Covered their landing on the destined shore." **
The Americans had worked faithfully on their intrenchments all the morning, and were greatly encouraged by the voice and example of Prescott, who exposed himself, without care, to the random shots of the battery on Copp's Hill. ***
He supposed, at first, that the enemy would not attack him, but, seeing the movements in the city, he was convinced to the contrary, and comforted his toiling troops with assurances of certain victory. Confident of such a result himself, he would not at first send to General Ward for a re-enforcement; but between nine and ten o'clock, by advice of his officers, Major Brooks was dispatched to head-quarters for that purpose. General Putnam had urged Ward early in the morning to send fresh troops to relieve those on duty; but only a portion of Stark's regiment was allowed to go, as the general apprehended that Cambridge would be the principal point of attack. Convinced otherwise, by certain intelligence, the remainder of Stark's regiment, and the whole of Reed's corps, on the Neck, were ordered to re-enforce Prescott.
At twelve o'clock the men in the redoubt ceased work, sent off their intrenching tools, took some refreshments, hoisted the New England flag, and prepared to fight.
The intrenching tools were sent to Bunker Hill, where, under the direction of General Putnam, the men began to throw up a breast-work. Some of the more timid soldiers made the removal of the tools a pretext for leaving the redoubt, and never returned.
It was between twelve and one o'clock when the Brit-
* This is written Morton, Moreton, and Moulton, by different authors. Morton is the proper name.
** From "The American War," a poem in six books, published in London, 1786.
*** A soldier (Asa Pollard, of Billerica) who had ventured outside of the redoubt, was killed by a cannon ball. The circumstance so alarmed those within, that some of them left the hill. Prescott, to inspire his men with confidence, walked leisurely around the works upon the parapet, in full view of the British officers in Boston. Gage, who was reconnoitering the works through a glass, saw his tall and commanding form, and asked Counselor Willard, who stood near him, who it was. Willard, recognizing his brother-inlaw, said, "That is Colonel Prescott." "Will he fight?" inquired Gage. "Yes, sir," replied Willard; "he is an old soldier, and will fight as long as a drop of blood remains in his veins." "The works must be carried immediately," responded Gage, as he turned upon his heel to give orders.—
**** This is copied from an old Dutch work, preserved in the library of the New York Historical Society, containing pictures of the flags of all nations. In the original, a divided sphere, representing the earth, is in the quarter where I have placed the pine-tree. I have made the alteration in the device, because in the flag raised upon the bastion of the redoubt on Breed's Hill, the pine-tree occupied the place of the sphere, the more ancient device. The question has been unsettled respecting the flag used on that occasion, as cotemporary writers are silent on the subject. An intelligent old lady (Mrs. Manning) whom I saw between the Brandywine and Kennet Square, in Pennsylvania, informed me that her father, who was in the battle, assisted in hoisting the standard, and she had heard him speak of it as a "noble flag." The ground was blue, and one corner was quartered by the red cross of St. George, in one section of which was the pine-tree. This was the New England flag, as given in the sketch. Doubtless there were many other flags belonging to the several regiments. Botta says of Dr. Warren, during the retreat, "Finding the corps he commanded hotly pursued by the enemy, despising all danger, he stood alone before the ranks, endeavoring to rally his troops, and encouraging them by his own example. He reminded them of the mottoes inscribed on their ensigns, on one side of which were these words, 'An appeal to Heaven,' and on the other, 'Qui transtulit, sustinet,' meaning, that the same providence that brought their ancestors through so many perils to a place of refuge, would also deign to support their descendants." Botta often exhibits more poetry than truth in his brilliant narrative. After the battle under consideration, and while Putnam commanded on Prospect Hill, a flag with the inscription above given was presented to him, and was first unfurled on the 18th of July ensuing. The author of "The Veil Removed" properly treats the assertion of Botta as a fiction, and sarcastically remarks that, "instead of such a sentimental allusion to Latin mottoes, the only command, when their ammunition was spent, must have been Sauve qui peut, 'Save himself who can.' "Qui transtulit, sustinet," is the motto in the seal of Connecticut.