The British reinforcements arrived at Madlin's ship-yard, some of them remaining on the shore at the point of disembarkation, and others marching to join those on Morton's hill.
Now truly did it seem as if the prudent General Howe had made all his arrangements for wiping us off the face of the earth, and yet he lingered like the small boy that stands naked on the brink of a stream of icy water, knowing he must plunge in sooner or later, but dreading woefully to do so.
All of us who had worked during the night, and a considerable number of those who had just come up, were ordered to take post within the redoubt, and it cheered me wondrously to see with Colonel Prescott, Doctor Warren, that kindly gentleman who never passed a lad without a friendly smile or word, and who had many for us Minute Boys as we filed in striving to look as much like soldiers as possible.
As nearly as I can now remember, our two artillery companies were between the breastwork and the rail fence on the eastern side, and a small number of men lined the cartway on the right of the redoubt. The Connecticut and the New Hampshire men were at the rail fence on the west side of the redoubt, and there were two or three companies drawn up on the main street at the base of our hill.
Now up to this point I can speak with considerable of certainty, having Hiram at my elbow to point out this movement or that; but once we were fronting the Britishers, and the fumes of burning powder assailed my nostrils, I lost all knowledge of what was being done save immediately around me, and there were times, when the fight grew hottest, that I could not for the life of me have told you what I did or said.
This much I must set down in justice to our Minute Boys of Boston: It was not a cheerful position even for tried soldiers to be in, this seeing the flower of the king's troops marching up the hill, well fed and well armed, outnumbering us two to one, while we who had never even seen warfare, hungry and thirsty to such point that our tongues were parched dry, and with but a scanty supply of ammunition, stood behind our breastworks awaiting what surely seemed must be little less than a slaughter of us all who loved the Cause.
I dare venture to say that every fellow in my company understood full well all the danger that menaced, and yet not one of them flinched; each lad did a man's full duty, and performed, I might say, more than is demanded of a soldier.
It was near to three of the clock in the afternoon before General Gage was ready to wipe us out. Then we saw those long lines of red moving steadily forward, and my heart leaped within me when our fifers blew all their breath into the tune of Yankee Doodle, while an hundred or more of us sang that song which the Britishers had written as a cheap way of showing their contempt for those people who had been loyal to the king until he and his ministers, by cruel oppression, drove them to this so-called rebellion.
"Don't fire until they are within seven or eight rods," I heard officer after officer caution us as we stood there with muskets ready for that oncoming line of red. "When you can see the whites of their eyes, aim at their waistbands, and remember that the finest coats cover the commanders, who it were better to pick off than if you shot half a dozen men."
Again and again was that command repeated, and even while it was being dinned into our ears so emphatically, Doctor Warren, seeming to think we Minute Boys might show the white feather, came up to us as we stood where we could peer over the breastwork, and said: