CX 
 
 ^TITTr 1 (s 
 
 AiLiLEM »irms 
 
BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME 
 FROM THE 
 
 SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 fietirg U3. Sage 
 
 1891 
 
 Q^oiufa^ ajynis. 
 
 3777 
 
E241.B7 F87 e " Unlversl,y Llbrar y 
 J u.fi..l'.?,9, e of Boston, 
 
 olin 
 
 3 1924 032 752 192 
 
The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924032752192 
 
THE SIEGE OF BOSTON 
 
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
 
 NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO 
 ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO 
 
 MACMILLAN & CO., Limited 
 
 LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA 
 MELBOURNE 
 
 THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. 
 
 TORONTO 
 
Old State House 
 
THE SIEGE OF BOSTON 
 
 BY 
 
 ALLEN FRENCH 
 
 "Ntta gorfe 
 
 THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
 
 1911 
 
 jSll rights reserved 
 
 s 
 
Copyright, igii, 
 By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 
 
 Set up and electrotyped. Published February, 1911. 
 
 NnrtoooO $rcss 
 
 J. 8. Cashing- Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 
 
 Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 
 
TO C. E. S. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 In writing this book I have endeavored to 
 produce a brief and readable account of the 
 Siege of Boston, and of the events which 
 brought it about. These were, of course, 
 parts of a larger history, the connection with 
 which I have carefully indicated. My main 
 endeavor, nevertheless, has been to treat my 
 subject as a single organic series of events. 
 To select the more interesting and significant 
 masses of detail, and properly to coordinate 
 them, has not been an easy task. The minor 
 incidents were conditioned by the scale of the 
 book ; the result, I hope, is fluency and a more 
 evident connection between the larger events. 
 
 So far as possible, I have relied upon con- 
 temporary statements. But no writer on the 
 Siege can fail to acknowledge his deep obliga- 
 tions to the "History of the Siege " by Richard 
 Frothingham. This acknowledgment I gladly 
 
viii Preface 
 
 make. Since 1849, however, the date of the 
 publication of the book, there has come to 
 light interesting new material which I have 
 endeavored to incorporate here. The other 
 authorities upon which I have chiefly de- 
 pended will be found by referring to the foot- 
 notes. 
 
 ALLEN FRENCH. 
 
 Concord, Massachusetts, 
 January, 191 1. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 I. Beginnings and Conditions . 
 
 II. Writs of Assistance and the Stamp Act 
 
 III. Charles Townshend, Sam Adams, and the 
 
 Massacre ..... 
 
 IV. The Tea- Party and its Consequences . 
 V. The Occupation of Boston 
 
 VI. The Powder Alarm and the Winter of 
 
 1774-1775 
 
 VII. Military Preparations 
 
 VIII. The Nineteenth of April . 
 
 IX. Boston Beleaguered .... 
 
 X. The Battle of Bunker Hill 
 
 XL Washington takes Command 
 
 XII. Events in Boston from June to December 
 
 1775 
 
 XIII. Washington's Difficulties . 
 
 XIV. The Winter in Boston 
 
 XV. The Evacuation .... 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I 
 
 21 
 
 4 1 
 
 71 
 91 
 
 I2 3 
 161 
 187 
 216 
 256 
 288 
 
 33 1 
 361 
 392 
 4'S 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Old State House 
 
 The Hutchinson House 
 
 Faneuil Hall 
 
 Samuel Adams 
 
 The Investment of Boston 
 
 Revere's Picture of Boston in 1768 
 
 The Old North Church 
 
 The Battle of Lexington 
 
 Plan of the Siege 
 
 The Minute Man 
 
 The Old North Bridge 
 
 Washington's Headquarters 
 
 Dorchester Tower 
 
 Gold Medal commemorating Washington's 
 
 Frontispiece 
 
 PACE 
 
 • 35 
 facing 58 
 facing 69 
 facing 1 2 7 
 
 • »7S 
 facing 181 
 facing 193 
 
 • 2 35 
 facing 303 
 facing 303 
 facing 374 
 
 • 4°7 
 Victory 434. 
 
THE SIEGE OF BOSTON 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 BEGINNINGS AND CONDITIONS 
 
 THE Siege of Boston was the culmina- 
 tion of a series of events which will 
 always be of importance in the his- 
 tory of America. From the beginning of the 
 reign of George the Third, the people of the 
 English colonies in the new world found them- 
 selves at variance with their monarch, and 
 nowhere more so than in Massachusetts. 
 Since the New England people were fitted by 
 their temperament and history to take the 
 lead in the struggle, at their chief town nat- 
 urally took place the more important inci- 
 dents. These, which were often dramatic, 
 had nevertheless a political cause and sig- 
 nificance which link them in a rising series 
 
2 The Siege of Boston 
 
 that ended in a violent outbreak and the 
 eleven months' leaguer. 
 
