have the satisfaction of paying more. They balked, not at the +amount of the tax, but at its principle. + +In the case of the tea-ships the duty of action fell upon Boston. +Charleston and Philadelphia had taken a positive stand resolving not to +receive the tea; but the ships were due at Boston first. The eyes of +the continent were upon this one town. Boston made ready to act, yet of +the preparations we know nothing. While the story as it is told is +interesting enough, there is no record of the secret meetings in which +the events were prepared. Hints are dropped, and it is asserted that +within the Green Dragon tavern, a favorite meeting-place of the Whigs, +were finally decided the means by which the workmen of the town should +carry out the plans of the leaders. But of these meetings nothing is +positively known; all we can say with certainty is that the plans worked +perfectly, and that Sam Adams must have had a hand in their making. + +The Sons of Liberty took the first step toward forcing the consignees of +the tea to resign. "Handbills are stuck up," writes John Andrews, +"calling upon Friends! Citizens! and Countrymen!" To Liberty Tree the +"freemen of Boston and the neighboring towns" were invited, by placard +and advertisement, "to hear the persons, to whom the tea shipped by the +East India Company is consigned, make a public resignation of their +office as consignees, upon oath."[30] + +But the consignees did not come, though the freemen did. The +townspeople, forming themselves into a "meeting," sent a committee to +the consignees, demanding that they refuse to receive the tea. But the +consignees believed themselves safe. They were merchants of family and +property, the governor's sons were among them, and it was rumored that +Hutchinson had a pecuniary interest in the success of the venture. They +refused to give the pledge. + +The official town meeting now took up the matter. Before the tea +arrived, and again after the appearance of the first ship, the town +called upon the consignees to resign. Each time the consignees refused. +The second town meeting, after thus acting in vain, dissolved without +the customary expression of opinion. Hutchinson himself records that +"this sudden dissolution struck more terror into the consignees than the +most minatory resolves." From that moment the matter was in the hands +of the Boston Committee of Correspondence. + +By means of the committee, at whose head was Adams, communication was +held with the towns throughout Massachusetts. The province was greatly +excited, and repeated demands for resignation were made upon the +consignees, but they clung to their offices and the hope of profit. +Delays were skilfully secured, and the first ship was entered at the +customs, after which according to law it must within twenty days either +clear for England or land its cargo. The governor was resolved not to +grant a clearance, and rejoiced over his opponents. "They find +themselves," he said, "in invincible difficulties." + +But everything was prepared. To the last minute of the twenty days the +Whigs were patient. Petition after petition, appeal after appeal, went +to the governor or the consignees. There was no success. On the last +day, the 16th of December, 1773, all three of the tea-ships were at +Griffin's Wharf, watched by the patriots. A town meeting, the largest in +the history of Boston, crowded the Old South, and again resolved that +the tea should not be landed. "Who knows," asked John Rowe, "how tea +will mingle with salt water?" The remark was greeted with cheers, yet +one more legal step might be taken, and the meeting, sending Rotch, the +master of the first tea-ship, to the governor at Milton to ask for a +clearance, patiently waited while he should traverse the fifteen miles +of his journey. During the hours of his absence there was no +disturbance; when he returned, the daylight had gone, and the Old South +was lighted with candles. Seven thousand people were silent to hear the +report. It was brief, and its meaning was clear: the governor had +refused; the last legal step had been taken. Then Samuel Adams rose. + +"This meeting," he declared, "can do nothing more to save the country." + +It was the expected signal. Immediately there was a shout from the +porch, and the warwhoop sounded out of doors. The meeting poured out of +doors and followed some fifty men in the garb of Indians, who suddenly +appeared in the street. They hurried to Griffin's Wharf. There they +posted guards, took possession of the tea-ships, and hoisting the chests +from the holds, knocked them open and emptied the tea into the water. +Under the moon the great crowd watched in silence, there was no +interference from the troops or the war-ships, and in three hours the +last of the tea was overboard. Nothing remained except what had sifted +into the shoes of some of the "Indians," to be preserved as mementoes of +the day. + +"They say," wrote John Andrews dryly two days later, "that the actors +were _Indians_ from _Narragansett_. Whether they were or not, to a +transient observer they appear'd as _such_, being cloath'd in Blankets +with the heads muffled, and copper color'd countenances, being each +arm'd with a hatchet or axe, and pair pistols, nor was their _dialect_ +different from what I conceive these geniusses to _speak_, as their +jargon was unintelligible to all but themselves. Not the least insult +was offer'd to any person, save one Captain Conner, a letter of horses +in this place, not many years since remov'd from _dear Ireland_, who had +ript up the lining of his coat and waistcoat under the arms, and +watching his opportunity had nearly fill'd 'em with tea, but being +detected, was handled pretty roughly. They not only stripp'd him of his +cloaths, but gave him a coat of mud, with a severe bruising into the +bargain; and nothing but their utter aversion to make _any_ disturbance +prevented his being tar'd and feather'd." + +Such was the Boston Tea-Party, "the boldest stroke," said Hutchinson, +"that had yet been struck in America." Much has been written about it. +It has been minimized into a riot and magnified into a deed of glory. As +a matter of fact, it was neither the one nor the other, yet if either it +was nearer the latter. Carried out by Boston mechanics, but doubtless +directed by Boston leaders, it was a cool and deliberate law-breaking, +the penalty for which, could the offenders but have been discovered, +would have been severe. But none of the actors in the affair were +betrayed at the time, though hundreds in the town must have had positive +knowledge of their identity. Names, like those of the burners of the +_Gaspee_ eighteen months before, were not given out until after the +Revolution, and even to-day the list of them is not complete. + +The project of the king and the East India Company was a failure. In one +way or other the other three seaports either destroyed or sent back +their tea. But Boston was the first and most violent offender. It was on +her that punishment was to descend. + +The news of the Tea-Party came to England at a time when king and +Parliament were less amiably disposed than usual toward Massachusetts. +Some weeks before had happened the affair of the Hutchinson letters. +Benjamin Franklin, then Postmaster-General of England, and agent for +Massachusetts, had secured possession of certain letters written by +Governor Hutchinson and by others in office in the colony. These letters +proved beyond doubt that the Massachusetts officials had been secretly +urging upon the home government repressive measures against the colony. +This was but what Bernard had done, and what had been suspected of his +successor; yet the actual proof was too much for Franklin. He sent the +letters, under pledge of secrecy, home to be read by the leaders among +the Massachusetts Whigs. But the pledge of secrecy could not be kept. +The letters were read in the Assembly and then published. "He had +written," says Bancroft of Hutchinson, "against every part of the +Constitution, the elective character of the Council, the annual choice +of the Assembly, the New England organization of the towns; had advised +and solicited the total dependence of the judiciary on the Crown, had +hinted at making the experiment of declaring Martial Law, and of +abrogating English liberty; had advised to the restraint of the +commerce of Boston and the exclusion of the Province from the +fisheries."[31] Hutchinson's defence was that he "had never wrote any +public or private letter that tends to subvert the Constitution." But he +was thinking of the Constitution rather than the Charter. The province +was thoroughly roused, and sent to England a firm yet respectful +petition demanding his dismissal. + +But Hutchinson had been serving the king as the king wished to be +served. The wrath of the government fell upon Franklin. In a crowded +meeting of the Privy Council, with scant respect for the forms of law, +Franklin was subjected to elaborate abuse. There were none to defend him +who could gain a respectful hearing; he stood immovable under the +tongue-lashing of the Solicitor-General, and made no reply. "I have +never," he said afterwards, "been so sensible of the power of a good +conscience, for if I had not considered the thing for which I have been +so much insulted, as one of the best actions of my life, and what I +should certainly do again in the same circumstances, I could not have +supported it."[32] The suit which he wore that day he put carefully +away, and did not wear it again until as Commissioner for the United +States he signed in Paris the treaty of alliance with France. + +Franklin was deprived of his office under the crown, and the king who +directed the punishment, the council who condemned him, and the +Parliament which cheered them both on, were not yet satisfied. When the +news of the Tea-Party came, they felt that their chance had come to +strike at the real culprit. The king consulted General Gage, who was +fresh from Boston, and listened eagerly to his fatally mistaken account +of the situation. "He says," wrote the king to Lord North, "'They will +be lions while we are lambs; but if we take the resolute part they will +undoubtedly prove very meek.' Four regiments sent to Boston will, he +thinks, be sufficient to prevent any disturbance."[33] On such a basis +the king and his prime minister planned the laws which should punish the +town of Boston. + +The first act was the Boston Port Bill. It closed the port to all +commerce until the East India Company should be paid for its tea, and +the king satisfied that the town was repentant. Nothing except food and +fuel was to be brought to the town in boats; in fact, as Lord North +promised the Commons, Boston was to be removed seventeen miles from the +ocean. For Salem was made the port of entry, and there the governor and +the collector, the surveyor and the comptroller, and all underlings were +to go. It was planned to station war-ships in Boston Harbor to enforce +the law. + +The second law was the "Bill for the better Regulating the Government of +the Massachusetts Bay," generally called the Regulating Act. This +virtually swept away the charter of Massachusetts. It provided first +that the Council was to be appointed by the king, and next that without +the consent of the Council the governor might appoint or remove all +officers of justice, from judges to constables. By the provisions of the +law even the jury lists could be controlled by appointive officers. +Finally town meetings were made illegal throughout the province, except +for the election of town officers, and other necessary local business. + +The third proposal of the government was a bill "for the Impartial +Administration of Justice," in proposing which "it was observed that +Lord North trembled and faultered at every word of his motion." It +provided that magistrates, officers, or soldiers might be tried for +"murder, or any other capital offence," in Great Britain. + +The fourth act made provision for quartering troops in Boston. + +The bills went through Parliament without much opposition. Says +Trevelyan, "Even after the lapse of a century and a quarter the debates +are not pleasant reading for an Englishman."[34] It was assumed that +the punishment was just, and that not only Boston but also the whole +continent would take it meekly. A few voices were raised in protest, but +as a rule even the Opposition was silent. One by one the bills became +law. One more step was taken toward separation. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[28] Trevelyan, "American Revolution," Part I, 104. + +[29] "A Card from the Inhabitants of Philadelphia," Bancroft, vi, 366. + +[30] "Memorial History of Boston," iii, 45. + +[31] Bancroft, vi, 461, 462. + +[32] Bancroft, vi, 498. + +[33] Avery, "History of the United States," v, 190. + +[34] "American Revolution," Part I, 181. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE OCCUPATION OF BOSTON + + +Early in May of 1774 Hutchinson, ostensibly called to England to advise +the king, gave up his offices in Massachusetts. His exile was +approaching. Never again was he to see the fair hill of Milton, nor to +look from its top upon the town and harbor that he loved. The Whigs +exulted over the fall of "the damn'd arch traitor;" yet surely, though +as an official he failed in his task, and as a patriot misread the +temper and the capacity of his countrymen, he commands our pity. Amid +the booming of the cannon which welcomed his successor he prepared for +his departure. Except for his pathetic letters and journals he made no +further mark upon his times or ours. His Milton estate remains, but his +house is gone, and the very street that he lived on bears the name of +Adams, his most persistent enemy. + +Hutchinson's successor was Thomas Gage, the first governor sent to +Boston with an army at his back. He was well known in the colonies, for +he had fought well at Braddock's defeat, had married an American wife, +and was courteous and affable. It remained to be seen whether one of his +hesitating temperament could meet the situation. With four regiments he +had undertaken to pacify Massachusetts. He had his four regiments and +more, yet he must occasionally have wondered why he found no more signs +of weakness in the ranks of his opponents. + +At this time there were in Boston four chief classes of Whigs. The first +were the ministers, and these for many years had been American to the +core. As the first settlers of Massachusetts, whether Puritan or +Pilgrim, had fled away from prelacy, so their spiritual descendants +still hated the name of bishop. In fact, episcopacy in New England was +still weak, and its greater part was concentrated in Boston itself. +Some few of its ministers preached submission; but they either had to +content themselves with Tory congregations, or lost their pulpits, or +had them boarded up against them. The wiser part was taken by most in +avoiding politics. The sole Congregational minister who supported the +king was Mather Byles, famed for his witticisms, and he likewise +declined to bring into the pulpit any mention of the affairs of the day. +"In the first place," he told those who demanded an expression of his +opinion, "I do not understand politics; in the second place you all do, +every man and mother's son of you; in the third place you have politics +all the week, so pray let one day in the seven be devoted to religion; +in the fourth place I am engaged in work of infinitely greater +importance. Give me any subject to preach on of more consequence than +the truth I bring to you, and I will preach on it next Sabbath."[35] + +Gage's support from the pulpit was therefore weak, while at the same +time the opposition from the same source was strong. Those country +ministers who were of the political creed of Sam Adams confessed it each +Sabbath, and desisted not on week days from strengthening the wills of +their congregations. More than that, like their predecessors in older +times, many held chaplaincies in the militia, and on training days +turned out, not only to approve by their presence the object of the +drill, but also to stir the spirit of the homespun soldiery by prayers +to the God of Moses, and of Joshua, and of David. Those in Boston, under +the very nose of the general and in the presence of his soldiery, abated +nothing of their zeal, but preached resistance as before. Gage, as he +looked among them for signs of wavering, could have found very little +comfort. + +The lawyers next, like the clergymen, had supplied the Whigs much of +their strength. Surely, up to the present the patriot party had been +distinguished by pliancy and persistence. These characteristics had come +from the lawyers, whose rejoinders and remonstrances, petitions, +resolves, and appeals were familiar professional devices. Yet Gage might +have found hope in these men. For the purpose of all their delays had +been compromise, and their hope was the avoidance of bloodshed. The +lawyers had showed, too, a love of fair play; for while they pressed the +Tories hard, they had also taken the lead in protesting against mob +violence. Again, leading Whig lawyers had defended--and acquitted--the +perpetrators of the Massacre. Possibly such men might be made to see +reason. + +A more numerous class than the lawyers was made up of the merchants, +small and large. Some few of these men had made their own way in the +world, yet most of them may almost have been said to have held +hereditary positions in the provincial aristocracy. By far the larger +number of them were Whigs, some of considerable estate, others--like +that John Andrews from whose letters I have already quoted and shall +quote more--were men of moderate means, shrewdly working for a +"competency." Gage, looking forward to the enforcement of the Port +Bill, could see that these men would be hard hit. While they had so far +been firm in the colonial cause, the coming temptation to desert their +party would be very strong. Income, security, and the favor of the king +awaited them. + +At the end of this series was the largest class of all, the mechanics. +Until now these men had been eager in their demonstrations against +technical oppression--which yet was technical after all. No Boston Whig +had ever known a tithe of the wrongs of the French peasant or the +Russian serf. No laboring class on earth enjoyed or ever had enjoyed +greater freedom or less hampered prosperity. But with the enforcement of +the Port Bill all this would change. Gage hoped, and the Tories +declared, that the mechanics, so soon as pressure was applied, would +"fall away from the faction." + +The first results of the new regime were not promising. To begin with, +on the news of the passage of the Port Bill the Committee of +Correspondence of Boston called a meeting of the committees of the +neighboring towns. This meeting scouted the idea of paying for the tea, +and in a circular letter to the other colonies proposed a general +cessation of trade with Great Britain. Similarly the town meeting of +Boston discussed the situation, pronounced against the Port Bill, and +appealed to all the sister colonies, entreating not to be left to suffer +alone. In more homely language the merchants appealed to their friends. +"Yes, Bill," wrote John Andrews to his brother-in-law in Philadelphia, +"nothing will save us but an entire stoppage of trade, both to England +and the West Indies.... The least hesitancy on your part _to the +Southerd_, and the matter is over." + +There was little hesitancy. The suggestion made by the Boston Whigs was +taken up, and the maritime towns, which had been expected to take +advantage of Boston's predicament, began to discontinue trade, not +merely with Great Britain, but also with the West Indies. Then Salem, +which was to be the capital in place of Boston, formally repudiated the +idea of profiting by the situation. The news spread to the other +colonies, and they began to act. New York proposed, and the sister +provinces agreed in, a call for "a general Congress." In less than a +month after the coming of the news of the Port Bill, Boston was assured +that the continent would not leave her to suffer alone. + +But then, on the first of June, 1774, the Port Bill went into effect. So +literally was it interpreted, that all carriage by boat in the harbor +was forbidden. No owner of a pasture on the harbor islands might bring +his hay to the town; no goods might be brought across any ferry; not +even carriage by water from wharf to wharf in the town was allowed. +Further, while food and fuel, according to the provisions of the act, +might be brought to Boston by water, all vessels carrying them were +forced to go through troublesome formalities. They must report at the +customs in Salem, unload, load again, and receive a clearance for +Boston. Returning, they might carry enough provision to last them only +to Salem. Besides all this, the Commissioners of Customs at Salem +undertook to decide when Boston had enough provisions. The blockade, as +enforced by them and the ships of war in Boston Harbor, was minutely +complete and vexatious. + +Yet at their mildest its provisions were complete enough. Trade by sea +with the town was stopped. Consequently, so maritime were the town's +activities, prosperity was instantly checked. All the workers +immediately dependent on the sea for a living, sailors, wharfingers, +longshoremen, and fishermen, were at once thrown out of employment. Then +by a severe interpretation of the act all ship-building was stopped, +since the authorities declared that, on launching, any boat would be +confiscated. The shipyards shut down, the boats ready to launch were +filled with water "for their preservation,"[36] and ship-carpenters, +calkers, rope-makers, and sailmakers were thrown out of work. Much +misery to the unemployed would have been the result but for the +forethought of the patriot leaders. + +These men, early realizing the threatened hardship, called for help from +the rest of the country. The response was prompt. "A special chronicle," +says Bancroft, "could hardly enumerate all the generous deeds." While +Lord North, fresh from an interview with Hutchinson, cheered the king +with the belief that the province would soon submit, South Carolina was +sending a cargo of provisions in a vessel offered for the purpose by the +owner, and sailed without wages by the captain and her crew. Sheep were +driven into Boston from all New England; provisions of every kind were +brought in; wheat was sent by the French in Quebec; money was subscribed +and sent from the more distant points. All supplies thus received were +put in the hands of a donation committee, who distributed the gifts to +the needy. + +Yet in spite of such relief as this, and though for a short time +employment was given to workmen by permitting them to finish, launch, +rig, and send away the ships then on the stocks, the situation was hard +at best. It was felt not only by the lower classes, but by the +merchants, whose profits ceased, and by all who depended for their +income on the current trade and activity of the town. Gossipy John +Andrews gives us the situation as it affected him. "If you'll believe me +(though I have got near two thousand sterling out in debts and about as +much more in stock), I have not received above eighty or ninety pounds +Lawful money from both resources for above two months past; though +previous to the port's being shut, I thought it an ordinary day's work +if I did not carry home from twenty to forty dollars every evening." So +little ready money circulated in the town "that really, Bill, I think +myself well off to satisfy the necessary demands of my family, and you +may as well ask a man for the teeth out of his head as to request the +payment of money that he owes you (either in town or country, for we +are alike affected), for you'll be as likely to get the one as the +other."[37] + +Now was, indeed, the time to discover the weak points in the cause and +organization of the Americans. Even strong Whigs were at times +discontented, and chiefly among the middle class, without whom the +leaders could have no strong support. Much of the distress of the +shopkeepers and merchants came from the "Solemn League and Covenant" +which, proposed on the first news of the Port Bill, was now in actual +operation. Andrews's case must have been typical of many. He had +countermanded all goods on the news of the Port Bill, and acquiesced in +the non-importation agreement: "but upon y^e measure not being adopted +by the Southern Colonies, I embraced the first opportunity and +re-ordered about one-fourth part of such goods as I thought would be in +most demand, and behold! in about three or four weeks after that, I +heard of y^e amazing progress the non-consumption agreement had made +through y^e country; which, in my opinion, has serv'd rather to create +dissensions among ourselves than to answer any valuable purpose." + +Many of the Tories held the same opinion. Could not the waverers, they +asked Gage, be induced to change their political faith, and especially +could not the leaders be tempted? + +Among these leaders the influence of Otis was waning. He had always been +eccentric and unreliable, and now his intellect was threatened. An +assault upon him had nearly ruined both his health and his reason. But +his place had been taken by others. Samuel Adams, John Adams, Joseph +Warren, and John Hancock were the men whose names were oftenest +mentioned. Sinister rumors were frequent that Gage had been directed to +seize them and deport them to England. Whether or not more evidence +against them was needed, no arrest was as yet attempted. Instead, in at +least three quarters there was some hope of corruption. + +Warren the general left untempted; it is no small tribute to the +patriot's character that there could be no doubt of his integrity. +Warren was not yet thirty-five years old, was of good social position, +had an excellent practice and an assured future. His temperament was +frank and manly, and so enthusiastic as to be fiery. Once already, on +the anniversary of the Massacre in 1772, he had addressed the town +meeting in condemnation of the government measures; on many other +opportunities, before and since, he had either spoken in public or +expressed his opinions through the press. While no advocate of violence, +he was unreservedly a Whig, and nothing could be made of him. So far as +is known, no attempt was made to corrupt him. + +The case of John Adams was different, at least to Tory eyes. He was +ambitious: no one who knew him could doubt that he was conscious of his +own ability. Further, he was poor, with a growing family to support; he +was known, with the troubled times which he clearly foresaw, to be +anxious for his children's future. Surely there was a possibility that +Adams might be wise, and be tempted to the safer course; and fortunately +there was at hand an instrument to induce him to become a Tory. Adams +was the close personal friend of Jonathan Sewall, the king's +attorney-general for the province, and an admirable character. The +chance of distinction, the certainty of prosperity, and the +importunities of such a friend, might in the end persuade Adams. + +Of John Hancock it was often argued among the Tories that he might +almost be left to himself. If Adams was ambitious, Hancock was more so; +known to be vain, he was believed to be jealous by nature. With these +weaknesses, he was also instinctively an aristocrat. How long, asked the +Tories, would he continue to consort with men of low social position? +How soon would he rebel at being led by the nose by the wily Adams? +Position and influence were ready for him as soon as he chose to go +over to the king. The bait was always plain, and he might be counted on +eventually to take it. + +Even Samuel Adams, so reasoned the advisers of Gage, might be bought. +For Adams was poor. In his devotion to public affairs he had let his +business go to ruin, had seen his money melt away, had even sold off +parts of his own house-lot. His sentiments were, no better known in +Boston than his threadbare clothes. His sole income was from his salary +as clerk of the house of representatives, only a hundred pounds a year. +To the new governor it was the most natural thing in the world to +suppose that the discontent of such a man could soon be removed. He +forgot Hutchinson's words: "Such is the obstinacy and inflexible +disposition of the man, that he never would be conciliated by any office +or gift whatever."[38] + +Gage sent, therefore, Colonel Fenton to Adams with offers which would +tempt any man that had a price. No definite knowledge of the +inducements has come down to us: money, place, possibly even a patent of +nobility. We know, however, that they were coupled with a threat in the +form of advice to make his peace with the king. And we can imagine Adams +as, rising from his seat, and standing with the habitual nervous tremor +of head and hands which often led his adversaries to mistake his mettle, +he delivered his fearless reply. + +"Sir, I trust I have long since made my peace with the King of kings. No +personal consideration shall induce me to abandon the righteous cause of +my country. Tell Governor Gage that it is the advice of Samuel Adams to +him no longer to insult the feelings of an exasperated people!"[39] + +And this was in the face of a situation the like of which had never been +known in America. "Notwithstanding which," wrote John Andrews, "there +seems to be ease, contentment, and perfect composure in the countenance +of almost every person you meet in the streets, which conduct very much +perplexes the Governor and others, our lords and masters, that they are +greatly puzzled, and know not what to do or how to act, as they expected +very different behaviour from us." + +There is but one explanation of such a state of mind in the Whigs, in +the face of the evidently approaching trial. Their consciences were +clear. This revolution, when finally it came about, was quite within the +spirit of the British Constitution. The Whigs believed they were right, +and had no fear of the consequences. No testimony to their virtues, as +the backbone of a new nation, will speak louder than their present +attitude. External testimony is not hard to quote. "The people of Boston +and Massachusetts Bay," wrote Thomas Hollis but a few weeks before this +time, "are, I suppose, take them as a body, the soberest, most knowing, +virtuous people at this time upon earth." Other English opinion to the +same effect, and French admiration by the chapter, might be quoted. Yet +a truer proof of the quality of the people is to be found in the calm +self-confidence which "very much perplexed" the governor. + +One more comment may safely be ventured here. Before two years were over +it was known that Gage, and perhaps even Hutchinson during his +administration, had had the most complete information of the secret +doings of the Whig leaders. In fact, even the deliberations of the +workmen's caucuses must have been known to Gage. That no arrests were +made can mean but one thing: that the Whigs were honest in their +endeavor to work their ends by legal means. Samuel Adams may have +foreseen the eventual outcome, and knowing it to be inevitable may have +striven to make it speedy and complete. But there was no general scheme +for independence, no plot for a revolt. "The Father of the Revolution" +laid his plans in silence, and waited for the ripening of the times. + +Gage and his advisers, "greatly puzzled," also watched the crystallizing +of opinion. Of the temper of the Bostonians, although oppressed by the +Port Bill, there could presently be no doubt. Emboldened by the presence +of troops in the town, the Tories called town meetings, first to resolve +to pay for the tea, and then to dismiss the Committee of Correspondence. +These two actions, if taken, would have totally changed the situation. +The meetings were crowded, every courtesy was shown the Tories, and in +the second meeting, since Adams was absent, the Whigs had to be content +with the leadership of Warren. But there was no hesitation in either +case. The first meeting rejected the proposal to pay for the tea. In the +second the discretion of Warren proved equal to his zeal, his management +of the meeting was perfect, and the vote upheld the Committee of +Correspondence by a large majority. + +The next action explains the absence of Adams from Boston at such an +important time. According to the new laws, the Assembly met at Salem, +under the eye of the governor and in the presence of his troops. Gage +knew very well that a call had been sent throughout the colonies for an +election of delegates to a general Congress which should deliberate on +the present situation. He had no intention that delegates should be +elected from Massachusetts. He had partisans in the Assembly, and an +informant on the committee to introduce legislation. Every move was +reported to him. Never did Sam Adams dissemble more cleverly. So dull +and spiritless did public matters seem, that Gage's informant thought it +safe to go home on private business. Then Adams acted. Quietly laying +his plans, on the morning of the seventeenth of June, 1774, he locked +the door of the chamber and proposed that the Assembly elect delegates +to the Continental Congress. A Tory pleaded sickness and hurried to Gage +with the news; but the door was again locked, and the business +proceeded. Though the governor sent his secretary with a message +dissolving the Assembly, the secretary knocked in vain. The doors were +not opened until delegates had been elected to the Congress, a tax laid +to pay their expenses, and resolutions passed exhorting the province to +stand firm. + +One of the delegates-elect was John Adams. For years he had declined to +hold public office, and had even avoided town meetings. There was now a +natural Tory hope that he might refuse this office; there was even a +last chance to wean him from the Whig cause, for he was presently to +ride on circuit, and there would meet his friend Sewall. When the two +met, the Tory reasoned earnestly, pointing out the irresistible power of +Great Britain. But Adams was ready with his answer. "Sink or swim, live +or die, survive or perish with my country is my unalterable +determination."[40] And so went another hope of the Tories. + +The summer of 1774 wore along, with no improvement in the situation. +Rather it became worse. So much time had elapsed without definite news +of the passing of the Regulating Act, that there was hope that the +measure had failed. But early in August came news of its passage, and +with it a list of appointments for the new Council. The appointees were +all chosen from among the Tories, or from those inclined to the king's +side. "It is apprehended," wrote Andrews, "that most of 'em will +accept." + +Now at last it was natural to suppose that the Whigs had come to the end +of their resources. Their Assembly was dissolved, a Tory held each +appointive position, Boston was filled with soldiers, and the harbor was +guarded by ships of war. Active opposition to the troops would have been +madness, and it seemed impossible to conduct even the ordinary business +of the town, for now town meetings might legally be called only for the +purpose of electing officers. Yet when Gage called the selectmen before +him, and graciously indicated his willingness to allow meetings for +certain harmless purposes, the reply surprised him. There was no need, +said the selectmen, to ask his permission for a meeting: they had one +in existence already. In fact they had two, the May meeting and the June +meeting, each legally called before the enforcement of the Regulating +Act, and each legally "adjourned" until such time as it was needed. The +technical subterfuge was too much for Gage, and the adjournments +continued in spite of the law. + +As the Massachusetts delegates prepared for their journey to +Philadelphia, where the Congress was to be held, there occurred, if we +can believe the story told by John Andrews--it was certainly believed in +Boston at the time--a demonstration of affection for Samuel Adams. "For +not long since some persons (their names unknown) sent and ask'd his +permission to build him a new barn, the old one being decay'd, which was +executed in a few days. A second sent to ask leave to repair his house, +which was thoroughly effected soon. A third sent to beg the favor of him +to call at a taylor's shop and be measur'd for a suit of cloaths and +chuse his cloth, which were finish'd and sent home for his acceptance. +A fourth presented him with a new whig,[41] a fifth with a new Hatt, a +sixth with a pair of the best silk hose, a seventh with six pair of fine +thread ditto, a eighth with six pair shoes, and a ninth modestly +inquired of him whether his finances want rather low than otherways. He +reply'd it was true that was the case, but he was very indifferent about +these matters, so that his _poor_ abilities was of any service to the +Publick; upon which the Gentleman obliged him to accept of a purse +containing about 15 or 20 Johannes." It is possible that these +attentions to Adams grew out of the desire that he, so well known in +Boston that his shabbiness meant nothing, should appear well at the +Congress, where his dress might prejudice others against him. True or +not, this little story has its significance, for, says Andrews to his +correspondent, "I mention this to show you how much he is esteem'd here. +They value him for his _good_ sense, _great_ abilities, _amazing_ +fortitude, _noble_ resolution, and _undaunted_ courage: being firm and +unmov'd at all the various reports that were propagated in regard to his +being taken up and sent home,[42] notwithstanding he had repeated +letters from his _friends_, both in England as well as here, to keep out +of the way." + +If the governor desired to arrest Adams, he had plenty of opportunity. +There was even a public occasion to take all the delegates together, +when they left the town on their way to Philadelphia. "A very +respectable parade," wrote Andrews, "in sight of five of the Regiments +encamp'd on the Common, being in a coach and four, preceded by two white +servants well mounted and arm'd, with four blacks behind in livery, two +on horseback and two footmen." Perhaps Gage breathed a sigh of relief +with the "brace of Adamses" away, but his real troubles were only +beginning. + +Massachusetts would have nothing to do with the newly appointed +officers. The thirty-six councillors, appointed under writ of mandamus, +excited the most indignation. Of the Boston nominees thirteen accepted, +two declined, and four took time to consider; throughout the province +the proportion was about the same. But those who wavered and those who +accepted presently heard from their neighbors. Leonard of Taunton, +hearing of a surprise party mustering from the neighboring towns, +departed hastily for Boston. His father, by promises that he would urge +his son to resign, with difficulty prevailed on the disgusted neighbors +to leave the councillor's property unharmed. In Worcester, Timothy Paine +was taken to the common, and, in the presence of two thousand standing +in military order, he read his declination of his appointment. Ruggles +of Hardwick was warned not to return home; his neighbors swore that he +should never pass the great bridge of the town alive. Murray of Rutland, +like Leonard of Taunton, escaped the attentions of his townspeople, who +scorned the threat of confiscation and death, and demanded his +resignation. "This," wrote his brother to him, "is not the language of +the common people only: those that have heretofore sustained the fairest +character are the warmest in this matter; and, among the many friends +you have heretofore had, I can scarcely mention any to you now." + +The people did not always act with violence, but the compulsion which +they put upon their fellow-townsmen was strong. Watson of Plymouth, long +respected in the town, had been appointed by the king to the Council, +and had intended to accept. But when he appeared in church on the +following Sunday, his friends rose and left the meeting-house. In the +face of their scorn he bowed his head over his cane, and resolved to +resign.[43] + +More than twenty of the thirty-six councillors either declined their +appointment, or resigned. The rest could find no safety except in +Boston, under the protection of the troops. Even the courts were +prevented from sitting, in one case by the ingenious method of packing +the court-room so solidly with spectators that judge and sheriff could +not enter. Only among the garrison at Boston was there comfort for the +Tory officials. + +Boston itself was troublesome enough. When Gage, regarding himself as +"personally affronted" by John Hancock,[44] removed him from command of +the Cadets, the company sent a deputation to Salem and returned him +their standard, declining longer to keep up their customary service as +the governor's body-guard. The governor, vexed, replied that had he +previously known of their intentions, he would have dismissed them +himself. + +The town meetings troubled him also. Salem held one under his nose, in +spite of a feint to interrupt them by the soldiers. When he summoned the +committee of correspondence of the town to answer for the meeting, they +were stubborn and defiant, refused to give bail when arrested, and were +consequently--released! Other towns held meetings to elect delegates to +a county convention, and the governor was powerless to stop them. +Although he had many more troops than the four regiments with which he +first declared that he could do so much, he felt his helplessness, and, +cursing the town meetings, waited for more soldiers. He summoned the +remnant of his council to meet in Salem; but the members were afraid to +come, and, departing from his orders, he allowed them to sit in Boston. + +And now, as the weeks passed on, even Boston was rumbling with the +thunder of the coming storm. Israel Putnam, having driven to Boston a +flock of sheep, the gift to the poor of Boston from his Connecticut +town, became the lion of the day. Meeting on the Common some of his old +friends in the regular army, they chaffed him on the military situation. +Twenty ships and twenty regiments, they told him, were to be expected if +the country did not submit. "If they come," returned the stanch old +Indian fighter, "I am ready to treat them as enemies." + +At length the forms of law failed even in Boston. When the judges +summoned a jury, it not only refused to take oath, but presented a +written protest against the authority on which the court acted. The +judges gave up the attempt in despair, and the governor and his advisers +thought that matters were come to a pretty pass when a mere petit juror +could declare "that his conscience would not let him take oath whiles +Peter Oliver set upon the bench."[45] There was apparently no punishment +to meet such obduracy. + +But at last news came to Gage on which he felt compelled to act. Much +powder had been stored in the magazine at Quarry Hill in Charlestown. He +was informed that during August the towns had removed their stock, until +there remained only that which belonged to the province. This stock Gage +determined to secure against possible illegal seizure, by seizing it +himself. On the morning of the first of September, by early daylight, +detachments of troops in boats took the powder to the Castle, and also +secured two cannon from Cambridge. Rumors of violence and bloodshed +spread rapidly, and by nightfall half of New England was in motion, +marching toward Boston. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[35] Sabine's "Loyalists," 190. + +[36] Andrews Letters. + +[37] The Andrews Letters, as already noted, are in the Massachusetts +Historical Society's Proceedings for the volume of 1864-1865. I shall +refer to them frequently without quoting pages. + +[38] Wells, "Life of Adams," ii, 193. + +[39] Wells, "Adams," ii, 193. + +[40] Bancroft, edition of 1876, iv, 344. Subsequent references to +Bancroft will be to this edition. + +[41] Sic! + +[42] Note the use of the word, as meaning England. + +[43] I take these facts from Bancroft and the Andrews Letters. + +[44] Hancock seems to have practised upon Gage the subterfuge which he +afterwards used with Washington, pretending to be too ill to wait upon +him. + +[45] Andrews Letters. