The Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution, Vol. 1 (of 2) / or, Illustrations, by Pen And Pencil, of the History, Biography, Scenery, Relics, and Traditions of the War for Independence

by Benson John Lossing

1775

adiers, and one adjutant general were appointed, * and the pay of the several officers was agreed upon. **

Washington left Philadelphia for the camp at Cambridge on the 21st of June, where he arrived on the 2d of July. He was every where greeted with enthusiasm by crowds of people, and public bodies extended to him all the deference due to his exalted rank. He arrived at New York on the 25th, escorted by a company of light horse from Philadelphia. Governor Tryon arrived from England on the same day, and the same escort received both the distinguished men. There Washington first heard of the battle of Bunker Hill. He held a brief conference with General Schuyler, and gave that officer directions concerning his future operations. Toward evening, on the 26th, he left New York, under the escort of several military companies, passed the night at Kingsbridge, at the upper end of Manhattan or York Island, and the next morning, bidding adieu to the Philadelphia light horse, pressed on toward Boston. He reached Watertown on the morning of the 2d of July. The Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, presided over by James Warren, was in session, and voted him a congratulatory address. Major-general Lee, who accompanied him, also received an address from that body. They arrived at Cambridge at two o'clock in the afternoon, and Washington! established his head-quarters at the house prepared for him, delineated on page 555.

On the morning of the 3d of July, at about nine o'clock, the troops at Cambridge were drawn up in order upon the Common to receive the commander-in-chief. Accompanied by the general officers of the army who were present, Washington walked from his quarters to the great elm-tree that now stands at the north end of the Common, and, under the shadow of its broad covering, stepped a few paces in front, made some remarks, drew his sword, and formally took command of the Continental army.

That was an auspicious act for America; and the love and reverence which all felt for him on that occasion never waned during the eight long years of the conflict. When he resigned that commission into the hands of Congress at Annapolis, not a blot was visible upon the fair escutcheon of his character; like Samuel, he could boldly "testify his integrity" **** in all things.

* The names of these several officers are contained in a note on page 190.

** The pay of the several officers was as follows, per month: major general, $166, and when acting in a separate department, $330; brigadier general, $125; adjutant general, $125; commissary general, $80 quarter-master general, $80; his deputy, $40; paymaster general, $100; his deputy, $50; chief engineer, $60; three aids-de-camp for the general, each, $33; his secretary, $66; commissary of the musters, $40.

*** The house seen in this sketch is one of the oldest in Cambridge, having been built about 1750. I has been in the possession of the Moore family about seventy-five years. Since I visited Cambridge I have been informed that a Mrs. Moore was still living there, who, from the window of that house, saw the ceremony of Washington taking command of the army.

**** 1 Samuel, xii., 3

Council of War.—Character of the Army.—Punishments.—Riflemen. Number of Troops in the Field.—A model Order.

Washington called a council of war on the 9th. It was composed of the major July 1775 generals and the brigadiers, and the object of the council was to consult upon future operations. The eommander-in-chief found himself at the head of an army composed of a mixed multitude of men of every sort, from the honest and intelligent citizen, possessed of property and station, to the ignorant knave, having nothing to lose, and consequently every thing to gain. Organization had been effected in a very slight degree, and thorough discipline was altogether unknown. Intoxication, peculation, falsehood, disobedience, and disrespect were prevalent, and the punishments which had been resorted to were quite ineffectual to produce reform. * It was estimated by the Council that, from the best information which could be obtained, the forces of the enemy consisted of eleven thousand five hundred effective men, while the Americans had only about fourteen thousand fit for duty. ** It was unanimously decided by the Council to maintain the siege by strengthening the posts around Boston, then held by the Americans, by fortifications and recruits. It was also agreed that, if the troops should be attacked and routed by the enemy, the places of rendezvous should be Wales's Hill, in the rear of the Roxbury lines; and also that, at the present, it was "inexpedient to fortify Dorchester Point, or to oppose the enemy if he should attempt to take possession of it."

Some riflemen from Maryland, Virginia, and Western Pennsylvania, enlisted under the orders of Congress, and led by Daniel Morgan, a man of powerful frame and sterling courage, soon joined the camp. *** Upon their breasts they wore the motto "Liberty or Death." A large proportion of them were Irishmen, and were not very agreeable to the New Englanders. Otho Williams, afterward greatly distinguished, was lieutenant of one of the Maryland companies. Both these men rose to the rank of brigadier.

The first care of the commander-in-chief was to organize the army. **** He arranged it into three grand divisions, each division consisting of two brigades, or twelve regiments, in

* These punishments consisted in pecuniary fines, standing in the pillory, confinement in stocks, riding a wooden horse, whipping, and drumming out of the regiment.

** The following return of the army was made to Adjutant-general Gates on the 19th of July:

*** These men attracted much attention, and on account of their sure and deadly aim, they became a terror to the British. Wonderful stories of their exploits went to England, and one of the riflemen, who was carried there a prisoner, was gazed at as a great curiosity.