 As to the siege itself, it varies an old situa- 
 tion, for Boston was beset by its own neigh- 
 bors in defence of the common rights. Pre- 
 viously the king's troops, though regarded 
 as invaders, had been but half-hearted op- 
 pressors ; it was the people themselves who 
 persistently provoked difficulties. The siege 
 proper is of striking military interest, for its 
 hostilities begin by the repulse of an armed 
 expedition into a community of farmers, con- 
 tinue with a pitched battle between regular 
 troops and a militia, produce a general of 
 commanding abilities, and end with a stra- 
 tegic move of great skill and daring. It is 
 the first campaign of a great war, and precedes 
 the birth of a nation. Politically, the cause 
 of the struggle is of enduring consequence to 
 mankind. Socially, the siege and its prelim- 
 inaries bring to view people of all kinds, 
 some weak, some base, some picturesque, 
 some entirely admirable. The period shows 
 the breaking up of an old society and the for- 
 
Beginnings and Conditions 3 
 
 mation of a new. A study of the siege is 
 therefore of value. 
 
 It will be observed that the siege cannot 
 satisfactorily be considered as a distinct 
 series of military or semi-military events, 
 abruptly beginning and still more abruptly 
 ending. Such a view would reduce the siege 
 to a mere matter of local history, having little 
 connection with the larger movements of the 
 American Revolution, and appearing almost 
 as an accident which might have happened 
 at any other centre of sufficient population. 1 
 On the contrary, neither the siege nor the 
 Revolution were accidents of history. That 
 the Revolution was bound to come about, 
 and that its beginnings were equally bound to 
 be at Boston, these were conditioned in the 
 nature, first of the colonists in general, and 
 second of the New Englanders in particular. 
 
 1 It may appear to a hasty consideration that Froth- 
 ingham's " Siege of Boston " treats the siege as an isolated 
 military event. It must, however, be remembered that 
 Mr. Frothingham had treated previous events in a pre- 
 liminary volume, his " Life of Joseph Warren." 
 
4 The Siege of Boston 
 
 However striking were certain of the occur- 
 rences, they were of less importance than 
 their causes and consequences. 
 
 Accordingly I shall consider as an organic 
 series the more important of those events 
 which happened in Boston during the reign 
 of George the Third, and which ended when 
 the last of his redcoats departed from the 
 town. In fact, in order to be perfectly in- 
 telligible I must first devote a few pages to 
 a consideration of previous conditions. 
 
 "Any one," wrote George E. Ellis in the 
 "Memorial History of Boston," 1 "who at- 
 tempts to trace the springs, the occasions, and 
 the directing forces of the revolt . . . cannot 
 find his clew a year short of the date when 
 the former self-governed Colony of Massa- 
 chusetts Bay became a Royal Province." 
 He is right in pointing out that in 1692 the 
 struggle took open form. Yet even then 
 the controversy was not new. In other 
 form it had been carried on for more than 
 half a century previous. Its ultimate origin 
 
 1 "Memorial History of Boston," ii, 31. 
 
Beginnings and Conditions 5 
 
 lay in the fact that the very charter under 
 which the colony was planted differed from 
 all other documents granted by any English 
 king. 
 
 This difference lay in the omission of the 
 condition, usual in such charters, that its 
 governing board should meet in London 
 practically for the purpose of supervision 
 by the king. That the omission of this con- 
 dition was the result of wisdom on the part of 
 the founders, and stupidity on the part of 
 the officers of the king, seems undeniable. 
 The founders, unhappy and alarmed at the 
 political and religious situation in England 
 under Charles the First, were seeking to pro- 
 vide for themselves and their families a refuge 
 from his oppressions. Secure in their charter, 
 they presently left England for good. When 
 they sailed for America they did all that 
 could be done to cut themselves off from in- 
 terference by the crown. 
 
 At intervals, extremely valuable for the 
 future of America, the Massachusetts colony 
 certainly was free of all restraint. Charles's 
 
6 The Siege of Boston 
 
 benediction seems to have been "Good rid- 
 dance ! " From the crown the colonists re- 
 ceived no assistance whatever, and it was 
 long both their boast and their plea that they 
 had planted the colony "at their own ex- 
 pense." They were left to work out their 
 own salvation. 1 As a result, their passionate 
 desire for freedom from interference by the 
 king grew into the feeling that they had earned 
 it as a right. Englishmen they were still, and 
 subjects of the king ; but to the privileges 
 of Englishmen they had added the right to 
 manage their own affairs. The English king 
 and the English law were to help them in 
 their difficulties and to settle cases of appeal. 
 In return they would grant money and fight 
 for the king when necessary ; but in the mean- 
 time they would live by themselves. 
 
 Taking advantage of the clause in their 
 charter which authorized them "to ordain 
 and establish all manner of wholesome and 
 
 1 " They nourished by your indulgence ? They grew 
 up by your neglect of them !" Barre's speech in Par- 
 liament, February, 1765. 
 
Beginnings and Conditions 7 
 
 reasonable orders, laws, statutes, and ordi- 
 nances," they speedily took to themselves 
 everything but the name of independence. 
 They instituted courts for all purposes, set 
 up their legislative government, raised their 
 own taxes, whether general or local, and 
 perfected that wonderful instrument of re- 
 sistance to oppression, New England town 
 government. They even coined money. And, 
 different from most of the other colonies, they 
 chose their governor from among their own 
 number. 
 
 Distance and home difficulties — for the 
 Stuart kings usually had their hands full of 
 trouble with their subjects — favored the non- 
 interference which the colonists craved. 
 When, however, the Stuarts had any leisure 
 at all, they at once devoted it to quarrelling 
 with their subjects in New England. Even 
 to the easy-going Charles II the cool aloof- 
 ness of the colonists was a bit too strong ; 
 to his father and brother it was intolerable. 
 