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE POWDER ALARM AND THE WINTER OF 1774-1775 + + +Gage had by this time given up hope of winning to his side the leaders +of the Whigs. If he still retained a doubt of the temper of the people, +the events of the first and second of September would have made him +certain. Marching in companies, they converged upon Cambridge, whence +the Lieutenant-Governor, Andrew Oliver, hastily departed to Boston, to +implore Gage to send out no troops, lest not a man of them should return +alive. On his way in, Oliver passed Warren hastening out. But his +influence was not needed. The militia companies had already laid aside +their weapons and were parading peacefully upon Cambridge common. There +they were addressed by two of the Mandamus Council, who confirmed their +resignations and promised in no way to be concerned in the acts of +Gage's government. Then the high-sheriff came under the attention of the +meeting, and likewise promised to do nothing under the new laws. + +Hallowell, the Commissioner of Customs, escaped more serious handling. +Passing by the common and its assemblage of Whigs, he "spoke somewhat +contemptuously of them." They promptly sent some mounted men after his +chaise. On seeing them coming he stopped his chaise, unhitched his horse +and mounted, and ran his pursuers a close race to Boston Neck, where he +found safety with the guard. + +Oliver, returning to Cambridge with the governor's promise to send out +no troops, was waited upon by the great assemblage. The Whigs demanded +his resignation as a councillor. This, after demurring, Oliver gave, and +offered to resign also from the lieutenant-governorship. But this the +company allowed him to keep. Andrews records, "It is worthy remark that +Judge Lee remarked to 'em, after he had made his resignation, that he +never saw so large a number of people together and preserve so peaceable +order before in his life." + +This orderly meeting, proceeding with parliamentary forms, passed a +resolve that Gage was within his legal rights in removing the powder +from the store-house. They then "voted unanimously their abhorrence of +mobs and riots,"[46] and with these lessons given for any one to learn, +they peaceably turned toward their homes. On their way they turned back +those who, from further away, were eagerly coming to avenge the rumored +death of their countrymen and the bombardment of the town. Putnam, after +disbanding his Connecticut company, wrote to urge the men of +Massachusetts to take better care of the remainder of their powder. + +The "Powder Alarm" stirred the country everywhere. At Philadelphia its +exaggerated reports greatly disturbed the Congress, but the response was +significant. "When the horrid news was brought here of the bombardment +of Boston," wrote John Adams, "which made us completely miserable for +two days, we saw proofs both of the sympathy and the resolution of the +continent. War! war! war! was the cry, and it was pronounced in a tone +which would have done honor to the oratory of a Briton or a Roman. If it +had proved true, you would have heard the thunder of an American +Congress."[47] + +Gage now, for the first time, seems to have had a glimmer of an idea of +the formidable forces that were against him. He began to consider the +military situation, and the defence of the town against another such +rising. If on the next occasion the provincials should attempt to pursue +a commissioner not merely to the Neck, but past it, there must be means +of stopping them. Gage gave orders to fortify the Neck, which was in +those days the single land approach to Boston. + +[Illustration: THE INVESTMENT OF BOSTON] + +The modern city in no way resembles the old town. Now, between South +Boston and Cambridge, a score of highways lead into the city. Bridges +and even tunnels give direct communication from South Boston, Cambridge, +Charlestown, Chelsea, and East Boston. But in 1774 South Boston was a +mudflat; the Back Bay--at least at high water--was what its name +implies; Chelsea was Winnisimit, with but half a dozen houses; and East +Boston was an island, having but two houses on it. Now the flats have +been filled up, the mainland brought closer, and the approaches bridged. +In Governor Gage's day Boston was still a peninsula, roughly +pear-shaped, and connected with the mainland by a strip of land which +was, at high tide, scarcely a hundred yards wide. + +Batteries commanding the road which crossed this isthmus seemed, at the +time, quite sufficient to defend the town. It was not till later that +Gage began to consider the heights of Dorchester and Charlestown, which, +to the south and north, threatened Boston. Now he set to work upon an +earthwork at the Neck, brought cannon there, and began to build +block-houses. It was reported that he was to cut a ditch across the +Neck, and confine traffic to a narrow bridge; but at the objection of +the selectmen such an idea, if he had considered it, was given up. +Protest against the new earthworks was also lodged. The selectmen of the +town, and a committee from the convention for Suffolk County which then +happened to sit, came to Gage with remonstrances. Warren, from the +convention, twice urged his demands. "Good God, gentlemen," responded +the harried governor, "make yourselves easy, and I will be so."[48] + +There was no more ease of mind for Governor Gage. Within the limits of +Boston and Charlestown were several cannon belonging to the militia +organizations of the town. When the general tried to secure the +Charlestown guns from secretion by the provincials, they disappeared. +"Ever since," wrote Andrews a fortnight later, "the General has ordered +a double guard to y^e new and old gun houses, where y^e brass field +pieces belonging to our militia are lodged: notwithstanding which ... +We'n'sday evening, or rather night, our people took these from the Old +house (by opening the side of the house) and carried away through Frank +Johonnot's Garden. Upon which he gave it in orders the next day to the +officer on guard to remove those from the New house (which stands +directly opposite the encampment of the 4th Regiment and in the middle +of the street near the large Elm tree), sometime the next night into the +camp; and to place a guard at each end, or rather at both doors, till +then. At the fixed hour the Officer went with a number of Mattrosses to +execute his orders, but behold, the guns were gone!" Lest the guns in +the North Battery should similarly be spirited away, the bewildered +general ordered them to be spiked. + +His state of mind was not improved when he received, as he did early in +September, the resolutions passed by the Suffolk convention. The Suffolk +Resolves, as they are called, covered the whole of the existing +situation. Repudiating the king's claim to unconditional obedience, +they declared the Regulating Act unconstitutional, and called on all +officers under it to resign their places. They advised that all taxes +should be withheld from the king's treasury, and suggested a provincial +congress to deal with the affairs of Massachusetts. The resolves further +declared that the Americans had no intention of aggression, advised +peaceful measures, but threatened to seize all crown officers if any +political arrest were made. Looking forward to the eventual rupture, the +resolves advised the towns to choose their military officers with great +care, and finally made provision to spread alarm or summon assistance at +a moment's notice. + +Affairs had now reached a new phase. The barrier which Gage had erected +at the Neck had effectually cut him off from the province which he had +been sent to govern. From that time on he had no authority beyond the +range of his batteries. + +Boston was his, to be sure. In spite of alarms (for once the field day +of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, the pride of the +province, aroused the fleet; and once the little navy was awake all +night against an attack that never came), in spite of such alarms, no +attempt was made upon his army or his ships. The town was quiet, and +Tory ladies and gentlemen were at last at ease. On the Mall they might +daily watch the parade of the troops, speak their minds about the +faction, and agree upon the cowardice of the provincials. Yet the Whigs +of Boston made no submission. They were, as Warren wrote of them, +"silent and inflexible." At the same time they had everything at stake. +Their leaders Hancock and Warren still lived openly among them, in the +face of the threat of arrest. The artisans, too, at this period put +behind them a great temptation. For many months they had been idle; now +within a few weeks the governor had commenced building barracks for the +troops, upon which Boston workmen were engaged. For the first time since +the Port Bill went into effect they were earning a comfortable living. +But now they refused to work longer for the king. In vain Gage appealed +to the selectmen and to Hancock. One and all the artisans withdrew, to +subsist, as before, upon the donations that still continued to come in +from the other towns and colonies. + +Outside the barrier at the Neck was an unparalleled state of affairs. In +Massachusetts there was no legal government. The charter had been +abrogated, but the new system had been rejected by the people. There +were no judges and no courts, no sheriffs; there was no treasury, and no +machinery of government whatever. Consequently there was a striking +opportunity for lawlessness. Yet the quiet in the province was +remarkable. In the absence of executive and judicial officers, the +selectmen of the towns and the Committees of Correspondence took upon +themselves the work that was to be done, and did it quietly and well. +There was no thievery, no murder, no repudiation of debts. So far as +their ordinary life was concerned, the people simply lived on in their +ancient way. + +There was, nevertheless, plenty of lawlessness of the new kind. Just as +soon as the people could catch the newly appointed officials, they +forced them to resign; and whenever the courts attempted to sit they +were made to adjourn. There continued the little migration of Tories +toward Boston, always in the expectation that the sojourn was to be +brief, and that presently Gage would have the situation in hand. Most of +the refugees, however, never saw their homes again. As for Gage, he was +suspected of detaining the remaining councillors in Boston, lest he +should not have any left to him. Indeed, his position in Salem had +already become so undignified and uncomfortable that early in September, +with the Commissioners of Customs and all other officials, he returned +to Boston. There he also withdrew the two regiments with which he had +ineffectually endeavored to sustain his prestige in Salem. Yet he had +not been long in Boston before he was forced to watch the preparations +for a new act of defiance. + +Already, unfortunately for him, he had convened the Assembly to meet at +Salem. Now that he was in Boston he desired the legislators to meet +there also; yet he could not adjourn them until they met. This he +planned to do. The delegates, however, knew that if they came to Boston +they must take their oaths of office before the Mandamus Council. To +this the representatives would never submit, and accordingly planned +another move. Boston carried out its part under the eye of the governor. +The town elected its representatives, chief among whom were Hancock, +Warren, and the absent Samuel Adams. The meeting then deliberately, +reminding the delegates that they could not conscientiously discharge +their duty under the conditions which the governor would impose, +"empowered and instructed" them to join with the delegates from other +towns in a general provincial congress, to act upon public matters in +such a manner as should appear "most conducive to the true interest of +this town and province, and most likely to preserve the liberties of all +America." + +Thus the town of Boston, inflexible but no longer silent, calmly ignored +the governor and his troops. A strong governor would have imprisoned the +delegates and dissolved the meeting; Gage allowed it to proceed for the +rest of the day with illegal business, and did nothing. + +It was at this time that the conduct of affairs fell into the hands of +Warren. Adams was away at Philadelphia, and Hancock, though older than +Warren and an excellent figurehead, had neither Warren's wisdom nor his +fiery energy. It was Warren who corresponded with the Congress at +Philadelphia and with the Committees of Correspondence of the +Massachusetts towns, and it was to him that the province naturally +turned. When we remember him as the hero of Bunker Hill, it is well also +to recall him as the tried servant and the excellent adviser of the +public. + +One act of his at this point is worth remembering. As we have seen, +Episcopalians were not in good odor with the Massachusetts Whigs; the +colony had been founded as an asylum from "prelacy," and still, after +nearly two hundred and fifty years, the few members of the English +church were chiefly supporters of the crown. Warren now took occasion to +remind his brethren that to the south conditions were different, and +that "the gentlemen of the Established Church of England are men of the +most just and liberal sentiments." In a printed letter he requested fair +treatment of all Episcopalians, and ended by quoting from a letter of +Samuel Adams an account of the Episcopal chaplain of the Philadelphia +Congress, whose first prayer moved many of the members to tears. +Although this chaplain later turned his coat, the reminder was timely +and valuable, for many southern Whigs, among them Washington himself, +were members of the Established Church. + +As to the proposed provincial congress, Gage now hastened to forestall +the consequences of his own action. He declared the convening of the +Assembly inexpedient, and removed the obligation to attend. Nevertheless +ninety of the delegates came together, waited a day for the governor, +then formed themselves into a provincial congress, and adjourned. On the +11th of October they met again at Concord, this time with nearly two +hundred more members, and in the old meeting-house began their sessions +with Hancock as their president, but with Warren as the most influential +member of their body. + +His influence was thrown on the side of moderation. There were plenty in +the province ready to urge violence. They argued that the old charter +should be resumed; and as if the present acts were not sufficiently +revolutionary, were ready to proceed to violent measures. But the time +had not yet come. Massachusetts sentiment, responding to persecution, +was far in advance of the feelings of the rest of the country. No action +could safely be taken until the other colonies were ready to support +New England. In constant touch with Samuel Adams--for Paul Revere and +other trusted couriers were always on the road with letters--Warren was +able to remind his colleagues of the need of patience, and to cool their +ardor by his warnings that in open rebellion they would stand alone. His +services, and those of the steadfast band who supported him, were +invaluable. In these days he rose to the full stature of political +leadership, in guiding the actions of the provincial congress and in +constraining it to patience. + +And yet its acts were revolutionary enough. It must be remembered that +until this time the Whigs of Massachusetts had remained within their +constitutional rights. Apart from the Tea-Party, no word or act of town +meeting or of legislature, or even of any prominent citizen, needed for +justification anything more than the ancient charter rights of the +province. But now the provincial congress went beyond anything that had +ever been done before. It appointed a Committee of Safety, which should +prepare for equipping and raising an army. It appointed a Committee of +Supplies, which presently gathered together a few hundred spades and +pickaxes, some muskets, a thousand wooden mess-bowls, four thousand +flints, and a small supply of peas and flour--a pitiful attempt to +compete with the vast resources of Great Britain. More than this, it +appointed a Receiver-General, to keep the public money of the province. +It might be argued that all these acts were still within the charter +rights, yet the Whig position was no longer so strong as on the +occasions when it had caused the crown lawyers to doubt. With a +treasurer engaged in receiving the taxes which the towns willingly paid +him, and with generals appointed to command an army, it began to look as +if Massachusetts were in rebellion. + +Gage was perplexed. His province was out of his control, and now came +the news that the Continental Congress, before adjourning, had voted +approval of the course of Massachusetts. In fact, Congress had voted +its support. "Resolved, that this congress approve of the opposition +made by the inhabitants of the Massachusetts Bay to the execution of the +late acts of Parliament; and, if the same shall be attempted to be +carried into execution by force, in such case all America ought to +support them in their opposition." With such words in his mind, Gage had +to listen to the ringing of the church bells in welcome to Samuel Adams +as he returned from Philadelphia. Adams and Cushing, two of the Boston +delegates, now took their seats in the provincial congress, and the +remaining two delegates were invited to attend. The public acts of the +congress continued bold and uncompromising, and every little while there +came to the harried governor some public letter of remonstrance, or some +delegation from an aggrieved town or county convention, to object, to +expostulate, or to demand. Never were people better trained to politics +than the Americans at this moment. Gage was quite unfitted to cope with +them. Hutchinson would have been more vigorous, and even Bernard more +clever. The king fitly characterized his governor as "the mild general." + +Gage, in his perplexity, now made trouble by suggesting the recruiting +of Indians against the day of rebellion, and called for more troops from +England. The disgusted king sought to replace him as commander-in-chief +by the one English soldier whom the Americans held in respect, in fact, +as the hero of the French war, almost in reverence. But Sir Jeffrey +Amherst bluntly told the king that he would not serve against the +Americans, "to whom he had been so much obliged." The king was forced to +content himself by sending to Gage's support three major-generals, as if +in the hope that their divided counsels would bring about a uniform +policy. + +Of these three men America was to hear a good deal in the next seven +years. The least important of them was Sir Henry Clinton, of respectable +military skill. More striking in character was Sir John Burgoyne, poet, +dramatist, parliamentarian, upon whom America will ever look with the +indulgence which the victor feels for one who is signally and completely +defeated. "General Big-talk," the Yankee balladist called him when once +the siege was in progress. It is true that Burgoyne had an easy flow of +words, and we shall before long find him doing his share to make Gage +ridiculous. But Burgoyne had his manly parts, and though he lacked +greatness, he commands at times our sympathy and our respect. He made a +romantic marriage, which proved a happy one; and his real claim to +literary distinction lies in the letter in which, on his departure for +America, he commended his wife to the care of the king. Burgoyne, in a +still brutal age, was a humanitarian, and was one of the first, not only +to oppose flogging in the army, but also to advocate friendly personal +relations between officers and men. America seldom took Burgoyne +seriously, but he is to us of to-day a pleasing and picturesque +character. + +The third of the new generals was Sir William Howe, whose chief +misfortune was that fate had set him to oppose Washington. He came of a +family well known in American annals, for one brother was now an admiral +popular in the colonies, and another was still mourned in America for +his brilliant talents and magnetic personality. William Howe had gained +his seat in Parliament by appeals to the memory of that brother, and by +promises to take no active military command against America. But on +being offered the post under Gage, Howe asked if this were a request or +an order. The adroit king returned the proper answer, and Howe, +protesting that no other course was open to him, prepared to sail for +Boston. + +Meanwhile Gage, alone, made various futile moves, at which the province +looked with patience. From time to time his troops marched a few miles +into the country, and returned again. In January he sent a detachment to +Marshfield, to occupy the village so that the loyal residents might +drink their tea in peace. It was a comfort to him to think that there +was one town in the province in which a militia company was drilling for +his support, and with the king's muskets. A month later Gage sent troops +to Salem, in order to seize some cannon; but the commander, finding the +country in arms to receive him, wisely withdrew his little force +after--to use a term yet to be invented--"saving his face" by crossing a +bridge under promise of immediate return. + +The Reverend Jonas Clark, speaking of this event, adds an indignant note +to an equally indignant sermon.[49] "This unsuccessful expedition was +made on Lord's day, Feb. 26, 1775. The party consisted of 200 or 300 +men; it was commanded by Lieut. Col. Leslie. The vessels which brought +them to _Marblehead_, arrived in the harbour, on the morning of the +sabbath; and the better to conceal their intentions, lay quietly, at +anchor, near to the wharves, with but very few hands upon deck (the +troops being kept close) 'till the people of the town were assembled +for the services of religion.--While the inhabitants were thus engaged +in their devotions to God, the party landed and made a speedy march to +Salem. But all their precaution did not avail them for the +accomplishment of their enterprize. The _eagle-eyes_ of a watchful and +wary people, justly jealous of every measure of their oppressors, are +not easily evaded. Their motions were observed, and such timely notice +given, that such numbers were collected and such measures taken, before +they arrived, as effectually frustrated their design and obliged them to +return defeated and chagrined." + +So, throughout the winter, the garrison and its governor accomplished +nothing--or less than nothing, if one considers that Gage proved to the +provincials the weakness of his character, while at the same time he +angered them by issuing, when the provincial congress appointed a day of +prayer, a proclamation against hypocrisy. + +As the winter passed there was at times hope that the political +situation might be relieved by action of Parliament. Yet though the +worst House of Commons in history had been dissolved, the one which took +its place was, at its beginning, little better. It learned wisdom only +from the events of the war. To this Parliament Chatham and Burke now +appealed in vain; even Fox, at last definitely taking his stand with the +supporters of America, could not move it from its subservience to the +king. When finally a bill was introduced to deprive America of its +fisheries, it began to seem that legislative oppression could go no +further. + +And now to other Americans than Samuel Adams it became evident that +there was no hope of concession from England. The second provincial +congress began its sittings. Warren was still on the Committee of +Safety. Preble, Ward, and Pomeroy were reappointed generals, and to them +were added Thomas and Heath. Supplies were voted for an army of fifteen +thousand. There was still hope of conciliation, but, wrote Warren, +"every day, every hour, widens the breach." + +The town of Boston knew how wide the breach was, and how different the +points of view. The letters and diaries of the time show the constant +little irritations which exasperated both sides. In those days, if the +British soldier was not so sober as now, the British officer was far +more given to drink. From "the Erskine incident" until almost the +outbreak of hostilities, drunken officers made trouble with the +inhabitants, and found them less submissive than the average British +citizen. Yankee burghers had an uncomfortable trick of arming themselves +with cudgels and returning to the attack; the watch occasionally locked +up Lieutenant This and Ensign That; and more dignified citizens, +disdaining personal conflict, brought their complaints to the general, +thus adding to his troubles. John Andrews tells the story of the school +boys who, in the phrase of the day, "improv'd" the coast on School +Street. "General Haldiman, improving the house that belongs to Old Cook, +his servant took it upon him to cut up their coast and fling ashes upon +it. The lads made a muster, and chose a committee to wait upon the +General, who admitted them, and heard their complaint, which was couch'd +in very genteel terms, complaining that their fathers before 'em had +improv'd it as a coast from time immemorial, &ca. He ordered his servant +to repair the damage, and acquainted the Governor with the affair, who +observ'd that it was impossible to beat the notion of Liberty out of the +people, as it was rooted in 'em _from their Childhood_." + +Gage did his best to be fair to the inhabitants, and they acknowledged +his endeavor. But the officers, less experienced than he and with fewer +responsibilities, and also less acquainted with the spirit of the +colonists, were angry with him for what they called his subservience. +They dubbed him Tommy, and confided their indignation to their diaries. +"Yesterday," wrote Lieutenant Barker of the King's Own,[50] "in +compliance with the request of the Select Men, Genl Gage order'd that +no Soldier in future shou'd appear in the Streets with his side Arms. +Query, Is this not encouraging the Inhabitants in their licentious and +riotous disposition? Also orders are issued for the Guards to seize all +military Men found engaged in any disturbance, whether Agressors or not; +and to secure them, 'till the matter is enquired into. By Whom? By +Villains that wou'd not censure one of their own Vagrants, even if He +attempted the life of a Soldier; whereas if a Soldier errs in the least, +who is more ready to accuse than Tommy? His negligence on the other hand +has been too conspicuous in the affair of Cn. Maginis to require a +further comment." + +Doubtless there is much to be said for the soldiers, both officers and +privates, since the Bostonians had not abandoned their irritating ways, +even in the midst of an army. But the army was also very hard to live +with. On the first of January our discontented officer records, "Nothing +remarkable but the drunkenness among the Soldiers, which is now got to +a very great pitch; owing to the cheapness of the liquor, a Man may get +drunk for a Copper or two." The officers, we have seen, did not set +their men a very good example; but even in their sober senses they were +scarcely conciliatory. They formed burlesque congresses, and marched in +mock procession in the streets, absurdly dressed to represent the +leaders of the Whigs. On the queen's birthday a banquet was held, and +from the balcony of the tavern the toasts were announced, while in the +street a squad of soldiers fired salutes. Toasts to Lord North were not +relished in Boston, and reminders of Culloden were too significant for +those whom the army already called rebels. It is an interesting proof of +the weakness of Gage's hold upon his own army that such childishness +should have been permitted, or that such threats should have been made +to a town that still was within its legal rights. + +Beneath these petty quarrels we perceive the fundamental differences. +Over these the more learned of both sides carried on a war of words. +The newspapers teemed with letters, poems, essays, and dissertations; +and Novanglus, Massachusettensis, Vindex, and other pseudo-Romans +endeavored to convert each other, or else to point solemn warnings. +"Remember," writes a yeoman of Suffolk County, "the fate of Wat Tyler, +and think how vain it is for Jack, Sam, or Will to war against Great +Britain, now she is in earnest!... Our leaders are desperate bankrupts! +Our country is without money, stores, or necessaries of war,--without +one place of refuge or defence! If we were called together, we should be +a confused herd, without any disposition to obedience, without a general +of ability to direct and guide us; and our numbers would be our +destruction! Never did a people rebel with so little reason; therefore +our conduct cannot be justified before God!... Rouse, rouse ye, +Massachusetians, while it be yet time! Ask pardon of God, submit to our +king and parliament, whom we have wickedly and grievously offended."[51] + +This exclamatory appeal plainly shows a type of mind which often has +saved the British Empire, yet which at periods in history has come near +to ruining it. English conservatism has at most times been invaluable to +the country; but when, as repeatedly under the Stuart kings and again +under George III, it has forsaken its true task in order to support +absolutism, it has brought the ship of state very near to wreck. In +reminding of the fate of Wat Tyler our Suffolk yeoman forgot, if indeed +he ever knew, the fate of Charles and James Stuart. The majority of +Englishmen have never been willing to admit that in defending their +constitutional rights they were guilty of impiety. Though such warnings +and appeals were at this time frequent enough, the Whigs paid no regard +to them. + +When we leave the Tories and turn to the soldiery we find one other +common English failing--underrating an adversary. England had so long +been victorious on land and sea that it was almost a natural assumption +that she was superior to any force that could be brought against her. +But that she was always right, or her opponents always cowards, were +corollaries that did not necessarily follow. Yet both of these were +implicitly believed, not only by supporters at home, but also by the +army in America. As to Yankee cowardice, many a Tory could, and later +did, warn the troops against belief in it. But now, at any rate, the +belief was fully indulged. From it was an easy step to general contempt. +Rascal and Scoundrel were common synonyms for Whig. Lord Percy was a +brigadier-general and old enough to form his own conclusions, yet after +living in the camp at Boston for a month, he gives us a complete +analysis of the American character--the summary, no doubt, of British +military opinion. "The People here," he wrote home, "are the most +designing, Artfull Villains in the World. They have not the least Idea +of either Religion or Morality. Nor have they the least Scruple of +taking the most solemn Oath on any Matter that can assist their +Purpose, tho' they know the direct contrary can be clearly & evidently +proved in half an Hour."[52] + +We see, then, the situation fully prepared: an inflexible people, a weak +governor, a party of believers in divine right, and a contemptuous +soldiery. The next event, which all but ended in violence, showed that +there needed but a little tenser situation in order to bring about the +rupture. + +Now occurred the annual oration on the Massacre. Since that tragedy, +five years ago, there had been an annual commemoration of it in the form +of a speech by one of the Whig leaders. This year the post was one of +evident responsibility and even of danger, but Warren, true to his +character, solicited the appointment. He announced his subject as "The +Baleful Influence of Standing Armies in Time of Peace." On the fifth of +March the crowd that came to hear him filled the Old South to the doors. + +The chance was one which, had Gage received the orders which were +supposed to have been sent him, and had he been the man he ought to +have been, he never should have let slip. There in one building were, of +the chiefs of the "faction," Warren, Samuel Adams, Hancock, and many +lesser men. They could be taken at one blow. Some forty British officers +were present, whether to effect a capture or merely to cause a +disturbance was not known. At Samuel Adams' instance they were given +front seats, or places on the steps of the pulpit. There they listened +quietly to Warren's words. + +The oration was, in the style of the day, florid; but it was full of +genuine feeling. Warren spoke of the rise of the British Empire in +America, the hope of its future, the policy of the king, and the +Massacre. Turning then to the present situation, he spoke in words which +no one could mistake, bolder, perhaps, than ever before had been +publicly spoken in the presence of hostile soldiers. He reminded his +countrymen of their martial achievements, he spoke of the critical +situation, and, while disclaiming the desire for independence, +encouraged the colonists to claim their rights. "An independence of +Great Britain is not our aim. No: our wish is, that Britain and the +colonies may, like the oak and ivy, grow and increase in strength +together. But, whilst the infatuated plan of making one part of the +empire slaves to the other is persisted in, the interest and safety of +Britain as well as the colonies require that the wise measures +recommended by the honorable, the Continental Congress be steadily +pursued, whereby the unnatural contest between a parent honored and a +child beloved may probably be brought to such an issue that the peace +and happiness of both may be established upon a lasting basis. But, if +these pacific measures are ineffectual, and it appears the only way to +safety lies through fields of blood, I know you will not turn your faces +from our foes, but will undauntedly press forward until tyranny is +trodden under foot, and you have fixed your adored goddess, Liberty, +fast by a Brunswick's side, on the American throne."[53] + +These were fearless words, and full of meaning. Had there been men of +sense among the officers present, they must have been impressed by the +solemnity of the warning; in fact, they were silent until the end. It +was not until after the oration, when the meeting was voting thanks to +the orator, that the officers endeavored to interrupt the proceedings. +The cry of Fie! was mistaken for that of Fire, and there was a moment's +panic. We have opposing accounts of it. + +"It was imagined," wrote our discontented Lieutenant of the King's Own, +"that there wou'd have been a riot, which if there had wou'd in all +probability have proved fatal to Hancock, Adams, Warren, and the rest of +those Villains, as they were all up in the Pulpit together, and the +meeting was crowded with Officers and Seamen in such a manner that they +cou'd not have escaped; however it luckily did not turn out so; it wou'd +indeed have been a pity for them to have made their exit in that way, as +I hope before long we shall have the pleasure of seeing them do it by +the hands of the Hangman." + +John Andrews looked at the matter differently. "The officers in general +behave more like a parcel of children, of late, than men. Captain ---- +of the Royal Irish first exposed himself by behaving in a very +scandalous manner at the South meeting.... He got pretty decently +frighted for it. A woman, among the rest, attacked him and threatened to +wring his nose." An outbreak may have been what the officers wanted. +"But," says Samuel Adams, who acted on his maxim that it is good +politics to put and keep the enemy in the wrong, "order was restored, +and we proceeded regularly, and finished the business. I am persuaded, +were it not for the danger of precipitating a crisis, not a man of them +would have been spared."[54] + +The whole was a type of the existing situation. Here were the officers, +still causing petty disturbances; here too, no doubt, were Tories, +contemptuous of the proceedings. Deeper still appears the real +significance of the occasion. On the one side was the governor, unable, +with all the power of the king, to prevent a meeting of the citizens to +condemn his presence in the town--for the meeting was the "Port Bill +meeting," adjourned from time to time since the previous May. And on the +other side were the citizens, legally protesting and exasperatingly +defiant, evidently under perfect self-restraint, determined not to +strike the first blow. + +The officers took, as usual, a puerile revenge in the form of a +burlesque. "A vast number" of them assembled at the Coffee House in King +Street, and chose selectmen and an orator, "who deliver'd an oration +from the balcony to a crowd of few else beside gaping officers."[55] +Others of them caught a countryman who had been decoyed into buying a +musket from a soldier, and tarred and feathered him. + +But these were surface trivialities. Beneath them the true situation was +growing worse. Out in the country military stores were being collected +at Worcester and at Concord; and over in Parliament the fisheries bill, +designed to deprive thousands in America of their living, was sure of +passing. At last Franklin, who had stayed in London as long as there +seemed anything for him to accomplish, patiently bearing humiliation and +insults, on the 20th of March took ship for Philadelphia. It was the +sign that there was no further hope of peace. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[46] Bancroft. + +[47] Adams Letters, 39. + +[48] Andrews Letters. + +[49] A Sermon preached at Lexington, April 19, 1776, 26. + +[50] His diary is published in the _Atlantic Monthly_ for April and May, +1877, 384 and 544. I shall use it freely without further definite +reference. + +[51] Frothingham's "Life of Warren," 413 + +[52] Bulletin of Boston Public Library, x, No. 87, 320. + +[53] Frothingham's "Life of Warren," 435-436. + +[54] Wells, "Life of Adams," ii, 281. + +[55] Andrews Letters. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MILITARY PREPARATIONS + + +As the spring of 1775 advanced, matters took on a constantly more +threatening aspect. The governor's force in Boston was steadily +increasing, and was approaching a total of four thousand men. Vessels of +war were with equal steadiness being added to the little fleet in the +harbor. With each budget of news from England it became evident that +Parliament would not yield, and at last came word that Lord North had +offered a joint resolution that New England was in a state of rebellion, +which both houses pledged their lives and fortunes to suppress. With +such a military force at his command, and with such moral support from +King and Parliament, Gage was in a position to take decided action. + +No one could doubt what that action would be. Since September the +province had been gathering its meagre military supplies. It was but +common sense to seize them before they could be used. Soon after the new +year Gage began his measures. "Genl. Orders," writes disgruntled +Lieutenant Barker. "If any officers of the different Regts. are +_capable_ of taking sketches of a Country, they will send their names to +the Dep. Adj. Genl ... that is an extraordinary method of wording the +order; it might at least have been in a more genteel way; at present it +looks as if he doubted whether there were any such." However, there were +such, and in February the governor chose Captain Brown and Ensign De +Berniere (or Bernicre, as the name is sometimes spelled) and sent them +out to map the roads. + +The little expedition was somewhat absurd, for the disguise which the +officers wore was sufficient to conceal them only from their friends. +When, at the first tavern at which they stopped, they remarked that it +was a very fine country, the black woman who waited on them answered, +"So it is, and we have got brave fellows to defend it, and if you go any +higher you will find it so." "This," admits Ensign De Berniere, whose +account of the expedition was left in Boston at the evacuation, and was +"printed for the information and amusement of the curious," "this +disconcerted us a good deal." From that time on, any one who took the +trouble to "eye them attentively" was in no doubt as to their real +character. + +They went first to Worcester, where it was possible that the governor +might wish to send troops, to protect the courts as well as to seize +stores. The weather was rough and snowy, and the officers' task +correspondingly difficult; the countrymen, by persevering sociability, +kept them in an uneasy state of mind. After roughly mapping roads +concerning which the general should long before have had accurate +information, the two officers made their way to Sudbury, where they +hoped to rest with a sympathizer, after walking in a snow-storm for +hours. But the town doctor, though long a stranger at the house, came +to call, and the townspeople showed their host various other undesirable +attentions, so that in twenty minutes the two officers were glad to +leave the place. They arrived again safely at Worcester, "very much +fatigued, after walking thirty-two miles between two o'clock and +half-after ten at night, through a road that every step we sunk up to +the ankles, and it blowing and drifting snow all the way." + +In spite of this experience, the two officers, a month later, undertook +a similar journey to Concord. In this they succeeded, returning with a +rough sketch of the roads, but bringing also their Concord host, who did +not think it safe to remain after entertaining them. They brought +information that in Concord there were "fourteen cannon (ten iron and +four brass) and two cohorns," with "a store of flour, fish, salt, and +rice; and a magazine of powder and cartridges." + +They might, in their two journeys, have brought better information than +that the Concord Whigs "fired their morning gun, and mounted a guard of +ten men at night." The stores at Concord had far better protection than +these, as the two officers should have learned at Framingham, where they +watched the drill of the militia company. "After they had done their +exercise, one of their commanders spoke a very eloquent speech, +recommending patience, coolness, and bravery (which indeed they very +much wanted), particularly told them they would always conquer if they +did not break, and recommended them to charge us coolly, and wait for +our fire, and everything would succeed with them--quoted Caesar and +Pompey, brigadiers Putnam and Ward, and all such great men; put them in +mind of Cape Breton, and all the battles they had gained for his majesty +in the last war, and observed that the regulars must have been ruined +but for them." + +Had the two officers known it, every town in the province had just such +a militia company, which at set seasons met, and drilled, and listened +to good old-fashioned exhortations to valor. It would not take long, +therefore, for the neighboring towns to send their companies to +reinforce the guard of ten men which Concord set over its stores every +night. And yet the province was not satisfied with this ancient militia +organization, for it had set up another to strengthen it. + +The militia was composed, as it had been since the foundation of the +colony, of the whole body of male inhabitants of proper military age. In +some cases even clergymen drilled in the ranks. More than once this +militia had gathered to repel an expected attack of French or Indians; +it had stood between the settlers and their foes from the days of Miles +Standish down to the French and Indian War. The martial spirit still +prevailed among the youth of the colony, and each town took pride in its +company. In 1774 John Andrews thus records his innocent delight in the +appearance of the Boston trainbands:-- + +"Am almost every minute taken off with agreeable sight of our militia +companies marching into the Common, as it is a grand field day with +us.... They now vie with the best troops in his majesties service, being +dress'd all in blue uniforms, with drums and fifes to each company +dress'd in white uniforms trim'd in y^e most elegant manner; with a +company of Grenadiers in red with every other apparatus, that equal any +regular company I ever saw both in appearance and discipline, having a +grand band of musick consisting of eight that play nearly equal to that +of the 64th. What crowns all is the Cadet company, being perfectly +compleat and under the best order you can conceive of, with a band of +musick likewise, that perform admirably well. What with these and +Paddock's company of artillery make y^e completest militia in America; +not a drummer, fifer, and scarcely a soldier but what are in compleat +uniforms and thoroughly instructed in the military exercises." + +It was this Boston Cadet company that, at the affront to its leader +Hancock had returned its standard to the governor and disbanded. Gage +knew too well that others of the companies were thoroughly disaffected. +In fact, many of the Boston young men left the town before hostilities +began, and were ready to join with their country brethren in showing +that their military training was worth something. + +Yet early in the fall it was recognized in the colony that the militia +system was not sufficient, being too slow of movement to meet any such +sudden expedition as that which Gage sent to seize the powder. It is not +surprising, therefore, to find John Andrews reporting on October 5 the +existence of a new body of troops, "which are call'd _minute men_, +_i.e._ to be ready at a minute's warning with a fortnight's provision, +and ammunition and arms." There is doubt of the origin of this body, but +it was first officially accepted in Concord, where the town adopted +definite terms of enlistment, the more important of which reads:-- + +"We will ... to the utmost of our power and abilities, defend all and +every of our charter rights, liberties, and privileges; and will hold +ourselves in readiness at a minute's warning, with arms and ammunition +thus to do."