**** The following general order was issued on the 4th of July, the day after Washington took command of the army: "The Continental Congress having now taken all the troops of the several colonies, which have been raised, or which may be hereafter raised for the support and defense of the liberties of America, into their pay and service, they are now the troops of the United Provinces of North America; and it is hoped that all distinction of colonies will be laid aside, so that one and the same spirit may animate the whole, and the only contest be, who shall render, on this great and trying occasion, the most essential service to the great and common cause in which we are all engaged. It is required and expected that exact discipline be observed, and due subordination prevail through the whole army, as a failure in these most essential points must necessarily produce extreme hazard, disorder, and confusion, and end in shameful disappointment and disgrace. The general most earnestly requires and expects a due observance of those articles of war, established for the government of the army, which forbid profane cursing, swearing, and drunkenness; and in like manner, he requires and expects of all officers and soldiers, not engaged on actual duty, a punctual attendance on divine service, to implore the blessings of Heaven upon the means used for our safety and defense." This brief order may be regarded as a model. In a few words, it evokes harmony, order, the exercise of patriotism, morality, sobriety, and an humble reverence for and reliance upon Divine Providence. It includes all the essential elements of good government. These principles were the moral bonds of union that kept the little Continental army together during the dreary years of its struggle for the mastery.

Arrangement of the Army.—Location of the several Divisions.—Officers of the same.—General Joseph Spencer.

which the troops from the same colony, as far as practicable, were brought together. The right wing, under Major-general Ward, consisted of two brigades, commanded by Generals Thomas and Spencer, * and was stationed at Roxbury and its southern dependencies. The left wing was placed under the command of General Lee, and consisted of the brigades of Sullivan and Greene.

The former was stationed upon Winter Hill; the latter upon Prospect Hill. The center, stationed at Cambridge, was commanded by General Putnam, and consisted of two brigades, one of which was commanded by Heath, and the other by a senior officer, of less rank than that of brigadier. Thomas Mifflin, who accompanied Washington from Philadelphia as aid-de-camp, was made quarter-master general. Joseph Trum-

* Joseph Spencer served as a major and eolonel during the Seven Years' War. He was a native of East Haddam, in Connecticut, where he was born in 1714. He was with the Continental army in the expedition against Rhode Island, in 1778, and assisted in Sullivan's retreat. He soon afterward resigned his commission, and left the army, when he was chosen to be a delegate in Congress from his native state. He died at East Haddam in January, 1789, aged seventy-five years. General Seth Pomeroy, who was appointed with Speneer and others, refused to serve, and Speneer took rank next to Putnam in the army at Boston. This removed, in a degree, the difficulty that was apprehended in settling the rank of some of the officers. By this arrangement, General Thomas, who was Ward's lieutenant general, was made the first brigadier.

Relative Position of the belligerent Armies.—American Fortifications.—Emerson's Picture of the Camp.

bull, a son of the patriot governor of Connecticut, was appointed commissary general, and upon Joseph Reed, of Philadelphia, was bestowed the post of secretary to the commander-in-chief. In the course of a few months Reed returned to Philadelphia, and was succeeded in office by Robert H. Harrison, a Maryland lawyer.

The relative position of the belligerent armies was, according to a letter written by Washington to the President of Congress, on the 10th of July, as follows: the British were strongly intrenched on Bunker Hill, about half a mile from the chief place of action 1775 on the 17th of June, with their sentries extending about one hundred and fifty yards beyond the narrowest point of Charlestown Neck. Three British floating batteries were in the Mystic River near Bunker Hill, and a twenty-gun ship was anchored below the ferry-place between Boston and Charlestown. They had a battery upon Copp's Hill in Boston, and the fortifications upon the Neck, toward Roxbury, were strengthened. Until the 7th, the British advance guards occupied Brown's Buildings, about a mile from Roxbury meetinghouse. On that day a party from General Thomas's camp surprised the guard, drove them in, and burned the houses. The bulk of the army, commanded by General Howe, lay upon Bunker Hill; and the light horse, and a corps of Tories, remained in Boston.