 The invariable methods of the colonists, 
 when facing a demand from the king, were 
 
8 The Siege of Boston 
 
 evasion and delay. "Avoid or protract" 
 were Winthrop's own words in 1635. In 
 1684 the General Court wrote advising their 
 attorney, employed in England in defending 
 the charter, "to spin out the case to the utter- 
 most." 1 Once and once only until the Revo- 
 lution — in the case of the seizing of Andros 
 — did the men of Massachusetts proceed to 
 action. Their habitual policy was safe, and, 
 on the whole, successful. Slow communication 
 (one voyage of commissioners from Boston 
 to England took three months), and the ex- 
 istence in England of a strong party of friends, 
 helped powerfully to obscure and obliterate the 
 issues. Yet Charles I in 1640, and James II 
 in 1689, made preparations to reduce the 
 colony to proper subjection, by force if nec- 
 essary. 
 
 It was doubtless well for Massachusetts 
 that both Charles and James were presently 
 dethroned, for against the power of England 
 no successful resistance could then have been 
 made. New England, indeed, might have 
 
 1 "Memorial History of Boston," i, 340, 376. 
 
Beginnings and Conditions 9 
 
 been united against the king, but it is very 
 unlikely that the other colonies would have 
 given their help. Some generations more 
 were needed before the aristocrats of Virginia 
 could feel themselves at one with the Puritans 
 of New England. 
 
 Yet it is interesting to notice the spirit of 
 Massachusetts. On the news of Charles's in- 
 tentions the colony prepared for resistance. 
 In James's time it went a step further. When 
 the news came of the expedition of William 
 of Orange, Massachusetts cast in its lot with 
 him. Without waiting to learn the result 
 of the struggle, Boston rose against James's 
 unpopular governor, and imprisoned him in 
 the Castle. The act was heroic, for the 
 Bloody Assizes had taught the world what 
 punishment the cowardly king meted out to 
 rebels. 
 
 It will be noticed that the political status 
 of Massachusetts was already changed. After 
 many delays Charles II had abrogated the 
 charter. His death followed almost immedi- 
 ately, and Andros had been appointed at 
 
io The Siege of Boston 
 
 the head of a provisional government. Doubt- 
 less the resistance to him had been inspired 
 by the hope that the old charter might be 
 restored. Instead, William, when once se- 
 cure on the throne, issued a new charter. 
 Under its provisions the colony, now a prov- 
 ince, lived until the Revolution. In order 
 that the events leading up to the siege may 
 be understood, it will be well to consider 
 the provisions of the new governmental 
 machinery. 
 
 At the head of the province were to be a 
 governor and a lieutenant-governor, both ap- 
 pointed by the king. Their powers were ex- 
 ecutive, with the right of veto over legislation, 
 and also over certain appointments by the 
 legislature. Laws passed by this legislature 
 and not vetoed by the governor or the king 
 were to go in force three years after their en- 
 actment. The legislature had two houses, 
 the lower a popular chamber, called the As- 
 sembly, elected by the towns. The upper 
 branch was called the Council. The first 
 Council was appointed by the king ; later 
 
Beginnings and Conditions n 
 
 members were to be nominated by the As- 
 sembly for the approval of the governor. 
 The Assembly and Council formed together 
 the Great and General Court. Judges were 
 to be chosen by the governor and Council, but 
 all officers were to be paid by the General 
 Court. As will be seen later, in the case of the 
 Writs of Assistance, appeal could be taken 
 to the English courts. 
 
 And now for the first time became evident 
 the fact that three generations of practical 
 independence had bred in America a race of 
 men — or it may be better to say had fostered 
 a school of thought — that never could agree 
 in submitting to a distant and arbitrary 
 authority. In the seventy years which fol- 
 lowed, New England showed this spirit in 
 many ways. The most prominent cause of 
 disagreement was the question of the gov- 
 ernor's prerogatives, resulting in constant 
 bickerings with the crown. 
 
 The principle, of course, lay deeper still. 
 On the one side were sovereigns whose powers 
 were not yet definitely restricted, and who 
 
12 The Siege of Boston 
 
 were likely to resent any apparent tendency 
 to make them less. On the other side was 
 a people who had progressed far in self-gov- 
 ernment, and who resisted any limitation of 
 their rights. It is not the purpose of this book 
 to trace the earlier unification of the colonies 
 under pressure from without. By the year 
 1760 that process was approaching com- 
 pletion ; there was, therefore, in America a 
 stronger feeling than ever, while across the 
 water was that new ruler into whose youth- 
 ful ears his mother had continually dinned 
 the words, "George, be king!" 
 
 It is well to understand the status -of a 
 colony in those days, and the difficulties With 
 which its inhabitants struggled. Yet it is 
 hard for the modern man to conceive the 
 restrictions upon freedom. From earliest days 
 there had been discontent with the king's 
 claim to the finest trees in the public forests, 
 the "mast trees " which, reserved for the king's 
 navy, no man might lawfully cut. 1 Exporta- 
 tion of lumber, except to England and the 
 1 See, on this point, Sabine's "American Loyalists," 7. 
 