[56] + +Tradition says that the terms of the enlistment were interpreted +literally, and that wherever the minute men went, to the field, the +shop, or to church, gun and powder-horn and bullet-pouch were ready to +hand. It is scarcely an exaggeration to suppose that, as represented by +French's statue, the farmers actually left the plough in the furrow and +snatched up the ready rifle. + +One further preparation was also made. The rallying point was possibly +Worcester, where were the courts and some few stores; but it was more +probably Concord. The shortest route to Concord, or to the road between +Concord and Boston, was known to the captain of every company of minute +men within a hundred miles. But that the captains should be notified of +any emergency was essential. A complete system of couriers for +spreading news was projected in September, and now was in good working +order, so that, with Boston as a radiating point, the summons could be +sent over the province with the greatest rapidity. By virtue of his +efficiency, trustworthiness, and picturesque personality, Paul Revere is +accepted as the type of the men who stood ready for this service. + +This system, further, had been tested. The spontaneous response to the +Powder Alarm in September had been ready enough, for the men of +Connecticut and New Hampshire were in motion before the next day. But +through the winter of 1774-1775 there had been minor alarms at each +little expedition on which Gage sent his soldiers. By these the new +system was proved efficient. Whether the troops marched to Jamaica Pond, +to the "punch bowl" in Brookline, or even went, by sea and land, as far +as Salem, the militia of the surrounding towns showed a prompt curiosity +as to the object of the excursion. These fruitless musters, far from +making the minute men callous to alarms, served to prepare them to meet +the great occasion which they foresaw would finally come. For that they +were in excellent practice. + +As to Concord itself, it had become very important. The Congress, which +after its first week in Concord had been sitting in Cambridge, now +returned, and from the 22d of March until the 15th of April[57] sat +daily in the meeting-house. The Committee of Safety remained still +longer, busy with the gathering of supplies. It is within this period +that Berniere and Brown came on their spying expedition to Concord, and +were directed by a woman to the house of Daniel Bliss. A threat of the +Whigs to tar and feather her sent her to the officers for refuge, and +word presently came to Bliss that the Whigs "would not let him go out of +the town alive that morning." This fate the officers and their host +avoided by leaving in the night. What became of the woman is not said, +but we may be easy about her: no injury, and in fact no serious +indignity, was put upon a woman in New England at this period. The +officers returned to Boston with a report of the stores in Concord. + +This may have increased the anxiety of the Committee of Safety. Already +they had voted, "requiring Colonel Barrett of Concord to engage a +sufficient number of faithful men to guard the Colony's magazines in +that town; to keep a suitable number of teams in constant readiness, by +day and night, to remove the stores; and to provide couriers to alarm +the neighboring towns, on receiving information of any movements of the +British troops."[58] A watch was kept upon the British movements; and +finally, when, on the 15th, Warren sent Paul Revere from Boston with +warning of suspicious movements, the Committee felt that soon Gage must +strike. On the 18th it ordered the removal of some of the stores. "That +very night," says Tolman, without knowledge of affairs in Boston, the +work was begun. + +Meanwhile, in response to another vote of the committee, the British had +been under close observation. The vote was that "members of this +Committee belonging to the towns of Charlestown, Cambridge, and Roxbury, +be required at the Province expense to procure at least two men for a +watch every night to be placed in each of these towns, and that said +members be in readiness to send couriers forward to the towns where the +magazines are placed, when sallies are made by the army by night." In +view of these preparations, it scarcely needs to be said that there was +nothing accidental about Concord fight. Some day Gage was bound to +strike at Concord, and for that day the Whigs were ready. + +It is now that Paul Revere comes prominently into the course of events. +Revere was a Boston craftsman of Huguenot descent, who was and is well +known as a silversmith, engraver, and cartoonist. His prints and +articles of silverware sell to-day for high prices, and his house in +North Square has recently been fitted up as a public museum, chiefly on +account of a single act at a critical moment. One is glad to know, +however, that Revere's fame is not accidental. His pictures are +historically interesting; we should be the poorer without his prints +which give views of Boston, and without his picture of the Massacre. His +silver--we have mentioned his punch-bowl for the "immortal +Ninety-two"--is usually beautiful. From the foundry which he established +later in life came cannon, and church-bells which are in use to-day. And +finally his famous ride, the object of which would have been brought +about had Revere been stopped at the outset, was but one out of many. + +[Illustration: REVERE'S PICTURE OF BOSTON IN 1768.] + +"In the year 1773," says Revere of himself,[59] "I was employed by the +selectmen of the town of Boston to carry the account of the Destruction +of the Tea to New York, and afterwards, 1774, to carry their despatches +to New York and Philadelphia for calling a Congress; and afterwards to +Congress several times." Revere does not mention the fact that he was +himself a member of the Tea-Party. When he goes on to speak of still +more important events, he suppresses the fact that he was one of the +leaders, if not the chief leader, of the Boston artisans. + +"In the fall of 1774, and winter of 1775, I was one of upwards of +thirty, chiefly mechanics, who formed ourselves into a committee for the +purpose of watching the movements of the British soldiers, and gaining +every intelligence of the movements of the Tories. We held our meetings +at the Green Dragon Tavern. We were so careful that our meetings should +be kept secret, that every time we met, every person swore upon the +Bible that they would not discover any of our transactions but to +Messrs. Hancock, Adams, Doctors Warren, Church, and one or two more.... +In the winter, towards the spring, we frequently took turns, two and +two, to watch the soldiers, by patrolling the streets all night." + +Such was the watch, then, kept upon the royalists, and such were the +preparations to receive the troops when they should march out. We know +now that Gage was informed of them, for among those whom Revere names as +confidants of the mechanics there was a traitor to the cause. Yet though +Gage knew of the organization of the Whigs, of its efficiency he had +apparently not the glimmer of an idea. It was with no expectation of +serious results that, when at last he learned that the resolution +declaring the colonies to be in rebellion had passed Parliament, he +slowly put himself in motion to seize the stores of the provincials. + +The Americans were keenly aware of all his movements. There were two +common methods of leaving the town, one by the Neck, the other over +Charlestown ferry. But these routes lay through towns, either Roxbury +or Charlestown, and to march so openly meant to give the alarm. The +Americans were ready for Gage to take a third route: across the Charles +by means of boats, and then by unfrequented roads until striking the +highway at Cambridge Common. This way the Whigs suspected he might +choose, and this they found he did. + +Gage's preparations were almost open. The boats of the men-of-war were +hauled up and repaired at the foot of the Common. On the 14th, in the +night, they were launched, and moored at the sterns of the men-of-war. +On the 15th was given out in general orders that "'The Grenadiers and +Light Infantry in order to learn Grenadrs. Exercise and new evolutions +are to be off all duties till further orders.'--This," remarks +Lieutenant Barker of the King's Own, "I suppose is by way of a blind. I +dare say they have something for them to do." + +This "something" was either one or both of two objectives: the stores at +Concord, and the persons of Adams and Hancock, then known to be staying +at the house of the Reverend Jonas Clark in Lexington. That this latter +objective was seriously considered, at least by the Americans, we shall +see from Revere's narrative. There never has been proof that Gage +endeavored to seize either them or Warren. But in any case the stores +were in danger, and strict watch was kept. + +There was evidence enough of a coming expedition. As before the +Massacre, there were soldiers' rumors that something was to happen, and +the name of Concord was whispered about. On the night of the 18th word +came in from the country that parties of officers were riding here and +there. This same notice was sent by vigilant patriots to Hancock at +Lexington. In Boston itself different persons noticed that the troops +were astir. Word of all this came from various sources to Warren who, +relinquishing for a while his sittings with the Committee of Safety, had +for some days been working for it at the post of responsibility and +danger. Warren finally decided that he must act. He sent for the men +who had pledged themselves for this service, and gave them his +directions. + +One of these men was William Dawes, of whom, except for his actions on +this night, we know little. Obeying his instructions, he took horse, and +rode across the Neck to go to Lexington by way of Roxbury and Watertown. + +"About ten o'clock," writes Revere, "Dr. Warren sent in great haste for +me, and begged that I would immediately set off for Lexington, where +Messrs. Hancock and Adams were, and acquaint them of the movement, and +that it was thought they were the objects." Revere was ready. In +returning on the 15th he had arranged signals to his friends in +Charlestown to inform them what route the British would take; he knew, +also, how he should cross--for the ferry was closed at nine o'clock--and +where he should get his horse. From Warren's Revere went home, got his +"boots and surtout," and started. Two of his friends rowed him to +Charlestown in a boat which was kept ready for the purpose, another was +already despatched to make certain of the route the British would take. + +[Illustration: THE OLD NORTH CHURCH + +(From which Paul Revere's signals were displayed.)] + +Of the person and the actions of this other friend there has been much +dispute. The weight of evidence seems to show that on making sure of the +route of the British, he went to the Old North Church, still standing in +Salem Street, and from its steeple displayed the signal. I make no +positive assertion that he spent any time in watching the British; +Revere, knowing the route, may have signalled in order to make sure that +the news crossed the river, even though he himself might fail. The +person who displayed the signals seems to have been one Newman, the +sexton of the church, rather than Captain Pulling, a friend of Revere's. +At any rate, the signals were hung while Revere was crossing the river +to Charlestown. He passed unobserved not far from the _Somerset_ +man-of-war, and remarks that "it was then young flood, the ship was +winding, and the moon was rising." On landing, his Charlestown friends +told him they had already seen the signals. Revere (if we still suppose +that he needed to make sure of the route) himself must have taken a look +at the signal lanterns, as in Longfellow's poem. "Two if by sea." This +poetical language means merely that the troops were preparing to cross +the river in their boats. This is the traditional account of Revere's +action. A contemporary memorandum states, however, that on landing +Revere "informed [us] that the T [troops] were actually in the boats." + +"I got a horse," says Revere, "of Deacon Larkin," which horse the deacon +never saw again. Before Revere started he again received warning that +there were British officers on the road, but he was quite cool enough to +take note of the beauty of the night, "about eleven o'clock and very +pleasant." Crossing Charlestown Neck, he started on the road for +Cambridge, when he saw before him two horsemen under a tree. As Revere +drew near, they pushed out into the moonlight, and he saw their +uniforms. One of them blocked the road, the other tried to take him, +and Revere, turning back, galloped first for Charlestown and then +"pushed for the Medford road." Revere made the turn successfully; the +officer who followed, ignorant of the locality, mired himself in a clay +pond. Revere's road was now clear. He reached Medford, and roused the +captain of the minute men; then, hastening on through Menotomy, now +Arlington, and thence to Lexington, he "alarmed almost every house." He +reached Lexington about midnight, and went directly to the house of the +Reverend Jonas Clark, where Hancock and Adams were sleeping under a +guard of the militia. Revere asked admittance, and the sergeant informed +him that the family had requested that no noise be made. + +"Noise!" replied Revere in the phrase familiar to every schoolboy, +"you'll have noise enough before long--the regulars are coming out!"[60] +The family was accordingly at once aroused. + +Meanwhile the troops had actually started. "Between 10 and 11 o'clock," +says Lieutenant Barker, "all the Grenadiers and Light Infantry of the +Army, making about 600 Men, (under command of Lt. Coll. Smith of the +10th and Major Pitcairn of the Marines,) embarked and were landed on the +opposite shore of Cambridge Marsh." This phrasing is not immediately +clear to one of to-day. In those days every regiment had two special +companies, the heavy-armed grenadiers, so called because they originally +carried hand-grenades, and the light-infantry company. These were +frequently detached for special duty, as the present, when the Light +Infantry would be used for flanking purposes. Thus every regiment in +Boston was represented in the expedition--and we may add in the list of +killed and wounded on the following day. The number is generally +estimated at eight hundred. They were commanded by the colonel who had +been longest on duty in New England. Smith was in character too much +like Gage himself. The general would have done better to send one of +his brigadiers. + +One at least of the brigadiers was reasonably alert. According to +Stedman, Lord Percy was crossing the Common after learning from the +general that a secret expedition had just started. Perceiving a group of +men talking together, the nobleman joined them in time to hear one say, +"The British troops have marched, but have missed their aim." + +"What aim?" asked Lord Percy. + +The reply was, "The cannon at Concord." Percy, in much perturbation, at +once returned to the general and told him that his secret was known. +Poor Gage complained that his confidence had been betrayed, "for that he +had communicated his design to one person only besides his lordship." + +The student of the time sees in this story a side-thrust at Mrs. Gage, +on whom, as an American, the officers were ready to blame the knowledge +of secrets which were gained by Yankee shrewdness alone. In this case we +have seen that it was Gage that betrayed himself to the eyes of +Revere's volunteer watch. The general hastily sent to order the guard at +the Neck to let no one leave the town. But he was too late: Dawes was +gone, Revere was on the water, and the news was out. + +The expedition was bungled at the very start. "After getting over the +Marsh, where we were wet up to the knees," says Lieutenant Barker, "we +were halted in a dirty road and stood there till two o'clock in the +morning, waiting for provisions to be brought from the boats and to be +divided, and which most of the men threw away, having carried some with +'em." As they waited there they might have heard signal guns, and +learned that in a constantly widening circle of villages, "the bells +were rung backward, the drums they were beat." The news had three hours' +start of them. At last, at two on the 19th, having "waded through a very +long ford up to our middles," wet, dirty, and loaded with the heavy +equipment of the period, they started on their march. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[56] Tolman, "The Concord Minute Man," 12. + +[57] I take many facts in the following pages from the three pamphlets +by George Tolman, "The Concord Minute Man," "Preliminaries of Concord +Fight," and "Events of April Nineteenth." These, published by the +Concord Antiquarian Society, are invaluable to the student of this +period. + +[58] "Preliminaries," 23-24. + +[59] After the Revolution, Revere wrote a narrative of the events in +which he was concerned. It is to be found in several books, notably +Goff's "Life of Revere." + +[60] Most of these facts are from Frothingham's "Siege," 57-59, and from +Revere's letter. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE NINETEENTH OF APRIL + + +John Hancock never showed better in his life than on the morning of the +19th of April. Many times the Tories had tried to win him over. +Hutchinson himself had written: "At present, Hancock and Adams are at +variance. Some of my friends blow the coals, and I hope to see a good +effect." Yet Adams and Hancock were still enlisted in the same cause on +this morning when blood was to be shed. And Hancock, when roused from +his sleep at midnight, was hot with the desire to take his musket and +fight on Lexington Green. + +Adams and his friends--among them his sweetheart--dissuaded him. The two +Whig leaders finally took the road to Woburn, and in the succeeding days +passed on to Worcester and Hartford, planned the taking of Ticonderoga, +and, joining the other delegates from Boston, in May met with the second +Continental Congress. If Gage had meant to seize Hancock and Adams, he +had lost his chance. The outcome lay in the hands of the fighting men. + +Revere waited at Mr. Clark's house for about half an hour, when Dawes +arrived. The two then set out for Concord, and were joined on the way by +"a young Dr. Prescott, whom we found to be a high son of liberty."[61] +They began to rouse the farmers along the road, and had already gone +halfway when they saw in the road horsemen whom Revere knew at once to +be British officers. Revere and Prescott, blocked in front and rear, +turned into a pasture; but this was a trap where other officers were +waiting. Prescott, knowing the country, put his horse at a fence and got +away; Revere found himself surrounded by six horsemen who, with swords +and pistols ready, ordered him to dismount. There was nothing for him to +do but comply. Dawes, who had been behind upon the road, turned to go +back, and was pursued. He rode into a farmyard, shouted out as to +friends in waiting, and frightened off his pursuers. Both he and +Prescott were useful in spreading the alarm farther. + +But Revere was caught. His chief captor examined him, and got slight +satisfaction. "I told him, and added that their troops had catched +aground in passing the river and that there would be five hundred +Americans there in a short time, for I had alarmed the country all the +way up." His anxious captors consulted together, and were conducting him +back toward Lexington, "when the militia fired a volley of guns, which +seemed to alarm them very much." They asked if there were any other road +to Cambridge, took Revere's horse, and left him. He hurried back to +Lexington, to give Hancock and Adams the news that sent them on their +way. Revere himself remained long enough to save a trunk of papers +belonging to Hancock. + +Meanwhile the militia of the town, alarmed by Revere, assembled and +waited for the troops. They sent two messengers toward Cambridge to +bring certain news, but each of these blundered into the advancing +regulars, and were seized and held. The militia waited for some hours, +but on hearing no word they were finally dismissed, with a warning to be +ready to come together again instantly. Some went to their homes, some +to the near-by tavern, to finish out the night. + +News came at last to Captain Parker that the British were scarcely a +mile away, and in such numbers that his company could not hope to oppose +them. He called his men together, nevertheless, "but only with a view to +determine what to do, when and where to meet, and to dismiss and +disperse."[62] The minute men were still standing in their ranks when +the British suddenly appeared. + +The succeeding events caused much controversy at the time. Gage reported +"that the troops were fired upon by the rebels out of the +meeting-house, and the neighboring houses, as well as by those that were +in the field; and that the troops only returned the fire, and passed on +their way to Concord."[63] But in number the little company of minute +men were, according to Revere, who had just passed through them, "about +fifty"; the Reverend Jonas Clark says "fifty or sixty, or even seventy." +Had there been even the two or three hundred of the British reports, +these men, drawn up without protection on an open green, are scarcely +likely to have attacked a force of more than twice their number. The +logic of the situation seems against Gage. + +There is one more factor to consider. It is well enough known that both +the British officers, and the Americans as a whole, were under +instructions not to fire, and earnest to obey. But what of the British +privates? Their eagerness for blood at the time of the Massacre was so +great as to account for that tragedy; it was now not likely to be less. +There were even among the troops at Lexington two companies from one of +the "Sam Adams regiments." When we learn from Lieutenant Barker that +after the skirmish "the Men were so wild they cou'd hear no orders," we +may even suspect that, as at the Massacre, the men may have taken +matters into their own hands. + +"For," says the minister of Lexington, "no sooner did they come in sight +of our company, but one of them, supposed to be an officer of rank, was +heard to say to the troops, 'Damn them, we will have them!'--Upon this +the troops shouted aloud, huzza'd, and rushed furiously towards our +men.--About the same time, three officers (supposed to be Col. Smith, +Major Pitcairn and another officer) advanced, on horse back, to the +front of the body, and coming within five or six rods of the militia, +one of them cried out, 'ye villains, ye Rebels, disperse; Damn you, +disperse!' or words to this effect. One of them (whether the same, or +not, is not easily determined) said, 'Lay down your arms, Damn you, why +don't you lay down your arms!'--The second of these officers, about +this time, fired a pistol towards the militia, as they were +dispersing.--The foremost, who was within a few yards of our men, +brandishing his sword, and then pointing towards them, said, with a loud +voice, to the troops, 'Fire!--By God, fire!'--which was instantly +followed by a discharge of arms from the said troops, succeeded by a +very heavy and close fire upon our party, dispersing, so long as any of +them were within reach.--Eight were left dead upon the ground! Ten were +wounded."[64] + +[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON] + +This is the best contemporary account which we have of the affair. It is +evident from his careful language and semi-legal terms that the Reverend +Mr. Clark, though not on the ground until half an hour afterwards, took +all possible pains to gather the facts, and considered himself upon oath +in reporting them. He was himself a witness of the exultation of the +troops at their victory, and expresses his indignation. + +Tradition gives Major Pitcairn, of the Marines, a prominent part in the +affair. "A good man," says Stiles, "in a bad cause," and adds that had +Pitcairn ever been able to say that he was sure the Americans fired +first, he would have believed him. Honest Major Pitcairn could only +state his belief. + +So the first blood in the Revolution was spilt. The death of one of the +Americans, Jonathan Harrington, was pitiful: shot within sight of his +home, he crawled to the door, and expired at his wife's feet. To the +heavy volleys they received, the Americans returned but a scattering +fire; some of them did not fire at all.[65] Two British privates were +wounded, and Pitcairn's horse. + +The troops, as soon as they could be marshalled again, fired a volley +and gave three cheers, rested for a little while, and marched on toward +Concord. There, since early morning, had gathered some of the militia +from Bedford and Lincoln, and about sunrise the little company marched +out of town. "We thought," says Amos Barrett quaintly, "we would go and +meet the British. We marched down towards Lexington about a mile or mile +and a half, and we saw them coming." But on seeing their numbers the +militia turned back, "and marched before them with our drums and fifes +going, and also the British. We had grand musick."[66] The provincials +halted once or twice on the hill that ran along the high road, and came +at last to the liberty pole, overlooking the town. "The Yankees," +records Lieutenant Barker of the King's Own, "had that hill but left it +to us; we expected they wou'd have made a stand there, but they did not +chuse it." The militia, still withdrawing before superior numbers, +retreated across the river, and the British occupied the town. + +In place of the five bridges which to-day, within a mile of the +meeting-house, encircle Concord, the town in 1775 had but two. The first +of these was the South Bridge, on the present Main Street route to +Marlborough and South Acton. The other was the North Bridge, on a +highway now abandoned, which in those days led to Acton, Carlisle, and +Bedford. Colonel Smith took possession of both these bridges, and while +his men searched the town for stores, he sent a detachment across the +North Bridge to the farm of Colonel Barrett, where it was known that +supplies had been kept. Of our two British informants of the events of +the day, Ensign Berniere guided the troops that went to the Barrett +farm, Lieutenant Barker remained with a detachment that stayed to guard +the bridge. Meanwhile, on a hillside beyond the river, almost within +gunshot of the bridge, the militia watched the first detachment pass on +its errand, and counted the numbers of the redcoats that held the nearer +side of the passage. + +Colonel Smith speedily learned that his journey had been nearly in vain. +As we have seen, already on the night before, without news from Boston, +the removal of the stores had been begun. The alarm brought in by Dr. +Prescott hastened the work. Men and boys, and even women and girls, were +busy in hiding the stores or carrying them away. Some of them were +skilfully secreted under the very eyes of the British. The troops found +little. In the town some few gun-carriages, barrels of flour, wooden +mess-bowls, and wooden spoons were found and destroyed. At Colonel +Barrett's, acknowledges Berniere, "we did not find so much as we +expected, but what there was we destroyed." He was unaware that the +cannon had been laid in a ploughed field, and concealed by turning a +furrow over them, the work continuing even while the troops were in +sight. + +Of proceedings in the town we get the best picture from the petition of +Martha Moulton, "widow-woman," who in her deposition "humbly sheweth: +That on the 19th day of April, 1775, in the forenoon, the town of +Concord, wherein I dwell, was beset with an army of regulars, who, in a +hostile manner, entered the town, and drawed up in form before the house +in which I live; and there they continued on the green, feeding their +horses within five feet of the door; and about fifty or sixty of them +was in and out of the house, calling for water and what they wanted, for +about three hours." The neighbors had fled, and poor Mrs. Moulton was +left with "no person near but an old man of eighty-five years, and +myself seventy-one years old, and both very infirm. It may easily be +imagined what a sad condition your petitioner must be in." But she +committed herself to Providence, "and was very remarkably helpt with so +much fortitude of mind, as to wait on them, as they called, with what we +had,--chairs for Major Pitcairn and four or five more officers,--who sat +at the door viewing their men. At length your petitioner had, by +degrees, cultivated so much favor as to talk a little with them. When +all on a sudden they had set fire to the great gun-carriages just by the +house, and while they were in flames your petitioner saw smoke arise out +of the Town House higher than the ridge of the house. Then your +petitioner did put her life, as it were, in her hand, and ventured to +beg of the officers to send some of their men to put out the fire; but +they took no notice, only sneered. Your petitioner, seeing the Town +House on fire, and must in a few minutes be past recovery, did yet +venture to expostulate with the officers just by her, as she stood with +a pail of water in her hand, begging them to send, &c. When they only +said, 'O, mother, we won't do you any harm!' 'Don't be concerned, +mother,' and such like talk." But the widow Moulton persisted, until "at +last, by one pail of water and another, they did send and extinguish the +fire."[67] It is pleasant to know that the courageous old lady received +three pounds for her services, and that the smoke which rose higher than +the Town House served only to give the signal for Concord fight. + +All this while the numbers of the militia had been growing. They were +stationed on the slope of Punkatasset Hill, and from minute to minute +squads and companies came in from the neighboring towns. It has been +made a reproach to Concord that so few of her men were there, but they +were engaged in the far more important duty of saving the stores. +Nevertheless, one of her militia companies was on the ground, with those +individuals who were able to hurry back after putting the stores in +safety. The Carlisle and Acton men had joined the waiting provincials, +whose numbers at last became so threatening that the guard at the +bridge, in full sight of them, became uneasy. + +The militia became uneasy also. Beyond the bridge, in the town, they saw +more smoke than seemed warranted by merely burning cannon wheels and +spoons. The officers consulted, and Captain Smith, of Lincoln, urged +that the bridge be forced. Davis of Acton, speaking of his company, +said, "I haven't a man that's afraid to go!" The movement was decided +upon, and the militia, in double file, marched down toward the bridge. +The Acton company had the lead, with Davis at its head; beside him +marched Major John Buttrick, of Concord, in command, with +Lieutenant-Colonel Robinson, of Westford, as a volunteer aid. As the +provincials drew near, the British hastily retreated across the bridge, +and their commander awkwardly marshalled his three companies one behind +the other, so that only the first could fire. As some of the soldiers +began to take up the planks of the bridge, the Americans hastened their +march, and presently the British fired. There is no question that they +began the fight, with first a few scattering guns, "up the river," and +then a volley at close range. + +The whole was seen by the Concord minister, William Emerson, from his +study in the Manse, close by. For a moment, he records, he feared that +the fire was not to be returned; but he need not have doubted. The +British volley killed the Acton captain, Davis, and Hosmer, his +adjutant. Then Major Buttrick, leaping into the air as he turned to his +men, cried, "Fire, fellow-soldiers; for God's sake, fire!" + +"We were then," records Amos Barrett, of the second company, "all +ordered to fire that could fire and not kill our own men." The return +fire, though from the awkward position of double file, was effective. +Two of the British were killed outright, another fell wounded, and the +whole, apparently doubting their ability to hold the bridge, hastily +retreated upon the main body. "We did not follow them," records Barrett. +"There were eight or ten that were wounded and a-running and a-hobbling +about, looking back to see if we were after them." + +As reminders of the fight, besides the bridge which Concord, many years +after its disappearance, rebuilt on the centenary of the day, the town +points to the graves of the two soldiers killed in the fight, who were +buried close by. Another memorial is seen in the bullet-hole in the +Elisha Jones house near at hand, at whose door the proprietor showed +himself as the regulars hastily retreated. On being fired at, Jones +speedily removed himself from the scene, and from subsequent history. + +There were no further immediate consequences. The Americans crossed the +bridge, and stationed themselves behind the ridge that overlooked the +town; the search-party that had gone to Colonel Barrett's returned. +"They had taken up some planks of the bridge," says Berniere of the +Americans, though the work was done by the British. "Had they destroyed +it, we were most certainly all lost; however, we joined the main body." +Colonel Smith now had his force together, and had done all that could be +done, yet for two hours more he, by futile marchings and +countermarchings, "discovered great Fickleness[68] and Inconstancy of +Mind." The delay was serious; he had earlier sent to Gage for +reinforcements, and he ought now to have considered that every minute +was bringing more Americans to the line of his retreat. When, about +noon, he started for Boston, the situation was very grave. + +The British left the town as they had come in, with the grenadiers on +the highway, the light infantry flanking them on the ridge. On this +elevation, above the house he later inhabited, Hawthorne laid the scene +of the duel between Septimius Felton and the British officer. At +Merriam's Corner the ridge ends. Here the flankers joined the main body, +and together noted the approach of the Americans, who had dogged them. +The regulars turned and fired, only to be driven onward by an accurate +response. "When I got there," says Amos Barrett, "a great many lay dead, +and the road was bloody." From that time ensued a scattering general +engagement along the line of the retreat. + +In this kind of fighting the odds were greatly with the Americans, as +Gage, with his memory of Braddock's defeat, might have foreseen. The +British complained with exasperation that the militia would not stand up +to them. The provincials knew better than to do so. Lightly armed, +carrying little besides musket or rifle, powder horn and +bullet-pouch,--and all these smaller and lighter than the British +equipment,--the farmers were able with ease to keep up with the troops, +to fire from cover, to load, and then again to regain the distance lost. +Every furlong saw their numbers increase. At Merriam's Corner came in +the Reading company; before long the survivors of the Lexington company +joined the fight to take their revenge; and from that time on, from +north, from south, and from the east, the minute men and militia came +hurrying up to join the chase. + +Before five miles were passed, the retreat had degenerated into a mere +rout. "We at first," says Berniere, "kept our order and returned their +fire as hot as we received it, but when we arrived within a mile of +Lexington, our ammunition began to fail, and the light companies were so +fatigued with flanking they were scarce able to act, and a great number +of wounded scarce able to get forward, made a great confusion; Col. +Smith (our commanding officer) had received a wound through his leg, a +number of officers were also wounded, so that we began to run rather +than retreat in order.... At last, after we got through Lexington, the +officers got to the front and presented their bayonets, and told the men +that if they advanced they should die: Upon this they began to form +under a heavy fire." There was, however, no hope for them unless they +should be reinforced. + +In the nick of time the succor came. Early in the morning Gage had +received word that the country was alarmed, and started to send out +reinforcements. There were the usual delays; among other mistakes, they +waited for Pitcairn, who was with the first detachment. The relief party +as finally made up comprised about twelve hundred men, with two +six-pounder field-pieces, under Lord Percy. Percy went out through +Roxbury with his band playing Yankee Doodle, and as he went a +quick-witted lad reminded him of Chevy Chase. More than once before +night Percy must have thought of the Whig youngster. He was momentarily +delayed at the Cambridge bridge, where the Committee of Safety had taken +up the planks, but had frugally stored them in full view of the road. +Percy relaid some of the planks and hurried on with his guns, leaving +behind his baggage train and hospital supplies, which were presently +captured by a company headed by a warlike minister. Percy was again +delayed on Cambridge Common for want of a guide; when again he was able +to push on he spared no time, and reached Lexington at the critical +moment. He formed his men into a hollow square, to protect Smith's +exhausted men, who threw themselves down on the ground, "their tongues +hanging out of their mouths like those of dogs after a chase."[69] Percy +turned on the militia his two field-pieces, "which our people," grimly +remarks Mr. Clark, writing after Bunker Hill, "were not so well +acquainted with then, as they have been since." Percy had the +satisfaction, which both Berniere and Barker express, of silencing the +provincials. + +He knew too well, however, that the Americans were willing to be quiet +only because they awaited their own reinforcements. Every minute of +delay was dangerous, for now the American military leaders were +gathering. If Hancock and Adams had left the field, Warren hastened to +it. We know some of his sayings as he left Boston. "They have begun +it,--that either party can do; and we'll end it,--that only one can do." +To the remark, "Well, they are gone out," he replied, "Yes, and we will +be up with them before night." Warren probably was present at a meeting +of the Committee of Safety which was held that morning, but his +biographer says: "I am unable to locate him until the afternoon, about +the time Lord Percy's column rescued Colonel Smith's party from entire +destruction, which was at two o'clock." + +Warren was no mere adviser. With General Heath he had been planning for +the work of the day, and when, after half an hour's rest, Percy's troops +moved onward, the time came for the measures to be put into effect. +Warren went with Heath to the scene of battle. Yet little could be done +in organized form, at least in the open country, and the minute men +continued to pick off the British. But when the troops were among +houses, and in revenge for their losses began to plunder[70] and burn, +the Americans for the first time began to close in. Many of them fired +from barricaded houses, and were killed in consequence. The Danvers +company, the only one that tried to fight as a body, were caught between +the main column of the regulars and a strong flanking party, and many +were killed in an improvised enclosure. But even without defences the +Americans became very bold, and the fight fiercer. Warren, rashly +exposing himself, had a pin shot out of his hair. Percy, on the other +hand, lost a button from his waistcoat. Nothing can explain the +comparatively slight losses of the British except the rapidity of their +march to safety. As it was, the regulars were almost worn out with their +exertions when they saw ahead of them the hills of Charlestown, and +looking across the Back Bay, might perceive on the slopes of Beacon Hill +half the population of Boston watching their disgrace. + +Boston had been in suspense since early morning. All the Whigs had +suspected the meaning of Gage's preparations, and the town was no sooner +astir than the news was abroad that the expedition had started. Next +came word that an officer had come in haste with a message for Gage. At +about eight came news of the death of five men in Lexington. Already +Lord Percy's detachment was parading, waiting for the Marines, who in +turn waited for their absent commander. Thousands of people were in the +street, and even the schoolboys were running about, for Master Lovell +had dismissed his school with the words, "War's begun, and school's +done." Through the day came conflicting rumors. "About twelve o'clock +it was gave out by the General's Aide camps that no person was kill'd, +and that a single gun had not been fir'd, which report was variously +believ'd."[71] Fairly correct accounts of the fight at Lexington began +to come in, embellished with the addition that men had been killed in +the meeting-house. In the afternoon people began to watch from the hills +for the return of the troops, and before sunset the noise of firing was +heard. + +Of the three British commanders, Lord Percy was the only one who +displayed any military ability. He showed it in the route which he chose +for his retreat. From Cambridge Common, where at last he arrived, the +road to Boston was long, and was broken by the bridge whose difficult +passage in the morning he remembered. Therefore he avoided it--and +wisely, for the planks of the bridge were up again, and this time in use +as barricades, while the militia were ready for him. Instead, Percy +shook off many of his waylayers, and saved some miles of march, by +taking the direct road to Charlestown. Yet even this route was hard +beset. "I stood upon the hills in town," says Andrews, "and saw the +engagement very plain." Many a Whig exulted as he watched, many a Tory +cursed, at the sight of the weary regulars struggling forward, and of +red figures that dropped and lay still. Percy was barely in time. Had +the men of Essex, whose strong regiment arrived just too late, been +quick enough to intercept them, and resolute enough to throw themselves +across the retreat, it is more than likely that Percy must have +surrendered, for his ammunition was almost gone. The exasperation of the +Americans at losing their prey was later expressed in a court-martial of +the Essex colonel. At any rate, Percy was not headed, and the regulars +at last streamed across Charlestown Neck, to find protection under the +guns of the fleet. + +"Thus," grumbles Lieutenant Barker, "ended this expedition, which from +beginning to end was as ill plan'd and ill executed as it was possible +to be.... For a few trifling Stores the Grenadiers and Light Infantry +had a march of about 50 miles (going and returning) and in all human +probability must every Man have been cut off if the Brigade had not +fortunately come to their Assistance." + +Speaking for the reinforcing brigade, Lord Percy confessed that he had +learned something. "Whoever looks upon them [the Americans] merely as an +irregular mob will find himself much mistaken. They have men among them +who know very well what they are about, having been employed as rangers +against the Indians and Arcadians.... Nor are several of their men void +of a spirit of enthusiasm, ... for many of them concealed themselves in +houses, and advanced within ten yards to fire at me and other officers, +though they were morally certain of being put to death.... For my part I +never believed, I confess, that they would have attacked the King's +troops, or have had the perseverance I found in them yesterday."[72] + +This was the day which Massachusetts now celebrates as Patriots' Day. Of +her sons forty-nine were killed, thirty-nine were wounded, and five were +taken prisoners. Berniere's figures of the British losses are 73 killed, +174 wounded, and 26 missing. The totals, for a day more important, as +says Bancroft, than Agincourt or Blenheim, are very small. But the +significance of the day was indeed enormous. Previously, said Warren, +not above fifty persons in the province had expected bloodshed, and the +ties to England were still strong. Within ten weeks Warren himself had +written of England as "home." After this day there was no turning back +from bloodshed, and no American ever again spoke of Britain by the +endearing name. + +And the military situation was entirely changed. In the morning Gage was +still the nominal governor of the province, free to come and go at +will. At night he looked out upon a circle of hostile camp-fires. "From +a plentiful town," says Berniere mournfully, "we were reduced to the +disagreeable necessity of living on salt provisions, and fairly blocked +up in Boston." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[61] Revere's narrative. + +[62] Clark's narrative. + +[63] Clark's narrative. + +[64] Clark's narrative. + +[65] Clark's narrative. + +[66] Letter of Amos Barrett, privately printed. + +[67] Frothingham's "Siege," Appendix, 369-370. + +[68] "Feekelness," Emerson's letter, "Source Book of the American +Revolution," 146. + +[69] This quotation from Stedman, himself a British officer, is perhaps +as well known as Revere's midnight remark, already given. + +[70] "The plundering was shameful," says Lieutenant Barker indignantly. +See also depositions in Frothingham's "Siege," Appendices. + +[71] Andrews Letters. + +[72] "Memorial History of Boston," iii, 102. