[66] For a week after the affair at Lexington and Concord, Governor Gage refused the request of the people to leave the town, but the growing scarcity of provisions compelled him to permit their departure.
[67] The two eminences in Charlestown were named Breed’s and Bunker’s Hill respectively,—that upon which the redoubt was constructed was Breed’s Hill; the rail fence behind which the troops from New Hampshire fought was on the slope of Bunker’s Hill.
[68] General Gage at the outset saw the value of Charlestown Heights from the military standpoint, but was not able to make any movement to take possession of the ground till the arrival of his reinforcements.
[69] The orders to Prescott contained no definite instructions in regard to which of the hills should be fortified, and the veteran engineer, Gridley, doubted whether it would be best to begin the works on the highest eminence or the lower one, nearer the shipping. It seems probable his intention was to construct works on both hills, but a lack of picks and shovels compelled him to confine his work to the single redoubt on Breed’s Hill.
[70] The headquarters of General Gage were in the house of Mr. Galloup, on Hull Street, a stone’s-throw from Christ Church. The house, a two-story wooden building with a gambrel roof, is still standing (1895).
[71] There is no evidence that Colonel Stark was directed to report to Colonel Prescott or any one else; neither is there any evidence to show that Putnam was in command. We only know that Prescott was directed to occupy Charlestown Heights. Later in the war Putnam, by virtue of his rank, would have been in command, or possibly Warren, but Warren was there only as a volunteer, having been appointed general the day before the battle. It seems probable that no one exercised supreme command, but Prescott, Putnam, Stark, and Reed acted individually with their separate commands, as the exigencies of the moment demanded.
[72] The only defense of the British for the destruction of Charlestown is the assertion that the advancing troops were fired upon by provincials secreted in one of the houses on the outskirts of the town.
[73] The experience of Tom Brandon was that of Eliakim Walker of Tewksbury, Mass., as narrated by him to the author:—
“I had fired away nearly all my powder before the last attack. I fired and was reloading my gun, when I heard a hurrah behind me. I looked round and saw the redcoats leaping over the breastwork. I saw a man beat out the brains of a Britisher with the butt of his gun; the next moment they stabbed him. Seeing I couldn’t get out that way, I jumped over the breastwork and ran towards Pigot’s men, a rod or two, then turned and ran as fast as I could the other way. The bullets whizzed past me, or struck the ground around me. I reached a rail fence, and pitched over it. A bullet struck a rail at the moment. I fell on the other side, laid still till I got my breath, then up and legged it again, and got away.”
[74] Reverend Andrew Eliot, minister of the New North Church, remained in Boston. The following is from a letter to Samuel Eliot under date of September 6, 1776: “I am at length allowed to visit the prisoners. They are only eleven out of thirty.” Proceedings Mass. Hist. Soc. vol. xvi.