Beginnings and Conditions 13 
 
 British West Indies, was long illegal. Trade 
 with the French and Spanish islands was pro- 
 hibited entirely, and trade in many products 
 of home manufacture (tobacco, sugar, wool, 
 dye-stuffs, furs, are prominent examples) was 
 forbidden "to any place but Great Britain — 
 even to Ireland." * Certain merchandise might 
 be imported at will, subject to duty ; but 
 most articles could be bought, and sold, only 
 through Great Britain. 
 
 Further, internal commerce and manufac- 
 ture were severely hampered. No wool or 
 woollen product might be carried from one 
 province to another. The Bible might not 
 be printed. The making of hats was almost 
 entirely suppressed. The manufacture of iron, 
 on a scale sufficient to compete with English 
 wares, was practically prohibited — as a "nui- 
 sance." 2 
 
 Under all these restrictions the colonies 
 were not as yet restive. To be sure there 
 
 1 Bancroft's "United States," ed. 1855, v, 265. Ref- 
 erences to Bancroft will at first be to this edition. 
 
 2 Bancroft's "United States," v, 266. 
 
14 The Siege of Boston 
 
 were smuggling and illicit trade, and griev- 
 ances in plenty; yet the stress of colonial 
 life, the continual danger from the north 
 and west, had kept the provincials satisfied 
 as a body. And now, at the opening of the 
 reign of George III, with the French driven 
 out of Canada and the Mississippi Valley, 
 and the Indians subdued, there should have 
 been concord between the colonists and the 
 king. 
 
 The comparison between the two is very 
 striking, while at the same time it is not 
 easily brought home to the city dweller of 
 to-day. City government gives the individual 
 a chance to bury himself in the mass, and to 
 avoid his duties ; further, our cities are now 
 many, and very large, while we are notoriously 
 patient under misrule. In 1760, on the 
 other hand, few towns had as yet adopted 
 city government. Boston was the largest 
 town, and its population was little more than 
 fifteen thousand. So well did its enemies 
 understand one reason for its truculence, that 
 they even considered means to force upon 
 
Beginnings and Conditions 15 
 
 the town a city charter. The question came, 
 however, to no definite proposition. The 
 town therefore proceeded with its open dis- 
 cussion of all public questions, with its right 
 of free speech in town meetings extended 
 even to strangers, and with its viva voce vote 
 letting each man know where his neighbor 
 stood. "The town" was an entity of which 
 each man felt himself a part. As a whole, its 
 self-consciousness was like that of an indi- 
 vidual : it could feel a trespass on its privi- 
 leges as quickly as could the haughtiest mon- 
 arch of the old world. And all New England 
 was filled with towns whose feelings, on all 
 essential points, were one and the same. 
 
 Against the town-meetings of America stood 
 George III, as determined to assert his pre- 
 rogatives as was any member of the house of 
 Stuart. Still comparatively young, he had 
 not yet learned that there are limitations of 
 power, even to a king. And it was to the 
 misfortune of his empire that there were few 
 in England to teach him. 
 
 For the old Puritan middle class of the 
 
1 6 The Siege of Boston 
 
 Stuart days was gone. Its fibre had softened ; 
 the class itself had disappeared in the easier- 
 going masses of a more prosperous day. For 
 seventy-five years England had had no in- 
 ternal dissensions, and her foreign wars had 
 added to her wealth and contentment. To 
 her well-wishers it seemed as if the people 
 had given itself to sloth and indulgence. "I 
 am satisfied," wrote Burke, "that, within a 
 few years, there has been a great change in 
 the national character. We seem no longer 
 that eager, inquisitive, jealous, fiery people 
 which we have been formerly, and which we 
 have been a very short time ago." : Eng- 
 land was the country of Tom Jones, hearty 
 and healthy, but animated by no high prin- 
 ciples and keyed to no noble actions. It 
 needed the danger of the Napoleonic wars to 
 bring out once more the sturdy manliness of 
 the nation. Through all the earlier reign of 
 George III there was, to be sure, a remainder 
 of the old high-minded spirit. Chatham and 
 Rockingham, Burke, Barre, and others, spoke 
 
 1 Trevelyan, "American Revolution," Part i, 21. 
 
Beginnings and Conditions 17 
 
 in public and private for the rights of the 
 colonists, to whom their encouragement gave 
 strength. But the greater part of the Eng- 
 lish people was so indifferent to the moral 
 and political significance of the quarrel that 
 the king was practically able to do as he 
 pleased. 
 
 He proceeded on the assumption that every 
 man had his price. The assumption was 
 unhappily too correct, for he was able to 
 gather round him, in Parliament or the civil 
 service, his own party, the "King's Friends," 
 who served him for the profit that they got. 
 No tale of modern corruption can surpass 
 the record of their plundering of a nation. 
 With this goes a story of gambling, drinking, 
 and general loose living which, while the at- 
 tention is concentrated on it, rouses the 
 belief that the nation was wholly degenerate, 
 until the recollection of the remnant, Chat- 
 ham and the party of the Earl of Rocking- 
 ham, gives hope of the salvation of the coun- 
 try. 
 
 At any rate, for more than fifteen years of 
 
1 8 The Siege of Boston 
 
 his reign the king was in the ascendant. 
 There was no party to depose him, scarcely 
 one strong enough to curb him, even at times 
 of popular indignation. He was, therefore, 
 as no other king had been before him, able to 
 force the issue upon the colonies, in spite of 
 the protests of the few friends of liberty. In 
 complete ignorance of the strength of the 
 colonists, both in resources and in purpose, 
 he proceeded to insist upon his rights. When 
 it is remembered that those rights, according 
 to his interpretation of them, were to tax 
 without representation, to limit trade and 
 manufactures, and to interfere at will in the 
 management of colonial affairs, it will be 
 seen that he was playing with fire. 
 
