[IV. EVACUATION OF BOSTON.]
General Officers appointed—Washington repairs to Cambridge—State of the Army—Great want of Gunpowder—Sickness in the Camp—Dorchester heights fortified—Proposal of the British General to attack the American Intrenchments—Alters his plan, and evacuates Boston—Embarkation of the British—Washington enters the city.
Having elected a commander-in-chief, congress proceeded to the selection of other experienced officers.—Artimas Ward, Charles Lee, and Philip Schuyler, were appointed major-generals, and Horatio Gates adjutant-general. These appointments were followed, a few days after, by that of eight brigadier-generals: Seth Pomeroy, William Heath, and John Thomas, of Massachusetts; Richard Montgomery, of New York; David Wooster and Joseph Spencer, of Connecticut; John Sullivan, of New Hampshire; and Nathaniel Greene, of Rhode Island.
In July, Washington, accompanied by General Lee, repaired to the camp near Boston; receiving, on his journey thither, the highest honors from the most distinguished citizens. On making a review of the army, soon after his arrival, he found an immense multitude, of whom only fourteen thousand five hundred were in a condition fit for service. But even these, in respect to uniform, equipment, and discipline, exhibited a variety most disheartening and painful to a commander. As to discipline, it scarcely existed. The subordinate officers were without emulation; and the privates, having been unaccustomed to the rules and regulations of a camp, were impatient of all subordination.