The Americans had thrown up intrenchments on Winter and Prospect Hills, in full view of the British camp, which was only a mile distant. Strong works were also thrown up at Roxbury, two hundred yards above the meeting-house. Strong lines were made across from the Charlestown Road to the Mystic River, and by connecting redoubts, there was a complete line of defense from that river to Roxbury. *

A letter written by the Reverend William Emerson, a chaplain in the army, a few days after Washington's arrival, gives the following life-like picture of the camp: "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, or to be tied up and receive thirty or forty lashes, according to his crime. Thousands are at work every day from four till eleven o'clock in the morning. It is surprising how much work has been done. The lines are extended almost from Cambridge to the Mystic River; so that very soon it will be morally impossible for the enemy to get between the works, except in one place, which is supposed to be left purposely unfortified, to entice the enemy out of their fortresses. Who would have thought, twelve months past, that all Cambridge and Charlestown would be covered over with American camps, and cut up into forts and intrenchments, and all the lands, fields, and orchards laid common—horses and cattle feeding in the choicest mowing land, whole fields of corn eaten down to the ground, and large parks of well-regulated locusts cut down for fire-wood and other public uses. This, I must say, looks a little melancholy. My quarters are at the foot of the famous Prospect Hill, where such preparations are made for the reception of the enemy. It is very diverting 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 sail-cloth; some partly of one and partly of the other. Again, others are made of stone or turf, brick or brush. Some are thrown up in a hurry; others are curiously wrought with doors and windows, done with wreaths and withes, in the manner of a basket. Some are your proper tents and marquees, looking like the regular camp of the enemy. In these are the Rhode Islanders, who are furnished with tent equipage and every thing in the most exact English style. However, I think this great variety rather a beauty than a blemish in the army." **

"While Washington was organizing the Continental army, Congress was active in the

* The reader will more clearly understand the relative position of the hostile forces and their respective fortifications, by a careful examination of the map on the preceding page. It shows the various works thrown up during the summer and autumn of 1775, and at the beginning of 1776.

* Spark's Life and Writings of Washington (Appendix), iii., 491.

Action of Congress.—Treason of Dr. Church.—The New England Colonies.—Franklin's Post-office Book.

adoption of measures to strengthen his hands, and to organize civil government. Acting upon the suggestion of the Provincial Congress of New York, we have already observed June 23, 1775 (ante Page 316) that Congress authorized the emission of bills of credit. Articles Of War were agreed to on the 30th of June, and on the 6th of July a Declaration was issued, setting forth the cause and necessity for taking up arms. A firm but respectful petition to the king was drawn up by John Dickinson, the author of "Letters of a Pennsylvania Farmer," &c., and adopted on the 8th; and addresses to the inhabitants of Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, and Jamaica, were adopted in the course of the month. The Indians were not overlooked; it was important to secure their neutrality at least; and three boards for Indian affairs were constituted: one for the Six Nations and other northern tribes; a second for the Cherokees, at the South; and a third for the intervening nations, on the borders of Pennsylvania and Virginia. Already some Stockbridge Indians, from Massachusetts, near the New-York line, the last remnant of the tribes of Western New England, were in the camp at Boston; and Kirtland, the missionary among the Six Nations of New York, was making overtures to the Oneidas and the Mohawks. Congress also established a post-office system of its own, extending in its operations from Falmouth (now Portland, Maine) to Savannah, and westward to remote settlements. Dr. Franklin was appointed post-master general. * An army hospital for the accommodation of twenty thousand men was established. At its head was placed Dr. Benjamin Church, of Boston, till this time a brave and zealous compatriot of Warren and his associates. Soon after his appointment he was detected in secret correspondence with Gage. He had intrusted a letter, written in cipher, with his mistress, to be forwarded to the British commander. It was found upon her; she was taken to head-quarters, and there the contents of the letter were deciphered, and the defection of Dr. Church established. He was found guilty, by a court martial, of criminal correspondence with the enemy. Expulsion from the House of Representatives of Massachusetts, and close confinement in Norwich Jail, in Connecticut, by order of the general Congress, speedily followed. His health failing, he was allowed to leave the country. He sailed for the West Indies; but the vessel that bore him was never afterward heard from. His place in the hospital was filled by Dr. John Morgan, one of the founders of the Medical School in Philadelphia. Church was the first traitor to the American cause.

The New England colonies, sustained by the presence of a strong army, labored energetically in perfecting their civil governments. Connecticut and Rhode Island, as we have observed, were always democratic, and through the energy of Trumbull, the governor of the former, that colony took an early, bold, and commanding stand for freedom. Nor was the latter colony much behind her democratic colleague. Benning Wentworth, governor of New Hampshire, having lost all political power, shut himself up, for two months, in Fort William and Mary at Portsmouth, during which time his house was pillaged by a mob. He prorogued the Assembly in July, and then fled to Boston for safety. Massachusetts organized a House of Representatives under the original charter; and as, according to the provisions of that charter, the executive authority devolved upon the Council in the absence of the governor and his lieutenant, that body, chosen on the 21st of July, assumed such authority. Such continued to be the government of the colony until the adoption of a state constitution in 1780. A single executive committee was constituted, vested with all the powers hitherto exercised by the several committees of correspondence, inspection, and safety. This consolidation produced far greater efficiency. Of the civil and military operations of other colonies I shall write hereafter; for the present, let us view the progress of events at Boston.