 The danger will appear the greater if it is 
 considered that the population of the colo- 
 nies had not progressed, like that of England, 
 to days of easy tolerance. The Americans, 
 and especially the New Englanders, were of 
 the same stuff as those who had beheaded 
 Charles I, and driven James II from his 
 kingdom. They had among their military 
 
Beginnings and Conditions 19 
 
 officers plenty of such men as Pomeroy, who, 
 destined to fight at Bunker Hill, wrote from 
 the siege of Louisburg : "It looks as if our 
 campaign would last long ; but I am willing 
 to stay till God's time comes to deliver the 
 city into our hands." 1 Many besides himself 
 wrote, and even spoke, in Biblical language. 
 There were still heard, in New England, the 
 echoes of the "Great Awakening"; the 
 preaching of Whitefield and others had every- 
 where roused a keen religious feeling, and 
 the people were as likely as ever to open 
 town-meeting with prayer, and to go into 
 battle with psalms. 
 
 Such, then, were the contestants in the 
 struggle. On the one side was the king with 
 his privileges, backed by his Parliamentary 
 majority, and having at command an efficient 
 army and navy, and a full treasury. There 
 was at hand no one to resist him successfully 
 at home, none to whose warnings he would 
 listen. And on the other side were the colo- 
 nists, quite capable of fighting for what they 
 
 1 "Memorial History of Boston," ii, 116. 
 
20 The Siege of Boston 
 
 knew to be the "rights of Englishmen." 
 Both hoped to proceed peaceably. In igno- 
 rance, each was hoping for the impossible, for 
 the king would not retreat, and the colonists 
 would not yield. As soon as each under- 
 stood the other's full intention, there would 
 be a rupture. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 WRITS OF ASSISTANCE. AND THE STAMP ACT 
 
 THE men who, whether in America or 
 England, took sides with the king or 
 the colonies as Tories and Whigs, or as 
 "prerogative men" and "friends of liberty," 
 fall naturally into two classes. A line of 
 cleavage could be seen at the time, and can 
 even be traced now, among the supporters of 
 either side, according as they followed prin- 
 ciple or self-interest. There were those who 
 sought profit in supporting the colonies, as 
 well as those who knowingly faced loss in 
 defending the king. It is well for Americans 
 to remember, therefore, that while many 
 sided with the king for what they could get, 
 there were others whose minds could not 
 conceive a country without a king, or a sub- 
 ject with inalienable rights. The best of the 
 Tories honestly believed the Whig agitation 
 
22 The Siege of Boston 
 
 to be "unnatural, causeless, wanton, and 
 wicked." * Such Americans were, in the in- 
 evitable struggle, truly martyrs to their 
 beliefs. 
 
 Nevertheless, just as there was naturally 
 more profit or prominence (and the two were 
 often the same) on the king's side, so his 
 party had the more self-seekers. "The cause 
 is not worth dying for," said Ingersoll, facing 
 the Connecticut farmers, and spoke the senti- 
 ment of all the stamp-officers who resigned 
 their positions at the demand of the people. 
 The cause, however, did seem worth working 
 for. There were many, in England and 
 America, who, like those whom Otis saw 
 around him, "built much upon the fine 
 salaries they should receive from the planta- 
 tion branch of the revenue." Position, pay, 
 and the chance to exploit the revenues as this 
 was done in England, were the temptations 
 which brought many to the side of the king, 
 
 x The adjectives are those of Massachusettensis, the 
 ablest Tory pamphleteer, as quoted in Frothingham's 
 "Siege," 33. 
 
Writs of Assistance and the Stamp Act 23 
 
 and which made men unite to urge upon him 
 the acts which he desired for less selfish rea- 
 sons. 
 
 Urged by principle, then, or excited by 
 self-interest, the proposers of- new measures 
 were strong. The earliest act of the king's 
 reign showed what could and what would be 
 done, and brought upon the Boston stage the 
 first of the actors in the drama. On the one 
 hand were the governor, the justices, and the 
 minor officials, on the other the people's self- 
 appointed — but willingly accepted — leaders. 
 
 Francis Bernard was the first Massachu- 
 setts governor under George III. Bernard 
 arrived August 2, 1760 ; the old king died on 
 October 25 ; and in November the customs 
 officials, stimulated by orders from home to 
 enforce the provisions of the Sugar Act of 
 1733, petitioned for "writs of assistance," to 
 empower them to summon help in forcible 
 entries in search of smuggled goods. Now 
 there can be no doubt that there was smug- 
 gling in the colony, even in Boston itself. On 
 the other hand, the officials were inquisitorial 
 
24 The Siege of Boston 
 
 and rapacious. Once they were armed with 
 writs of assistance, no dwelling would be safe 
 from entry by them. The struggle was at once 
 begun, and in the council chamber of the old 
 Town House was fought out before the eyes of 
 the province. 
 
