The national pride of Great Britain, became indignant at the news of this resistance, which was called an outrage against the royal majesty. The governor and governed, all uttered the same cry, vengeance! war! against the rebel colonists; and this cry was followed by a host of laws, each more tyrannical than the other, by the aid of which they hoped to alarm and reduce the province of Massachusetts. The port of Boston was interdicted for an unlimited time; the provincial charter was destroyed; the citizens were torn from their natural jurisdiction; the appointment of magistrates was placed at the special pleasure of the crown, which also arrogated to itself the right of billeting its soldiers in the houses of the citizens. Far from being disheartened or intimidated by the audacious folly of the English government, the inhabitants of Massachusetts redoubled their activity. A new assembly of the people was convoked at Boston in which an appeal was made to God and the world, against the tyranny and oppression of England. An exhortation was addressed to the other colonies, beseeching them to unite with Massachusetts for the maintenance and defence of their common liberties. The other colonies were not regardless of this appeal, and many of the legislatures declared that the first of June, upon which the port of Boston was shut up, should be ranked among unfortunate days, and the bells on that day were muffled and tolled; the people in crowds attended the churches, and sought the protection of the Deity against those who meditated civil war, and the destruction of their liberties.
The assembly of Massachusetts adjourned to meet at Salem, but Governor Gage, prevented the meeting. The members of assembly formed themselves into a private society, under the name of the League, in which they reciprocally pledged themselves, before God, to suspend all relations with Great Britain, until her unjust laws should be repealed. The governor declared this league to be criminal, and contrary to the rights of the king, and this declaration was in turn treated as tyrannical, since it opposed the people in attending to their own especial interests; and the indignant people, after forcing the crown magistrates to resign their functions, swore no longer to obey any other authorities than those of their own creation, and to recognize no other law than the ancient laws of the colony.
The suspension of all commerce soon plunged the inhabitants of Boston into the deepest distress; their necessities daily multiplied and were felt with increased severity, yet no one thought of compounding with tyranny. In spite of the injunctions of the English government, the citizens of Marblehead and Salem hastened to alleviate the sufferings of their Boston brethren; they furnished them with provisions and money; offered them the free use of their ports, wharves and warehouses, for the renewal of their commerce, which could no longer be carried on at home, yet without which it was almost impossible for them to subsist. Encouraged by these evidences of the approbation of their compatriots, the Bostonians were confirmed in their resolution of maintaining the justice of their cause by force of arms. They began immediately to make preparations; companies of minute men were organized in the city and throughout the province. At the first sound of the first call of the league, or the first report of a new outrage by the English, these minute men were to take up arms and attack the aggressors wherever to be met with. Magazines of arms and ammunition were collected with address and activity. For several months, about thirty young mechanics had formed a volunteer company for the purpose of watching the movements of the English and informing their fellow citizens; towards the spring of 1775 they increased their activity, and every night patroled the streets two by two. About midnight on the 15th of April, they observed that all the boats were launched and ready astern of the ships of war, and that the grenadiers and light infantry were making preparations, they gave immediate notice of this to Dr. Warren, who despatched a messenger forthwith to John Hancock and Samuel Adams with the news, they having left the city to avoid being arrested by the governor, who, it was reported, had issued orders to that effect. On the 18th additional indications of some projected movement were perceived. The Light infantry and grenadiers were concentrated upon the common, and at 10 o’clock at night, 800 men under command of Colonel Smith embarked, and landed at Lechmere point, near Cambridge, whence, after receiving a day’s rations, they marched at midnight. This expedition was destined to destroy the magazines established by the league at Concord. The secrecy observed in the camp, and the silence maintained during the march, led the English to believe that no one in Boston suspected their departure. They pressed forward by moonlight, and arrived at Lexington by daylight, six miles from Concord. But the calm which had previously existed, was now interrupted by the beating of drums through the country, which seemed to call the inhabitants to arms, and a company of about sixty Americans suddenly appeared before them. The English immediately halted, closed up their ranks, and loaded their arms: the Lexington company did the same, and were ordered not to abandon the ground without orders, nor to be the first to fire. Scarcely were these arrangements made, when Major Pitcairn, commanding the British advanced guard, came forward and cried out in an insolent voice, “throw down your arms and disperse, you rebel scoundrels.” This audacious summons was not answered, and Pitcairn ordered his troops to fire: they eagerly obeyed, and eight hundred Englishmen were not ashamed to utter shouts of joy in commencing so unequal a combat, in which sixty citizens offered with devotion their lives as a sacrifice in the holy cause of their country.
