COMPOSED BY A BRITISH OFFICER, THE DAY AFTER THE BATTLE
It was on the seventeenth, by break of day,
The Yankees did surprise us,
With their strong works they had thrown up
To burn the town and drive us.
But soon we had an order come,
An order to defeat them;
Like rebels stout, they stood it out,
And thought we ne'er could beat them.
About the hour of twelve that day,
An order came for marching,
With three good flints and sixty rounds,
Each man hoped to discharge them.
We marchèd down to the Long Wharf,
Where boats were ready waiting;
With expedition we embark'd,
Our ships kept cannonading.
And when our boats all fillèd were
With officers and soldiers,
With as good troops as England had,
To oppose who dare controul us?
And when our boats all fillèd were,
We row'd in line of battle,
Where showers of ball like hail did fly,
Our cannon loud did rattle.
There was Copps' Hill battery, near Charlestown,
Our twenty-fours they played;
And the three frigates in the stream,
That very well behaved.
The Glasgow frigate clear'd the shore,
All at the time of landing,
With her grape-shot and cannon-balls,
No Yankee e'er could stand them.
And when we landed on the shore,
We draw'd up all together;
The Yankees they all mann'd their works,
And thought we'd ne'er come thither.