 The scene is pictured on the walls of the 
 modern State House. Chief among the jus- 
 tices sat Thomas Hutchinson, a man of 
 property and education, and an excellent 
 historian, but the very type of office-holder, 
 and by prejudice and interest a partisan of 
 the king. Against him stood James Otis, the 
 first of the Massachusetts orators of liberty, 
 a man of good family, and, like so many of 
 the patriot leaders, a lawyer. His speech was 
 the first definite pronouncement for a new 
 order of things. 
 
 "I am determined," he said, "to sacrifice 
 estate, ease, health, applause, and even life, 
 to the sacred calls of my country." He 
 referred to the. "kind of power, the exercise 
 of which cost one king of England his head 
 and another his throne." Such language, 
 
Writs of Assistance and the Stamp Act 25 
 
 publicly spoken, was new. His argument 
 was, to Englishmen, irrefutable. No prece- 
 dent, no English statute, could stand against 
 the Constitution. "This writ, if declared 
 legal, totally" annihilates" the privacy of 
 the home. "Custom-house officers might 
 enter our houses when they please, and we 
 could not resist them. Upon bare suspicion 
 they could exercise this wanton power. . . . 
 Both reason and the Constitution are against 
 this writ. . . . Every act against the Con- 
 stitution is void." 1 The speech, continued 
 for four hours, was a brilliant example of 
 keen logic combined with burning eloquence. 
 
 This is Otis's great service to the cause of 
 the Revolution. Fiery and magnetic, but 
 moody and eventually unbalanced, he gave 
 place in the public confidence to men per- 
 haps of lesser talents, but with equal zeal and 
 steadier purpose. Yet his service was in- 
 valuable. His speech expressed for his coun- 
 trymen the indignation of the hour, and it 
 pointed the way to younger men. To one 
 
 1 "Memorial History of Boston," iii, 5. 
 
26 The Siege of Boston 
 
 at least of his hearers, John Adams, it was 
 "like the oath of Hamilcar administered to 
 Hannibal." 1 To many it was the final appeal 
 that settled them in their patriotism. For 
 history the scene has been called the begin- 
 ning of the Revolution. 
 
 Yet it had no immediate results, for Hutch- 
 inson — and the service was forgotten by 
 neither his friends nor his opponents — se- 
 cured delay of judgment in the case until the 
 English courts could uphold him against his 
 wavering associates. Nevertheless, it is safe 
 to assume that the public indignation secured 
 moderate measures on the part of the cus- 
 toms officials, since we hear of few com- 
 plaints. And the affair had its influence on 
 the public attitude toward the Stamp Act, 
 five years later. 
 
 The Stamp Act was the first definite asser- 
 tion of the right to tax America. In 1763 
 the Sugar Act had been reenacted, but its 
 provisions, taxing only importations from 
 foreign colonies, yielded little revenue. The 
 
 1 "Memorial History of Boston," iii, 7. 
 
Writs of Assistance and the Stamp Act 27 
 
 king's treasury was already feeling the drains 
 upon it, and a pack of eager office-seekers 
 was clamoring to be let loose upon the rev- 
 enues of the colonies. Together the king and 
 his friends pushed through Parliament the 
 legislation which was to secure their purposes. 
 To meet any such danger as in the recent 
 French and Indian wars, ten thousand sol- 
 diers were to be quartered on the colonies, 
 which were to pay for their maintenance. 
 Certain sops to public sentiment were given, 
 in the shape of concessions, yet new restric- 
 tions were laid on foreign trade. And finally 
 and most important, a stamp-tax, the easiest 
 to collect, was laid on business and legal 
 formalities of all kinds. After its passage no 
 land title might be passed, no legal papers 
 issued, no ship might clear from a home port, 
 without a stamp affixed to the necessary 
 documents. Not even inheritances might be 
 transferred, nor marriages be legalized. 
 
 This was the first internal taxation laid 
 by England on America. A word is neces- 
 sary as to the meaning of the phrase in those 
 
28 The Siege of Boston 
 
 days. An external tax, perhaps merely an 
 export duty, was levied and paid in Eng- 
 land; its effect was seen in higher prices in 
 the colonies. Internal taxation would in- 
 clude all taxes actually paid in America on 
 goods coming from England. The provisions 
 of the Sugar Act were regarded as "trade re- 
 strictions," and not as intended to raise an 
 English revenue. 
 
 There is perhaps no better place to discuss 
 the justice of the Revolution than right here. 
 Even to-day the illegality, the utter wrong- 
 fulness of the American position, is occasion- 
 ally raised among us by those who see the 
 great obligations to the mother country under 
 which the colonies lay, and who recall the 
 needless hardships suffered by the wretched 
 Tories, the martyrs of a lost cause. Doubt- 
 less wrongs were inflicted in the course of the 
 struggle, and the great expenditures of Eng- 
 land were in large part unrequited. But it 
 must be remembered that the world had not 
 yet reached the point where the losers in a 
 war were gently treated, and that no amount 
 
Writs of Assistance and the Stamp Act 29 
 
 of financial obligation will ever compel to the 
 acceptance of political servitude. By habit of 
 mind and force of circumstances America had 
 developed a political theory puzzlingly novel 
 to the old world and as yet not thoroughly 
 understood by the new. It was upon this 
 unformulated theory that all future differences 
 were to arise. It interfered in all affairs in 
 which the question arose : Should the colonies 
 be governed, and especially should they be 
 taxed, without a voice in their own affairs ? 
 No one in England doubted that Parlia- 
 ment had a right to tax America without its 
 consent. Customs restrictions were long fa- 
 miliar. As to internal taxation, why, it was 
 asked, should the colonies have a voice in 
 Parliament ? Birmingham and Manchester, 
 great centres of population, were not repre- 
 sented, while that uninhabited heap of stones, 
 Old Sarum, sent a member to the Commons. 
 Resting on these abuses, even Pitt and Burke 
 were content to argue that taxation of America 
 was just. For them it was a question whether 
 that right should be exercised. 
 