* In the General Post-office at Washington city I saw, several years ago, the book in which Franklin kept his post-office accounts. It is a common, half-bound folio, of three quires of coarse paper, and contained all the entries for nearly two years. The first entry was November 17, 1776. Now more than fifteen hundred of the largest-sized ledgers are required annually for the same purpose; the number of contractors and other persons having accounts with the office being over thirty thousand. There are about one hundred clerks employed in the department.

The belligerent Armies at Boston.—Skirmishes and other hostile Movements.—Naval Operations on the Coast.—Navy Boards.

During the remainder of the summer, and throughout the autumn, the belligerents continually menaced each other, but neither appeared ready for a general engagement. The British were awaiting re-enforcements, and the Americans were too feeble in men, discipline, and munitions of war, to make an assault with a prospect of success. Several skirmishes occurred, and on two or three occasions a general battle was apprehended.

The declaration of Congress, setting forth the causes and the necessity for taking up arms, was read by President Langdon, * of Harvard, before the army at Cambridge, on the 15th of July. On the 18th, it was read to the division under General Thomas, at Roxbury, and also to the troops under Putnam, upon Prospect Hill. At the close of the reading a cannon was fired, three hearty cheers were given by the army, and the flag that was presented to Putnam a few days before was unfurled. ** "The Philistines on Bunker Hill," said the Essex Gazette, in its account of the affair, "heard the shouts of the Israelites, and being very fearful, paraded themselves in battle array." The 20th was observed as a day of fasting by the whole army. On the 30th (Sunday), five hundred British troops marched over Charlestown Neck, and built a slight breast-work; at the same time a Brit ish floating battery was rowed up the Charles River. Another party of troops sallied out toward Roxbury, drove in the American sentinels, and set fire to a tavern. Frequent excursions were made by both parties to the islands in the harbor, and skirmishes, sometimes severe, were the consequences. These things kept the two armies on the alert, and disciplined them in habits of vigilance.

British cruisers kept the New England coast, from Falmouth to New London, in a state of continual alarm. They were out in every direction, seeking plunder and endeavoring to supply the camp with fresh provisions. Lieutenant Mowatt, commander of a British brig, made a descent upon Gloucester, Cape Anne, and attempted to land. He was repulsed, after he had thrown several bombs into the town without serious effect. August 13. Stonington, in Connecticut, was bombarded for a day; two men were killed, and September 30. the houses were much shattered. In October, Mowatt was sent to Falmouth (now Portland, in Maine), to obtain a supply of provisions from the inhabitants, and to demand a surrender of their arms. They refused obedience, and boldly defied him; whereupon, after giving time sufficient for the women and children to leave the town, he bombarded and set it on fire. It contained about five hundred buildings, and presently a large portion of them were in flames. One hundred and thirty-nine houses, and two hundred and seventy-eight stores and other buildings were destroyed; but the resolute inhabitants October 7 maintained their ground, repulsed the enemy, and prevented his landing. Bristol, on the east side of Narragansett Bay, and other towns in the neighborhood, were visited in like manner by the depredators. These wanton cruelties excited intense indignation, and the American troops that environed Boston could hardly be restrained from attacking the oppressors of their countrymen.

The Americans, as a countervailing measure, fitted out cruisers, and in a short time each colony had a navy board. These privateers became very formidable to the enemy, and the extent of British depredations along the coast was greatly lessened. Washington sent out five or six armed vessels to intercept supplies coming into the port of Boston, and some important captures were made. Some of the American naval officers proved very inefficient. Captain Manly, almost alone, at that time, sustained the character of a bold and skillful commander, and he and his crew did good service to the eause. They bravely maintained their position off Boston Harbor, and in the course of a few weeks captured three valuable

* Reverend Samuel Langdon was a native of Boston, and graduated at Harvard in 1740. He succeeded Mr. Locke as president of that institution, in 1774. On account of a lack of urbanity, he was disliked by the students, who made his situation so disagreeable that he resigned the presidency in 1780. In 1781, at Hampton Fall, New Hampshire, he resumed his ministerial labors, in which he continued faithful until his death. This event occurred on the 29th of November, 1797, at the age of seventy-four.

** This was the flag before alluded to, which bore on one side the motto "An appeal to Heaven," and on the other "Qui transtulit, sustinet."

Capture of Ammunition.—Attempt to seize Manly.—Repulse of Linzee.—Scarcity of Powder.—Expected Sortie.

vessels, one of which was laden with heavy guns, mortars, and intrenching tools—a valuable prize for the Americans at that time. Only thirteen days before, Washington wrote to Congress, "I am in very great want of powder, lead, mortars, indeed most sorts of military stores." Captain Manly supplied him more promptly and bountifully than Congress could do. The finest of the mortars was named Congress, and placed in the artillery park at Cambridge.

Manly soon became a terror to the British, and the Falcon sloop-of-war, Captain Linzee, was sent out to attempt to seize him. He was chased, in company with a schooner, into Gloucester Harbor. The schooner was seized by the enemy. Manly ran his brig ashore.