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +BOSTON BELEAGUERED + + +Gage and his army were at first surrounded by a mere collection of +militia companies. As the pursuit ceased on the evening of the 19th the +baffled Americans withdrew from the range of the guns of the fleet. As +well as they could they gathered into their organizations and made some +kind of a camp, sleeping either out of doors, or in convenient houses. A +watch was set at Charlestown Neck, and at Roxbury Prescott of Pepperell +and his men stood on guard against a sortie. The circuit between these +points, comprising the whole sweep of the Charles River and the Back +Bay, was likewise occupied. Headquarters were at Cambridge. On the +following days men from the more distant towns came in, until before +long the minute men and militia from the adjoining provinces, New +Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, were upon the ground. + +Some of the records are striking. The men of Nottingham, New Hampshire, +gathered by noon of the 20th and, after being joined by men of the +neighboring towns, set out at two o'clock. "At dusk," says Bancroft, +"they reached Haverhill Ferry, a distance of twenty-seven miles, having +run rather than marched; they halted in Andover only for refreshments, +and, traversing fifty-five miles in less than twenty hours, by sunrise +of the twenty-first paraded on Cambridge common."[73] + +Israel Putnam, working on his farm in Brooklyn, Connecticut, received +the news the morning after the fight at Concord. He left his work at +once, and, mounting a horse, started out to rouse the militia, who, upon +mustering, chose him leader. As his idea of a leader was one who went in +front, he set out at once for Boston, ordering them to follow. He +arrived in Cambridge at the time when the Nottingham men are reported +as parading, "having ridden the same horse a hundred miles in eighteen +hours."[74] + +Others followed in similar haste. Among them, Benedict Arnold first +began to attract to himself public notice. Sabine says of him, "I am +inclined to believe, that he was a finished scoundrel from early manhood +to his grave." Nevertheless, his fiery nature kept him for a time with +the Americans, and at the very outset he showed his independent spirit, +having characteristically refused to "wait for proper orders." From New +Hampshire came Stark, the hero of the frontier wars. And from all the +towns came the militia leaders, who, gathering their companies into +regiments, began the loose organization and crude subordination which +should make of the crowd an army. + +In all this convergence of the militia toward Boston, there was one side +current. This set toward Marshfield, where for some weeks had been a +detachment of regulars. During this time there had been peace in the +town but strong feeling on both sides--Marshfield had already produced +a general for the king, and now was about to give one to the +provincials. There had been one or two threatening demonstrations from +neighboring towns, which now were repeated in earnest. On hearing the +news from Lexington and Concord, the militia of the neighborhood +gathered for an attack on the regulars. But they came too late. The +British were embarking at Brant Rock, hastened by the signal guns of the +Marshfield men from a neighboring hill. Yet though the regulars got +safely away, they left behind them the three hundred muskets with which +the Tory militia had drilled, and which presently formed a part of the +equipment of the Whigs before Boston. That equipment, while most +irregular, was not to be despised. By the 22d a strong army covered all +land approach to Gage, who began to consider himself between two fires. + +"The regulars encamped," says one British account of the Concord +expedition, "on a place called Bunker's Hill."[75] There, under the +guns of the fleet, the tired troops found safety; and there, for all +that any one can see, it would have been wise of Gage to leave them. +With Bunker Hill at his command, and with Dorchester Heights once +occupied by his forces, Boston would be safe from all attack by the +Americans--and not till then. + +But on the next morning Gage withdrew the troops to Boston. As a matter +of fact, he doubted his own strength, and greatly exaggerated the power +of the rebels, since his first sensation was a dread lest the town +should rise at his back, and his army be destroyed. Of this there was no +real chance at any time. Yet he drew in his men in order to make himself +secure, and began with the selectmen negotiations looking to his safety. + +There were many in the town who were eager to leave it, and many outside +anxious to come in. The governor made the rule that for the purpose of +taking out family effects but thirty wagons might enter the town at a +time. The ruling drew from Warren the following very characteristic +letter. + + + CAMBRIDGE, April 20, 1775. + + SIR:--The unhappy situation into which this colony is thrown gives + the greatest uneasiness to every man who regards the welfare of the + empire, or feels for the distresses of his fellow-men: but even now + much may be done to alleviate those misfortunes which cannot be + entirely remedied; and I think it of the utmost importance to us, + that our conduct be such as that the contending parties may + entirely rely upon the honor and integrity of each other for the + punctual performance of any agreement that shall be made between + them. Your Excellency, I believe, knows very well the part I have + taken in public affairs: I ever scorned disguise. I think I have + done my duty: some will think otherwise; but be assured, sir, as + far as my influence goes, everything which can reasonably be + required of us to do shall be done, and everything promised shall + be religiously performed. I should now be very glad to know from + you, sir, how many days you desire may be allowed for such as + desire to remove to Boston with their effects, and what time you + will allow the people in Boston for their removal. When I have + received that information, I will repair to congress, and hasten, + as far as I am able, the issuing a proclamation. I beg leave to + suggest, that the condition of admitting only thirty wagons at a + time into the town appears to me to be very inconvenient, and will + prevent the good effects of a proclamation intended to be issued + for encouraging all wagoners to assist in removing the effects from + Boston with all possible speed. If Your Excellency will be pleased + to take the matter into consideration, and favor me, as soon as may + be, with an answer, it will lay me under a great obligation, as it + so nearly concerns the welfare of my friends in Boston. I have many + things which I wish to say to Your Excellency, and most sincerely + wish that I had broken through the formalities which I thought due + to your rank, and freely told you all I knew or thought of public + affairs; and I must ever confess, whatever may be the event, that + you generously gave me such opening, as I now think I ought to have + embraced: but the true cause of my not doing it was the vileness + and treachery of many persons around you, who, I supposed, had + gained your entire confidence. + + I am, &c., + + JOSEPH WARREN. + + His Excellency General Gage.[76] + + +In striking contrast to the manly regret expressed by Warren in this +letter is the scene enacted that afternoon at Cambridge, where the +Committee of Safety met. Doctor Benjamin Church, one of the trusted +leaders of the Whigs, an orator on the Massacre, and a pamphleteer, was +a member of the committee, for which Warren had recently engaged Paul +Revere as messenger. Revere writes, in the letter already quoted: "I was +sitting with some, or near all that committee, in their room ... in +Cambridge. Dr. Church, all at once, started up. 'Dr. Warren,' said he, +'I am determined to go into Boston to-morrow.' (It set them all +a-staring.) Dr. Warren replied: 'Are you serious, Dr. Church? They will +hang you if they catch you in Boston.' He replied: 'I am serious, and am +determined to go at all adventures.' After a considerable conversation, +Dr. Warren said: 'If you are determined, let us make some business for +you.' They agreed that he should go and get medicine for their and our +wounded officers."[77] + +Church was the first American traitor. Although possessed of all the +Whig secrets, he had for some months, perhaps longer, been in +communication with Gage. His journey to town was for the purpose of +delivering information, and for some time yet he managed to carry on the +double role. Nevertheless his information, put in the hands of Gage, did +no harm. It throws but one more light upon the incompetence of the +general that, with such information as Church now gave him, he blundered +so continually. + +We learn from John Andrews' letters of the agreement made between Gage +and the town. "Yesterday," he writes on the 24th, "we had town meetings +all day, and finally concluded to deliver up _all_ our arms to the +Selectmen, on condition that the Governor would open the avenues to the +town." In this agreement the townspeople were advised by the Committee +of Safety to join. Accordingly, there were delivered to the Selectmen, +and lodged in Faneuil Hall, "1778 fire-arms, 634 pistols, 978 bayonets, +and 38 blunderbusses."[78] These were marked with their owners' names, +and were later to be restored. As soon as this delivery of arms was +effected, hundreds applied for passes to leave the town. Andrews must +have reflected the feelings of many when he wrote, "If I can escape with +the skin of my teeth, shall be glad." + +There were for a few days much hurry and bustle, both of egress and of +ingress. At first as many as wished were allowed to go out, and the +chief difficulty was one of transportation. It is to be supposed that +for a while the admiral kept to his agreement to lend boats to the +refugees. There was a very considerable exodus. "Near half the +inhabitants," wrote Andrews on May 6, "have left the town already, and +another quarter, _at least_, have been waiting for a week past." Andrews +probably exaggerated, yet hundreds of the better class went out, and +about five thousand of the poor. These latter were quartered among the +different towns at public expense. + +But the outflow from Boston was speedily checked. On the 6th Andrews +was still in Boston, and making up his mind to stay on account of his +property, but still anxious to secure a pass for his wife, whose +personal fears--she was an aesthetic person, an amateur artist whose +landscapes Lord Percy had admired--were greater than her interest in her +husband's safety. She did safely get away, amid the miserable procession +that her husband describes. "You'll see parents that are lucky enough to +procure papers, with bundles in one hand and a string of children in +another, wandering out of the town (with _only_ a _sufferance_ of _one_ +day's permission) not knowing where they'll go." Andrews' wife went out +in a sailing vessel, but whether by land or by water she was one of the +last to go. + +This was because the Tories interfered in the general removal. It +alarmed them to see so many leave: these Whigs, and especially those of +good social position, were the best hostages for the safety of the town +from assault. So they made vigorous expression of their discontent, and +to them Gage yielded. They had already formed military organizations for +his support, and when they threatened to quit the town and seek refuge +in Canada or London, the threat was too much for him. Restrictions were +at once put upon the issuing of passes, and in a very short time the +conditions imposed were so severe that it was practically impossible for +people of the better class to leave the town. "There are but very few," +wrote Abigail Adams, "who are permitted to come out in a day; they delay +giving passes, make them wait from hour to hour, and their counsels are +not two hours together alike. One day, they shall come out with their +effects; the next day, merchandise is not effects. One day, their +household furniture is to come out; the next, only wearing apparel; the +next, Pharaoh's heart is hardened, and he refuseth to hearken to them, +and will not let the people go."[79] Nevertheless the poor were still +welcome to depart, and from time to time were even sent out in order to +relieve Gage of the necessity of feeding them.[80] + +During this period a number of Tories came to Boston. These were the +families of men already in the town, or were others who felt that, +though until the present their homes had been safe for them, the future +was too doubtful. They hastened to put the British defences between them +and the Whigs. Among them the most notable was Lady Frankland of +Hopkinton, who once had been Agnes Surriage, the barefooted serving-maid +of the tavern at Marblehead. She now was a widow of nearly fifty, and +came down from Hopkinton only to be detained before the lines, and made +the subject of memoranda and petitions. The lieutenant who detained her +person was reprimanded, and by vote of the provincial congress she was +permitted to enter Boston with "seven trunks; all the beds with the +furniture to them; all the boxes and crates; a basket of chickens, and a +bag of corn; two barrels and a hamper; two horses and two chaises, and +all the articles in the chaise, excepting arms and ammunition; one +phaeton; some tongues, ham, and veal; and sundry small bundles."[81] +Evidently thinking that Lady Frankland's household was well enough +supplied, the congress did not allow to pass her seven wethers and two +pigs. + +There were others who left their homes, though not to go to Boston. Of +these Judge Curwen of Salem is a type. He was considered--unjustly, he +protests--as a Tory, and finding his neighbors daily becoming "more and +more soured and malevolent against moderate men," he left Massachusetts. +In this case it was the wife who remained behind, "her apprehensions of +danger from an incensed soldiery, a people licentious and +enthusiastically mad and broken loose from all the restraints of law and +religion, being less terrible to her than a short passage on the +ocean."[82] Curwen went to Philadelphia, but finding the situation the +same, proceeded to London and there lived out the war. Many others, like +him, repaired to the capital, and formed a miserable colony, living on +hope, watching the news from home, pensioned or grudgingly maintained by +the government, and sadly feeling themselves strangers in a strange +land. + +Without doubt the times were very hard for men who, like Judge Curwen, +wished to take no side, but to live at peace with all men. Of such men +there was a very large class, so large in fact that more than one Tory +sympathizer has claimed that the Revolution was fought by a minority of +the people of the colonies, who were so virulent as to force the +moderates into their ranks from dread of personal consequences. Such a +claim is weak upon its very face, and will not bear examination. Most of +the moderates were but waiting to see how the cat would jump, and when +once a preponderance of sentiment showed they speedily took sides. Had +there been in the colonies a majority desirous of a return to +allegiance, the Whig cause surely could not have survived the dark days +of the war. We can safely conclude the majority to have been in favor of +the rights of the colonies, always understanding that they desired +nothing more than they had always had since the accession of George the +Third. A man of such a type is clearly seen in John Andrews, with his +occasional fits of depression and doubt, and his impatient exclamations +against the radicals among the Whigs. Note, for instance, what he says +on the death of William Molineux, one of the prominent Boston Whigs, +whose death was a loss to the cause. "If he was too rash," remarked +Andrews, "and drove matters to an imprudent pitch, it was owing to his +natural temper; as when he was in business, he pursued it with the same +impetuous zeal. His loss is not much regretted by the more prudent and +judicious part of the community." Yet though Andrews could thus express +himself, he could again speak quite otherwise, as the remarks quoted in +this book have already shown. He doubted at times, and was petulant +against the fortune that brought him discomfort and loss, but in the +main he was stanch. Andrews was, then, a type of the moderate who threw +in his lot with his country. Judge Curwen, on the other hand, was one of +the smaller class which, in doubt and despair, withdrew to the +protection of the crown. Many of them were too old to fight; many had +not the heart to lift their hands against their neighbors. Every country +sees such men at every war. Often they may live peaceably, anguished +with doubt, and distressed for humanity. But in a civil war there is +seldom a refuge for them. It was certainly so at the Revolution. A very +few among the Tories, venerated by their neighbors, might remain +neutral; the remainder must take sides, or go. The fighting men felt +that those who were not with them were against them, and among the +stay-at-home Whigs were plenty who were willing to express the feeling. +Hence the reproaches and menaces which drove Judge Curwen from his home, +and hence the doubtful looks in Philadelphia which made him "fearful +whether, like Cain, I had not a discouraging mark upon me, or a strong +feature of toryism." Curwen crossed the water, and other moderates +slipped into Boston, to find themselves as unhappy within the town as +they had been outside, in spite of the strength which Gage was slowly +gaining. + +This strength was, so far, purely defensive. Gage did not consider +himself ready to take the offensive. Those Tories who came to town +informed him of the numbers outside, and he saw very plainly the result +of sending an expedition against a militia which would melt before the +head of his column, only to attack it in flank and rear. So no action +was considered, especially as the rebels offered, so far, nothing to +strike at. Gage made himself as strong as he could, and waited +reinforcements. + +His strength was partly, as we have seen, in the organization of the +Tories. Their men began at once to form themselves in companies, under +the general leadership of Timothy Ruggles, who had long been a political +tower of strength, and was now assuming military importance. The new +volunteer companies were, as we have seen, of such value to Gage that +they were able to make him break his promise to let the townspeople +leave Boston. Yet so far as is known they did nothing more in the siege +than to parade and mount guard. + +Gage's chief attention was directed to fortifying. His situation was +easily defensible at certain points, and of them he first made sure. At +the south, across the passage to Roxbury, were the "lines" of which all +contemporary accounts speak. These Gage strengthened until by the 4th of +May Lieutenant Barker records that the works were almost ready for ten +twenty-four-pounders. From the Neck the western line of the peninsula of +Boston ran in a general northerly direction for about a mile and a +half; it then ran east for nearly a mile; then turning south, it finally +swept inward to the Neck. The outline had three projections, each caused +by a hill: Barton's Point at the northwest; Copp's Hill at the +northeast; and Fort Hill on the middle of the eastern side. Each of +these was fortified as soon as possible. The four points were Gage's +main defences. + +[Illustration: PLAN OF THE SIEGE] + +When these forts were finished, the town was by no means secure. The +forts commanded most of the northerly and easterly sides, of which the +war-ships commanded the remainder; but the whole western side of the +town, along the Common and the foot of Beacon Hill, was open to attack. +This was, roughly speaking, along the line of the present Charles +Street, prolonged into Tremont Street. The Back Bay beyond this +water-line was so shallow that no war-ship could anchor there; a night +attack, delivered in boats, might surprise the soldiers on the Common in +their barracks or their tents. In order to command the western shore, +and also to quell a possible rising in the town, Gage erected a "small +work" on Beacon Hill. Later in the siege every one of these points was +strengthened; a low hill, near the present Louisburg Square, was +protected; and redoubts were thrown up to defend the shore-line of the +Common. But the four main works, and the Beacon Hill fort, were all that +Gage was able to accomplish before Bunker Hill battle. He managed, +however, to put his army under strict military discipline, which before +the 19th of April he had not imposed on them. + +From letters and diaries we get glimpses of the situation of the troops. +They were short of fresh provision, disgusted with their situation, and +at times not a little alarmed. What other unexpected qualities the +Yankees might show no one could predict. They were still, however, +regarded as low in the scale of humanity. On the fifth of May Lieutenant +Barker records the discovery of a "most shocking" plot. "It was a scheme +to cut off all the officers of the Garrison. Upon the 24th, the day we +were to keep St. George's day, the Rebels were to make a feint Attack at +night upon the Lines: a number of men were to be posted at the Lodgings +of all the Officers, and upon the Alarm Guns firing they were to put the +Officers to death as they were coming out of their houses to go to their +Barracks. What a set of Villains must they be to think of such a thing! +but there is nothing be it ever so bad that these people will stick at +to gain their ends." The horrified lieutenant ascribes to this discovery +the fact that Gage ordered the officers to sleep at barracks. It is, +however, more likely that the general paid no attention to the tale, but +thought it time for officers and men to be together. + +Once more the army was shocked. A fire broke out near property owned by +Hancock, and in putting out the blaze there was discovered a chest of +bullets "in Hancock's store." The news spread rapidly, and was regarded +as another proof of the desperate nature of the Whigs. + +So the army, uncomfortable and uneasy, looked for its reinforcements, +which before long began to come in. Troop-ships arrived, but the most +welcome was the _Cerberus_, with the three major-generals. The relief of +the garrison found expression in waggery; they called the generals the +three bow-wows, and circulated the doggerel:-- + + + "Behold the Cerberus the Atlantic plow, + Her precious cargo Burgoyne, Clinton, Howe, + Bow wow wow!" + + +Burgoyne at this time made a special nickname for himself. Hailing a +ship as they entered the harbor, the generals learned that the army was +shut up by the provincials. "What!" cried Burgoyne. "Ten thousand +peasants keep five thousand king's troops shut up! Well, let _us_ get +in, and we'll soon find elbow-room!"[83] And Elbow-room was Burgoyne's +name for a long time thereafter. + +Yet the three new generals for a while did nothing. Lieutenant Barker +regretfully records: "Tho' we have new Generals come out, yet they have +brought no more authority than we had before, which was none at all." It +is safe to assume that on learning the quality of the "peasants," +Burgoyne was not anxious to attack them with an inferior force. The +British therefore continued to await reinforcements. + +From Burgoyne's voluminous correspondence we learn his state of mind. He +had come to the country unwillingly: "I received your Majesty's commands +for America with regret," he wrote in his letter to the king, and +elsewhere records that the event was one of the most disagreeable in his +life. Nevertheless, once enlisted in the campaign, he had thrown himself +into it. Perceiving in advance how little, as junior major-general, he +would have to do, he endeavored to have himself transferred to the post +at New York, where he rightly perceived that there was much to be done. +He was in favor of attempting conciliation. Had that post at this time +been occupied by Burgoyne, his quick wit, true sympathies with the +Americans, and real abilities might have made for him a different name +in the history of America. But his attempt failed, and now, almost +inactive in his post at Boston, he was studying the situation, probing +the weakness of Gage and learning the difficulties of his position. Gage +had little money for secret service, it is true, and the provincials +were stubborn foes whose true measure Burgoyne had not yet taken,[84] +but he saw how poorly Gage had provided against the calamities which had +come upon him. Burgoyne doubted the outcome, and fretted at the +situation. + +In the meanwhile the rebels had been working to make that situation +worse. Their first need was to get some semblance of order among the +troops. At the head of the Massachusetts army was Artemas Ward, a +veteran of the French wars, no longer vigorous, and never used to +independent command. He drew his authority from the Provincial Congress +of Massachusetts, which now hastily came together, and communicated with +Ward chiefly through the Committee of Safety, of one of whose meetings +we have already had a glimpse. The active head of the committee was +Warren, who kept in close touch with Ward. + +Organization proceeded slowly, complicated by the fact that the other +provinces maintained separate armies. The names of some of the +commanders are still familiar. Putnam and Spencer were the heads of the +Connecticut troops; John Stark was prominent among the New Hampshire +men; while to command the Rhode Islanders came Nathanael Greene. With +praiseworthy suppression of provincial jealousies the commanders +speedily agreed to subordinate themselves to Ward, as the oldest among +them, and the head of the largest body of troops. He was regarded as +commander-in-chief, and his orders were to be observed by all. Yet the +means to communicate orders and to receive reports were long lacking. +The combined armies were far from being a unit, and if attacked could +resist little better than on the 19th, as scattered bands, and not as a +whole. + +The very size of the army was uncertain. On paper there were more than +twenty thousand men; as a matter of fact there can seldom have been more +than four-fifths of that number. Of the actual total Massachusetts +provided 11,500, Connecticut 2300, New Hampshire 1200, Rhode Island +1000.[85] Further, in its variable size this was the very type of a +volunteer army, of which every man owned his equipment, clothed himself, +and considered himself still, to a large extent, his own master. Of the +thousands living within twenty-five miles of Boston, who sprang to arms +on the 19th, knowing that if they were quick they might strike the +British before night, few had the foresight to prepare themselves +properly for the campaign that was to follow. There were no commissary +stores to supply them. Their affairs at home they left just where they +stood. In the next few days many of these men went home, for the +necessary arrangement of their affairs and for more clothing. The larger +number of them returned to camp immediately, some were slower, and yet +others stayed for a longer time. Even those who joined the army after +more preparation often had business that called them home, in which case +they considered it a hardship to be denied. The officers sympathized, +especially when that business was haying. Cases occurred in which the +men on furlough were making their officers' hay, while at the same time +drawing the pay of the province. The position of the general commanding +such troops was not to be envied. + +Further, military supplies were very few. In spite of the preparations +of the provincial congress, there were on hand only sixty-eight +half-barrels of powder, a scanty stock with which to begin the siege of +a military garrison. Of cannon a varying number is reported, few of +them as yet of value, for lack of shot to fit them. It was doubtless a +great relief to Ward that he was not called upon to use his cannon, +since they would have drawn too heavily upon his scanty supply of +ammunition, which could be replaced but slowly. + +Altogether, the position of senior major-general was a difficult one. To +knit into an army such a mass of units, to create supplies out of +nothing, to organize a commissary and means of communication, and +maintain a firm front over a line of ten miles, these were the needs of +the situation. We need scarcely marvel that Ward, old and enfeebled, +with his hands tied by uncertain authority, could not meet them. A +genius was needed in his place, and the good fortune was that the genius +eventually came. In the meanwhile Ward, pottering at his task, depended +much on the initiative of his subordinates. The passage from the Neck to +Roxbury was now guarded by Brigadier-General John Thomas of +Marshfield,[86] who to deceive the enemy as to his numbers occasionally +marched his force of seven hundred round and round a hill. The ruse was +successful, for Lieutenant Barker wrote that "at Roxbury there must be +between 2 and 3000." Nevertheless, it is hard to believe that so +important a post was long left so slightly guarded. Thomas exercised his +men with equal profit in cutting down trees to obstruct the passage, and +in throwing up earthworks. Of other entrenchments, at this stage, we +hear little. Putnam wanted to fortify Prospect Hill, commanding the +passage from Charlestown Neck, but could not get permission. Yet the +whole country about Boston was dotted with low hills, on which might +easily be made a chain of fortifications. + +Besides such work as Thomas's, for a month little was done. To be sure, +early in May a party of provincials, gathered in Connecticut and +Vermont, and headed by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, took Ticonderoga +by surprise, and gained for America a fine supply of cannon. We shall +later see what was done with this artillery, but there was no present +means of transporting it to Boston, and no powder for its use, and so +there was no profit to the country save in encouragement. Until the 21st +of May nothing happened near Boston save small skirmishes, and brushes +of outposts. Here and there a floating battery of the British warped up +near land and fired a few shots, and occasionally a squad of riflemen +did a little pot-hunting on its own account. These skirmishes, except as +they accustomed the provincials to the smell of powder, had no effect on +the situation, until at last the opposing sides found that they had +something worth contending for. + +Gage had in Boston no supply of fresh meat, but plenty of horses needing +hay. It occurred to him, finally, that the islands in the harbor were +plentifully stocked with sheep and cattle, and besides grew plenty of +grass. He sent, therefore, on the 21st of May, a party to bring hay from +Grape Island, near Weymouth. The Americans took the alarm, soldiers were +sent from the camp, the militia who were at home turned out, and much +long-range shooting was indulged in. "It was impossible to reach them, +for want of boats," wrote Abigail Adams, "but the sight of so many +persons, and the firing at them, prevented their getting more than three +tons of hay, though they carted much more down to the water. At last a +lighter was mustered, and a sloop from Hingham, which had six port +holes. Our men eagerly jumped on board, and put off for the island. As +soon as they perceived it, they decamped. Our people landed upon the +island, and in an instant set fire to the hay, which, with the barn, was +soon consumed,--about eighty tons, it is said." + +Emboldened by this success, the provincials began to take steps to +remove from the islands the whole stock of cattle, sheep, and hay. +Though, on the 25th of May, the garrison of Boston was largely +reinforced and ships were added to the squadron, the Americans began +work boldly with the islands nearest at hand. Noddle's Island, now East +Boston, stretched within easy cannon shot of the town; it was reached +from Hog Island by means of a couple of fords, passable at low tide. In +broad day, on the 27th, the Americans occupied the islands, and were +promptly assailed by the British in a schooner and a sloop. The skirmish +grew very obstinate, but the schooner was left by the fleet to fight it +out by her own means and those of her smaller consort. As a result, when +she ran aground she was seized, stripped, and burned. On this day the +Americans drove off the stock on Hog Island, which, with their capture +of the schooner, was considered a great achievement. Three days later +the stock was driven from Noddle's Island: "a trifling property," says +Lieutenant Barker, "which we have no connexion with." This nonchalant +dismissal of five hundred sheep and lambs[87] scarcely comes well from +one who had recently recorded that his mess had "luckily got a Sheep." +Within a week other large islands, which the army and the fleet might +naturally have regarded as their own storehouses, were stripped of +livestock and hay. By these means the Americans were made still more +used to war, and according to contemporary accounts acted boldly, +running considerable risks. The total of stock saved by this means was +about twenty-two hundred, and the loss of life trifling. + +But the time was coming for more serious work. Gage felt his courage +rise with his strength, and with his major-generals to back him he +planned action. But first he had to fulminate. Much irritation had been +caused by mock proclamations mysteriously appearing on the walls of the +residences of the new generals, and Gage now determined to issue one in +earnest. He called Burgoyne to his aid, and the literary general drafted +a masterpiece. It was published on the 12th of June. + +Beginning "Whereas the infatuated multitudes," it proceeded in pompous +style to the statement that the rebels were adding "insult to outrage," +for "with a preposterous parade of military arrangement, they affected +to hold the army besieged." Gage offered to pardon all who would lay +down their arms, except Samuel Adams and John Hancock, "whose offences +are of too flagitious a nature" for forgiveness. + +The bombastic proclamation delighted the Tories, who hoped for results +from it. But it deeply angered the Americans. "All the records of time," +wrote Abigail Adams,[88] "cannot produce a blacker page. Satan, when +driven from the regions of bliss, exhibited not more malice. Surely the +father of lies is superseded." The provincial congress prepared a +counter proclamation, which similarly offered amnesty to all on the +other side, "excepting only ... Thomas Gage, Samuel Graves, those +counsellors who were appointed by Mandamus and have not signified their +resignation, Jonathan Sewall, Charles Paxton, Benjamin Hallowell,[89] +and all the natives of America who went out with the British troops on +the 19th of April." We get from this an interesting glimpse of those who +most excited American resentment, but the proclamation was never issued. +More exciting events occurred to prevent it. + +Gage was planning to make himself secure in Boston. Even he could not +fail to see that the heights of Charlestown and of Dorchester threatened +his army. Now that his three major-generals had come, and that his +reinforcements were arriving (the troop-ships, said Lieutenant Barker, +were "continually dropping in"), he felt strong enough to take and hold +the dangerous posts. His plan was first to seize Dorchester Heights, and +for the action was set a date--the night of the eighteenth of June. But +Gage's counsel was never well kept. While Burgoyne complained that the +British "are ignorant not only of what passes in Congress, but want +spies for the hill half a mile off," the Americans were in no such +embarrassment. They had spies at every corner, and--we may +suppose--listeners at many a door. Gage had already arrested men +supposed to have been signalling from steeples. We do not know how the +news got through on this occasion; at any rate the Americans were +informed as early as the 13th.[90] + +The chiefs of the provincial army felt that they were called upon to +act. In the seven weeks of the siege they had to some degree tested the +mettle of their men, and now believed they could be depended on to keep +together against an attack. The troops had, on one occasion, made an +expedition to Charlestown, which lay practically deserted on its +peninsula, as if conscious of the fate which was to overtake it. On the +13th of May, Putnam, to give his men confidence, marched his command, +some twenty-two hundred men, into the town, over Bunker and Breed's +Hills, where some of them were soon to lay down their lives, along the +water-front close by the British shipping, and out of the town once +more. "It was," wrote Lieutenant Barker, "expected the Body at Charles +Town wou'd have fired on the Somerset, at least it was wished for, as +she had everything ready for Action, and must have destroyed great +numbers of them, besides putting the Town in Ashes." But no powder was +burned. + +Now it was destined that Charlestown should smell powder enough. On +learning the news of Gage's projected move, the Committee of Safety +called for an accounting of the condition and supplies of the various +regiments, advised an increase in the army, recommended that all persons +go armed, even to church, and finally on the 15th of June took the +decisive step of advising the seizure of Bunker Hill. "And as the +particular situation of Dorchester Neck is unknown to this Committee, +they advise that the council of war take and pursue such steps +respecting the same, as to them shall appear to be for the security of +this colony." + +Thus inadequate was still the American military organization: Ward was +too old and too weak to assume actual leadership, and we find two +consultative bodies advising each other, with no responsible head. Up to +this time the Massachusetts congress had hoped that the second +Continental Congress, now in session in Philadelphia, would adopt the +army as its own and send it a general; but so far no answer had come to +their requests. Nevertheless, even with this deficient organization +something was effected. A detachment was made up, consisting on paper of +fifteen hundred men, but in fact of about twelve hundred. These were +placed under the command of Colonel William Prescott of Pepperell, a +veteran of Louisburg and an excellent soldier. Assembling on Cambridge +Common on the night of the 16th, "after prayer by President Langdon, +they marched to Bunker Hill."[91] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[73] Bancroft, iv, 535. + +[74] Bancroft, iv, 536. + +[75] "Memorial History of Boston," iii, 15. + +[76] Frothingham's "Warren," 467. + +[77] Revere's narrative. + +[78] Frothingham's "Siege," 95. + +[79] "Familiar Letters of John and Abigail Adams," 54. + +[80] Lieutenant Barker makes a suggestion that must have been popular +among the officers. "I wonder the G----l will allow any of their people +to quit the Town till they return the Prisoners; one wou'd think he +might get 'em if he'd try." + +[81] "Memorial History of Boston," iii, 77. + +[82] Curwen's "Journal," 25. + +[83] Current newspapers, quoted in Frothingham's "Siege," 114. + +[84] "There was hardly a leading man among the rebels, in council, or in +the field, but at a proper time, and by proper management, might have +been bought."--BURGOYNE to Lord Rochfort, June, 1775. Fonblanque's +"Burgoyne," 149-150. + +[85] Frothingham's "Siege," 101. + +[86] "And yet to-day, if you should ask ten Boston men, 'Who was Artemas +Ward?' nine would say he was an amusing showman. If you asked 'Who was +John Thomas?' nine would say he was a flunky commemorated by +Thackeray."--E. E. HALE, "Memorial History of Boston," iii, 100. + +[87] Frothingham's "Siege," 110. + +[88] Adams Letters, p. 64. + +[89] Graves was the admiral, Sewall the attorney-general, and Paxton and +Hallowell were commissioners of customs. + +[90] Frothingham's "Siege," 116. + +[91] Inscription in Cambridge. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL + + +The strategy of Bunker Hill battle has been criticised as often as the +battle has been described. We have already seen that the choice of +Charlestown instead of Dorchester was owing to ignorance, on the part of +the Committee of Safety, of the advantages of the latter. From +Dorchester Heights the town could equally well have been threatened, the +shipping more effectively annoyed, reinforcements more safely summoned, +and retreat much better secured. Nevertheless, since at this stage the +British might have taken any fortification, it is fortunate that the +Americans chose as they did, and left Dorchester for a later attempt. + +Prescott's party of twelve hundred marched in silence to Charlestown, +and on the lower slope of Bunker Hill the men rested for some time +while the officers discussed the situation. On the ground were Prescott, +Putnam, and "another general,"[92] with Colonel Richard Gridley, the +chief engineer. Their discussion was as to the proper point to fortify. + +The peninsula of Charlestown, as has already been said, stretched toward +Boston from the northwest. The approach to it was by a narrow neck of +land, on one side of which, the northeast, ran the Mystic River; while +on the southwesterly side was an inlet from the Charles. The town, a +settlement of several houses, was on the bulge of the peninsula nearest +Boston; but along the Mystic rose a series of three hills, from the +lowest at Morton's or Moulton's Point, to the highest at Bunker Hill. +Morton's Hill was 35 feet high, Breed's, in the centre, was 75 feet, and +Bunker's was 110. The question arose, should Bunker Hill be fortified, +as in the orders, or Breed's, which was nearer Boston and the shipping? + +Much time was spent in the discussion. Bunker Hill was higher and the +safer, and commanded most landing points; but Breed's Hill seemed better +suited to the eager spirits of the officers. When at last Gridley +reminded that time was passing, the question seems to have been decided +by the urgency of the unknown general, and a redoubt was laid out by the +engineer on the summit of Breed's Hill. In the bright moonlight Prescott +at once set his men at work digging, endeavoring to raise a good +protection before morning. + +In this he was successful. His men were all farmers, used to the shovel +and pick; the earth was soft and scarcely stony; and there was no +interruption. Cheered from time to time by the cry of the sentry on the +nearer ship, "All's Well!" they pushed on the work. When at daybreak the +redoubt was seen, the British could scarcely believe their eyes, for a +completed fort seemed to stand there. + +And now was a chance for a display of military science on the part of +Gage and his three major-generals. There stood the little low redoubt, +unflanked and unsupported by any other fortifications, easily cut off +from its own line of relief or retreat. If now Gage had promptly seized +the isthmus, drawn his ships up close, and dragged a battery to the top +of Bunker Hill, the American force could very soon have been driven to +surrender. Ruggles, the Tory brigadier, is known to have advised this, +and there were some among the British leaders who urged it. The general +feeling, however, seems to have been that it would be unmanly to catch +the Americans in the trap which they had laid for themselves. In a hasty +council of war it was decided to assault the redoubt in the good old +British fashion of marching up to its face. Gage was in no hurry even +for this. Contenting himself with ordering the shipping and the Boston +batteries to fire upon the little fort, he gave the Americans every +chance to complete their defences, while leaving the way open for +reinforcements. In a leisurely way he set about preparing an expedition +to cross Charlestown ferry. The men were mustered, and equipped as for +a march. + +Howe was to take charge of the assault, and Burgoyne and Clinton to +direct the Boston batteries. The fleet joined in the fire. From Copp's +Hill, from Barton's Point, from five ships of war, and from a couple of +floating batteries, such a storm of roundshot was poured upon the +redoubt that its defenders were amazed, and on the death of a comrade +were ready to stop work. But Prescott, coolly insisting--against the +protest of a horrified chaplain--that the body be immediately buried, +took his stand upon the parapet, and from there directed the finishing +of the redoubt. + +In this position he was seen from Boston. Gage, handing his +field-glasses to a Tory who stood near him, asked if he recognized the +rebel. The Tory was Willard of Lancaster, a mandamus councillor, who +well knew Prescott's declared intention never to be taken alive. + +"He is my brother-in-law," he replied. + +"Will he fight?" asked Gage. + +"I cannot answer for his men," said Willard; "but Prescott will fight +you to the gates of hell!"