It was a wondrous sight, the landing of those troops at Morton's point. Even though they were enemies, and were come to grind us yet further into the dust, I could not but admire the military exactness with which they disembarked and moved in heavy lines straight up on what we sometimes called Morton's hill, as if the whole force was one gigantic piece of machinery instead of being formed of human atoms.
General Howe was in command of the Britishers, as we afterward learned, and he acted as if intending to take matters in the most leisurely way possible, for after all the troops had arrived and ascended the hill, huge tubs containing punch made from spirits, and baskets seemingly filled to repletion with food, were brought ashore from the barges, while we who were thirsty and hungry could look down upon those red-coated men as they were allowed to stretch themselves at ease upon the ground, eating and drinking at their pleasure.
The sight was one well calculated to cause us greater desire for food and drink than before, if indeed that could be possible, and for a time I believed General Howe had done this for no other purpose than to tantalize us, thus showing how different was the care taken of those hired men who served the king only for the money to be gotten thereby, and us who were struggling to free our land.
Afterward I came to learn that the reason for the long halt on Morton's hill was that the troops had brought with them cannon balls too large to be used in their pieces, and the delay in making an attack was enforced that this mistake might be rectified by sending to Boston for what was needed.
By the time the lobster backs had come to an end of their sumptuous dinner, we on Breed's hill were heartened by seeing the remainder of Colonel Stark's regiment and all of Reed's corps coming forward on the double quick, and then those grumblers who had declared we had been sent to this place that we might be sacrificed, were forced to hold their peace, for the dullest among them must have understood that General Ward had sent to us all the men that could safely be spared from the posts nearabout.
"How many think you we shall number after yonder troops come up?" I asked of Hiram, and he put the figure at about three thousand. I have since seen it set down that the whole number of our people, including those who came to cover the retreat, did not exceed four thousand.
I felt better in mind after Hiram had replied to my question, believing that we would be somewhere near even in point of numbers; but within ten minutes that sense of security had vanished, for I saw yet another fleet of barges coming out from Boston town laden with infantry, marines, and grenadiers.
Hiram could not but note the look of dismay which came over the faces of the Minute Boys on seeing these reinforcements, for he said laughingly, as if the whole matter was a gigantic joke:
"General Howe must indeed be a prudent man. The king's governor has said that a British soldier is the equal of five such rag-tag as makes up our army, and yet he doesn't deem it wise to come toward us until his army is increased by two thousand or more. Let us say there are five thousand lobster backs yonder and on the water, yet 'twixt now and nightfall we shall show them that little more than half the number of our people can play hob with the whole blooming outfit."
Then he fell to whistling Yankee Doodle, that tune which the Britishers had set for the purpose of making sport of our people, and it was well he took it up just then, for more than once during the battle which followed did I hear our fifers and drummers screaming and beating out those notes of derision, as if to tell the red-coated hirelings that Yankee Doodle had indeed come to town, and come to stay even longer than might be pleasant.