Linzee fired more than three hundred guns, and sent barges of armed men to take the brig; but the crew and the neighboring militia behaved so bravely that Linzee was repulsed, having lost nearly half his men. Manly's vessel was got off without much damage, and was soon cruising again beneath the pine-tree flag. *

1775 Early in August, Washington discovered that a great mistake had been made in reporting to him the condition of the commissariat, in the article of powder. "Our situation," he said, in a letter to Congress, "in the article of powder, is much more alarming than I had the most distant idea of."

"Instead of three hundred quarter-casks," wrote Reed, "we have but thirty-two barrels."

Powder-mills were not yet in successful operation in the province, and great uneasiness prevailed lest the enemy should become acquainted with their poverty. Vessels were fitted out, on private account, to go to the West Indies for a supply of powder. The Provincial Congress of Massachusetts passed a law August 12prohibiting a waste of powder in shooting birds or for sports of any kind, and every precaution was adopted to husband the meager supply on hand.

Although Washington did not feel strong enough to make an assault upon Boston, he was prepared to receive an attack from the enemy, and was anxious for such an event. For weeks it had been rumored that the British intended to make a sortie in full force; and, finally, the 25th of August was designated as the day selected for the demonstration. It was understood that Earl Percy was to have the command of Boston Neck, where he expected to retrieve the honors which he lost in his retreat from Lexington. In the mean while, the British were daily practicing the maneuvers of embarking and debarking, and every movement indicated an intention to make an effort to break up the circumvallating line of provincials that hemmed them so closely in.

On Saturday night, the 26th of August, General Sullivan, with a fatigue party of

1775 one thousand men, and a guard of two thousand four hundred, marched, in imitation of the feat of Prescott's, to Plowed Hill (now Mount Benedict), within point blank shot of

The Pine-tree Flag.2

* Bradford's History of Massachusetts, page 75.

** This engraving is a reduced copy of a vignette on a map of Boston, published in Paris in 1776. The London Chronicle, an anti-ministerial paper, in its issue for January, 1776, gives the following description of the flag of an American cruiser that had been captured: "In the Admiralty office is the flag of a provincial privateer. The field is white bunting; on the middle is a green pine-tree, and upon the opposite side is the motto, "Appeal to Heaven"

Fortifications on Plowed Hill.—Heavy Bombardment.—Condition of Troops and People in Boston.

the enemy's batteries on Bunker Hill, and before morning cast up such intrenchments as afforded excellent protection against the cannons of the British. Washington hoped this maneuver would bring on a general action, and he rejoiced to hear the cannonade that opened upon the American works in the morning, from Bunker Hill and a ship and two floating batteries in the Mystic. More than three hundred shells were thrown by the enemy on that occasion. * On account of the scarcity of powder the cannonade was not returned. A nine pounder, planted on a point at the Ten Hills Farm, played so effectually against the floating batteries that one of them was sunk and the other silenced. The British cannonade ceased at night. In the morning, troops were observed to be drawn up on Bunker Hill, as if for marching. Washington now expected an attack, and sent five thousand men to Plowed Hill ** and to the Charlestown Road. It was a bold challenge for the enemy, but he prudently refused to accept it. For several days he fired a few cannon shots against the American works, but, perceiving them to be ineffectual, he ceased all hostilities on the 10th of September. It was about this time that the Continental army received seven hundred pounds of powder from Rhode Island; "probably a part," says Gordon, "of what had been brought from Africa." ***

The close investment of Boston by troops on land and privateers at sea began to have a serious effect upon the officers, troops, and people in the city. **** They had an abundance of salt provision, but, being unaccustomed to such diet, many fell sick. Gage, doubtless, spoke in sentiment, if not in words, as Freneau wrote:

"Three weeks, ye gods! nay, three long years it seems

Since roast beef I have touched, except in dreams.

In sleep, choice dishes to my view repair;

Waking, I gape, and champ the empty air.

Say, is it just that I, who rule these bands,

Should live on husks, like rakes in foreign lands?

Come, let us plan some project ere we sleep,

And drink destruction to the rebel sheep.

On neighboring isles uncounted cattle stray;

Fat beeves and swine—an ill-defended prey—

These are fit 'visions for my noonday dish;

These, if my soldiers act as I could wish,

In one short week would glad your maws and mine;

On mutton we will sup—on roast beef dine."

Midnight Musings; or, a Trip to Boston, 1775.

In daily apprehension of an attack from the provincials, and the chances for escape hourly diminishing, they experienced all the despondency of a doomed people. Gage was convinced that the first blow against American freedom had been struck in the wrong place, and that the position of his troops was wholly untenable. He had been re-enforced since the battle of Bunker Hill, but the new-comers were a burden rather than an aid; for he had the sagacity to perceive that twice the number of troops then under his command were insufficient to effectually disperse the Continental army, backed, as it was, by other thousands ready to step from the furrow to the intrenchment when necessity should call. Idleness begat vice, in various forms, in his camp, and inaction was as likely as the weapons of his enemy to decimate his battalions. (v) Much annoyance to the British officers was produced by the cir-

* During this cannonade, Adjutant Mumford, of Colonel Varnum's Rhode Island regiment, and another soldier, had their heads shot off, and a rifleman was mortally wounded.