[93] + +At the redoubt one of Prescott's aids followed his example, and walking +back and forth on the parapet the two gave courage to their men. These +fell to and completed the work. The rampart was raised to a considerable +height, platforms of earth or wood were made inside for the defenders, +and at about eleven o'clock the men stacked their tools and were ready. + +The redoubt, when thus finished, was roughly square, about "eight rods +on the longest side," which had a single angle projecting toward the +south. Running northwards from the northeast corner Prescott had made a +breastwork of perhaps two hundred feet,[94] to prevent flanking. It +stretched toward the Mystic River, but fell short by more than a hundred +yards. + +Cooped up in this little fort, inadequately protected against flanking, +with shot continually striking on the sides of the redoubt, Prescott's +men waited. They had worked all night and most of the morning, had +little food and water, saw as yet nothing of the relief that had been +promised them, and could tell by the fever of activity visible in +Boston's streets that the red coats soon would come against them. There +is no wonder that when Putnam rode up and asked for the entrenching +tools (proposing, with the best of military good sense, to make a +supporting redoubt on Bunker Hill), many of Prescott's men were glad of +the excuse to remove themselves from so dangerous a neighborhood. Of +those who carried back the tools, few returned. + +But Prescott's remainder was stanch. The men were already veterans, +having endured the work and the cannonade. Waiting in the fort, some of +them could appreciate the marvel of the scene: a great stretch of +intermingled land and water, the shipping spread below, close at hand +the town of Charlestown, and across the narrow river the larger town of +Boston, with its heights and house-tops already crowded by +non-combatants, viewing the field that was prepared for the slaughter. +It was all in bright and warm weather, under a cloudless sky. Since the +world began, there had been few battle-fields so spectacularly laid out. + +At last the bustle in Boston's streets produced results. From the +wharves pushed out into the placid water the boats of the fleet, loaded +to the gunwales with soldiers in full equipment. As they neared the +Charlestown shore, the fire upon the redoubt was doubled, and under its +cover the troops landed upon Moulton's Point. There Howe at first +deployed them, but after inspecting the ground sent back for +reinforcements. For the men in the redoubt there were two more hours of +waiting. + +Those two hours very nearly decided the fate of the struggle, for had +Howe moved immediately to the assault there could have been no such +resistance offered him as later he met. Prescott decided to send to +Cambridge for reinforcements; but such was the confusion that the +messenger could get no horse, and had to walk the six miles to +headquarters. There he was ill received, for Ward, who during the whole +day did not leave his house, feared an attack on Cambridge, dreaded to +deplete his supply of powder, and only upon repeated representations +ordered a couple of regiments in support of Prescott. These regiments +had to draw their powder and make up their cartridges, and arrived when +the battle was just about to begin. + +The student of this day finds it difficult to disentangle the varied +accounts. Who was on the field and who was not, what part was taken by +each, who was in command at this point and who there, and the total of +men engaged, all either were or still are disputed points. It seems to +be beyond doubt, however, that Prescott from the first was in command at +the redoubt, and that Putnam assumed, and tried to execute, general +oversight of the field of contest outside the redoubt and beyond the +breastwork. + +While Howe's troops lunched quietly at Moulton's Point, the aspect of +affairs for the Americans became brighter. Prescott, seeing that he must +have better protection toward the Mystic River, ordered a detachment of +Connecticut troops, under Captain Knowlton, and with them six +field-pieces--which seem to have figured not at all in the result--to +"go and oppose" the enemy. Avoiding a marshy spot of ground, Knowlton +chose a position some two hundred yards to the rear of the redoubt and +its breastwork. Here was a fence, the lower part of stone, the upper of +rails. The men brought forward from the rear another rail fence, leaned +it against the first, and wove in between the rails hay which they found +recently cut upon the ground. This, the "rail fence" mentioned in all +accounts of the battle, was their sole protection. + +Now began slowly to come across the isthmus the first of the +reinforcements that strengthened the hands of the provincials. They +came partly as individuals, of whom the most noted was Warren, who but +the day before had been appointed general by the provincial congress. He +came as a volunteer, knew his risk, and was prepared to die. + +Curiously James Otis, it is said, was also among the defenders of the +redoubt, coming, like Warren, as a volunteer. It was a strange fate +which sent him safely home, to live, still wrecked in intellect and +useless to his country, while Warren was to fall. + +By this time a lively hail of shot and shell was falling on Charlestown +Neck, and to cross it was a test of courage. Seth Pomeroy, +brigadier-general, veteran of Louisburg, came on a borrowed horse, and, +sending back the animal, crossed on foot. Others, alone, in groups, or +in semi-military formation, followed him, to be directed by Putnam to +the rail fence, which needed defenders. At last came one who needed no +directions--Stark, at the head of his New Hampshire regiment. Although +requested to hurry his men across the Neck, Stark replied, "One fresh +man in action is worth ten fatigued ones,"[95] and would not change his +step. Marching down the slope of Bunker Hill, he quickly noted that +between the rail fence and the water the beach was unguarded. "I saw +there," he said afterward, "the way so plain that the enemy could not +miss it."[96] Before the attack could begin, Stark's men threw up a rude +breastwork of cobbles behind which they could find a little +shelter.--And now at last the American defences were completed, just as +the troops were in motion to attack them. + +At this point Howe neglected a method of attack which would have made +his victory immediate. The rail fence, and Stark's defence upon the +beach, were open to attack from the river. We have seen that two +floating batteries ("large flat boats," says Lieutenant Barker, "sides +raised and musquet proof") were used to bombard the redoubt. These, +like the shipping and the Boston batteries, did no good whatever. But +placed in the Mystic in the proper position, they could have raked the +rail fence. "Had these boats been with us," says our lieutenant, " ... +they would have taken a part of the Rebels entrenchment in flank, and in +their retreat wou'd have cut off numbers." But Howe was only a soldier, +such an aid apparently never occurred to him, and the floating +batteries--gondolas, as they were called--remained on the southern side +of the peninsula. He ordered the attack. + +The attack was triple, but the artillery fire, on which Howe had +counted, was at first valueless, because for the six-pounders had been +sent over mostly nine-pound shot, thanks to the chief of artillery, who +was afterward supposed to be making love to the schoolmaster's daughter. +The cannon, further, got into the marshy ground, and could not find an +effective position. So the real assault was first delivered by the +troops alone, one detachment marching against the redoubt, and one +against the rail fence. + +The troops moved with great confidence. According to the habit of the +time, they were completely equipped as for an expedition, with blankets +and three-days' rations. It has been computed that each soldier carried +about a hundred and twenty pounds.[97] They were, therefore, greatly +burdened at best; and on so hot a day, with the grass to their knees, +and many fences to cross, their task was the worse. But they advanced +with great composure, and apparently forgetting the 19th of April they +were deployed in open order, as if to present each marksman with a +separate target. Howe led those who marched at the rail fence, and +General Pigot led the assault upon the redoubt. Both bodies of the +regulars advanced with occasional ineffective volleys. + +At first, says tradition, a few Americans fired when the troops came in +range, but Prescott and his officers, leaping upon the parapet of the +redoubt, kicked up the muzzles of the guns. If the men would but obey +him, Prescott told them, not a British soldier would get within the +redoubt. At the rail fence the men were likewise prevented from firing, +Putnam threatening to cut down any who disobeyed. They were ordered not +to shoot until the regulars passed a stake which Stark set up for a +mark. Many familiar sayings were passed among the provincials: "Wait +till you see the whites of their eyes! Aim at the crossing of the belts! +Pick out the handsome coats!" + +As if to add to the impressiveness of the scene, it was about this time +that Charlestown, set on fire a little while before, that it should not +give cover to the Americans, and that the smoke should confuse the +rebels, burst into general conflagration. The town had been for weeks +almost deserted, in dread of this fate; now at the command of Howe +red-hot shot were thrown in among the houses, and marines landed from +the ships and fired the wharves and waterside buildings. The act was, +however, a wanton one, for no advantage was gained or lost to either +side by the fire.[98] + +At last the troops were near enough. They had themselves been firing +for some time, volleying as they advanced, but firing too high. Now, as +they reached a line some eight or ten rods from the redoubt, Prescott +gave the word to fire, and to continue firing. The discharge from the +redoubt was close, deadly, and incessant, while at the rail fence the +reception of the British was even more fatal. For a few minutes the +regulars held their ground, returning the fire as best they might, yet +decimated by the American bullets, and seeing their officers falling all +about them. There was no hope to advance, and sullenly they withdrew. + +If ever there was a moment that marked the fate of our nation, it was +that one. It forecast Bennington, Saratoga, and Yorktown, Gettysburg and +the Wilderness. Well might the provincials exult as they saw the retreat +of the regulars; and well might Washington exclaim, when he learned that +the farmers had driven the British, "Then the liberties of the country +are safe!"[99] + +But the battle was not yet won. The slaughter among the officers was +frightful, yet the leaders were uninjured. Howe gave the order, the +troops formed again, and again advanced to the attack. The Americans +admired them as they approached, preserving unbroken order, and stepping +over the bodies of the slain as if they had been logs of wood. This time +the troops were allowed to come nearer yet, but when the provincials +fired at the word the carnage was greater than before. In the smoke the +officers were seen urging their men, striking them with their sword +hilts, and even pricking them with the points. But it was in vain. The +officers themselves were shot down in unheard-of proportion, and at the +rail fence those who survived out of full companies of thirty-nine were +in some cases only three, or four, or five. Nothing could be done under +such a fire. Leaving their dead within a few yards of the American +lines, for a second time the British retreated. + +At last Howe had learned his lesson. While his officers, for the sake +of the men, implored him to find some other way to conquer the redoubt, +he determined on a third assault. He ordered that the knapsacks be left +behind, and that the troops be formed in column. In the work of rallying +the disheartened men he was ably helped by Clinton, who, observing a +detachment in disorder near their boats, impetuously hurried across the +river, reformed their ranks, and put himself at their head. Some four +hundred marines came over as reinforcements; according to Lieutenant +Barker, the 47th regiment came also. Howe disposed his forces in three +columns, to attack the three faces of the redoubt. + +Between the first and second assaults there had been less than half an +hour's interval. This time the wait was longer, and the Americans +ineffectually sought to take advantage of it. Messengers were again sent +to Ward; the general, learning at last that so many of the British +forces were occupied in the battle that Cambridge was safe from an +attack, gave orders that more regiments should go to Prescott's +assistance. To save the day there was yet time, but of the regiments +thus ordered, few companies reached the ground, and fewer still took +part in the action. And in this the weakness of the American +organization was sadly evident. From first to last Ward seems to have +sent to Bunker Hill sufficient force to have won the battle; but as he +never left his house he could take no pains to make sure that his orders +were obeyed. As a matter of fact, of the regiments despatched, one went +to Lechmere's Point, where it must have secured an excellent view of the +battle, but was completely useless. Being next ordered "to the hill," it +was conducted by its colonel, James Scammans, to Cobble Hill; thence he +sent to Bunker Hill to learn if he was wanted. Receiving a vigorous +reply from Putnam, Scammans at last marched his men to Bunker Hill, +reaching the top in time to witness the end of the battle. In similar +fashion young Major Gridley of the artillery battalion, whom "parental +partiality" had given too much responsibility, took post at a distance, +and fired at the shipping. Both Scammans and Gridley were later +court-martialled. Other officers lost their way, or, like Colonel +Mansfield, who stayed with his regiment to "support" Gridley in his +position of safety, disobeyed orders. + +These facts serve to show not only the confusion of the day, but also +the bad judgment, to use no stronger phrase, of unseasoned soldiers. It +is fair to say that the hesitancy of some was offset by the heroism of +others. When Colonel Gerrish, who was later cashiered, could bring his +men no further forward than Bunker Hill, his adjutant, Christian +Febiger, a Dane, led a part of the command to the rail fence, and fought +bravely there. One of the captains of artillery, disregarding Gridley's +commands, took his two guns to Charlestown, and served one of them at +the rail fence. Other individuals named and unnamed, with or without +orders, went to the field, took post where they could, and fought for +their own hand. Yet these are scattered instances in the midst of too +many failures to obey. Those who did march down to the field of carnage, +with "no more thought," as one of them confessed, "of ever rising the +hill again than I had of ascending to Heaven, as Elijah did, soul and +body together,"--those who thus devoted themselves left many behind on +the safe side of Bunker Hill, or posted ineffectively behind distant +fences or trees. Of the thousand Americans who during this last pause in +the battle might have reached the post of danger, not enough arrived to +affect the result. + +At last, while aides were still beating up for more support, and Putnam +himself was returning from a similar errand, Howe put his troops in +motion. This time the movement against the rail fence was but a feint; +and now for the first time the artillery of either side did effective +service in the battle. Against the protest of the artillery officers +that the ground was too soft to take better position, Howe ordered them +forward, and they loyally obeyed. They found a post from which they +could enfilade the breastwork, and at their first discharge of grape +sent its defenders into the redoubt for safety. It was the beginning of +the end. Prescott, as he saw the breastwork abandoned, and marked the +three advancing columns, saw that the redoubt was doomed. + +And yet the day ought not to have been lost. Had Ward but sent a hundred +pounds of powder, the fight might have been won. But Prescott looked for +it in vain. Or had those men, whom he saw shooting at long range from +positions of safety, come forward to reinforce the defenders of the +redoubt, the scales might have been turned. But the fight was to end as +it had begun, with Prescott's small detachment still unsupported, left +all day without food or water, and now at the end without powder. As the +troops climbed the hill a few artillery cartridges were opened and their +powder distributed among the provincials. Some of the men thus had +three or four charges to their guns, some had only one; besides this, +there were few bayonets among them. The wonder is that the men awaited +the assault. + +This time the regulars came within twenty yards of the redoubt before +the word was given to fire. The heads of the columns were swept away, +but the rest came on, and mounted the parapet. The first who topped it +were shot down, among them Pitcairn. But then the American powder was +spent, and from three sides the British swarmed into the redoubt. +Reluctantly Prescott gave his men the word to retreat. + +For a few moments the fighting was fierce. Some of the provincials were +unwilling to run, and fought till they were killed. Some used stones, +and some their clubbed muskets, retiring unwillingly. It might be +supposed that the slaughter was great. But the British, for the very +reason that they had entered from three sides, were afraid to fire on +the farmers for the sake of their own men; the dust rose up in clouds, +and so in the confusion most of the defenders escaped, like Peter +Brown, who wrote his mother: "I was not suffered to be touched, although +I was in the front when the enemy came in, and jumped over the walls, +and ran half a mile, where balls flew like hailstones, and cannon roared +like thunder."[100] + +Prescott came off unhurt. Those who saw him said that he "stepped long, +with his sword up." He saved his life by parrying the bayonets which +were thrust at him, although some of them pierced his clothes. + +That more were not killed in the pursuit was due to two factors. The +first was the exhaustion of the soldiers, who, tired with carrying heavy +loads in the unwonted heat (and an American summer is like the tropics +to an Englishman), were winded with their last charge up the hill. They +were therefore in no good condition to follow up their victory, and the +fugitives were soon away beyond Bunker Hill. Yet that the pursuit was so +poor was due partly to the defenders of the rail fence. These men, more +like veteran regiments than fragments of many commands, withdrew in a +body, continually threatening those who offered to close in from behind. +The end of the fight was as honorable to them as its beginning. + +But there was much loss. A number were killed in the redoubt, and the +slopes of Bunker Hill were dotted with slain, killed by bullets and +cannon shot. At the Neck some few more were killed. The total of dead, +according to Ward's record, was 115, of the wounded 305, of the captured +30. Slightly varying totals are reported.[101] + +The great personal loss on the part of the Americans was in the death of +Warren. There had been no need of his coming, and his value for higher +services--he was president of the provincial congress and had just been +appointed a major-general--was greater than at the post of actual +conflict. But his fiery spirit, of which we have seen so much, would +not be denied. That day he waked with a headache, but on learning of the +expected battle he declared himself well. Friends tried to detain him, +but he replied with the Latin phrase, "It is sweet and becoming to die +for one's country." On reaching the field he met Putnam, who offered to +take his orders. But Warren had come as a volunteer, and asked where he +should go. Putnam showed him the redoubt, saying, "There you will be +covered." + +"Don't think," said Warren, "that I come to seek a place of safety; but +tell me where the onset will be most furious." + +Putnam still sent him to the redoubt. "That is the enemy's object." + +Warren went to the redoubt, where the men received him with cheers, and +Prescott offered him command. But Warren still declined, took a musket, +and fought with the men. There is no doubt that part of the credit of +the stout defence belongs to him. When the retreat was ordered he +withdrew unwillingly, and was among the last to leave the redoubt. +After he had gone but a little way in the open field he was shot in the +head, and died instantly. Once, when the British questioned the courage +of the Americans, he had said, "By Heavens, I hope I shall die up to my +knees in blood!" He had had his wish. + +Warren's death at the time was not certainly known to either friend or +foe; his body was buried on the field, and was disinterred and +identified only after the evacuation. Of the Boston leaders, he was the +only one who gave his life for the cause. He was sadly missed, a man of +keen intellect and excellent political sense, of deep sympathies, and +high honor. A magnetic leader, he could ill be spared. + +The last figure on the battle-field was Putnam's. At the unfinished +fortification on Bunker Hill he implored the fugitives to rally and +"give them one shot more." The profanity which he used on this occasion +he afterwards penitently acknowledged in church. He retired only when +the pursuers were close behind, but went no further than Prospect Hill. +There, seizing on the chance which so long had been denied him, without +orders he collected men and commenced another redoubt. The next day he +was found there, unwashed, still digging, and ready for another battle. + +Prescott returned to Cambridge, reported at headquarters, and offered if +given sufficient troops to retake the hill. But Ward was afraid of his +own position, and would not sanction the attempt. + +The British loss was very heavy, about one thousand and fifty, of whom a +quarter were killed, while ninety-two among the dead were officers. +Pitcairn was carried to Boston, and died there. Colonel Abercrombie was +killed, and many others of lesser note. As soon as it was possible the +wounded officers were conveyed to Boston for medical attendance, and we +have in Major Clarke's narrative a dismal picture of one sad procession. +"In the first carriage was Major Williams, bleeding and dying, and +three dead captains of the fifty-second regiment. In the second, four +dead officers; then another with wounded officers." + +The Americans, at first discouraged by their defeat, in the course of +time came to regard it as a victory. This it certainly was not, yet it +had all the moral effect of a British defeat. The regulars learned that +the provincials would stand up to them. "Damn the rebels," was the +current phrase; "they would not flinch."[102] Many of the officers felt +called upon to explain, in letters home, the reason for the defeat. The +American rifles, argued one, were "peculiarly adapted to take off the +officers of a whole line as it advances to an attack." They reasoned +that the redoubt, whose perfection when examined was astonishing, must +have been the work of days. As to the comparative uselessness of the +British cannon, it was explained by the nine-pound shot (some say +twelve) sent for the six-pounders. Said one newspaper: "It naturally +required a great while to ram down such disproportioned shot; nor did +they, when discharged, fly with that velocity and true direction they +would have done, had they been better suited to the size of the +cannon."[103] + +But aside from a few such absurdities, the body of the army and the +British public recognized at last that they had formidable antagonists. +This was no such fight as that on the 19th of April, when the shifting +provincials gave the regulars nothing to strike at. This was a pitched +battle, and the farmers had all but won it. The British were amazed by +the stubborn defence, and the rapidity and accuracy of the American +fire. The proportion of killed among the officers was greater than any +before known, and veterans admitted that the slaughter was worse than at +Minden, the deadliest of recent European battles. It is with reason, +then, that Boston still celebrates Bunker Hill. It was the first signal +proof of American courage, and forecast the success of the siege. +Indeed, it is not too much to say that Bunker Hill battle had influence +in deciding the outcome of the war. Howe, destined to be the leader of +the British forces, never forgot the lesson of the redoubt on Breed's +Hill, or of the flimsy fence of rails and hay. It was seldom that he +could resolve to send his men against a rebel entrenchment. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[92] Frothingham's "Siege," 123. + +[93] Frothingham's "Siege," 126, and Sabine's "Loyalists," 707. + +[94] Reports vary from eighty to three hundred feet. + +[95] Dearborn's account of the battle, _Historical Magazine_ for 1864. + +[96] Bancroft, v, 612. + +[97] Ross's "Life of Cornwallis," quoted in Fonblanque's "Burgoyne," +159. + +[98] The picturesqueness of this scene has been remarked by many +writers. The best contemporary description is, of course, Burgoyne's. +"To consider this action as a soldier, it comprised, though in a small +compass, almost every branch of military duty and curiosity. Troops +landed in the face of an enemy; a fine disposition; a march sustained by +a powerful cannonade by moving field artillery, fixed batteries, +floating batteries, and broadsides of ships at anchor, all operating +separately and well disposed; a deployment from the march to form for +the attack of the entrenchments and redoubt; a vigorous defence; a storm +with bayonets; a large and fine town set on fire by shells. Whole +streets of houses, ships upon the stocks, a number of churches, all +sending up volumes of smoke and flame, or falling together in ruins, +were capital objects. A prospect of the neighboring hills, the steeples +of Boston, and the masts of such ships as were unemployed in the harbor, +all crowded with spectators, friends and foes alike in anxious suspense, +made a background to the piece; and the whole together composed a +representation of war that I think the imagination of Lebrun never +reached."--FONBLANQUE, "Burgoyne," 156. + +[99] Lodge's "Washington," i, 133. + +[100] Appendix to Frothingham's "Siege," 393. + +[101] Washington reported later 139 killed, 36 missing, 278 wounded. + +[102] Moore's "Diary of the Revolution," 110. + +[103] These two quotations are from Frothingham's "Siege." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +WASHINGTON TAKES COMMAND + + +The immediate effect of the battle of Bunker Hill upon the American +army--or rather armies--was one of dismay. The result was confusion. In +fact, no study of the battle can fail to impress the examiner with the +belief that outside the redoubt the whole conduct of the Americans was +haphazard. Except for Stark's regiment, which itself came on in +detachments, the reinforcements dribbled to the field in companies, +platoons, or squads. They placed themselves where the hasty judgment of +Putnam directed them, or if he was absent to beat up for more troops, +chose their own positions and fought under their own officers. Putnam +gave orders, yet was not always obeyed; and sent urgently for +reinforcements, but, though his demands were received by officers from +other colonies, got no response.[104] In this individual character of +the fighting the day was much like that of the 19th of April. + +And after the battle conditions were much the same. Putnam commenced +independently to fortify Prospect Hill. On Winter Hill the New Hampshire +troops made a redoubt, and at Roxbury General Thomas hastily +strengthened his position. Even at Cambridge Ward began to fortify. Word +had been sent out to summon the militia, and as on the 19th of April +these responded with alacrity and in great numbers. It was hourly +expected that the British would sally from Boston, and the provincials +kept themselves in a confused readiness. In the meantime the British +cannon played steadily on the American fortifications, and the thunder +of the artillery spread apprehension in the neighboring country. +Abigail Adams wrote from Braintree: "The battle began upon our +intrenchments upon Bunker's Hill, Saturday morning about three o'clock, +and has not ceased yet, and it is now three o'clock Sabbath afternoon. +It is expected they will come out over the Neck to-night, and a dreadful +battle must ensue."[105] Yet the British did not come out, quiet +gradually fell on the two armies, the militia returned to their homes, +and the conduct of the siege entered on a new phase. + +Now more than ever the Americans recognized that conditions were +precarious, and that the greatest need was for a better organization. +Zeal was not wanting. Whenever the British cannonade recommenced, +whenever there were rumors of an attack, the troops were ready for a +fight. But means of communication, and prompt and efficient +subordination, still were lacking. Nor does it appear that those on the +ground were able, handicapped as they were by orders from the different +provincial assemblies, to produce the necessary system. Higher political +and military authority both were needed before the army could be +efficient. Very fortunately events had been preparing to supply them. + +Since the middle of May the second Continental Congress had been sitting +in Philadelphia. Among the Massachusetts delegates were Hancock and the +two Adamses. Gage on the 12th of June had consigned Samuel Adams and +Hancock to the gallows, but Hancock was serving as president of the +Congress, while the Adamses were important members of committees. They +watched and waited for the growth of a sentiment which should support +New England in its resistance. + +The position of the Congress was without precedent. An illegal body, its +delegates were elected by conventions improperly constituted. It had no +authority to raise money, to purchase arms, or to direct the actions of +the provinces. Though in New England war was in progress, many of the +delegates loved the old order of things, and were not yet ready to move +toward independence. The first actions of the Congress were for +conciliation. + +There were those who saw that this was impossible. Of the New England +delegates, very few ever again hoped for what was called "an +accommodation." Washington, on his part, saw clearly that the end of the +old order had come. Franklin knew that independence would be the result +of the changes then in progress. Yet these men, and others like them, +knew also that they could not hurry the Congress into radical action, +and waited the effect of time. For weeks the Congress discussed and +argued, and finally passed a resolve that "an humble and dutiful +petition be presented to his majesty."[106] This would give a chance for +feelings to cool, and for the supporters of the king to work for his +interest. + +But events would not stand still. In England the news of Concord had not +moved the king to lenity; he saw no lesson in the tragedy, and insisted +on pressing his policy. Lord North's feeble endeavor to resign was +checked, supplies were sent to Virginia to support the governor in his +project of a rising of the slaves, a scheme was pressed to raise in +Carolina a regiment of veteran Highlanders, and orders were sent to +rouse the Iroquois against the rebels. Further, the king planned to +strengthen his forces by hiring troops from the continent of Europe. + +News of all this, coming across the Atlantic, by degrees changed the +aspect of affairs, and made the members of the Congress doubtful of +reconciliation. They began to look to their own positions, and to feel +that, as Franklin said, unless they hung together they would all hang +separately. To remind them what they could do in self-defence the needs +of the army around Boston were frequently brought to their attention. +Its discipline, equipment, and leadership were poor. At last came a +petition from Massachusetts, begging that Congress should "take command +of the army by appointing a generalissimo."[107] Such a step was open +and complete rebellion, and the Congress hesitated. By private letters +to Samuel Adams the desired leader was pointed out: Washington. + +The choice was doubly wise. To the Adamses it had been plain that, +though Hancock was desirous of the post, it should not be given to a New +Englander. The New England army would be knit together, and its +provincial jealousies appeased, by the appointment of a general from +another section. Further, in all the continent there was not another man +of Washington's experience, ability, and steadfastness. + +Washington was then in the prime of life, forty-three years of age, and +of such physique as was needed for the bearer of the greatest burden +that had ever been put upon an American. He was tall, finely built, +majestic in carriage and impressive of feature, and accustomed from his +youth to exposure, hardship, and constant exertion. He had long been +used to depending upon himself, and had acquired an independent +judgment that was almost unerring. Further, that judgment had been +exercised on military matters. While Hancock had been at best the +captain of a militia company in time of peace, Washington had from his +nineteenth year been commissioned with higher commands, and had seen +much active service. More than one campaign owed its success against the +Indians largely to him, and it was he and his Virginians who saved the +remnant at Braddock's defeat. He had a strong temper under almost +perfect control, patience and persistence in equal amounts, and, with a +wonderful reserve, the quality of winning the confidence of all honest +men. + +Besides all this, he was heart and soul in the cause. While others had +discussed and hesitated, he had long ago made up his mind, not only that +the quarrel with the king would come to violence, but that all Americans +should resist to the utmost. "Shall we," he asked in a letter to a +friend, after enumerating Gage's despotic acts, "shall we after this +whine and cry for relief, when we have already tried it in vain? Or +shall we supinely sit and see one province after another fall a +sacrifice to despotism?" In a letter to a British officer at Boston, he +says, "Permit me with the freedom of a friend (for you know I always +esteemed you), to express my sorrow that fortune should place you in a +service that must fix curses to the latest posterity upon the +contrivers, and, if success (which, by the by, is impossible) +accompanies it, execrations upon all those who have been instrumental in +the execution.... Give me leave to add as my opinion that more blood +will be spilled on this occasion, if the ministry are determined to push +matters to extremity, than history has ever yet furnished instances of +in the annals of North America, and such a vital wound will be given to +the peace of this great country, as time itself cannot cure or eradicate +the remembrance of." Few in those days had such certainty of the result +of an outbreak, and few were so ready to participate in one. In the +Virginia convention he said, "I will raise a thousand men, subsist them +at my own expense, and march them to the relief of Boston." No wonder +this was designated "the most eloquent speech that ever was made." He +was not called on to make good his promise, but was sent to the two +continental congresses. At the second it was noticed that he attended +the sittings in his uniform of a Virginia colonel. Though he took no +part in the debates, he made himself felt. Patrick Henry said of him at +this time: "If you speak of solid information and sound judgment, +Colonel Washington is unquestionably the greatest man on the +floor."[108] + +To make the Congress "adopt" the army at Boston, and to have Washington +appointed generalissimo, became the task of John Adams, who at this time +did the country perhaps his greatest service. There were objections to +putting a Virginian at the head of New Englanders, for colonial +jealousies, and even colonial lack of mutual understanding, might bring +about a fatal sullenness in the men. Adams discussed the matter in +private with many delegates, and could not succeed even in making the +Massachusetts and Virginia representatives agree. At last, determined to +force action, one morning he announced to Samuel Adams that something +must be done. "I am determined this morning to make a direct motion that +Congress should adopt the army before Boston, and appoint Colonel +Washington commander of it. Mr. Adams," he added in his diary, "seemed +to think very seriously of it, but said nothing." + +Alone, then, but determinedly following his inspiration, John Adams laid +before the Congress his proposal. First he spoke in favor of accepting +the New England army as the army of the continent; then he began a +eulogy of Washington. Hancock's eyes flashed with resentment, and +Washington himself slipped from the room. There were a few days of delay +and debate, but the energy of Adams carried his proposals. The Congress +adopted the army, appointed four major-generals and eight brigadiers, +and finally, on the 15th of June, chose the commander-in-chief. On the +17th of June, the day of Bunker Hill, Adams wrote joyfully to his wife: +"I can now inform you that the Congress have made choice of the modest +and virtuous, the amiable, generous, and brave George Washington, +Esquire, to be General of the American Army."[109] + +This was a step which the Congress could not retrace. The colonies were +now in rebellion, and the members, as they realized that the noose was +preparing for their necks, voted the meagre sum of twenty-five thousand +dollars to supply with powder the army which alone stood between them +and a sudden taking off. Yet the significance of the act was not yet +understood by the colonies at large, for a few days later the assembly +of New York voted military escorts both to Washington and to the +royalist governor, who happened to arrive on the same day. + +Washington himself, however, knew better than any man the consequence +of the momentous step. He foresaw that the labor would be difficult and +the struggle long. On the 16th of June he accepted his commission, but +added: "Lest some unlucky event should happen, unfavorable to my +reputation, I beg it to be remembered by every gentleman in the room, +that I, this day, declare with the utmost sincerity, I do not think +myself equal to the command I am honored with. + +"As to pay, Sir, I beg leave to assure the Congress, that, as no +pecuniary consideration could have tempted me to accept this arduous +employment, at the expense of my domestic ease and happiness, I do not +wish to make any profit from it. I will keep an exact account of my +expenses. These, I doubt not, they will discharge; and that is all I +desire."[110] + +As soon as he could settle his affairs, Washington started for Boston. +In New York he heard the news of Bunker Hill, and was cheered by it. He +arrived on July 2 in Watertown, where the Massachusetts congress was +sitting, and received a congratulatory address. He then pressed on to +Cambridge, which he reached on the same day. On the 3d, a year and a day +before the Declaration of Independence, and according to tradition under +the great elm still standing near Cambridge Common, he took command of +the army. + +The occasion was momentous, and was so appreciated by a few at the time. +Would the critical volunteer army approve of its new chief? There was +not a murmur against him. From the first Washington's magnificent +bearing and kingly self-confidence won the admiration of his men. He +brought with him to the camp at Cambridge two who were ambitious to +displace him, yet of Lee and Gates, both retired English officers, the +first never won a personal following, and the second achieved but the +meagre dignity of leadership of a cabal. From the moment when he took +command of the army, Washington was, indeed, "first in the hearts of his +countrymen." + +And the student of our history cannot help remarking how providential +it was that, almost at the outset of this struggle, Washington should +come to the front. Eighty-six years later, at the beginning of the +Rebellion, there was no accepted chief. Lincoln was doubted by the +North, and the army had no true leader. By a slow process Lincoln's +commanding strength became known; by an equally tedious sifting of the +generals the qualities of Grant, Sherman, Thomas, and Meade were +discovered. Only the tremendous resources of the North could have +withstood the strain of such a delay. Had the same process been +necessary at the outset of the Revolution, the colonies could scarcely +have maintained the struggle. Had not Washington been at hand, accepted +by the Congress and admired by the army, the virtual leader of both, the +chances of success would have been slight. But he was Lincoln and Grant +in one. Time and again, through the long years, it was Washington alone +who brought victory from defeat. Without him the colonies might have +won their independence as the result of an almost interminable guerilla +warfare; but with him the fight was definite, decisive, glorious, +and--for the infant republic--mercifully short. + +[Illustration: THE OLD NORTH BRIDGE + +(The Americans marched to the attack from the further side.)] + +[Illustration: THE MINUTE MAN By Daniel C. French] + +The army was now in the hands of a soldier, one who knew, if any man +did, what was needed to make the raw militiaman into a professional. +Washington fell at once to work. "There is great overturning in camp," +wrote the Reverend William Emerson, he who had watched Concord Fight +from the window of his study. "New lords, new laws. The Generals +Washington and Lee are upon the lines every day. New orders from his +Excellency are read to the respective regiments every morning after +prayers. The strictest government is taking place, and great distinction +is made between officers and soldiers. Every one is made to know his +place and keep in it.... Thousands are at work every day from four till +eleven o'clock in the morning."[111] + +This simple statement shows, in the wonder of the clergyman, not merely +how much was now being done, but how little had been done before. As on +the day of Bunker Hill, Ward had been a headquarters general, but +Washington was "upon the lines." Many times later we find him exposing +himself recklessly; now we see him constantly on active patrol of his +outposts, supervising the new fortifications or the carrying out of the +new regulations. + +Apart from fortifying, which he drove early and late, his immediate +difficulties were with the army organization, and these difficulties +began immediately. He brought with him commissions for his +major-generals and brigadiers, and the commissions of the former he +bestowed at once. The fourth major-general was Putnam of Connecticut, +who had had as his colleague Joseph Spencer, of the same colony. +"General Spencer's disgust," wrote Washington on the 10th of July, "was +so great at General Putnam's promotion, that he left the army without +visiting me, or making known his intention in any respect."[112] + +Upon this, Washington prudently withheld the other commissions, and +proceeded cautiously, with regard to jealousies among the officers. By +careful diplomacy he succeeded in retaining for the new establishment +the services of most of the colonial brigadiers, for Spencer returned, +and Thomas, who saw his juniors promoted over his head, agreed to take +rank beneath them. Only one among the new appointees, Pomeroy, the +veteran of Louisburg who had fought at the rail fence at Bunker Hill, +declined his commission. He had marvelled that in the battle Warren +should be taken and he, "old and useless," be left unhurt. Now he +withdrew from further service on account of his age; yet, going later +upon a volunteer expedition, he died of exposure. + +Before the jealousies of the higher officers were settled, Washington +turned to the smaller fry. He now had to meet the nature of the New +England volunteer. "There is no such thing," he wrote before very long, +"as getting officers of this stamp to carry orders into execution.... I +have made a pretty good slam among such kind of officers as the +Massachusetts government abounds in, having broke one colonel and two +captains for cowardly behaviour in the action on Bunker Hill, two +captains for drawing more pay and provision than they had men in their +company, and one for being absent from his post when the enemy appeared +and burnt a house close by it.... In short, I spare none, and yet fear +it will not all do, as these people seem to be attentive to everything +but their own interest."[113] + +Washington was experiencing the difficulties which Lincoln was later to +know, in dealing with the host of fair-weather soldiers and jobbing +self-seekers who come to the front at the outset of a war. There was +every reason why for some time he should estimate the New England +character from what he saw of its worst side. Yet before the seven +years of war were over he knew its better aspect. Massachusetts sent to +the war nearly twice as many men as any other colony, and Connecticut +was second. Measured by this standard, Washington's own colony came +third in devotion to the cause.[114] + +We know that later he acknowledged his appreciation of the devotion of +New England to the cause and to his person. It is particularly +interesting to learn that he reversed his judgment in one of the cases +mentioned above. Among those cashiered for disobedience of orders and +alleged cowardice at Bunker Hill was John Callender, captain of an +artillery company. The trial went against him, and Washington dismissed +him "from all further service in the continental service as an officer." +Callender, determined to wipe off the stain on his honor, remained as a +private in the artillery service, and found his opportunity at the +battle of Long Island, where the captain and lieutenant of his battery +were shot. "He assumed the command, and, refusing to retreat, fought his +pieces to the last. The bayonets of the soldiers were just upon him, +when a British officer, admiring his chivalrous and desperate courage, +interfered and saved him."