The Americans received the first fire with firmness; one of them seeing a friend fall at his side, cried out “you shall be revenged,” fired upon the English, and the war of independence was begun. But the Americans could not long sustain themselves against so unequal a force. They abandoned the ground, leaving eight killed and several wounded, around whom the British proudly defiled, insulting them with shouts of victory.
Having reposed for some time after this terrible battle, the fierce defenders of the crown marched for Concord, where they arrived at nine o’clock. They found the inhabitants in great agitation, but still ignorant of the assassination of their fellow citizens at Lexington. A company of citizens occupied the bridge, and this time the British fired without any summons to surrender: the citizens of Concord warmly returned their first fire, killing some soldiers and officers of the king, after which, too weak to sustain a battle, they dispersed and abandoned the magazines to the English, which they destroyed in a few hours.
The alarm was soon spread throughout the country; the tocsin called to arms all who were able to bear them, and in a short time the English found themselves so surrounded, that they began to feel that their retreat would not be so easy as their two victories. From Concord to Lexington their march was nothing better than a disorderly flight; the well sustained and well directed fire of the rebels, who were concealed along their route, in the barns, gardens, behind the trees and in the ditches, did not allow them to halt a moment to defend themselves. At Lexington they were met by Lord Percy, who at the head of six companies of infantry, a corps of marines, and two companies of artillery, which came in time to prevent their entire destruction, but not to save them from disgrace. Notwithstanding this reinforcement, they still reached Charlestown with great difficulty, where they passed the night under the protection of the guns of the ships; the next morning they re-entered Boston, after having lost in this sad expedition, nearly two hundred men, in killed and wounded.
It would be difficult to depict the astonishment and humiliation of the English, at finding themselves thus driven back by the rebels, and blockaded in their entrenchments by an undisciplined multitude.
The royal army, however, was speedily reinforced by 12,000 men from England, commanded by General Burgoyne, Clinton and Howe. General Gage resolved to strike a great blow against the spirit of insurrection, in order to wipe off the disgrace of the rout at Lexington; he commenced by a proclamation in which he announced the vigorous enforcement of martial law, and promised entire pardon to all those who laid down their arms. Samuel Adams and John Hancock had the honour of being excepted from this general amnesty. This distinction was in fact well merited by their ardent love of liberty, their intelligence, patriotic virtues, and the immense influence they exercised over the minds of the people.
This proclamation was received as all the promises and threats of despotism should be; it was entirely disregarded; and the people closed up their ranks.
While the English army remained shut up in Boston, and upon the narrow tongue of land, which unites the city with the continent, 30,000 Americans kept them rigorously blockaded. Their right was in front on the Dedham road, their centre at Cambridge, and their left wing especially composed of Massachusetts troops, rested upon Charlestown, a village separated from Boston by a narrow stream, traversed by a bridge. The English general resolved to escape by this bridge, from his unfortunate position; but the Americans suspected his plan, and hastened to prevent its execution. During the night, a thousand men under the command of Colonel Prescott established and entrenched themselves upon Breed’s Hill, a small eminence, which commanded the city of Boston, and the Charlestown bridge. When the British at day-break discovered the redoubt, which Colonel Prescott’s little troop had thrown up with so much diligence, they attempted but in vain to destroy it; General Gage then thought it highly important to the safety of his army, that the Americans should be dislodged from this commanding position, and made his arrangements accordingly. Major general Howe at the head of ten companies of grenadiers, ten companies of infantry, and some field pieces, landed at Moreton point, and formed his troops in line of battle; but perceiving that the Americans were not intimidated by this hostile demonstration, he thought it advisable to wait for a reinforcement, which he immediately demanded from Boston. This delay gave the Americans time to receive additional troops, which were led by General Warren, and to complete their plan of defence. The English began this attack by burning Charlestown; in a few minutes this village containing more than five hundred wooden buildings was devoured by the flames.