** Bunker Hill, Plowed Hill, and Winter Hill are situated in a range from east to west, each of them on or near the Mystic River.

*** Early in 1775, two vessels, laden with New England rum, sailed from Newport to the coast of Africa. The rum was exchanged, at the British forts, for powder; and so completely did this traffic strip the fortresses of this article, that there was not an ounce remaining that could be taken from the use of the garrisons. This maneuver produced a seasonable supply for the provincials.

**** The number of inhabitants in Boston, on the 28th of July, was six thousand seven hundred and fifty-three. The number of the troops was thirteen thousand six hundred.

(v) Most of the soldiers were encamped on the Common, which was not, as now, shaded by large trees, but exposed to the heat of the summer sun. "It is not to be wondered," said a letter-writer, in August, "that the fatigue of duty, bad accommodations, and the use of too much spirits, should produce fever in the camp. The soldiers can not be kept from rum. Six-pence will buy a quart of West India rum, and four-pence is the price of a quart of New England rum. Even the sick and the wounded have often nothing to eat but salt pork and fish."

American Hand-bills in the British Camp.—Opinions concerning the Provincials.—Plan for relieving Boston

culation of hand-bill addresses among the soldiers. They found their way into the British camp; how, no one could tell. * They were secret and powerful emissaries; for the soldiers pondered much, in their idle moments, upon the plain truths which these circulars contained.

Every thing now betokened ruin to the royal cause. Even as early as the 25th of 1775 June, Gage said, in a letter to Dartmouth, when giving an account of the battle of the 19th, "The trials we have had show the rebels are not the despicable rabble too many have supposed them to be; and I find it owing to a military spirit encouraged among them for a few years past, joined with an uncommon degree of zeal and énthusiasm, that they are not otherwise." Toward the close of July he wrote despairingly to Lord Dartmouth. After averring that the rebellion was general, he said, "This province began it—I might say this town; for here the arch rebels formed their scheme long ago." He spoke of the disadvantageous position of the troops, and suggested the propriety of transferring the theater of operations to New York, where "the friends of government were more numerous."

The few patriots who remained in Boston were objects of continual suspicion, and subject to insults daily. They were charged with sketching plans of the military works, telegraphing with the provincials by signals from steeples, and various other acts, for which some were thrown into prison. At length provisions became so scarce, and the plundering expeditions sent out by Gage to procure fresh food were so unsuccessful, ** that the commander determined to make arrangements for the removal of a large number of the inhabitants from the town. It was notified that James Urquhart, the town major, would receive the names July 24, 1775 those who wished to leave. Within two days more than two thousand names were handed in, notwithstanding there was a restriction that no plate was to be carried away, and no more than five pounds in cash by each person. Many people of property, who would gladly have left, were unwilling to do so, for they knew that what property remained would become a prey to the soldiery. Of those who departed, many women quilted silver spoons into their garments. Coin was smuggled out of the city in the same way. These refugees landed principally at Chelsea, and scattering over the country, were all re-

* I saw one of these hand-bills among the Proclamations, &c., in the Massachusetts Historical Society. It was an address to the soldiers who were about embarking for America, and was printed in London. The writer, in speaking of the course of the provincials, emphasizes, by italics, printed in a single conspicuous line, the expression, "Before God and man they are right!" On the back of this address is the following endorsement, which was evidently printed in this country, the type and ink being greatly inferior to the other. It alludes to the two camps: the one on Prospect Hill, under Putnam; the other on Bunker Hill, under Howe.

Prospect Hill.
I. Seven dollars a month.
II. Fresh provisions, and in plenty.
III. Health.
IV. Freedom, ease, affluence, and a good farm.
Bunker Hill.
I. Three-pence a day.
II. Rotten salt pork.
III. The scurvy.
IV. Slavery, beggary, and want.

** One of these, in August, was quite successful. In the neighborhood of New London, a small British fleet obtained eighteen hundred sheep and more than one hundred head of oxen. Frothingham (page 236) quotes a letter from Gage to Lord Dartmouth, in which this important fact is announced. This letter was published, and in the anti-ministerial London Chronicle the following impromptu appeared:

"In days of yore the British troops
Have taken warlike kings in battle;
But now, alas I their valor droops,
For Gage takes naught but—harmless cattle.
"Britons, with grief your bosoms strike!
Your faded laurels loudly weep!
Behold your heroes, Quixotte like,
Driving a timid flock of—sheep!"