[115] Washington ordered the record of +Callender's sentence to be expunged from the orderly book, effected his +exchange, and restored him his commission. + +Yet in too many of the cases the sentence of incompetence or cowardice +was just. Even when simple laxity of discipline was at the bottom of +trouble, the effect was exasperating. Washington had much to teach the +minor members of his army. That it was in all outward aspects a truly +volunteer assemblage, we have the testimony of an eye witness. "It is +very diverting," wrote the Reverend William Emerson, "to walk among the +camps. They are as different in their form as the owners are in their +dress; and every tent is a portraiture of the temper and taste of the +persons who encamp in it. Some are made of boards, and some of +sailcloth. Some partly of one and partly of another. Again others are +made of stone and turf, brick or brush. Some are thrown up in a hurry, +others curiously wrought with doors and windows, done in wreaths and +withes in the manner of a basket. Some are your proper tents and +marquees, looking like the regular camp of the enemy.... However, I +think this great variety is rather a beauty than a blemish in the +army."[116] + +When we consider, however, that the men were dressed as variously as +they were housed, and armed as from a museum of historical curiosities, +we can easily see that the commander would not agree with the clergyman +that such variety was to be admired. We find him advocating the purchase +of uniforms. If nothing better can be had, he will be content with +hunting-shirts, since a common costume would have a "happy tendency to +unite the men, and abolish those provincial distinctions, that lead to +jealousy and dissatisfaction."[117] Washington strove also, but by the +end of the siege was still unable, to provide for his men some form of +regulation firearm. + +He found, further, that the number of the troops had been overestimated. +After waiting eight days for returns which he expected in an hour after +his requisition, he found that, instead of the twenty thousand troops he +had been led to hope for, he had but sixteen thousand effective men. +With these he had to maintain a front of eight miles, against an enemy +who could at will strike at any point. + +In such a situation the only safeguard was fortification. Before +Washington's arrival the redoubts on Prospect and Winter Hills had been +completed, with scattered minor works. Washington at once began by +strengthening these, and by finishing all uncompleted works. Then, in a +manner characteristic of the whole siege, and which never failed to +take the British by surprise, one August evening he sent a party to +Plowed Hill, "within point blank shot of the enemy on Charlestown Neck. +We worked the whole night incessantly one thousand two hundred men, and, +before morning, got an intrenchment in such forwardness, as to bid +defiance to their cannon."[118] + +The British cannonaded for two days, but the Americans, finding to their +disappointment that no assault was intended, finished the work at their +ease. Similarly, as we shall see, Washington later took Lechmere's +Point, commanding the river and the Back Bay. Before many weeks the +works at Roxbury were made "amazing strong," and the rebels were in +position to welcome an encounter. But there was no assault, and +Washington had instead to meet the vexations of his office. + +These were often trivial enough. A company would protest against the +appointment of an officer unknown to them, a town would apply for +special guard, a prisoner would demand the privilege of wearing his +sword.[119] Washington met such requests with unvarying courtesy, but +with firmness; even to the governor of Connecticut he refused troops for +sea-coast protection. + +One little correspondence throws a gleam of unconscious humor on the +dull routine of Washington's correspondence. Hearing of hardships +suffered in Boston by prisoners taken at Bunker Hill, Washington wrote +to remonstrate. Gage returned answer two days later; its original is +found in Burgoyne's letter book, "as wrote by me." It begins in the +usual style of the literary general: "Sir, To the glory of civilized +nations, humanity and war have been made almost compatible, and +compassion to the subdued is become almost a general system. Britons, +ever pre-eminent in mercy, have outgone common examples, and overlooked +the criminal in the captive." Entering a general denial of Washington's +charges, the letter goes on to bring counter-accusations, and finally, +after giving valuable advice, the writers exhort Washington--of all +men!--to "give free operation to truth." + +Truly, as Burgoyne's biographer admits, there is something irresistibly +ludicrous in the spectacle of such generals lecturing such a man. The +sequel was honorable to the American chief. At first determined to +retaliate upon some prisoners in his hands, he changed his mind, +apparently because they, having been captured off Machias as their +vessel neared land, had "committed no hostility against the people of +this country."[120] The general therefore gave them the practical +freedom of the town of Northampton. + +One other correspondence caused about this time a flutter of excitement. +Charles Lee was one of Washington's four major-generals, a man who had +seen military service in many parts of Europe and America. He had served +in the British army from 1747 until 1763, when, his regiment being +disbanded, he served in Poland and Turkey, and finally, in 1772, came to +America. Here he took up, almost violently, the cause of freedom, +perhaps because of disappointment in the English service, perhaps +because he foresaw opportunity. At any rate, he made himself +conspicuous, and was generally regarded as the foremost military man in +America, Washington alone excepted. Events proved that Lee acknowledged +no superior, and impatiently desired to be rid of his chief. Washington +was always on formal terms with his subordinate, no doubt because he +read in his character, besides a certain ability, an unstable +temperament and a hasty judgment. When once Lee was at Cambridge he +immediately rushed into a correspondence with Burgoyne, under whom he +had served in Portugal thirteen years before. + +The tone of his letter was highly literary. Lee reminded Burgoyne of +their old friendship, and then, with many flourishes, went at his +business. He lamented the infatuation of the times, when men of the +stamp of Burgoyne and Howe could be seduced into an impious and +nefarious service, and reminding Burgoyne of various bygone incidents, +called to his mind his experience with the wickedness and treachery of +the present court and cabinet. He spread himself at large on the +principles of the present struggle, rejoiced that Burgoyne came by +command of the king rather than his own desire, and warned him of the +miscreants who had infatuated Gage. Then, explaining how his three years +in America had acquainted him with facts, Lee begged Burgoyne to +communicate the substance of the letter to Howe, who to his horror +seemed to be becoming the satrap of an Eastern despot. Protesting his +devotion to America as the last asylum of liberty, Lee signed himself +with the greatest sincerity and affection. + +The letter was written before Bunker Hill, but not answered until the +8th of July. In his reply, Burgoyne hinted, with references to Locke, +Charles the First, and James the Second, that he was equally well +grounded in the principles of liberty. He urged Lee to lay his hand upon +his heart, and say whether the Americans wanted freedom from taxation or +independency. He, Burgoyne, with the army and fleet, and the king +himself, was actuated only by the desire to maintain the laws. Then, +having letters from England which were to be delivered into Lee's own +hands, Burgoyne proposed a personal interview at the lines on Boston +Neck, and sent the compliments of Howe, Clinton, and Percy. + +It must be admitted that Burgoyne's purpose in this proposal was quite +other than to deliver letters, or even to argue upon political +differences. In a letter to Lord North Burgoyne explained his real +purpose in entering into correspondence with a rebel. In the proposed +interview he would have cut Lee short in his paltry jargon, and pressed +upon him the real facts in the case. Next he would have shown him the +glory accruing to a successful mediator, and then, playing upon his +pride, his interest, and his ambition, would have suggested a return to +his allegiance. Burgoyne supposed that the reference to a mediator would +have brought to Lee the memory of General Monk, and would have flattered +him with the same intention to restore the state. + +There is upon this plan of Burgoyne's but one comment to be made, and +that has been clearly stated by his own biographer. "If an American +General could have been found base enough to purchase his restoration to +the favour of his late Sovereign by gross treachery to his adopted +country, an English General should surely not have thought it worthy of +his character and position to bribe him to such an act."[121] + +Lee was not caught in the trap, though perhaps not owing to his own +caution. Burgoyne's letter was laid before the Provincial Congress, +which forbade the meeting. In a brief letter Lee explained that it was +feared that the interview might create jealousies and suspicions. +Burgoyne caught at this statement as showing, in the American staff, +dissensions fruitful of future results; but the hope was never +justified. Lee's future share in the siege faded into insignificance, +and his damage to the American cause was not to come until later. + +Washington may have supervised the correspondence and influenced its +result. It affected him not at all, but in the midst of many such little +affairs he found opportunity for really aggressive work. Once he was +well fortified, the next step was to vex and disturb the enemy by +cutting off supplies by sea, and making the approach to Boston +difficult. For the latter purpose a detachment went boldly in broad +daylight and burned the lighthouse at the harbor's mouth. Since the +first attempt was not satisfactory, the same men went again, and +finished the job. Other little expeditions, carried on against either +the harbor islands or the shipping near the town, were successfully +undertaken. The men for such purposes were the fishermen of the +sea-coast towns, thrown out of work by the fisheries bill, and burning +with patriotic feeling. + +Washington turned them to still better account in beginning a navy. To +be sure, the little fleet which presently was busily at work was at +first a spontaneous growth, for whenever a store-ship or king's sloop +ran aground or made land at the wrong harbor, dories and fishing-vessels +swarmed out to board it. Even before Washington's coming privateers were +acting for the country, but with no better standing than pirates, for +they sailed under no flag and bore neither commission nor letters of +marque. The provinces of Connecticut and Rhode Island legalized the +achievements of those who were busy in their waters, but for the +adventurous spirits who dared the men of war in Massachusetts Bay +nothing was done until Washington found the way. Since, even though the +need was imperative, he could not properly authorize the existence of a +navy, we find him, on the second of September, wording a commission in +the following manner: "You being appointed a captain in the army of the +United Colonies of North America, are hereby directed to take command of +a detachment of said army, and proceed on board the schooner _Hannah_, +at Beverly." And thus the American Navy began its existence. Its vessels +were few and small, being chiefly "converted" fishermen; its purpose was +to intercept stores and gain information; and it was especially +forbidden to engage with armed vessels, "though you may be equal in +strength, or may have some small advantage." Before the end of the siege +this little company of vessels was invaluable to Washington. + +But in Washington's army lay his chief hopes--and also his chief +difficulties. That whenever there was a chance for a fight the men were +very ardent, he was glad to acknowledge. But that when there was nothing +to relieve the monotony of the camp they were indifferent to all +discipline, he knew only too well. They were incorrigible traders of +uniforms and equipment, sticklers for seniority upon but a few months' +service, insistent for furloughs for return to labor on their own +affairs, and troublesome even in demanding pay by lunar instead of +calendar months. In order that their Yankee ingenuity might find less +time to invent more trouble for him and for themselves, Washington very +sensibly worked them hard at his fortifying, "Sundays not +excepted."[122] + +There were, however, difficulties which could be got over neither by +work, nor by thought, nor by gradually licking an army into shape. +Powder and arms both were lacking. + +Powder was scarcely to be had anywhere. It was little made in the +colonies, especially not in the neighborhood of Boston. Again and again +we find Washington writing for it, and occasionally reporting his exact +situation. More than once the army had but nine rounds to a man. On the +twenty-fourth of August Washington writes: "We have been in a terrible +situation, occasioned by a mistake in a return; we reckoned upon three +hundred quarter casks, and had but thirty-two barrels."[123] A few days +later the situation was better, but still was bad enough, for he writes: +"We have only one hundred and eighty-four barrels of powder in all +(including the late supply from Philadelphia), which is not sufficient +to give twenty-five musket cartridges to each man, and scarcely to serve +the artillery in any brisk action one single day." He sent to Bermuda to +seize a supply, but his vessels arrived too late. Supplies did slowly +dribble in, and sometimes came in encouraging quantities when a +store-ship was captured. But there never was plenty on hand, and too +often not enough, for the powder would deteriorate in bad weather, as +was shown at a skirmish at Lechmere's Point. As the troops formed for +duty, cartridge boxes were examined, "when the melancholy truth +appeared."[124] Further, the men, from whom the lack of powder was +concealed, were fond of amusing themselves by indiscriminate shooting. +We find General Greene, in an order to his troops, threatening severe +punishment to those who shot at geese passing over the camp. And so, +with little acquisitions of powder, and steady depletion, Washington was +never for a day properly supplied. + +His difficulty in finding muskets, though never so great, was always +considerable. The gunsmiths of Philadelphia, who had been expected +speedily to equip his army, were not able to supply a satisfactory +portion of the arms required, so that Washington was reduced to sending +agents through the neighboring towns to buy guns. Their success was +small. He tried also to buy the muskets of those men who, on the +expiration of their term of service, went home. Here again the result +was poor, for the men, mindful of the possibility of militia service, +were very unwilling to part with their arms. + +Yet the men had an ineradicable propensity to dicker among themselves. +Arms and equipment changed hands in true Yankee fashion; even clothing +was traded in, and the camp, when the men were off duty, must at times +have been as busy as a market. Nothing better shows this than the diary +of David How, whose brief entries prove him to be a true New Englander. +Months later than Washington's first attempts to buy arms from the men, +we find entries as follows. + +"13 (January, 1776) I Bought a gun & Bayonet & Cateridge Box of Joseph +Jackson and gave 42/6 Lawfull Money for the Whole. I have been Makeing +Cateridges this Day.... + +"20 I Bought a frock & Trouses of Parley Macingtyre and give 6/Law. + +"22 Peter Gage Staid Hear Last Night and I bought 3 Pare of Shoes of him +@ 5/6 per pare + +"23 I sold a pare of Shoes for 6/8. + +"26 I Sold my Cateridge box For 4/6 Lawfull Money. + +"16 March I sold my gun to Timothy Jackson for Three pound Lawfull +Money." + +We see in David How, even when soldiering, the qualities which later +made him one of the richest men in Haverhill. The diary shows, also, +what appears to be the visit to the camp of a shoe pedler. Modern +disciplinarians would scarcely condone this, nor would they permit How's +opportunity of making money when cooking for his company. For he +writes:-- + +"24 day (January, 1776) I Cook this day & Bought 3 Barrels of Cyder for +9/per Barrel. + +"25 day I Bought 7 Bushels of Chesnuts & give 4 pisterens per bushel. + +"30 We have Sold Nuts and Cyder Every Day This Week." + +It was in the face of this well-nigh incorrigible tendency to make money +out of the situation that Washington struggled to turn his militiamen +into soldiers. We gather from his orderly books that he had difficulties +with disorders of many kinds, not the least of which were caused by the +visits of "pretended suttlers"[125] who sold bad rum. To check +drunkenness he licensed the sutlers and limited their activities, and +for general discipline he worked steadily to show officers and men alike +what was expected of them. And all the time he diligently tried to +purchase weapons, though with so little success that at last he even +took up the question of implements more primitive than muskets. There +was in camp a company of Stockbridge Indians, who were so successful as +to waylay a British sentry or two and kill them with arrows. Franklin, +perhaps taking the hint from this, wrote to prove that the long-bow +might be revived, but Washington would have none of it. Pikes, however, +whose use in European warfare was fairly recent, he would consider. A +number were ordered, and after them a second set of stronger make, the +first being "ridiculously short and light."[126] + +In October came to light the treason of Dr. Benjamin Church. As already +shown, he had for some time before the 19th of April been in +communication with Gage. On the 22d, when he went into Boston with the +knowledge of the Committee of Safety, he doubtless saw the general in +person. An occurrence now showed that he was writing to the British +commander, though his agency was not at first suspected. From Newport +came a letter, brought by an American patriot to whom it had been given +by a woman from Cambridge, who had requested to have it delivered to +some officer of the British vessel stationed in the harbor. The American +kept the letter, and, suspecting its purport, opened it. It was in +cipher. This in itself was suspicious, and the letter was brought to +Washington, who caused the woman to be arrested and questioned. At first +she was obstinate, but finally she named Church as the writer of the +letter. He in his turn was put under guard, but had had time to destroy +any papers that might betray him. The letter when deciphered proved to +give little information besides the numbers of the American forces. From +first to last Church had been of little value to Gage. + +But the army and country, as Washington wrote, were "exceedingly +irritated." Church was a man of pleasing address and ready language, and +had stood high in Boston for years. He had written Whig pamphlets, had +been an orator on the Massacre, and had served on many committees, +notably the Committee of Safety. In consequence he had been given the +highest office that a physician could look for, that of surgeon-general +to the army. Resentment at his betrayal was extreme, and Abigail Adams +was probably right when she wrote, "If he is set at liberty, even after +he has received a severe punishment, I do not think he will be safe." + +Church was not set free. As a member of the Massachusetts Congress he +was brought before the House, and allowed to make his defence, which was +elaborate and able. Church claimed that he was writing to his brother, +and that his intentions were harmless; but he was not believed, and was +expelled from the House. Later the Continental Congress adjudged him +guilty, and ordered him confined in jail. Released later on account of +his health, he was allowed to sail for the West Indies. His vessel was +never again heard from. + +This was Washington's foretaste of the treason of Arnold. It may have +disturbed him deeply, but of that he gave no sign. So far as we can see, +he dismissed the matter from his mind and went on with his work of +providing a way for assaulting the town. Congress desired this, the +country looked for it, and his own fiery nature urged him to the risk. + +On the 11th of September, having previously notified his generals that +he would lay the question before them, he had called a council of war, +and proposed an attack upon Boston. They were unanimously against it. +Now, in October, he again laid the matter before his council of war, and +reached practically the same result, General Greene alone thinking the +scheme practical, "if ten thousand men could be landed at Boston."[127] +If it is true that councils of war do not fight, the result was natural; +but the situation was a very difficult one. The British had made +Charlestown practically impregnable against anything except surprise, by +a powerful redoubt on Bunker Hill. As for Boston itself, it was +fortified at all prominent points, and was very strongly garrisoned by +veteran troops. The Neck could not be forced, and to cross in boats over +the Back Bay was a hazardous undertaking. It was common sense, +therefore, to wait until ice should make it possible to assault the town +at several points. With his wonderful patience Washington accepted the +situation, and contented himself with wishing that the British would +attack him. There were continual rumors that the British plan was laid, +and deserters frequently came from Boston prophesying a sally; but still +the regulars lay in their fastness, and did not move. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[104] One Massachusetts colonel, who had urgently applied to Ward for +permission to go to the Hill, but was refused, three times ignored the +order of Putnam to come to his assistance--Putnam being from +Connecticut. See Frothingham's "Siege," 168, note. + +[105] Adams Letters, 67. + +[106] Bancroft, iv, 583. + +[107] Bancroft, iv, 590. + +[108] These quotations are from Lodge's "Washington," i. + +[109] Adams Letters, 65. + +[110] Sparks, "Writings of Washington," iii, 1. + +[111] "Writings of Washington," iii, 491. + +[112] "Writings of Washington," iii, 23. + +[113] Lodge's "Washington," i, 138. + +[114] Trevelyan's "Revolution," Part 1, 378, footnote. + +[115] See Frothingham's "Siege," and Appendix III of Vol. 3 of the +"Writings of Washington." Both of these books quote Swett's "History of +Bunker Hill Battle." + +[116] "Writings of Washington," iii, 491. + +[117] "Writings of Washington," iii, 22. + +[118] _Ibid._, iii, 71. + +[119] Washington's correspondence with Major Christopher French is an +interesting instance of the patience of a great man with the impatience +of a small one. + +[120] The letters that passed between Washington and Gage, and later +between him and Howe, are to be found in the volumes of his "Writings," +and make interesting reading. Washington had at this time no prisoners +in his hands other than those taken as described, because the prisoners +of the 19th of April had been exchanged on the 6th of June. + +[121] Fonblanque's "Burgoyne." + +[122] "Writings of Washington," iii. + +[123] "Writings of Washington," iii. + +[124] _Ibid._ + +[125] Henshaw's "Orderly Book." + +[126] _Ibid._ + +[127] Trevelyan's "Revolution," Part I. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +EVENTS IN BOSTON FROM JUNE TO DECEMBER, 1775 + + +The history of events in Boston after the battle of Bunker Hill is of a +quite different tenor from that which we have just been considering. +From the time when the wounded, and the more distinguished of the dead, +were carried over from Charlestown on the evening of the seventeenth of +June, the sober truth struck home, not yet to the Tories and the common +run of officers, but to the generals. They were in a tight place, from +which it would be difficult to escape with credit. + +They might--and some of them did--reckon it out by common arithmetic. If +it cost a thousand men to take a hill, and required another thousand to +garrison it when taken, how much could the British army master of the +rolling country that lay before its eyes? Beyond the exit from either +peninsula the next hill was already fortified, and the Americans +prepared to "sell it at the same price."[128] + +The British generals wrote very plainly in explaining the situation to +their superiors at home. To be sure, Gage was a trifle disingenuous in +reviewing the past. While admitting that the recent trials at arms +proved the rebels "not the despicable rabble too many have supposed them +to be," he ignored his original boast concerning lions and lambs. In +stating that in all previous wars the Americans had never showed so much +"conduct, attention, and perseverance," he admitted his ignorance of +colonial history. But Gage was endeavoring to salve his smart and +conceal his own shame. + +Burgoyne, with nothing to palliate, wrote very frankly. "Look, my Lord," +he said to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, "upon the country +near Boston. It is all fortification." His mathematics has been already +quoted; he adds that the army had nothing for transport in an active +campaign of any duration. Proceeding, he delicately points out that Gage +was not the man for the situation, and laments again that the general +had no means of knowing what passed in the American councils, or even +within the American lines. + +This is but another proof, if one were needed, of the poor use to which +Church had put his opportunities. Surely he, as Arnold later, sold his +soul to little purpose. Few things in this campaign are more honorable +to America than the fact that Washington's most precious secret, his +lack of powder, though known to many, never came to the ears of the +British generals. One may question if the truth, if told, would have +been believed, for men of Gage and Howe's training could scarcely +suppose a man capable of such daring and dogged obstinacy as to hold his +post before them without powder, or guns, or, as it finally turned out, +almost without men. But no statement has been made that the commanders +heard even rumors of Washington's difficulties. + +After Bunker Hill, then, the British generals plainly saw that they +could never campaign successfully with Boston as a base. As to what +should best be done, Gage had no idea; Burgoyne, however, was ready with +a plan. He proposed to keep in Boston as small a garrison, supported by +as small a fleet, as could safely be left, and to send the rest of the +troops and ships to harry the coast. This proposition, if by the vague +term of chastisement he meant the burning of defenceless towns, was +unworthy of Burgoyne; but when later he proposed with this detached +force to occupy Rhode Island, doubtless using Newport as a base, he +outlined a plan which, if followed, would have seriously embarrassed the +Americans. But the advice was not taken, and for months the British +generals contented themselves with wishing they were at New York, +without taking any steps toward going there. + +One thing at least they should have done. It will be remembered that +the American occupancy of Bunker Hill had been precipitated by knowledge +of a British plan to take Dorchester Heights. This plan of Gage's was +not abandoned after the battle. It is spoken of in a letter of +Burgoyne's, and is laid down as a part of his scheme to make Boston +secure while his marauding fleet menaced southern New England. We are +even able to suppose that feeble moves toward seizing the Heights were +twice made. Once a couple of regiments, on transports, dropped down the +channel; and once two regiments were withdrawn from Charlestown to +Boston, with various companies from the castle. Lieutenant Barker gives +the reason why in the latter case nothing was done: "the Genl. hearing +that they had got intelligence and reinforced that place with 4000 men." +But this is mere rumor; the Americans had not yet sent any troops into +Dorchester. This leaves us very much in the dark as to why the Heights +were not occupied; but occupied they were not; the plan receives no +further mention, and though from month to month the British watched +Washington seizing posts ever nearer to Boston, they behaved in all +respects as if he were under pledge to avoid Dorchester. + +Gage's chief activity was in fortifying. He strengthened his existing +works, and entrenched himself particularly well at Bunker Hill. As the +American redoubt was of little value to the British, they made their +main defence upon the top of the higher hill, and mounted guns to sweep +Charlestown Neck and the country beyond. Little by little both Gage and +his successor strengthened this post, cutting down trees for abatis, and +making advanced posts similar to those at Boston Neck. Before the end of +the siege it was the strongest British post, and Washington knew better +than to molest it, especially when he had a better move to make. + +Actual military operations were trifling. In retaliation for an American +attack, on the 30th of July the regulars made a sally from Boston +toward Roxbury, drove in the American advance guard, and burnt a house +or two. The undertaking appears to have been without object, and +resulted in nothing except some harmless cannonading. At other times +armed boats ventured along the Cambridge shore, or tried the rivers, +always to be sent back by the bullets of Yankee sharpshooters. When the +Virginia riflemen appeared, however, there was less of this diversion. +These men, finding themselves debarred from the larger field operations, +resolved at least to get something in return for their long march. So +they set themselves to watch for the appearance of British exploring +parties, and even stalked the sentries. The officers indignantly +complained that this was not war according to rule, but both they and +their sentries took care not to expose themselves. The largest operation +undertaken by the British was at the approach of winter, when early in +November they sent a small force to Lechmere's Point, at a time when a +very high tide had converted the place into an island. They took a few +cows, and lost a couple of men; on retiring they pointed to the American +unwillingness to attack them, but this, as we have already learned, was +on account of the spoiled cartridges. + +All these operations, it will be seen, took place practically within the +limits of the Back Bay and its adjacent waters, into which flowed the +Charles River and a few creeks. Once or twice British boats tried to +explore the Mystic, but with the coming of the riflemen that diversion +stopped. When finally the Yankees dragged whale-boats to the Mystic and +Charles, and began building floating batteries on their own account, +British curiosity as to the American shore-line lapsed entirely. + +Down the harbor Gage did nothing, except to send, tardily, to repel +American expeditions. We have seen that the British could not save the +lighthouse. The Yankee fishermen now took occasion to remove from the +islands the hay and live stock which they had not taken before Bunker +Hill. Their activities drew from Burgoyne an indignant letter. + +"It may be asked in England, 'What is the Admiral doing?' + +"I wish I were able to answer that question satisfactorily, but I can +only say what he is _not_ doing. + +"That he is _not_ supplying us with sheep and oxen, the dinners of the +best of us bear meagre testimony; the state of our hospitals bears a +more melancholy one. + +"He is _not_ defending his own flocks and herds, for the enemy have +repeatedly plundered his own islands. + +"He is _not_ defending the other islands in the harbour, for the enemy +in force landed from a great number of boats, and burned the lighthouse +at noonday (having first killed or taken the party of marines which was +posted there) almost under the guns of two or three men-of-war. + +"He is _not_ employing his ships to keep up communication and +intelligence with the King's servants and friends at different parts of +the continent, for I do not believe that General Gage has received a +letter from any correspondent out of Boston these six weeks. + +"He is intent upon greater objects, you will think,--supporting in the +great points the dignity of the British flag,--and where a number of +boats have been built for the enemy; privateers fitted out; prizes +carried in; the King's armed vessels sunk; the crews made prisoners; the +officers killed,--he is doubtless enforcing instant restitution and +reparation by the voice of his cannon and laying the towns in ashes that +refuse his terms? Alas! he is not."[129] + +Burgoyne finishes his indictment by lumping with the admiral's +inefficiencies the weaknesses of quartermaster-generals, +adjutant-generals, secretaries, and commissaries. In all this we catch a +glimpse of one result of the king's policy, which was to reward his +friends and rebuke his enemies. Since he classed with his enemies the +Whigs who were at home, he had only Tories to draw from. From them came +Admiral Graves, and the crowd of incompetents who filled offices in +America. The royal service was now paying the piper. + +One result Burgoyne has noted very plainly, in the lack of fresh +provision. The admiral could have protected the stock on the harbor +islands, and without unnecessary violence could have seized provisions +from the shore towns. This, however, he did not do, and we soon find the +army complaining of its fare. It was not that the commissary was +negligent; even the moneyed officers were at times unable to satisfy +their desire for fresh meat, the supply of which was uncertain. For lack +of hay, the milk supply soon disappeared, since cows could not be fed +and had to be killed. Cheerful news came to the American camp that the +venerable town bull had been sold for beef. The army even tired of its +supply of fish, which, to be sure, never was great, though then as now +Boston lay close to good fishing grounds. Salt pork was the main +reliance, and before the middle of the summer the army had had +altogether too much of that. + +In consequence of this restricted diet the wounded from Bunker Hill died +in great numbers. Of the wounded American prisoners very few survived. +Some, as Washington heard, were operated on in the common jail, in which +most of them were confined, and where the chances of their recovery were +slight. They fared "very hard," said John Leach, who had opportunity to +know; not one of them survived amputation. As to the rest, there can be +no question that they were badly treated. Their doctor complained that +they had had no bread for two days; the Provost replied "they might eat +the Nail Heads, and knaw the plank and be damn'd."[130] Their more +fortunate fellow-prisoners, who were not taken in arms and who received +food from their families in Boston, sent the Bunker Hill prisoners what +comforts they could bribe the soldiers to take to them; but, says +Leach's diary, "they have no Wood for days together, to Warm their +Drink, and dying men drink them cold." By the 21st of September eighteen +out of twenty-nine prisoners had died in the jail. + +Yet even the British wounded showed a high mortality. This was largely +on account of the food, which, although it was the best that was to be +had, was none too good for suffering men. The high death rate was in +part due to the American marksmanship, which caused many body wounds. +What with such wounds, and such food, and the unaccustomed heat, there +were so many deaths among the wounded that it was seriously stated that +the American bullets were poisoned. + +There was, then, considerable discontent among the British soldiery. Of +it at one time the Americans took ingenious advantage. When the wind was +setting toward the British lines at Charlestown, the Americans at the +Medford lines scattered handbills that were driven to the British +sentries. On the bills was to be read a comparison intended to increase +British discontent. It ran:-- + + + PROSPECT HILL BUNKER'S HILL + I. Seven dollars a I. Three pence a + month. day. + II. Fresh provisions II. Rotten salt pork. + and in plenty. + III. Health. III. The scurvy. + IV. Freedom, ease, IV. Slavery, beggary, + affluence, and and want. + a good farm. + + +These handbills thus coming into the hands of the privates were passed +about secretly, until the officers got wind of the device, and +complained to the Americans. The retort was that the British themselves +had already been tempting sentries to desert. This deserting did go on +throughout the siege, from either side, though it would seem as if more +of the British fled from their service. Into whichever lines they went, +the deserters always brought highly colored tales to buy their welcome. +The leaders very soon learned how little reliance could be placed upon +such information. "We ought not to catch at such shadows as that. We +have nothing under God to depend upon, but our own strength."[131] + +If the British private was discontented, that was his habit; and though +the officers grumbled as well, they had comparatively little to complain +of. To be sure, the food was coarse, but it was plentiful. Even the +unaccustomed heat would seem comfortable to a Bostonian of to-day. The +marine officers had more pleasant conditions, with their open ports and +harbor breezes, and decks frequently sluiced with water. But the town +itself had no tall buildings or confined spaces; generally speaking, it +was open from water to water, with plentiful shade. Boston in 1775 must +have been as cool as its own summer resorts of the twentieth century. + +The Tories, at least, found it bearable. They were accustomed to the +summer heat, and knew themselves much better off than the unfortunate +members of their party who had been unable to escape to the British +lines. Many of the country Tories were confined to their estates, and +forbidden to communicate with each other. "I wish to God," wrote Samuel +Paine, "all our friends were here out of the hands of such Villains." +Compared with such treatment, serenades by thirteen-inch mortars and +twenty-four pounders were apparently trifling--though the ladies did not +think so. One, writing of the skirmish on the night of July 30, spoke of +the "most dreadful cannonading," and "the apprehensions that naturally +seize every one, either of the enemy breaking in, or the town being set +on fire."[132] Even Samuel Paine saw the serious side of the situation. +"These," he asks, "are Governor Hutchinson's countrymen that would not +fight, are they?" + +It was because he realized that fight they would, "and like the devil," +that he and others considered enlisting in the various corps which were +organized in the town. According to Frothingham, who could find no +statistics of the numbers of Tory volunteers, there were at least three +corps formed: the Loyal American Associators under Timothy Ruggles, the +Loyal Irish Volunteers under James Forrest, and the Royal Fencible +Americans under Colonel Graham.[133] According to Samuel Paine, there +was a fourth corps, but it is not named. A commission in one of these +organizations was particularly attractive, as the service was expected +to be short, and at its expiration the officers were to go upon half +pay. Further, the duties were very light, being confined to drilling and +patrolling the town. In the military events of the siege these corps +took no part whatever. + +It must be remembered, however, that out of this situation England did +gain some valuable soldiers. The mettle of a few of the Tories was shown +at Bunker Hill, where they went as individual volunteers, and served +with the troops. Others, disdaining the toy-soldiering of their +friends, seized the chance to join the regular army, and fought in it +throughout the war, or until their deaths. Such men were John Coffin, +Leverett Saltonstall, and the two Thomas Gilberts. + +Yet men of this quality were few, and at least at this stage of the war +the Tories were of little service to their king. Most of them were +content to wait until the time when the regulars should scatter the +besiegers and conduct the loyalists to their homes. Meanwhile they +enjoyed the society into which they were thrown. "We have here," wrote +Samuel Paine, "Earls, Lords, and Baronets, I assure you Names that Sound +grand." These names did bring to the Tories a fair amount of social +gayety. Mrs. Gage was at the head of her own little circle, not always +enjoyed by those who could not forget her American birth. There were +other groups of ladies who, whether English or Tory, contrived to make +the time pass pleasantly for themselves and for the men. With few +responsibilities, and with confidence in the future, the loyalists had a +pleasant enough summer, and saw ahead of them a comfortable winter. + +The situation of the Whigs was not so enjoyable. Before Bunker Hill, +every one of them who could leave Boston had done so. But there were +many of them left, and among them were a number of the more respectable +and prominent of the Whigs. None of them wrote letters, and few indeed +kept diaries; there is, therefore, a notable lack of information +concerning their doings. We do know, however, that they were at a great +disadvantage as against their Tory acquaintances. No privileges of the +commissary were theirs, and no favors were to be had from the military +authorities. When there was fresh meat in the town the Whigs could get +little of it without repudiating their political creed; when the supply +was scant, the Whigs went without. "They even denied us," wrote John +Andrews, looking back upon this period, "the privilege of buying the +surplusage of the soldiers' rations." Even before Bunker Hill he had +written, "It's hard to stay cooped up here and feed upon salt +provisions, more especially without one's wife.... Pork and beans one +day, and beans and pork another, and fish when we can catch it." +Throughout the summer the situation was little bettered. "A loaf of +bread the size we formerly gave three pence for, thought ourselves well +off to get for a shilling. Butter at two shillings. Milk, for months +without tasting any." + +There were certain Whigs whose experiences were more grim. To Gage, +always in fear of betrayal to the enemy, there came rumors pointing to +men whose known sentiments, or whose actions, subjected them to +suspicion. Among these were one Carpenter, a barber, who had swum to +Cambridge and back; one "Dorrington, his son and maid, for blowing up +flies"[134]; but particularly John Leach and James Lovell, +schoolmasters, with Peter Edes, printer, and his father's partner, John +Gill. All of these four were obnoxious to the Tories, being outspoken +Whigs and teachers of sedition, whether in their schools or their +publications. One by one they were imprisoned in the common jail, and +held there during various terms. Their treatment was harsh and +ungenerous, held in close neighborhood with felons and loose livers, and +not informed of what they were accused. Leach and Edes kept diaries when +in prison. "From the 2d July to the 17th," writes Leach, "a Complicated +scene of Oaths, Curses, Debauchery, and the most horrid Blasphemy, +committed by the Provost Marshal, his Deputy and Soldiers, who were our +guard, Soldier prisoners, and sundry soldier women, confined for Thefts, +&c.... When our Wives, Children, and Friends came to see us, (which was +seldom they were permitted) we seemed to want them gone, notwithstanding +we were desirous of their Company, as they were exposed to hear the most +abandon'd language, as was grating to the ears of all sober persons." +This Leach suspected to be intentional, but the offensive actions and +words were incessant, especially on Sundays. + +On the 17th Leach's son died, "whom I left well in my house"; but he was +not allowed to attend the funeral, nor to be tried, nor dismissed. Three +weeks after he and Lovell had been put in jail they first learned of +what they were accused: Lovell of "being a Spy, and giving intelligence +to the rebels," and Leach of "being a spy, and suspected of taking +plans." Their examination was a farce, the witness against them not +knowing them apart. They were remanded to jail, and lay there until +October. Lovell fell sick, and got a little better food, but no +attention from his jailers--"no Compassion toward him any more than a +Dog." On the same day Leach noted that the Provost "Cursed and Damned my +little Child, for a Damn'd Rebel; he even Trembles at bringing my Diet." +Lovell grew better, and the vexatious treatment continued with petty +tyrannies. At last, although no trial had yet been held, Edes, Gill, +and Leach were released upon sureties of two inhabitants that they would +not leave the town. + +Lovell was kept in jail. He was son of Master John Lovell of the Latin +School, in which he was usher until the opening of the war. His frank +utterances had so incensed the authorities that they kept him in prison +until the end of the siege, and then carried him with them to Halifax. +His father was a Tory, and, so far as the diaries of the prison mates +show, made no attempt to visit his son in prison. James Lovell was +exchanged in the summer of 1776. + +Through Edes' prison diary, and the brief jottings which pass for the +journal of Timothy Newell, selectman, we get a glimpse of a turncoat. +The incident in which he figures is the only one that caused Newell, who +gave a scant hundred and twenty-five words to Bunker Hill battle, to +write at any length. One John Morrison, formerly minister at +Peterborough, New Hampshire, had been "obliged," says Edes, "to quit his +people on account of his scandalous behaviour." He joined the +provincial army, and is said to have fought at Bunker Hill; but a week +later he joined the British with the usual misstatements of the American +intentions. In the middle of September, Morrison moved for permission to +use for his services the Brattle Street Church, "Dr. Cooper's +Meetinghouse," of which Timothy Newell was a member of the parish +committee. Newell, "with an emotion of resentment," roundly refused to +deliver the key to Morrison and his friends, and made his way into the +presence of the governor, where he stated that Morrison was a man of +infamous character. But the turncoat had respectable backers. Gage +required the key of Newell, and got it; and Morrison held at least one +service in the church. It was to this service, on the 17th of September, +that Edes was conducted, doubtless as a privilege, and heard a political +sermon on the ingratitude of the provincials. Edes remarked that the +Tories present affected to grin, but it was horribly, with a ghastly +smile. The newspapers, however, called it an excellent discourse to a +genteel audience, and announced regular services. Morrison, still +contemptuously styled the deserter, figures again in Newell's diary in +November, when he informed against an old Dutch woman for trying to +carry out of town more money than her permit allowed. His profit on this +was ten dollars. When winter approached, the Brattle Street Church was +taken for use as a barracks, and Morrison got himself a place in the +commissary department, which perhaps was more to his liking than +sermonizing.