This step was the occupation of Dorchester Heights. From this elevation Washington could reach Boston with the heavy guns from Ticonderoga, which had in the meantime been brought in by Colonel Knox. It was March when preparations were begun, and Ezra and his friends were in the thick of the matter.
Gilbert Scarlett was especially valuable in the designing of chandeliers, fascines and such like, necessary in the erection of the works; also with the aid of his boy friends, he worked with the spirit of a dozen in the collection of bateaux in which to transport the men.
When the time for movement arrived, Washington had forty-five of these clumsy craft, each capable of seating eighty men. Two floating batteries were held with them in the Charles River; hundreds of militia came pouring into camp to lend what aid they could to the enterprise.
The design was kept secret; to divert the attention of the enemy a brisk bombardment and cannonade was begun on the night of the second of March, from Cobble Hill, Roxbury and Lechmere’s Point. Many houses were shattered by this fire; the British returned it with spirit, but did little damage. On the night of March fourth this was repeated, and about seven o’clock, General Thomas with about two thousand men marched to take possession of Dorchester Heights. The entrenching tools, under care of a large detachment, were sent on ahead; later the main body, with three hundred carts, loaded with fascines and twisted hay, followed.
All night the Americans labored; the moon was brilliant, the guns roared, the arching shells burst high in the air. And when morning dawned, two forts were in a sufficient state of advancement to resist small arms and grape-shot.
If the British had been surprised to see the works raised in a night upon Breed’s Hill, they were astounded at the sight of those which now met their gaze upon Dorchester Heights.
“It looks like the work of twelve thousand men,” declared Lord Howe to his generals. “The rebels have done more in one night than my army has done in a month. The genii must have aided them.”
These works commanded both the harbor and town of Boston. The British admiral at once decided that the fleet could not ride in safety unless the Americans were displaced.
“We must do one of two things,” he told General Howe. “The Yankees must be driven from that post, or we must evacuate Boston.”
This enraged the governor. He had a very high notion of British honor and military superiority.