30 The Siege of Boston 
 
 With the best will in the world to be on 
 good terms with the mother country, America 
 could not agree in such reasoning. The case 
 had nothing to do with obligations. As for 
 these, the colonists knew that England would 
 never have won against the French in Canada 
 without their aid. But that was not the 
 question. Should those who for a hundred 
 and thirty-five years had paid no tax to Eng- 
 land pay one now ? Were the people who 
 for seventy years had drawn a fine distinc- 
 tion between paying their governor of their 
 own accord and paying him at the command 
 of the king, and who in every year of royal 
 governorship had made their contention plain 
 — were they to be satisfied to pay taxes 
 because Birmingham did ? 
 
 Undoubtedly there were other causes for 
 discontent. " To me," says Sabine, in the 
 preface to his "American Loyalists," "the 
 documentary history, the state papers of the 
 period teach nothing more clearly than this, 
 namely, that almost every matter brought 
 into discussion was practical, and in some 
 
Writs of Assistance and the Stamp Act 31 
 
 form or other related to labor, to some 
 branch of common industry." He reminds us 
 that twenty-nine laws limited industry in the 
 colonies, and concludes that "the great object 
 of the Revolution was to release labor from 
 these restrictions." Undoubtedly these re- 
 strictive laws had their effect upon the temper 
 of the people. Undoubtedly also there was 
 much fear lest there should be established in 
 the colonies a bureaucracy of major and 
 minor officials, corruptly, as in England, win- 
 ning fortunes for themselves. Yet the ques- 
 tion of taxation, a matter of merely theoretical 
 submission, which produced no hardship and 
 would not impoverish the country, was the 
 main cause of trouble. The two branches of 
 the race had long unconsciously parted their 
 ways, and the realization of it was upon them. 
 Upon the proposal of the Stamp Act the 
 colonies did everything in their power to 
 prevent the passage of the bill. They urged 
 that internal taxation had never been levied 
 before. Protests, arguments, and petitions 
 were sent across the water, but in vain. The 
 
32 The Siege of Boston 
 
 Commons fell back upon its custom "to re- 
 ceive no petition against a money bill," and 
 would listen to nothing. "We have the 
 power to tax them, and we will tax them." x 
 And following this utterance of one of the 
 ministry", the bill was passed. 
 
 It is interesting to note that no resistance 
 to the tax was expected. Its operation was 
 automatic; there was no hardship in its pro- 
 visions ; of course the colonists would yield. 
 Even Franklin, who should have known 
 his countrymen better, expected submission. 
 "The sun is down," he wrote, but "we may 
 still light candles. Frugality and industry 
 will go a great way toward indemnifying us." 
 His correspondent, Charles Thomson, had in 
 this case the truer foresight, and predicted 
 the works of darkness. 2 
 
 Throughout the colonies there was not 
 only sorrow, but anger. When even Hutch- 
 inson had protested against the Stamp Act, 
 
 1 Bancroft's "United States," v, 247. 
 
 2 Fiske, "American Revolution," illustrated edition, 
 i, 17. 
 
Writs of Assistance and the Stamp Act 33 
 
 it can be seen how the Whigs would feel. 
 Non-importation agreements were widely- 
 signed, and people accustomed to silks and 
 laces prepared to go into homespun. But 
 the act, passed in February, 1765, was not 
 to go into effect until November. Before 
 that date, much could be done. 
 
 What was done came from the lower as 
 well as the upper classes. The people acted 
 promptly. One colony after another sent 
 crowds to those who had accepted, in advance, 
 the positions of stamp-officers. One by one, 
 under persuasion or intimidation, the officers 
 resigned until none were left. In New York 
 the governor fled to the military for pro- 
 tection, and from the parapet of the fort 
 looked helplessly on while the people burnt 
 before his eyes his own coach, containing 
 images of himself and the devil. But before 
 this happened, Boston, first of all the capitals 
 to take a positive stand, began to draw upon 
 itself the particular resentment of the king. 
 