[135] + +The interview with Newell gives us a glimpse of Gage in almost the last +of his troubles with the stiff-necked Bostonians. Less than a fortnight +later[136] he received word from London that the king desired his +presence, in order to consult upon future operations. Probably the +unlucky commander saw in the message the end of his commission, but he +went as one expecting to return. As was customary, he was presented with +adulatory addresses, and on October 10 departed in state. His welcome in +England was not so stately. The king did give him an interview, and +listened attentively to his explanations, but it was popularly suggested +that the unsuccessful general be created Lord Lexington, Baron of Bunker +Hill. Gage's command was not restored to him, and he never again went on +active service. + +One legacy indeed he left, perhaps the worst act of his administration +and the most far-reaching, although the personal blame does not lie with +Gage himself. On the 4th of October he sent out a small fleet of vessels +which accomplished more harm than good. It skirmished with privateers, +and eventually, reaching Falmouth, now Portland in Maine, but then in +Massachusetts territory, attempted to levy upon the town. Captain +Mowatt, the commander, picked a quarrel with the inhabitants, and +finding them unyielding, burnt their village. The blame lies between +Mowatt and Admiral Graves, both of whom had grudges against the town on +account of a previous incident. The ministry repudiated the act, but the +fact is undeniable that it was within the spirit of the instructions +given to a later expedition, to "destroy any towns" that would not +submit.[137] The effect on the Americans, however, was very far from +teaching submission. The news of the burning of Falmouth did as much as +any other event to impress the provincials with the impossibility of an +agreement with the king. + +In Gage's place now stood Howe, on whom the British hopes centred. +According to the Tory Samuel Paine, Howe united the spirit of a Wolfe +with the genius of a Marlborough. Without prizing him quite so highly, +both the army and the administration looked to Howe for action and +results. It seemed to them that now at last something must happen. + +But Howe, though with a willing army at his back, disciplined and well +equipped, did nothing. He strengthened the Charlestown lines and the +fort on Bunker Hill, he improved the defences at Boston Neck, and he +began various batteries on Beacon Hill and the shores of the Common. He +demolished a number of buildings in the north end of the town, in order +to make communication between his posts more direct. But except for the +little expedition across the Back Bay to Lechmere's Point, which netted +a few cows, Howe attempted no offensive operations. As already shown, +the regulars returned from Lechmere's Point as soon as the provincials +assembled in numbers, and no attempt was made to hold the little hill. +Other skirmishes there were from time to time, but these were +insignificant, and they were all. + +The fact is that Howe's opinion coincided exactly with those of Gage and +Burgoyne. The country was too strong to be forced, especially since the +Americans had spent a summer on their entrenchments. There was no +profit in taking a rebel fort if the army and its situation were to be +weakened thereby. Howe looked with longing eyes toward New York, took up +Burgoyne's idea of a post in Rhode Island, and believed that if he had +twenty thousand men holding all three positions the rebels would be +beaten. But such an army was not forthcoming, and the question arose +whether he had best stay in Boston or go to New York. In reply to +questions from the ministry, Howe pointed out that he had not a large +enough fleet to convey himself, his stores, and the Tories, from the +place. It was therefore understood that more ships and men should be +supplied him in the spring, and that meanwhile he should go into winter +quarters. + +This was done. Buildings in the town were arranged to accommodate the +troops, two of the churches being fitted up for this purpose. The tents +were struck, and the army made itself snug. Howe busied himself with +routine matters of the camp, and refused to budge. Though Washington +first fortified Cobble Hill in Somerville, the nearest he had yet come +to the British posts, and though after that he came a step nearer, +seizing Lechmere's Point, Howe simply fired from cannon, but made no +attempt to storm the works. The cannonading merely inured the Americans +to danger, and seeing that it did them good rather than harm, Howe +presently stopped it. Washington, perhaps not aware of the strength of +his own position, declared himself "unable, upon any principle +whatever," to account for Howe's inaction. He suspected it might be +intended to lull him into a false sense of security, but resolved to be +more vigilant than ever. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[128] This expression is ascribed to General Nathanael Greene. + +[129] Fonblanque's "Burgoyne," 197-198. + +[130] Leach's "Journal." + +[131] William T. Miller, of Newport, R.I., to his wife Lydia. Mass. +Hist. and Gen. Register, 1855. + +[132] Frothingham's "Siege," 230. + +[133] _Ibid._, 279. + +[134] This obscure diversion caused the Dorringtons to be suspected of +signalling at night to the rebels. + +[135] Leach's and Edes' "Journals," N. E. Hist. and Gen. Register, 1865; +Newell's "Journal," Mass. Hist. Soc. Collections, i, series iv; +Frothingham's "Siege," 239; Sabine's "Loyalists." + +[136] September 26. + +[137] Instructions for Clinton's expedition to the southward. +Frothingham's "Siege," 292. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +WASHINGTON'S DIFFICULTIES + + +The situation at Boston in the fall of 1775 presents an interesting +comparison: two generals of opposing armies, each ready to welcome an +attack, but each unable to deliver one. The difference between the two, +and the fact which determined the outcome, was in the natures of the two +men. Howe, from a certain sluggishness of disposition, was content to +sit tight, and wait until the government at home should send him his +relief. Though at each move his enemy came nearer, Howe still appeared +to believe that Dorchester was safe from seizure, and was content so to +believe. But Washington was not satisfied to be still. His nature urged +him to action, and though he knew himself too weak for an assault, he +constantly schemed and worked to put his army into condition to strike. + +In some ways his organization was already complete. He had under him +many of the men who were to serve him through the war. To be sure, he +had Charles Lee, "the worst present that could be made to any army;" but +Lee's part in the siege was slight, for Washington frequently employed +him for distant undertakings. Gates was still present also, but in a +subordinate capacity. And another of those who, before the war was over, +did their best to wreck the American cause, was present for a while in +the person of Benedict Arnold, already distinguished by his share in the +taking of Ticonderoga. Early in September, however, Arnold was sent on +his fruitless mission against Quebec. + +But besides these men, not one of whom had as yet proved his weakness, +Washington had already at his back some of the best soldiers whom the +war produced. Among the higher officers were Putnam, Thomas, Sullivan, +Heath, and more particularly Greene. Of lower grade were Stark, Morgan, +Prescott, and, not yet well known, Knox, the Boston bookseller whom we +have seen endeavoring to prevent the Massacre, who had studied tactics +in his own volumes and at the manoeuvres of the regulars, and who had +escaped from Boston just before the 17th of June. There were yet others +who were destined to distinguish themselves, and Washington knew that he +had, among his officers, as courageous and intelligent soldiers as were +to be found anywhere. + +Yet they were but a nucleus, while his supplies remained few and poor, +and the organization of the army unsatisfactory. As the winter +approached, Washington looked forward uneasily to the expiration of the +terms of enlistment of his troops. Some would lapse in December, the +rest at the first of January. His regiments were not uniform in size, +and they retained too much of the provincial jealousy which had already +troubled him, and which had perhaps lost Bunker Hill. It was very +evident to him that an entirely new army should be organized. + +It was therefore welcome to him that Congress should send a committee +to help him in the matter of reorganization. On October 18 the +committee, with Franklin at its head, met with Washington, his staff, +and delegates from the four colonies which until now had, practically +alone, been prosecuting the siege. The subject had been already +discussed by the council of war, and the little convention was made +acquainted with the discrepancies in the organizations of the different +regiments, and the needs of the army. It was decided to reduce the +number of regiments from thirty-eight to twenty-six. This meant not so +much to reduce the number of men as the number of officers. The term of +reenlistment was to be one year, and the delegates assured Washington +that he could count on twenty thousand men from Massachusetts, eight +thousand from Connecticut, three thousand from New Hampshire, and +fifteen hundred from Rhode Island. The regiments were to be uniform in +size, consisting of eight companies each; besides regular infantry, +there were to be riflemen and artillery. A system for clothing and +supplying the army was agreed upon. When the little convention had +broken up, the Committee from Congress remained for a few days, revising +the articles of war, considering the disposition of naval prizes, and +discussing a number of minor topics. Upon the committee's return to +Philadelphia, its actions were ratified by Congress.[138] + +Washington then set himself with new assurance to his task. Thanks to +the convention, he felt that he had a united country at his back, and +that much had been done to dissipate colonial jealousies. These are +surprising to us of to-day: one is astonished to find Greene seriously +assuring "the gentlemen from the southward" that the four New England +colonies, as soon as they had conquered King George, would not turn +their arms against the South. Yet had there been any such intention, the +New Englanders already had their hands full with the British, and +Washington was by no means out of the woods. On paper he had an +excellent organization; but in fact, everything was still to be done. + +With the approach of winter, the first task was to house his army. This +was gradually accomplished, and the regiments went into their winter +quarters. For a time, however, there was a scarcity of food and fuel. +This was due, not to a lack of either, but to the weakness in the system +of providing for them. For some weeks there was distress and discontent; +at times we are told that the troops ate their provision raw, and most +of the orchards and shade trees within the camp were cut down for fuel. +Washington vigorously represented the state of the case to the +Massachusetts congress; he gave permission to cut wood in private +wood-lots, promising payment; and finally the need was met. The towns +sent generous supplies of wood to the camp, rations were provided in +plenty, and the only period of hardship which the Americans endured was +safely passed before the winter set in. + +There was not much for the army to do when once the barracks were built +and new quarters taken. The work of fortifying Lechmere's Point went on +slowly, on account of the frost; it was not until the end of February +that the redoubt was completed, and its guns mounted. But the troops +were drilled, and were kept busy in perfecting the fortifications. +Washington seized every chance to improve his defences, as we see him +when planning new redoubts to guard against the possibility of a sortie +from the Neck.[139] + +The news of the burning of Falmouth reached Washington on the 24th of +October, and greatly roused his indignation. As it was expected that the +British fleet might next descend upon Portsmouth, he sent General +Sullivan thither, with orders to put the harbor in a state of defence, +and at all events to save the small store of powder which had been +brought into that place. This was a capture by the little navy. +Mowatt's fleet, however, made no attempt upon Portsmouth, and presently +returned to Boston. Feeling temporarily secure against further +depredations upon the coast, Washington put his whole energy into the +reorganization of his army. + +The period from the end of November until the early part of February was +one of the hardest in Washington's career. His difficulties were those +which we have seen already, want of powder and want of arms, but to them +was added the great fear of a lack of men. As to powder, its supply +still fluctuated, small quantities coming in irregularly, and being +steadily used in equally niggardly amounts, or slowly spoiling in the +soldiers' pouches. Muskets were still scanty, and Washington saw no hope +except in buying those of his soldiers whose terms were about to expire, +or in sending agents through the neighboring towns to secure what they +could find. There was a corresponding lack of cannon, bayonets, flints, +and small appurtenances. + +But weaknesses of this kind were nothing as compared with the +threatened weakness in men. Washington was deeply disappointed at his +failure to recruit his newly planned army. Although the delegates of the +provinces had promised him full regiments, the new recruiting system +seemed to fail almost entirely. The general presently perceived several +distinct factors that were working against its success. + +In the first place, the new plan provided for fewer officers in the new +army. Many of the provincial regiments, especially those of +Massachusetts, had been over-officered, and now, when the number of +regiments was less by twelve, it was evident that scores of officers +must either accept lower rank or leave the army entirely. It was found +that most of those who could not obtain equal rank were unwilling to +remain, and that they were influencing their men to leave the army with +them. + +Besides this, provincial jealousies worked strongly in this matter of +officers. Massachusetts officers who had been forced out of service +might have found places in the Connecticut regiments, but the soldiers +of the other colony would have none of them. For each company and each +platoon held firmly to the old idea that it must be consulted concerning +its officers, and no private would consent to be commanded by a man from +another colony. This alone made plentiful trouble. + +Finally the men themselves had ideas of their own as to whether they +cared to enlist. To begin with, the shrewd among them reckoned that if +they only held out long enough they might secure bounties for +reenlisting. Some were finicky as to their officers, and waited until +they should be satisfied. And most of them perceived that as a reward +for patriotism they might at least receive furloughs, and stood out for +them. + +The details of the work of enlisting were very obscure and complicated. +It was found that officers were endeavoring to recruit their own +companies, and in their zeal had enrolled men who were already +registered elsewhere. Outsiders, anxious for commissions, were +similarly forming companies, and presenting them for acceptance. +Washington steadily refused to receive such unauthorized organizations. +And finally it was suspected that many men who had given in their names +had no intention of serving. + +What would make their defection more certain was the irregularity of +pay. Congress had appropriated sums of money, but the currency reached +Washington slowly. It was very singular, he complained, that the signers +of the scrip could not keep pace with his needs. Further, Congress had a +very imperfect idea of the magnitude of his legitimate needs; the +appropriations were niggardly. As the new year approached, when it was +important that the men should be paid, and receive assurance of further +pay, Washington wrote to urge more remittances, that the soldiers might +be satisfied. + +Even the crews of the little navy gave Washington no peace. His "plague, +trouble, and vexation" with them he was unable to express; he believed +that there was not on earth a more disorderly set. One crew deserted, +and its vessel was docked. + +To be sure, there were moments of satisfaction in these dreary weeks of +trial. Certain of the rejected officers rose above their +disappointments. One of these was Colonel Whitcomb, who was not given a +regiment in the new establishment. At this his men became so +dissatisfied that they decided not to enlist at all. Colonel Whitcomb, +in order to persuade them to remain, announced his willingness to enlist +as a private. The situation was saved by Colonel Jonathan Brewer, who +offered his command to Colonel Whitcomb. Washington, in a general order, +thanked both of the officers. Brewer was made Barrack-Master, "until +something better worth his acceptance can be provided."[140] + +Other relief was provided by captures of British vessels. Of great +importance to both armies was the capture of the _Nancy_, an ordnance +brig with a complete cargo of military supplies--saving only powder. So +valuable did Washington consider the capture that he at once sent four +companies to the spot where the stores were landed, impressed teams for +transportation, and called out the neighboring militia lest Howe should +make an effort to recover the royal property. The British were on their +part greatly disgusted at the loss of the brig, not merely as weakening +them, but also as strengthening the enemy. The chief prize on the ship +was a thirteen-inch brass mortar, which on its arrival in camp was +greeted with acclamation, and by means of a bottle of rum was solemnly +christened the Congress. + +It was about this time that Washington had the satisfaction of being +joined by his wife. There had been a suggestion that her residence on +the Potomac was not safe, but even before the naval raids Washington +had begun to suggest her joining him. She arrived on the 11th of +December, and resided until the end of the siege with him at his +headquarters in the old house still standing on Brattle Street, +Cambridge. The house has had an interesting history, having been built +by the Tory Vassalls, occupied by the Marblehead regiment, by +Washington, by Dr. Andrew Craigie, surgeon at Bunker Hill, by Jared +Sparks, Edward Everett, Noah Webster, and by the poet Longfellow, whose +family still owns it. The quarters were for Washington central and +pleasant; they gave him his last taste of home life for years. + +[Illustration: WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS] + +Yet we are not to imagine him at any time free of difficulties. With +December began his troubles with the Connecticut troops, whose +enlistment had expired. In spite of previous promises to remain until +their places were filled, and against orders to leave their weapons, +many of the Connecticut men tried to slip away, guns and all. Washington +frequently speaks of them in his letters of the first half of December. +In securing their return he was well aided by the officers, and by the +aged but still energetic Governor Trumbull, who heard of the actions of +his men with "grief, surprise, and indignation." Trumbull called the +assembly of Connecticut together to consider the situation, but action +was forestalled by the people of the different towns. The hint that the +soldiers had best return voluntarily, lest they be sent back with a +feathered adornment that nature had not provided, was sufficient to +hurry most of them back to their service. + +No sooner had this matter been smoothed over, than Washington had to +meet the general situation, when on the first of January most of the +enlistments would expire. For some weeks he had been anxiously watching +the returns of the enlistments, and the figures frequently plunged him +into depression. On the 28th of November, finding that but thirty-five +hundred men had enlisted, he wrote: "Such a dearth of public spirit, +such stock-jobbing, and such fertility in all the low arts to obtain +advantages of one kind or another, in this great change of military +arrangement, I never saw before, and pray God's mercy I may never be +witness to again." A week later he found himself under obligations to +give furlough to fifteen hundred men a week, in order to satisfy them. +To fill their places and those of the Connecticut troops, he called on +Massachusetts and New Hampshire for five thousand militia. By the middle +of December scarcely six thousand men had enlisted, and on Christmas Day +only eight thousand five hundred. On New Year's Day his army, which was +to have been at least twenty thousand men, was not quite half that +number. + +Under such circumstances many a weaker man would have thrown up his +office or abandoned his post. Washington stuck to his task. If Howe +would but remain inactive, the laggard country would in time retrieve +itself. As a matter of fact, many of the soldiers, after a brief period +of liberty, returned of their own accord to the standard. We find at +least one case in the diary of David How, which, in addition to +revealing his actions, gives a glimpse of the camp at the end of the +year, when many of the men were going away, and the others were joining +their new regiments. + +"This Day," writes How on the 30th of December, "we paraded and had our +guns took from us By the Major to prise them. + +"31. This Day we have been In an uprore about packun our Things up In +order to go home a Monday morning as Soon as we Can. + +"Jan 1. We have ben all Day a pecking up our Things For to go home. + +"2d we all Left Cambridg this morning I went to mr. Granger and staid +all night. + +"3d I went to methuen. + +"5d I went to Haver hill to by some Leather for Bretches. + +"6 day I come to Andover and Staid at Mr. osgoods. + +"7 day I come to Cambridge about Six a Clock at Night. + +"Jany the 8 1776 This Day I Began with Mr. Watson.... + +"Jan 14.[141] This Day I wint to Cobble Hill & to Litchmor point and to +prospeck hill & So Home again. Nothing new. + +"22. I listed with Leut David Chandler in Coln Sergant Regment." + +And so David How, veteran of Bunker Hill, and doubtless many other young +men, found the lure of the camp, and let us say the chance to serve the +country, too much to withstand. Freedom to earn their own wages, and to +stroll about the fortifications on Sundays, were not to be measured +against the romance of soldiering and the hope of battle. + +This same New Year's Day, 1776, occurred an event of importance in the +hoisting of the flag with the thirteen stripes. Previously the colonies +had used different devices, in the South a rattlesnake flag with the +motto, "Don't tread on me," and for the Connecticut troops the colony +arms and the motto _Qui transtulit sustinet_, "which we construe thus: +'God, who transplanted us hither, will support us.'"[142] Massachusetts +had used the pinetree flag and the motto "Appeal to Heaven," and the +little navy had a sign by which its ships were known to each other, "the +ensign up to the main topping-lift." Now for the first time the thirteen +stripes with the British crosses in the corner were raised, amid much +enthusiasm. + +Curiously, this coincided with the coming of the king's recent speech in +Parliament, and a strange interpretation was put upon the appearance of +the new flag. The British had caused to be sent to the American lines +many copies of the speech, expecting that its expression of the king's +determination to prosecute the war, even by the use of foreign troops, +would bring the rebels to their knees. The cheering in the American +camp, all the louder on account of the sentiments of his gracious +majesty, and the appearance of the new flag, combined to make the +British suppose that the provincials were weakening. "By this time," +wrote Washington grimly on the 4th, "I presume they begin to think it +strange, that we have not made a formal surrender of our lines." + +It was well that he could jest, however sternly, for his situation was +newly complicated by the permission of Congress to attack Boston +whenever he might think expedient, "notwithstanding the town and +property in it may be destroyed." Such permission was equivalent to a +broad hint, and there were not lacking suggestions from many obscure +quarters that the country would be more content if its general should +relieve it of the presence of the British army. Of "chimney corner +heroes" Washington had a genuine contempt, but the resolve of Congress +was another matter, especially when it came through the hands of John +Hancock. He was the largest property-owner in the town, and +prospectively the greatest sufferer by its destruction, yet he +cheerfully wrote, "May God crown your attempt with success!" + +Long before now, had Washington been able, he would have attempted to +storm the town. But as often as he called a council of war to consider +the matter, so often did his generals advise against the attempt. The +Americans were doubtful, and Lee, affecting to mistrust the temper of +the troops, would not advise the venture. As to burning the town by +throwing carcasses[143] into it, Lee told the others that the town could +not be set on fire by such means. Washington looked for a chance to +assault the town by crossing on the ice, but for a long time the Back +Bay did not freeze, and when at last it did, he had neither men nor +powder. Such then was his situation when he answered the letter of +Hancock.[144] He begged Congress to consider his situation if, in spite +of their wishes, he did not act. And that they should clearly +understand, he wrote these words:-- + +"It is not in the pages of history, perhaps, to furnish a case like +ours. To maintain a post within musket shot of the enemy, for six months +together, without and at the same time to disband one army, and +recruit another, within that distance of twenty-odd British regiments, +is more, probably, than was ever attempted." + +The significant omission in this passage is the word "powder." At +another time, when doubtful of the safety of his letter, he used the +paraphrase, "what we greatly need." He knew that his correspondents +would supply the omission and interpret the reference. But once at +least, on the 14th of January, when writing to Joseph Reed, formerly his +aide, to whom at this period he seems to have written more freely than +to any one else, Washington gave a complete account of his situation +when almost at its worst, and ended with an explanation of his state of +mind. Conditions are so completely summarized, and his thoughts are so +frankly given, that the paragraphs had best be given entire. + +"Our enlistments are at a stand; the fears I ever entertained are +realized; that is, the _discontented officers_ (for I do not know how +else to account for it) have thrown such difficulties or +stumbling-blocks in the way of recruiting, that I no longer entertain a +hope of completing the army by voluntary enlistments, and I see no move +or likelihood to do it by other means. In the last two weeks we have +enlisted but about a thousand men; whereas I was confidently led to +believe, by all the officers I conversed with, that we should by this +time have had the regiments nearly completed. Our total number upon +paper amounts to about ten thousand five hundred; but as a large portion +of these are returned _not joined_, I never expect to receive them, as +an ineffectual order has once issued to call them in. Another is now +gone forth, peremptorily requiring all officers under pain of being +cashiered, and recruits of being treated as deserters, to join their +respective regiments by the 1st day of next month, that I may know my +real strength; but if my fears are not imaginary, I shall have a +dreadful account of the advanced month's pay.[145] In consequence of the +assurances given, and my expectation of having at least men enough to +defend our lines, to which may be added my unwillingness to burthen the +cause with unnecessary expense, no relief of militia has been ordered +in, to supply the places of those, who are released from their +engagements tomorrow, and as to whom, though many have promised to +continue out the month, there is no security for their stay. + +"Thus I am situated with respect to men. With regard to arms I am yet +worse off. Before the dissolution of the old army, I issued an order +directing three judicious men of each brigade to attend, review, and +appraise the good arms of every regiment; and finding a very great +unwillingness in the men to part with their arms, at the same time not +having it in my power to pay them for the months of November and +December, I threatened severely, that every soldier, who should carry +away his firelock without leave, should never receive pay for those +months; yet so many have been carried off, partly by stealth, but +chiefly as condemned, that we have not at this time one hundred guns in +the stores, of all that have been taken in the prize ship and from the +soldiery, notwithstanding our regiments are not half complete. At the +same time I am told, and believe it, that to restrain the enlistment to +men with arms, you will get but few of the former, and still fewer of +the latter which would be good for anything. + +"How to get furnished I know not. I have applied to this and the +neighboring colonies, but with what success time only can tell. The +reflection of my situation, and that of this army, produces many an +unhappy hour when all around me are wrapped in sleep. Few people know +the predicament we are in, on a thousand accounts; fewer still will +believe, if any disaster happens to these lines, from what cause it +flows. I have often thought how much happier I should have been, if, +instead of accepting the command under such circumstances, I had taken +my musket on my shoulder and entered the ranks, or, if I could have +justified the measure to posterity and my own conscience, had retired to +the back country, and lived in a wigwam. If I shall be able to rise +superior to these and many other difficulties, I shall most religiously +believe, that the finger of Providence is in it, to blind the eyes of +our enemies; for surely if we get well through this month, it must be +for want of their knowing the difficulties we labor under. + +"Could I have foreseen the difficulties, which have come upon us; could +I have known, that such a backwardness would have been discovered among +the old soldiers to the service, all the generals on earth should not +have convinced me of the propriety of delaying an attack upon Boston +till this time."[146] + +One more blow Washington was to receive, in the news of the failure of +the expedition against Quebec. This came to him on the 17th of January. +But from about that time, though very slowly, the prospect began to +brighten. His army strengthened, money was loaned him by Massachusetts, +and though early in February he reported that he had in camp two +thousand men without guns, even muskets were eventually provided. +Moreover, cannon were now supplied him, through the exertions of Henry +Knox. Washington had detached him in November to go to Ticonderoga and +Crown Point, and provide means for bringing the captured cannon to camp. +The general had even hoped that more might be had from Quebec, but that +expectation was now gone. Knox, in the face of many difficulties, +fulfilled his mission. On December 17 he wrote from Lake George that he +had got the cannon as far as that point, and with forty-two "exceedingly +strong sleds" and eighty yoke of oxen expected to make the journey to +Springfield, whence fresh cattle would bring him to Cambridge. The +artillery, in this humble manner, at last arrived, howitzers, mortars, +and cannon, fifty-five pieces of iron or brass. With what had been +captured elsewhere the supply was ample, and the guns, after a delay at +Framingham, were mounted at the fortifications, or reserved for the +attempt to take Dorchester. Powder also had slowly come in faster than +it was used or could spoil, and Washington found himself almost ready to +act. + +When at last he could draw a long breath, with the feeling that the +worst of the situation was over, he gave, in letters to Joseph Reed and +John Hancock, his opinion of his army as it then was, and of the means +to make it better. Placed behind any kind of shelter, his provincials +would give a good account of themselves. But they could not yet be +depended on to make an assault in the open field. For this they would +have to receive severer training, and in order to acquaint them with +their proper duties a longer term of service was necessary. Even now, at +the beginning of another year of service, the men had the officers too +much in their power, for indulgence was necessary in order to make them +enlist again. He was therefore firmly of the opinion that his present +army, and all new recruits, should be enlisted "for and during the war." +Thus Washington, looking beyond his still uncompleted task, like Lincoln +many years later, perceived the only means to final success. + +But with the means which he had at hand he was now impatient to act. It +was almost March, and at any time Howe might receive the reinforcements +which would enable him to take the offensive. Washington prepared to +fortify Dorchester as soon as the state of the ground would permit of +digging, and in order to lessen the work he prepared fascines--which +were bundles of sticks--and chandeliers or frameworks to hold the +bundles in place in order to serve as the body of an embankment. +Remembering how at Bunker Hill the regulars had been led to suppose that +the troops at the rail fence, protected by nothing except the rails and +hay, were behind an embankment, he collected ropes of hay to use if +necessary for the same purpose, but also to bind the wheels of his carts +that they might make no noise. Carts he collected to the number of three +hundred. In the Charles River he prepared boats enough to carry +twenty-eight hundred men. Two floating batteries were also made ready +there; a third had earlier been destroyed by the bursting of its cannon +when firing at the camp on the Common. Washington was about to strike, +with the suddenness which characterized him, but also with the thorough +readiness. + +For his camp, even if temporarily, was now full. Early in February came +in ten regiments of militia, summoned on service until the first of +April. They manifested, he wrote with satisfaction, the greatest +alertness, and the determination of men engaged in the cause of freedom. +And on the first of March he called into camp the militia of the +neighboring towns, who were to report at Roxbury fully equipped for +three days' service. To these men was read his general order, preparing +their minds for action. They were forbidden to play at cards or other +games of chance, and advised to ponder the importance of the cause in +which they were enlisted. "But it may not be amiss for the troops to +know," he added, "that if any man in action shall presume to skulk, or +hide himself, or retreat from the enemy without the orders of his +commanding officer, he will be instantly shot down." And with this +exhortation and warning Washington concluded his preparations. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[138] See the "Writings of Washington," iii, 123-124, note. + +[139] See letter to Ward, "Writings," iii, 161. + +[140] See the "Writings of Washington," iii, 161, note. The facts +concerning Washington's difficulties with enlisting are taken chiefly +from this volume, where they can best be studied. + +[141] This was a Sunday. + +[142] Frothingham's "Siege," 104. + +[143] Carcasses were hollow shells with several openings. They were +filled with combustibles, and when thrown into a town were intended to +set fire to buildings. + +[144] Washington's communications to Congress were addressed to Hancock, +as its President. + +[145] He had paid in advance all who had enlisted. + +[146] "Writings of Washington," iii, 238-241. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE WINTER IN BOSTON + + +When the British army went into winter quarters it was nearly at the end +of its difficulties concerning food. Supplies from England had been very +meagre, and the occasional raids had provided poorly for the wants of +the town. But since October matters had improved, largely because of the +criticism of the English Whigs in Parliament. These pointed out the +inactivity of the troops, the humiliation of the situation, the sickness +and want in Boston. In order that nothing should be left undone to +remedy the last, the perplexed ministry spent money lavishly to +provision its garrison. Five thousand oxen, fourteen thousand sheep, +with a great number of hogs, were purchased, and shipped alive. +Vegetables, preserved by a new process, were bought in quantities; wheat +and flour were collected; wood, coal, hay, and other fodder, with beer, +porter, rum, Geneva, and the more innocent vinegar, were generously +provided. To be sure, the commissions on all these purchases provided +fortunes for the relatives of those in office, and the ship-owners found +excuses for setting sail as late as possible, in order to increase the +hire of their craft. As a result, much of the vast expense--some six +hundred thousand pounds for provisions alone--was wasted. Contrary gales +detained the ships; the live stock died by wholesale, and was thrown +overboard; the vegetables spoiled; and numbers of the ships were lost +outright. Others, arriving without convoy at the American coast, were +captured by the watchful privateers. But of such vast supplies enough +reached Boston to relieve the worst distresses of the inhabitants. +Though the poorer of the Whigs had either to sign humiliating +declarations in order to share in the rations of the troops, or else to +continue on meagre fare, there was enough in the general market for the +well-to-do among them to supply themselves. John Andrews, for instance, +though he lived at the rate of six or seven hundred sterling a year, +after October ate scarcely three meals of salt meat, "for I was +determined to eat fresh provissions, while it was to be got, let it cost +what it would." + +There was, however, for months a great shortage of fuel. As the winter +set in early, and with severity, large quantities were needed, and there +was little on hand. The troops, of their own initiative, had already, +even in the summer, begun to make depredations on private property, +stealing gates and breaking up fences. This the commanders endeavored to +stop, but took the hint and did the same by official condemnation. As so +many of the inhabitants had left the town, the abandoned houses were +torn down for fuel. When the winter came, the troops again began on +their own account to steal wood. Howe threatened to hang the next man +caught in the act, but still was forced to follow the example. + +In choosing buildings for destruction, it was very natural to select +Whig property. Perhaps the harshest assault on provincial sentiment had +been made in summer, when during August Liberty Tree was felled. The +Whigs felt very indignant, but took a peculiar pleasure in the +reflection that during the operation a soldier had been accidentally +killed. In the various poems written on the occasion the wretch's soul +was unanimously consigned to Hades. It was besides remarked that the +genuine tree of liberty, of which this had been but a symbol, had now +grown so great as to overshadow the continent. + +Besides Liberty Tree, the property of leading Whigs suffered, "My house +and barn," writes Newell the selectman, on the 16th of November, "pulled +down by order of General Robinson." Leach the schoolmaster, whose +imprisonment had made him a marked man, had a hard fight to save his +property. On Christmas Day he found a party of soldiers destroying his +wharf, which had been allotted, as was the custom, to one of the +regiments, in this case the light dragoons. In spite of his efforts +Leach was not able to stop this destruction, as evidently in the present +state of the town there was no use for wharves. But when his schoolhouse +was threatened he carried the matter to headquarters. Howe said Leach +had corresponded with the people without. "I denied the charge.... +Finally I told him, as an Englishman, and a subject of the King's, I +claimed protection of my property; and if my House was pulled down, I +would follow him to England, or to China, for satisfaction. I expected +he would get angry, and order me under Guard, or else to Gaol again. +However, in General he behaved kindly." Howe referred him to his +subordinates, who delayed giving orders until the soldiers had already +broken into the schoolhouse. With much resolution Leach got them from +the house and stood on guard at the door until by referring to Howe the +schoolhouse was saved. But Leach had meanwhile lost "valuable Books and +Instruments, Drawings, Colours, Brushes, several curious Optick +Glasses, and sundry things of Value that I brought from India and China, +that I cannot replace for money."