Council of War.—Situation of the Army.—Washington's Complaints.—Gage recalled.—His Life and Character.

ceived with the open arms of hospitality every where, except a few Tories who ventured to leave the city. These were treated with bitter scorn, and there were many martyrs for opinion's sake. This measure was a great relief to Gage; and the capture, about that time, of an American vessel laden with fresh provisions, made food quite plentiful in the city for a while.

The inactive and purely defensive policy pursued by both armies became exceedingly onerous to Washington, and he resolved, if expedient, to endeavor to put an end to it. Congress, too, became impatient, and requested Washington to attack the enemy if he perceived any chance for success. The commander-in-chief, accordingly, called a council of war on the 11th of September. In view of the rapid approach of the time when the term of 1775 enlistment of many of the troops would expire, and also of the general unfavorable condition of the army, Washington desired to make an immediate and simultaneous attack upon the city and the camp of the enemy on Bunker Hill. But his officers dissented; and the decision of the Council was "that it is not expedient to make the attempt at present." Ten days afterward, Washington wrote a long letter to the President of Congress, in which, after making a statement which implied a charge of neglect on the part of that body, he drew a graphic picture of the condition of the army. "But my situation," he said, "is inexpressibly distressing, to see the winter fast approaching upon a naked army, the time of their service within a few weeks of expiring, and no provisions yet made for such important events. Added to these, the military chest is totally exhausted; the paymaster has not a single dollar in hand; the commissary general assures me that he has strained his credit for the subsistence of the army to the utmost; the quarter-master general is in precisely the same situation; and the greater part of the troops are in a state not far from mutiny, upon a deduction from their stated allowance. I know not to whom I am to impute this failure; but I am of opinion that, if the evil is not immediately remedied, and more punctuality observed in future, the army must absolutely break up." Thus we perceive, that within three months after his appointment to the chief command, Washington had cause to complain of the tardy movements of the general Congress. Throughout the war, that body often pressed like a dead weight upon the movements of the army, embarrassing it by special instructions, and neglecting to give its co-operation when most needed. It was only during the time when Washington was invested with the powers of a military dictator, that his most brilliant military achievements were accomplished.

It was in September that the expedition to Quebec, under Arnold, by the way of the Kennebec, was planned. This important measure, and the progress and result of the expedition, have already been noticed on pages 190 to 194 inclusive.

Convinced of the inefficiency of Gage, and alarmed at the progress of the rebellion, the king summoned that officer to England to make a personal explanation of the state of affairs at Boston. Gage sailed on the 10th of October, leaving affairs in the hands of General Howe. * Before his departure, the Mandamus Council, a number of the prin-

* Thomas Gage, the last royal governor of Massachusetts, was a native of England, and was an active officer during the Seven Years' War. He was appointed Governor of Montreal in 1760, and, at the departure of Amherst from America, in 1763, was commissioned commander-in-chief of the British forces in America. He superseded Hutchinson as Governor of Massachusetts, and had the misfortune to enter upon the duties of his office at a time when it became necessary for him, as a faithful servant of his king, to execute laws framed expressly for the infliction of chastisement upon the people of the capital of the colony over which he was placed. From that date his public acts are interwoven with the history of the times. He possessed a naturally amiable disposition, and his benevolence often outweighed his justice in the scale of duty. Under other circumstances his name might have been sweet in the recollection of the Americans; now it is identified with oppression and hatred of freedom. He went to England in the autumn of 1775, where he died in April, 1787. Gage expected to return to America and resume the command of the army; but ministers determined otherwise, and appointed General Howe in his place. The situation was offered to the veteran Oglethorpe, the founder of Georgia, but as he would not accept the commission unless he could go to the Americans with assurances from government that strict justice should be done them, the post was assigned to Howe. This was a tacit admission, on the part of ministers, that justice to the Americans formed no part of their scheme.

Loyal Address to Gage.—Superiority of Howe.—Fortifications in Boston.—The "Old South" desecrated.—Officers frightened.

cipal inhabitants of Boston, and several who had taken refuge in the country, in all about seventy persons, addressed him in terms of loyal affection, amounting to panegyric. It was certainly unmerited; for his civil administration had been weak, and his military operations exceedingly inefficient.

