Plan of Bunker Hill.
A. Boston Battery. B. Charlestown.
C. British troops attacking. D. Provincial lines.
Bunker Hill Battle.
From a Contemporary Print.
Two days before, Congress had chosen George Washington
commander-in-chief, and on July 2d he arrived at Cambridge. Washington
was forty-three years old. Over six feet in height, and
well-proportioned, he combined great dignity with ease. His early life
as surveyor in a wild country had developed in him marvellous powers of
endurance. His experience in the French and Indian War had given him
considerable military knowledge. But his best title to the high honor
now thrust upon him lay in his wonderful self-control, sound judgment,
lofty patriotism, and sublime courage, which were to carry him, calm and
unflinching, through perplexities and discouragements that would have
overwhelmed a smaller or a meaner man.
Washington fought England with his hands tied. The Continental
government was the worst possible for carrying on war. There was no
executive. The action of legislative committees was slow and
vacillating, and at best Congress could not enforce obedience on the
part of a colony. Congress, too, afraid of a standing army, would
authorize only short enlistments, so that Washington had frequently to
discharge one army and form another in the face of the enemy. His troops
were ill-disciplined, and scantily supplied with clothing, tents,
weapons, and ammunition. Skilled officers were few, and these rarely
free from local and personal jealousies, impairing their efficiency.
[1776]
Washington found that the army around Boston consisted of about 14,500
men fit for duty. He estimated the British forces at 11,000. All the
fall and winter he was obliged to lie inactive for want of powder.
Meantime he distressed the British as much as possible by a close siege.
In the spring, having got more powder, he fortified Dorchester Heights.
The city was now untenable, and on March 17, 1776, all the British
troops, under command of Howe who had succeeded Gage, sailed out of
Boston harbor, never again to set foot on Massachusetts soil.
Joseph Warren.
June 28th, a British fleet of ten vessels opened fire on Fort Moultrie,
in Charleston harbor, S. C. The fort, commanded by Colonel Moultrie,
returned the fire with remarkable accuracy, and after an engagement of
twelve hours the fleet withdrew, badly crippled. This victory gave
security to South Carolina and Georgia for three years.
The discomfited fleet sailed for New York, where the British forces were
concentrating. The plan was to seize the Middle States, and thus keep
North and South from helping one another. August 1st, 2,500 English
troops and 8,000 Hessians arrived. The effective British force was now
about 25,000. Washington was holding New York City with about 10,000 men
fit for duty.
Driven from Long Island by the battle of August 27th, and forced to
abandon New York September 15th, Washington retreated up the Hudson, and
took up a strong position at White Plains. Here the British, attacking,
were defeated in a well-fought engagement; but as they were strongly
re-enforced on October 30th, Washington fell back to Newcastle. Early in
November, guessing that they intended to invade New Jersey and advance
on Philadelphia, he threw his main force across the Hudson.
General Howe.
The fortunes of the American army were now at the lowest ebb, so that
had Howe been an efficient general it must have been either captured or
entirely destroyed. Through the treason of Adjutant Demont, who had
deserted to Lord Percy with complete information of their weakness,
Forts Washington and Lee were captured, November 16th and 20th, with the
loss of 150 killed and wounded, and 2,634 prisoners, besides valuable
stores, small arms, and forty-three pieces of artillery. Manhattan
Island was lost. General Charles Lee, with a considerable portion of the
army, persistently refused to cross the Hudson. Washington, with the
troops remaining, was forced to retreat slowly across New Jersey, the
British army, under Cornwallis, at his very heels, often within
cannon-shot. The New Jersey people were lukewarm, and many accepted
Cornwallis's offers of amnesty. Congress, fearing that Philadelphia
would be taken, adjourned to Baltimore. December 8th, Washington crossed
the Delaware with less than 3,000 men. The British encamped on the
opposite bank of the river. The American army was safe for the present,
having secured all the boats and burned all the bridges within seventy
miles.
Map of Manhattan Island in 1776, showing the American Defences, etc.