[147] + +At this time was pulled down the Old North Church, the steeple of the +West Church, and John Winthrop's house, one of the oldest landmarks in +the town. Over in Charlestown the troops used for fuel the deserted +houses that had not been consumed on the 17th of June. At one time they +were demolishing a mill near the American lines, but the provincials +drove them away and presently burnt the mill. At another time, by a +similar endeavor to lessen the British supply of fuel, there was brought +about one of the more amusing incidents of the siege. + +The officers in Boston, having little active work to do, were +endeavoring to forget the irksomeness and the humiliation of their +situation. Through no fault of their own the position was a hard one; +they had boasted, and were not allowed to make good their vainglory; +they had despised their adversaries, and were cooped up in a provincial +town. In letters home they uneasily endeavored to explain their +inaction; by return mail they learned what the wits of London had to say +of both them and the country. "Mrs. Brittania," remarked Horace Walpole, +"orders her Senate to proclaim America a continent of cowards, and vote +it should be starved, unless it would drink tea with her. She sends her +only army to be besieged in one of her towns, and half her fleet to +besiege the _terra firma_; but orders her army to do nothing, in hopes +that the American Senate in Philadelphia will be so frightened at the +British army being besieged in Boston that it will sue for peace." There +was sting in these words, but no remedy for the smart. + +In order to forget such flings, and to banish the consideration of +crowded quarters, irregular rations (for there still were periods of +lean supply), slow pay, and inaction, the officers tried to kill time. +The cavalry regiments searched for a means of exercising their horses, +and Burgoyne is credited with the solution of their problem. Newell +recorded in his journal how his church, after being profaned by +Morrison, was examined by the colonel of the light horse, to see if the +building was available for a riding-school. "But when it was considered +that the Pillars must be taken away, which would bring down the roof, +they altered their mind--so that the Pillars saved us." + +A more notable building had to suffer instead. The Old South was taken +for the purpose. The furnishings were torn out, and Deacon Hubbard's +carved pew was carted away to be used as a hog-sty. The dismantled +church was transformed into a riding-ring, with tanbark on the floor, +and a leaping-bar. One of the galleries was fitted up for a social +meeting-place; the remainder were used for spectators, for whose comfort +was put in a stove into which disappeared for kindling many of the books +and manuscripts stored in the building. For the rest of the siege the +Old South, once so formidable, was a centre of Tory fashion. + +Burgoyne was credited, also, with the design of putting an almost +equally sacred edifice to a purpose still more horrifying to the good +Calvinists of Boston. Faneuil Hall, the cradle of liberty, was made a +theatre. Various plays were performed, and the amateurs were even so +ambitious as to attempt the tragedies of _Zara_ and _Tamerlane_. For the +latter performance Burgoyne wrote a prologue and epilogue, which were +spoken by Lord Rawdon, who had distinguished himself at Bunker Hill, and +"a young lady ten years old." But the great event of the season was to +be the production of a farce called the _Blockade of Boston_. It was +this performance which the Americans interrupted, to the perennial +satisfaction of all students of local history. + +The play was to be performed on a January night. The _Busy Body_ had +just been given, and the curtain rose on the farce, presenting a view of +the American camp, and the figure of Washington absurdly burlesqued in +uniform, wig, and rusty sword. At this moment a sergeant suddenly +appeared on the stage, calling out, "The Yankees are attacking our +works on Bunker's Hill!" Conceiving this spirited action a part of the +play, the audience began to applaud. But the sergeant vigorously +repeated his statement, the sounds of distant cannonading were heard, +and an aide called out, "Officers, to your posts!" The officers +responded in all haste, and the performance was over for the evening. +The reason for this interruption was that Washington had despatched a +party to burn some of the houses still standing in Charlestown. The +success of the attempt had caused the cannonading, and the consequent +interruption of the play. No historian of the siege has failed to remark +that the Whig ladies had the laugh of their Tory sisters, forced to +return without their escorts. + +A month before this incident, on the 5th of December, Burgoyne had +sailed for home, recalled largely at his own instance, but already under +consideration for the disastrous expedition from Canada. He did not +return to Boston until 1777, when he came as a prisoner. It was when +entering the town that he learned that the townspeople had long memories +for his real or ascribed indignity to the Old South, for when he +remarked to a friend upon the Province House, the headquarters during +the siege, a voice from the crowd reminded him that the riding-school +was close at hand. Since on the same occasion an old lady loudly +beseeched her neighbors to "give the general elbow-room," Boston may be +said to have taken its mild revenge on him. + +Theatrical performances, balls, and parties were the amusements of the +officers at this period of the siege, and persons of fashion doubtless +were pleasantly situated. It was not so comfortable for the troops and +their dependents, as we have already seen. The lack of fuel and +consequent depredations on property led to plundering of a different +kind, and petty thievery, which Howe put down with a stern hand. Heavy +floggings were meted out to delinquents, and a wife of one of the +privates was even sentenced to public whipping for receiving stolen +goods. While there were no true horrors at this siege, there was thus +much roughness of conduct among the soldiery, and of this the Whigs were +sure to be the victims. With the example of Leach and Lovell before +their eyes, the wiser among the provincials spoke cannily and walked +softly, and attracted as little attention as possible. But among the +poorer class there was much distress for lack of food and fuel, for even +when the troops had plenty, it was difficult for the patriots to buy. + +With their strength somewhat depleted, it was not to be wondered at that +the poorer class was visited by smallpox. The epidemic was a mild one, +and few persons died, but the visitation created great uneasiness. To +lessen his burden, during the winter Howe sent out several companies of +the poorer folk from the town landing them at Point Shirley, with the +certainty that the Americans would care for them. But his action called +down much reproach, and he was accused of sending out persons with the +smallpox, in order to infect the besieging army. It was even charged +that he had purposely inoculated some of the evicted. This, of course, +is not to be believed; but it is curious to find the British at last +taking satisfaction in the epidemic, since it would prevent Washington +from attacking. + +Gradually a feeling of security came over the besieged town. Admiral +Graves had been recalled, and Shuldham took his place. The lighthouse +was rebuilt and guarded. Howe felt strong enough to detach a squadron +from the fleet in order to carry Clinton with a body of troops to the +southward. This was the expedition that made the unsuccessful attack +upon Charleston. Howe sent other vessels to the northern provinces and +the West Indies, which brought in supplies. The store-ships from England +continued to come in, and though Howe was vexed and at times alarmed by +the loss of the valuable stores that fell into Washington's hands, on +the whole he felt very strong. So much fuel arrived that in January the +destruction of houses and wharves was stopped, and the men who had been +on duty for the purpose were commanded to make themselves presentable. +Neatness was a hobby with Howe, and he enforced it on his men, though at +times the untidiness of his troops seems to have been remarkable.[148] + +There are two expressions which show the confidence entertained at this +period, not only by the garrison at large, but by the British general. +One Crean Brush had made himself a place in the service, not in a +military capacity, but as a useful hanger on. In January, anticipating +the result of the spring campaign, he offered to raise a body of +volunteers, not less than three hundred, with which he proposed, after +the "subduction of the main body of the rebel force," to keep order +along the Connecticut, and to maintain communication westward with Lake +Champlain. There is no record that Howe took him at his word, but he +well might have done so, so completely did he misjudge the situation. +For about the same time he wrote to Lord Dartmouth that he was not +apprehending any attempt by Washington, "by surprise or otherwise."[149] + +But the surprise came. On the night of the second of March the American +batteries, so long silent, began to play. From Cobble Hill, Lechmere +Point, and Lamb's Dam in Roxbury, the three redoubts nearest to Boston, +the Americans bombarded the town, and Howe's gunners instantly +responded. The American fire was ineffective. "Our people," wrote David +How, "splet _the Congress_ the Third Time that they fired it." Other +heavy mortars were likewise burst, doubtless owing to the inexperience +of the gunners. But Washington's purpose, to "divert the attention" of +the British from Dorchester, was fulfilled. They had no eyes save for +the opposing batteries. For three nights the diversion continued; on the +4th it was, wrote Newell, "a most terrible bombardment and cannonade, +on both sides, as if heaven and earth were engaged." At Braintree, miles +away, Abigail Adams listened to the roar, and recorded the rattling of +the windows, and the continual jar of the house. "At six in the +morning," she writes, "there was quiet," but the quiet was from +satisfaction on the one side, and amazement on the other. + +[Illustration: TOWER ON DORCHESTER HEIGHTS COMMEMORATING THE EVACUATION +OF BOSTON] + +On the two heights of Dorchester, commanding the town and the harbor, +stood two American redoubts, larger and stronger than the redoubt at +Breed's Hill. On lesser elevations stood smaller works. Seen from +below, Washington's preparations seemed complete. + +All that moonlit night, while the cannonade proceeded, the Americans had +been busy. Everything had been prepared: the forts were staked out, the +carts were loaded, the men were ready. As soon as the cannonade began, +the men and carts were set in motion; the road was strewn with hay, and +bales were piled to screen the carts as they passed to and fro. The +troops worked with a will, first placing fascines in chandeliers to form +the outlines of their works, and then covering them with earth. There is +no better contemporary account given than in the diary of an unnamed +officer, published some ninety years later.[150] He wrote:-- + +"A little before sunset marched off from Roxbury; but for more than half +a mile before we came to Dorchester lines,[151] we overtook teams in +great plenty, nor did we find any vacancy till we came to the lines; in +some places they were so wedged in together, we were obliged to leave +the road to get forward; we reached the lines at seven o'clock, where we +waited half an hour for orders, when a signal was given and the +cannonade began at Lamb's fort, and was immediately answered by a very +warm fire from the enemy's lines; a brisk fire between N. Boston and our +fortifications on Cambridge side, began soon after. It was supposed +there was a thousand shot hove this night, by both armies, more than +three fourths of which were sent from Boston.[152] Our party, consisting +of about 2400 men, with 300 teams, were crossing the marsh, onto the +Neck, which together with a fresh breeze from the S. W.[153] concealed +us from the enemy till they could see our works by daylight. The +division to which I was assigned, commanded by Col. Whitcomb, was +ordered onto the northerly hill, where in one hour's time we had a fort +enclosed, with fascines placed in shandelears; and we immediately +employed as many men at intrenching as could be advantageously used for +that purpose. A larger party was assigned to the high hill, where they +erected a larger fort, built much in the same manner as ours. There were +four other smaller forts and batteries erected this night on other +eminences on the Neck."[154] + +It is not to be wondered that the British, on making the discovery, +"seemed to be in great confusion."[155] The labor that had been expended +appeared prodigious. Washington himself was satisfied with the works; +he knew them to be secure against the British cannon. To Howe the +achievement was amazing, and he is said to have exclaimed that his whole +army could not have done as much in a month. He wrote to Lord Dartmouth +that the rebels must have employed at least twelve thousand men, whereas +it was accomplished by two details of little more than two thousand men +each. But in those days the British soldier was a poor hand with a +shovel, while the Americans were all farmers. Nevertheless it is worth +noting the difference in organization displayed in the taking of +Dorchester and in the earlier seizure of Breed's Hill. Instead of a +small detachment sent to unsurveyed ground, and unaided during both the +work and the battle, Washington had his ground prepared,[156] his +detachments ready, and his cannon in reserve to send upon the Heights. +In the morning the redoubts, presenting the appearance of finished +fortifications, were manned with fresh men. + +Howe called at once a council of war. To it the admiral was summoned, +and declared positively that his fleet was at the mercy of the rebels. +There was but one opinion as to the situation: the honor of the army was +at stake, and in addition the military reputation of the general. It was +promptly decided to storm the works. + +For this purpose twenty-four hundred men were sent to the Castle, which +lay close under the Heights to the east, with but a narrow channel +between. The command of these men was given to Lord Percy, who hoped now +for the distinction which illness had prevented his achieving at Bunker +Hill. The attack was to be made at night. Within the lines at Boston +Neck was to be gathered another force of troops, which was to second the +attack from that direction. This last, in the face of the strong +batteries at Roxbury, was a forlorn hope; according to Lieutenant Barker +the troops were not to load, but to advance with fixed bayonets, and may +have hoped to carry the works by surprise. + +Washington would have welcomed the main attack. During the day his +works were strengthened and his men reinforced. Orchards had been cut +down to serve as abattis, and barrels of earth were ready to roll down +upon the British. The men were confident; they were commanded by Thomas, +one of the best of the brigadiers, and Washington was there in person +with a reminder that put courage into the breast of every American. For +the day which he had chosen to decide the fate of Boston was the fifth +of March, the anniversary of the Massacre. + +Besides all this, Washington had another weapon in reserve. In the +Charles River, out of sight of Boston, were his two floating batteries +and his bateaux filled with soldiers. They were under Putnam, Sullivan, +and Greene; and at a given signal, if Washington deemed the opportunity +good, they were to cross the Back Bay and attack the town.--Truly the +preparations were for such fighting as had never been seen in America. + +But they came to naught, for nature took a hand in the struggle. +Mercifully, since amid the projected battles the town itself might have +perished with its inhabitants, there sprang up a gale. "A Hurrycane," +wrote Newell, "or terrible sudden storm." The violence of the wind was +such that no boat could live in the channel between the Castle and +Dorchester, two of Percy's transports were driven ashore, and the attack +was postponed. The next day the wind continued, accompanied by heavy +rain. The Americans continued to labor on their works, until to every +eye they were impregnable by any force that Howe might send against +them. Howe called another council, and asked it to concur in his +intention to evacuate the town. There was no other decision to make, and +on the 6th of March[157] the orders were given. + +"Blessed be God," wrote Newell, "our redemption draws nigh." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[147] "N. E. Hist. and Gen. Register," 1865, 313-314. + +[148] See his general order enumerating faults, in Sparks, "Writings of +Washington," iii, 236, note. + +[149] See Frothingham's "Siege," 294-295. + +[150] See the _Historical Magazine_ for 1864, 328-329. + +[151] These were a line of fortifications facing Dorchester, made +earlier in the siege. + +[152] According to Knox's return, given in Frothingham's "Siege," 298, +footnote, the Americans threw only 144 shot and 13 shells. The British +seem to have needed only an occasional stimulus. + +[153] This breeze would bring the smoke of the Roxbury cannonade between +the Heights and Boston. + +[154] It seems generally to be considered that there was but one fort at +Dorchester. The statement in the text is confirmed by the Revolutionary +Journal of Colonel Baldwin, one of the engineers. "Six works thrown up +this night at different places on the Hills & high ground a very Great +work for one Night." + +[155] Washington's letter to Hancock, "Writings," iii, 304. + +[156] Colonel Baldwin records that he was on the ground in the +afternoon. + +[157] Frothingham says the 7th. But see the diaries of Barker +(_Atlantic_, 39, 553) and Newell (Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 1, Series 4, +272). + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE EVACUATION + + +Washington, looking into Boston from the Heights of Dorchester, +witnessed the confusion of the British at the discovery of his works, +and watched with grim pleasure the preparations made to attack him. The +abandonment of the assault was to him a great disappointment. He had +never seen men more alert and willing than his soldiers on the Heights. +If Howe had sent a small force against them, Washington felt confident +of repulsing it. Had the attacking force been so large as to have +appreciably weakened the army in Boston, Washington would have delivered +his counterstroke by means of the men in boats under command of Putnam. +"He would have had pretty easy work of it,"[158] wrote Washington, +still after nearly a month regretting the issue. He wrote his brother, +"that this most remarkable interposition of Providence is for some wise +purpose, I have not a doubt. But ... as no men seemed better disposed to +make the appeal than ours did upon that occasion, I can scarcely forbear +lamenting the disappointment." + +Washington lay for a while inactive while the enemy prepared for their +departure. But upon Howe's shoulders was thrown a tremendous task. He +had under him, in the army and the fleet, about eleven thousand +men.[159] For them he had been gathering military stores and provisions; +he had many horses, much artillery, and at least a partial equipment +for field service, in preparation for the spring campaign. His army had +been at Boston for many months, some of the regiments for nearly two +years; consequently there had been a natural accumulation of personal +effects, for the convenience of the officers, with their wives and +families. To carry away this army, its stores, and its belongings, there +was not at hand enough shipping. + +But the difficulty was greater than this, for Howe had to consider the +Tories and their families. Long before this, when Gage was in command, +the ministry had written that in case of evacuation "the officers and +friends of government must not be left to the rage and insult of rebels, +who set no bounds to their barbarity." Howe's ships, therefore, were to +be at the service of the Tories, and with full knowledge of the involved +results, he so informed them. + +When the realization of the situation burst upon the Tories, they were, +said a contemporary letter, "struck with paleness and +astonishment."[160] "Not the last trump," wrote Washington, "could have +struck them with greater consternation."[161] Until the very last, no +suspicion of such a result seems to have disturbed them; they had borne +themselves confidently, and had expected to see their enemies scattered +when the new forces should arrive. Among their Whig brethren they had +been very high-handed. "The selectmen say," wrote Eldad Taylor, who must +have been at Watertown when the selectmen arrived there with the news of +the evacuation, "that the Tories were the most dreadful of any, that all +the sufferings of the poor for the want of provisions and the +necessaries of life, were not equal to the dreadful scorn, derision, and +contempt from them." + +Upon the Tories was now put the hard decision, whether to go or stay. In +order to decide, they needed to know what the Whigs would do to them; +and to know that, they had but to consider what they would do to the +Whigs in similar case. In their own prison languished the Whig Lovell. +They thought of the Whig prisons which might be waiting for them, and +they decided to go. + +It is not to be denied that the decision was, under the circumstances, +wise. The loyalists were right in supposing that the treatment which +they would have meted to the Whigs, the Whigs would mete to them. For +the country was inflamed against the Tories; Washington himself shared +the sentiment against them. Much as we may regret this feeling, we must +remember that it was natural to the age. Kind treatment to an opponent +in civil war was not yet generally practised; it was Lincoln who made +the lesson acceptable to mankind. + +Practically all of the Tories, therefore, made up their minds to go. +Some few, indeed, remained behind, counting upon their humble station, +or inoffensiveness. No harsh treatment of them is recorded. The one +prominent Tory who remained, Mather Byles the minister, soon weathered +the storm that rose against him. The remaining loyalists, who planned to +depart, were some eleven hundred in number. It was necessary that they +should be accommodated in the ships, necessary also that they should +take with them such of their valuables as were easily portable. Howe +gave orders that room be made for them, and the orders were unselfishly +obeyed by the army and navy. + +But the haste, the disorder, even the tumult, in the days immediately +following the order to depart, were extreme. Each regiment had to be +assigned its transports, each Tory to find space for himself and his +family, and if possible his goods. There was sorting of effects, +bundling up of valuables, and strenuous efforts to get all in safety +before Washington should bombard. Diarists agree in the concise terms +with which they describe the town. Says Newell for the 8th: "The town +all hurry and commotion, the troops with the Refugees and Tories all +embarking." For the 9th he adds: "D^o. D^o. D^o." And for the 10th +writes Lieutenant Barker: "Nothing but hurry and confusion." + +In the meantime the Americans at Dorchester strengthened their works, +and fortified one more eminence, which commanded the channel. Washington +did not wish to cannonade the British, for if not attacked he saw no +advantage in attacking, lest the town should be set on fire and burned. +He therefore bided his time. All his action until now, he wrote Hancock, +was but preparatory to taking post on Nook's Hill, a low promontory +which ran so far out upon Dorchester flats that from its top cannon +could enfilade the British lines at the Neck, and could command almost +any part of Boston. An attempt to fortify it upon the night of the 9th +was betrayed by the folly of the men, who kindled a fire and were +dispersed by British cannon. But by this Washington was not disturbed. +He was willing that Howe should delay for a while, if the delay were not +too long. He himself had reasons for waiting, since he reasoned that +the British would, on departing, attempt to seize New York, and he +wanted time to prepare and despatch a force to hold that place. So he +watched the British army, sent a regiment of riflemen to strengthen New +York, and made ready five other regiments to depart as soon as the +British fleet should leave the harbor. + +But at this time the inhabitants of Boston were very uncertain of their +own fate. Nothing was more natural than that Washington should attack, +or that the exasperated British should on departing, even if unassailed, +set fire to the wooden town. The selectmen, as spokesmen for the +inhabitants, therefore inquired of Howe what his intentions were. Howe +wrote in reply that he had no intention of destroying the town, if he +were unmolested. This reply the selectmen sent in haste to Washington, +begging for a similar assurance. Washington was not willing to bind +himself, and returned answer that as Howe's note was "unauthenticated, +and addressed to nobody," he could take no notice of it. Nevertheless, +since no threat was made, the Bostonians felt more at ease.[162] + +All this time the wind was contrary, and the troops unable to set sail. +They therefore remained in their quarters, while completing their +preparations for departure. As the days passed Howe began to destroy +what he could not take with him, and to seize what would be of advantage +to the rebels. His troops spiked cannon, burned artillery and transport +wagons, or else threw them into the harbor, and ruined bulky stores. +What he did deliberately, his men increased through malice. The 13th +seems to have been the worst day of this period. "The Inhabitants," +wrote Newell, "in the utmost distress, thro' fear of the Town being +destroyed by the Soldiers, a party of New York Carpenters with axes +going thro' the town breaking open houses, &c. Soldiers and sailors +plundering of houses, shops, warehouses--Sugar and salt &c. thrown into +the River, which was greatly covered with hogsheads, barrels of flour, +house furniture, carts, trucks &c. &c.--One Person suffered _four +thousand pounds sterling_, by his shipping being cut to pieces +&c.--Another _five thousand pounds sterling_, in salt wantonly thrown +into the river." No wonder that the sturdy old selectman thought these +to be "very distressed times." + +Howe's agent in the work of plundering was that Crean Brush who had +offered to police the western part of Massachusetts with three hundred +men. Him the general directed to receive all linen and woollen goods +which were on sale, and to take those which were not delivered, giving +certificates for the same. There is on file the petition of one Jackson, +begging for payment for goods taken from him. Brush interpreted his +commission very freely, and it was suspected that he was plundering on +his own account. Every soldier or sailor who could give his officer the +slip was doing the same, in spite of Howe's honest efforts to stop the +plundering. + +There was a little genteel thievery as well. Some of the Tories had +unfairly secured more than their share of room on shipboard, and found +this the chance to take their pick of the furniture of their Whig +relatives. "Wat," wrote John Andrews to his brother-in-law in +Philadelphia, "has stripped your uncle's house of everything he could +conveniently carry off.... He has left all the looking glasses and +window curtains, with some tables and most of the chairs; only two +bedsteads and one bed, without any bedding or sheets, or even a rag of +linnen of any kind. Some of the china and the principal part of the +pewter is the sum of what he has left, save the Library, which was +packed up corded to ship, but your uncle Jerry and Mr. Austin went to +him and absolutely forbid it, upon his peril." + +Another library did not fare so well. At this time disappeared that part +of the Prince collection which had not been used for kindling the fires +in the Old South. With it vanished the Bradford manuscript history of +the Plymouth plantation, which a later generation freely returned. + +While the Tories were so carefully looking to the future, the Whigs were +obliged to guard what they could. Newell covers too many incidents with +etceteras, but John Andrews who, as soon as the siege was lifted, was +free to begin again his correspondence, speaks clearly of his +difficulties. Through the siege he had had the care of six houses with +their furniture, and as many stores filled with goods; but now he +underwent more fatigue and perplexity than for the past eleven months, +for "I was obliged," he says, "to take my rounds all day, without any +cessation, and scarce ever fail'd of finding depredations made upon some +one or other of them, that I was finally necessitated to procure men at +the extravagant rate of two dollars a day to sleep in the several houses +and stores for a fortnight[163] before the military plunderers went +off--for so sure as they were left alone one night, so sure they were +plundered." Later he was obliged to pay at the rate of a dollar an hour +for hands to assist him in moving; but "such was the demand for +laborers, that they were taken from me, even at that, by the tories who +bid over me." + +So, while the wind continued contrary, the plundering and the +destruction continued. Before long the seashore dwellers might do their +share of rescue, as the articles which were thrown into the +harbor--"mahogany chairs, tables, etc.," records Abigail Adams--were +cast up on the beaches. But one by one the transports filled and dropped +down the harbor, until at last Washington grew impatient, and on the +night of the 16th made his last move. Though the British, aware of the +attempt, fired with their remaining guns all night at Nook's Hill, the +Americans doggedly entrenched without returning a shot, and in the +morning showed a finished redoubt. It was, as Trevelyan well says, +Washington's notice to quit. + +Howe meekly accepted it. "At 4 o'clock in the Morn.," writes Lieutenant +Barker, "the troops got under arms, at 5 they began to move, and by +about 8 or 9 were all embarked, the rear being covered by the Grenadiers +and Light Infantry." The ships sailed down the channel, no shot was +fired from the American batteries, and in return the _Fowey_, the last +of the fleet, which Howe had threatened should fire the town before she +departed, carried away with her her "carcases and combustibles," and +Boston stood free and unharmed. + +In half an hour the Americans were in possession. From Roxbury a company +of five hundred, picked for the service because they had had the +smallpox, entered the British lines, and manned the fortifications which +looked toward the harbor. In the redoubt at Bunker Hill sentries +appeared to be still doing their duty; but two men who were sent to +reconnoitre found them to be dummies, and signalled their companions to +follow them. General Putnam was given command of the town, from entering +which the army in general, and all civilians, were prohibited until it +was ascertained whether there was danger of smallpox. + +Washington's other measures were decisive. He directed Manly, admiral of +his little squadron, to follow the British fleet and cut off as many +vessels as possible. One result of this order gave the greatest +satisfaction. "The brave Captain Manly," wrote Andrews, "has taken the +Brig that contained that _cursed_ villain, Crean Brush, with great part +of the plunder he rob'd the stores of here, that I immagine she must be +the richest vessell in the fleet." Other ships were either similarly +taken, or were forced to put ashore from lack of provision or of +preparation. + +Another of Washington's moves was to despatch his five regiments to New +York. They went by way of Norwich, Connecticut, and from there, to save +fatigue and time, were taken by water to the city. They arrived fresh +and ready for the expected struggle, but though they watched long for +the British fleet, it did not come. + +Washington's third action was to defend Boston against a possible +return of the British. The "lines" at Boston and Charlestown necks were +demolished, and on the day after the evacuation Putnam and his men were +at work building on Fort Hill a redoubt to command the harbor. With this +and the Dorchester batteries the Bostonians might have been satisfied, +but within a month they began fortifying Noddle's Island against any +possible attempt by sea. + +In all these precautions the Americans were hastened by the fact that +the British, though they had left the upper harbor, were still in the +lower, lying off Nantasket. "From Penn's Hill," wrote Abigail Adams to +her husband, "we have a view of the largest fleet ever seen in America. +You may count upwards of a hundred and seventy sail. They look like a +forest." Their stay greatly puzzled Washington: "what they are doing," +he wrote, "the Lord knows." He was troubled as well. The ten regiments +of militia, which had strengthened his army since the first of February, +had promised to remain only until the first of April, and he knew that +it was "as practical to stop a torrent, as these people, when their time +is up." He therefore feared lest the British, by striking with all their +force upon his rear, might do him great injury. + +This was not the first time that Washington, reasoning according to his +own nature, expected from Howe that vigorous action which the British +general was unable to perform. Howe, humiliated as he must have felt at +receiving, while his vessel passed down the harbor, a despatch from the +ministry applauding his decision not to evacuate the town, had no +thought of revenge. He blew up the fortifications at the Castle, and +prepared to destroy the lighthouse, but his purposes in remaining were +to fit his fleet for sea, and to warn those British vessels which were +bound for Boston. Nor had he the slightest intention of seizing New +York. The statements which had come to Washington's ears, that Howe's +destination was Halifax, in spite of the American's incredulity, were +correct. On the 27th of March, ten days after the evacuation, the +greater part of Howe's fleet weighed anchor, and sailed away for +Halifax. His army felt its shame. "I do not know the thing so +desperate," wrote an officer, "I would not undertake, in order to change +our situation."[164] But in spite of the chagrin in the hearts of his +soldiers, and the despair in the breasts of the Tories, few of them ever +looked upon Boston again. + +Before this time it had been ascertained that Boston was in no serious +danger from smallpox, and on the 20th the main body of the army marched +into Boston. It was an occasion of great happiness to the inhabitants, +and they "manifested a lively joy." Two days later the town was thrown +open to all comers, and once more, as before the Port Bill, entrance by +land or ferry was free. + +The town was speedily examined in all particulars, and those who had +suffered by the siege were encouraged to bring in claims for damages. It +was found that, except for the absolute destruction of buildings for +fuel, the injury to houses was inconsiderable. Where the common soldiers +had lived, interiors were defaced; yet externally the houses of the town +looked much as they had before the siege. Where the officers had lived, +the dwellings had suffered little, and even the homes of the prominent +Whigs had not been injured. Abigail Adams wrote to her husband that +their house was "very dirty, but no other damage has been done to it." +She looked upon it as a new acquisition of property. Washington took +pains to write Hancock, who had been so ready to sacrifice his +belongings to the cause of the country, that his house, and even his +furniture and pictures, had received no damage worth mentioning. + +To the immense satisfaction of all Whigs, many military stores were +found in the town. Most important were more than two hundred pieces of +ordnance, the larger part of which, though spiked, could soon be put +into serviceable condition. Balls and shells for the cannon and mortars +were found; provisions, horses and their provender, medicines in +quantity, and many other articles were discovered, amounting in value to +nearly forty thousand pounds. The booty of Brush of course swelled this +amount. + +[Illustration: GOLD MEDAL COMMEMORATING WASHINGTON'S VICTORY] + +The Whigs now might see their friends again, and for a short time +enjoyed military society of a new sort. John Andrews reports "nothing +but a continual round of company." "Last week," he recorded, "I had the +honor of General Washington with his lady, General Gates, Mr. Custos and +Lady, with aid de Camps, &ca, to dine with me." It was an occasion of +which he boasted to his dying day. In the town, now flooded with +provision, there were many eager to feast Washington. + +But he did not tarry long. While Howe and his fleet were in the bay, he +kept his men at work demolishing the British defences against the land, +and strengthening the forts which looked seaward, and he was continually +on his guard against the blow which Howe might deliver. But when the +British had sailed away to the north-east, Washington himself, on the +4th of April, set off for New York. + +Howe had nevertheless left vessels at Nantasket Roads, to intercept the +troop-ships and stores which were on their way to him. In this he was +partly successful, for seven ship-loads of Highlanders were by this +means saved from Yankee prisons. But even while the evacuation was in +progress British vessels were captured in the harbor, and now in sight +of the squadron and its Highlanders was taken the richest store-ship +that had yet fallen into American hands. There was a brisk fight, also, +between an American schooner, aground on Shirley Point, and thirteen +boat-loads of men from the war-ships. The boats were beaten off, but +the British had accomplished the death of the captain of the schooner, +America's first naval hero, Mugford of Marblehead. + +At length a determined effort was made to drive away the squadron. The +militia was called out, and artillery was carried to islands down the +harbor. There was a brief cannonade between the Americans and the fleet. +Then the British commander, finding his anchorage no longer safe, blew +up the lighthouse and followed Howe to Halifax. This was on the second +anniversary of the enforcement of the Port Bill. Two days later the +remainder of the Highlanders, unsuspiciously entering the harbor, fell +into the hands of the Americans.[165] + +The British resentment aroused by this last mischance was mild compared +with the general indignation which burst on Howe's head at his conduct +of the defence of Boston, and his hurried evacuation. The ministry +announced the departure from Boston in the briefest fashion, but were +forced to explain and excuse it in both the Commons and the Lords. "The +General thought proper to shift his position," explained the Earl of +Suffolk to the Lords, "in order, in the first place, to protect +Halifax."[166] But the defence was riddled, Howe's general weakness was +exposed, his neglect to fortify Dorchester was pointed out, and the +English Whigs acutely reasoned that he must have had a virtual agreement +with Washington to purchase the safety of the fleet and army at the +price of immunity to the town. Newspapers and pamphleteers took up the +subject, and Howe was eventually forced to ask for an inquiry into his +conduct of the siege. To his dying day he was severely criticised for +his generalship in America, and especially at Boston. + +Of the other British military leaders, not one was successful. Gage was +never again given a command. Burgoyne returned to Boston only as a +prisoner. Clinton for a time commanded in America, but he was recalled. + +As for the master whom these generals served, the king who was the cause +of the war, his failure was complete. George III lost not only his +revolted colonies, but also the dearer prize for which he fought, +personal government. When at last peace was signed, the Americans had +gained independence, and the English people had finally established the +supremacy of Parliament. The king might reign, but he could no longer +govern. + +The fate of the Tories cannot detain us long, painful as it was. Some +few returned to America after the war, and made again places for +themselves. Among these was Judge Curwen. Some went to England, where +they were out of their element. Dependent for the most part on the +bounty of the crown, they lived in hope of a change of fortune. They +longed for their homes, and sickened for a sight of the New England +country, to them the most beautiful on earth. Many of them were too old +to begin life anew: by the end of the war it was recorded that, of the +Massachusetts Tory leaders, forty-five died in England. One of these was +Hutchinson, upon whose life the best comment is the concluding sentence +of Sabine's brief biography: "I forget, in his melancholy end, all +else." + +But numbers of the Tories remained in Canada. Doubtless many were +discouraged from going to England by the reports of the condition of +those already there. "As to your coming here," wrote Governor Wentworth +from London to a friend in New Brunswick, "or any other Loyalist that +can get clams and potatoes in America, they would most certainly regret +making bad worse."[167] On such advice as this many, indeed most, of the +refugees remained in Canada, and after the war, in which many of them +fought, were of great service in building up that country. Nova Scotia +and New Brunswick received the larger number of them; they became +leaders of the bar, judges, physicians, prominent office-holders. It is +not to be denied that among them were suffering and misery; they had +lost much and had to begin again from the bottom, and many succumbed to +the difficulties of the new life. After the war attempt was made to gain +from the United States compensation for their losses; but the new +country was unable even to recompense those who had suffered in its +cause. The loyalists therefore looked to Britain for help, and in some +measure found it, in pensions, grants of money, and holdings of land. + +There is much to regret in this emigration, which took from New England +such numbers of men and women of good blood and gentle breeding. For the +Tories were largely of the better class, many of them had been educated +at Harvard, and they represented an element which no community can +afford to lose. Some of the difficulties of the new commonwealths were +due to the loss of the conservative balance-wheel; some further +troubles beset them from the bitterness of feeling in the new colonists +across the border. This has now died away, but boundary and fisheries +disputes long brought out the hostility latent in the descendants of the +Tories. + +So much for the losers in the fight. Of the winners, no American needs +to be more than reminded of their fame and their successes. At the siege +Washington made his first claim to fame. He proved his tenacity, his +mastery of men, and the greatness of his resolution and daring. Some of +his generals followed him in his success, some were failures. Lee +attempted treachery, but was finally discarded by both sides. Gates +endeavored to displace Washington, but ruined himself in the attempt. +But most of Washington's other generals were able men. Greene proved +himself to be a military genius second only to Washington. Knox, the +sole Bostonian on Washington's staff, commanded the artillery throughout +the war. + +Of the chief Boston politicians, all ended their days honorably. Soon +after the evacuation the body of Warren was sought for among the dead +buried on Bunker Hill. It was found, identified, and entombed at Boston +with solemn mourning. Hancock presently signed his name on the +Declaration of Independence so large that King George could read it +without his spectacles. The Boston merchant served the Continental +Congress for another year as its president; then returning to Boston he +became "King" Hancock, the governor of Massachusetts practically for +life. John Adams passed to greater usefulness as envoy to France, first +minister to Great Britain, and finally as Washington's successor as +President. But to a student of Boston itself the mind dwells most +willingly on Samuel Adams, "the man of the town meeting," who roused the +rebellion, guided it skilfully, served usefully in many public +capacities, and became governor after Hancock's death. His statue stands +to-day in the square named after him, not far from the Old South and the +old Town House, and within sight of Faneuil Hall. + +But we trespass beyond the period of this history. When Howe sailed +away, Boston's share in the Revolution was practically ended. No attempt +was made to retake the town, for there could be no profit in gaining +what could not be held. In the remaining years of the war the town had +no more serious duty than fitting out ships of war and privateers, and +of entertaining the officers of the French fleet. But Boston had earned +its rest. For nearly sixteen years the town had stood as the spokesman +for liberty, the leader of revolt. In bringing the country safely +through a critical period, the services of Boston were essential. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[158] Trevelyan, in concluding that Washington disapproved of this +attack by Putnam, is apparently misled by General Heath's curious habit +of referring to himself in his Memoirs as "Our General." It was Heath +who opposed the project. Against Howe's flimsy defences on the Back Bay, +if weakened of defenders, Putnam might well have prevailed, especially +in a night attack. They were, wrote Edward Bangs, "ill-constructed, and +designed for little but to frighten us." James Warren, who reported on +these works, found them to be very weak. See Frothingham's "Siege," 329. + +[159] Frothingham's "Siege," 311. + +[160] Eldad Taylor to his wife, Watertown, March 18, 1776. + +[161] "Writings," iii, 343. + +[162] For this correspondence, see Newell's "Diary," or "Washington's +Writings," iii, 531-533. + +[163] It cannot have been more than eleven days. + +[164] Frothingham's "Siege," 310. + +[165] See concerning these men and their commander the interesting +monograph by Charles H. Walcott: "Sir Archibald Campbell of Inverneil, +sometime Prisoner of War in the Jail at Concord, Massachusetts." +Privately printed. + +[166] "The Writings of Washington," iii, 531. + +[167] Sabine's "Loyalists," 217. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Siege of Boston, by Allen French + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SIEGE OF BOSTON *** + +***** This file should be named 29199.txt or 29199.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/1/9/29199/ + +Produced by The Bookworm, <bookworm.librivox AT gmail.com>, +Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team +at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned +images of public domain material from the Google Print +project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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