This was felt by all parties. His departure was popular with the army; and the provincials, remembering the spirit displayed by General Howe in the battle on Breed's Hill, anticipated a speedy collision. Howe was superior to Gage in every particular, and possessed more caution, which was generally founded upon logical deductions from fact. Governed by that caution, he was quite as unwilling as Gage to attack the Americans. He remembered the disparity in numbers on the 17th of June, and the bravery of the provincials while fighting behind breast-works cast up in a single night. He properly argued that an army of the same sort of men, fifteen thousand strong, intrenched behind breast-works constructed by the labor of weeks, was more than a match for even his disciplined troops of like number, and prudently resolved to await expected re-enforcements from Ireland before he should attempt to procure that "elbow-room" which he coveted. * In the mean while, he strengthened his defenses, and prepared to put his troops into comfortable winter quarters. He built a strong fort on Bunker Hill, ** and employed six hundred men in making additional fortifications upon Boston Neck. In the neighborhood of the hay-market, at the south end of the city, many buildings were pulled down, and works erected in their places. Strong redoubts were raised upon the different eminences in Boston, and the old South meeting-house was stripped of its pews and converted into a riding-school for the disciplining of the cavalry. *** This last act took place on the 19th of October, and the desecration greatly shocked the feelings of the religious community. On October,1775 the 28th Howe issued three proclamations, which created much indignation, and drew forth retaliatory

* It is said that both officers and soldiers regarded the Americans with a degree of superstitious fear, for many highly exaggerated tales of their power had been related. Dr. Thatcher says (Journal, p. 38) that, according to letters written by British officers from Boston, some of them, while walking on Beacon Hill in the evening, soon after the arrival of Gage, were frightened by noises in the air, which they took to be the whizzing of bullets. They left the hill with great precipitation, and reported that they were shot at with air-guns. The whizzing noise which so much alarmed these valiant officers was no other than the whizzing of bugs and beetles while flying in the air. Trumbull, in his M'Fingall, thus alludes to this ludicrous circumstance:

"No more the British colonel runs
From whizzing beetles as air-guns;
Thinks horn-bugs bullets, or, through fears,
Mosquitoes takes for musketeers;
Nor 'scapes, as if you'd gain'd supplies
From Beelzebub's whole host of flies.
No bug these warlike hearts appals;
They better know the sound of balls."

** This was a well-built redoubt. The parapet was from six to fifteen feet broad; the ditch from fourteen to eighteen feet wide, and the banquet about four feet broad. The galleries and parapet before them were raised about twenty feet high, and the merlons at the six-gun battery in the center were about twelve feet high, a a, two temporary magazines; b b, barracks; c, guard-houses; di magazine; e, advanced ditch; h h, bastions.

*** A Mr. Carter, quoted by Frothingham, writing on the 19th of October, says, "We are now erecting redoubts on the eminences on Boston Common; and a meeting-house, where sedition has been often preached, is clearing out to be made a riding-school for the light dragoons." Gordon says, "In clearing every thing away, a beautiful carved pew, with silk furniture, formerly belonging to a deceased gentleman (Deacon Hubbard) in high estimation, was taken down and carried to Mr. John Armory's house, by the order of an officer, who applied the carved work to the erection of a hog-stye."

Harsh Measures, and Retaliation.—Congress Committee at Head quarters.—Little Navy organized.—Floating Batteries

measures from Washington. The first forbade all persons leaving the town without permission, under pain of military execution; the second prohibited persons who were permitted to go from carrying with them more than twenty-five dollars in cash, under pain of forfeiture—one half of the amount to be paid to the informer; and the third ordered all the inhabitants within the town to associate themselves into military companies. Washington retaliated by ordering General Sullivan, who was about departing for Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to seize all officers of government unfriendly to the patriots. Similar orders were sent to Governor Trumbull, of Connecticut, and Deputy-governor Cooke, of Rhode Island.

While Howe was thus engaged, Washington was not idle. A committee of Congress, consisting of Dr. Franklin, Thomas Lynch, and Benjamin Harrison (father of the late President Harrison), arrived at head-quarters on the 18th of October, to confer with the commander-in-chief respecting future operations. Deputy-governor Griswold and Judge Wales, of Connecticut; Deputy-governor Cooke, of Rhode Island; several members of the Massachusetts Council, and the President of the Provincial Congress of New Hampshire, were present at the conference, which lasted several days, and such a system of operations was matured as was satisfactory to General Washington. * A plan was agreed upon for an entirely new organization of the army, which provided for the enlistment of twenty-six regiments of eight companies each, besides riflemen and artillery. Already measures had been adopted to organize a navy. As early as June, Rhode Island had fitted out two armed vessels to protect the waters of that colony; Connecticut, at about the same time, one or two armed vessels; and, on the 26th of June, the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts resolved to provide six armed vessels. None of the latter had been got in readiness as late as the 12th of October, as appears by a letter from Washington to the President of the Continental Congress.

Having received no instructions from Congress on the subject, Washington took the responsibility, under his general delegated powers, of making preparations to annoy the enemy by water. Agents were appointed to superintend the construction of vessels, and to furnish supplies. Captain Broughton, of Marblehead, received a naval commission from Washington, dated September 2d, 1775, the first of the kind issued by the Continental Congress through its authorized agent. Before the close of October, six vessels of small size ** had been armed and manned, and sent to cruise within the capes of Massachusetts Bay. Two strong floating batteries were launched, armed, and manned in the Charles River; and, on the 26th of October, they opened fire upon Boston that produced great alarm and damaged several houses. The six schooners commissioned by Wash-