 Early in August came to Boston the news 
 of the nomination of its stamp-collector, 
 
34 The Siege of Boston 
 
 Andrew Oliver, long prominent upon the 
 Tory side. The lower class of the inhabitants, 
 after a week of delay, stirred itself to action. 
 On the 14th the image of Oliver was seen 
 hanging on the bough of a large elm, then 
 known as the Great Tree. Hutchinson 
 ordered the image down, but as the sheriff 
 did not act, Bernard summoned his council, 
 and until evening fruitlessly endeavored to 
 urge them to action. Then the populace, 
 having themselves removed the image, came 
 to the Town House, and, passing directly 
 through it, shouted to the council, still sitting 
 upstairs, "Liberty, property, and no stamps !" 
 Proceeding with perfect order, the crowd next 
 tore down the frame of a building which Oliver 
 was suspected of raising to use as his office, 
 and, carrying the beams to Fort Hill, burnt 
 them and the image before Oliver's house. 
 Hutchinson, who never lacked personal 
 courage, called on the militia colonel to 
 summon his men and disperse the crowd, but 
 the colonel replied that his drummers were 
 in the mob. Hutchinson then went with the 
 
Writs of Assistance and the Stamp Act 35 
 
 sheriff to order the crowd to disperse, but 
 was himself forced to depart in order to 
 escape violence. The next day Bernard, the 
 governor, whose courage left him at the very- 
 thought of another such night, fled to Castle 
 
 The Hutchinson House 
 
 William, behind whose ancient walls he con- 
 sidered himself safe. Oliver hastily resigned 
 his office, lest the mob should visit him again. 
 The people were not satisfied with the 
 conduct of Hutchinson, who, although he 
 had actually opposed the passage of the 
 
2,6 The Siege of Boston 
 
 Stamp Act, was under suspicion of secretly 
 abetting and profiting by it. After twelve 
 days there was a second outbreak ; the mob 
 began by burning the records of the vice- 
 admiralty court, went on to invade the house 
 of the comptroller of customs, and finally, 
 worked to the usual pitch of a mob's courage, 
 attacked Hutchinson's house. With his family 
 he escaped, but the mob broke into the hand- 
 some mansion, and sacked it thoroughly. 
 His library, with priceless manuscripts con- 
 cerning the history of the colony, was scattered 
 in the mud of the street. 
 
 This was the most disgraceful event that 
 happened in Boston during all the long period 
 preceding the Revolution. It was due to 
 popular feeling, wrongly directed; and to 
 new working-men's organizations, not as yet 
 understanding the task that was before them. 
 These organizations, as yet almost formless, 
 and never so important that records were 
 kept, called themselves the Sons of Liberty, 
 after a phrase used by Isaac Barre, in a speech 
 in Parliament opposing the Stamp Act. The 
 
Writs of Assistance and the Stamp Act 37 
 
 tree on which they had hung the image of 
 Oliver was from this time called Liberty Tree. 
 The better class of Boston citizens at once, 
 in a town meeting called the following morn- 
 ing, declared their "detestation of these 
 violent proceedings," and promised to sup- 
 press them in future. We shall see that one 
 more such outbreak, and one only, was made 
 by a Boston mob. There is here suggested 
 an unwritten, perhaps never to be written, 
 chapter of the history of this time. By 
 what means did the Boston leaders, Samuel 
 Adams chief among them, manage to control 
 the Boston workmen ? However it was done, 
 by what conferences and through what reason- 
 ing, it is safe to say that the loose organizations 
 of the Sons of Liberty, and still another set 
 of clubs, the caucuses which met in various 
 parts of the town, were utilized to control the 
 lower classes. We know the names of a few 
 of the leaders of the workmen: Edes the 
 printer, Crafts the painter, and, most noted 
 of them all, Paul Revere the silversmith. 
 These sturdy men, and others in different 
 
38 The Siege of Boston 
 
 trades, were the means of transmitting to 
 the artisans of Boston the thoughts and 
 desires of the upper-class Whigs. The or- 
 ganization was looser than that of a political 
 party of to-day, but as soon as it was com- 
 pleted, it produced a subordination, secrecy, 
 and self-control which cannot be paralleled 
 in modern times. 
 
 [ The opposition to the Stamp Act con- 
 tinued. More formidable than mobs were 
 the actions of the town meetings and legis- 
 latures. Protests and declarations were sol- 
 emnly drawn up ; for the first time was 
 heard the threat of disaffection. Represent- 
 atives from nine provinces met in the Stamp 
 Act Congress, and passed resolutions against 
 the new taxation. 
 
 1 It was impossible for England to ignore 
 the situation. Reluctantly — it was an act 
 which the king never forgot nor forgave — 
 more than a year after its passage, when it 
 was proved that its enforcement was im- 
 possible, the Stamp Act was repealed. 
 
 This was the time for England to change 
 
Writs of Assistance and the Stamp Act 39 
 
 her whole policy. Not Boston alone, but 
 all America, had declared against American 
 taxation. The principles of liberty had again 
 and again been clearly pointed out. Further, 
 there would have been no disgrace in ad- 
 mitting a mistake. The whole colonial 
 question was new in human history, for 
 Roman practice was inadmissible. "The 
 best writers on public law," reasoned Otis, 
 "contain nothing that is satisfactory on the 
 natural rights of colonies. . . . Their re- 
 searches are often but the history of ancient 
 abuses." * The natural rights of man should 
 have been allowed to rule, as in the course 
 of time, with England's other colonies, they 
 came to do. 
 
 But, for better or for worse, sides had been 
 taken. Few thought of turning back. In 
 England there were no breaks in the ranks of 
 the king's supporters ; in America the office- 
 holding class, the "best families," the people 
 of settled income and vested rights, were as 
 a rule, selfishly or unselfishly, for the king. 
 
 1 Bancroft's "United States," v, 203. 
 
40 The Siege of Boston 
 
 Already "mobocracy," "the faction," "se- 
 dition," were familiar terms among them. 
 England was ready to take, and the Ameri- 
 can Tories were ready to applaud, the next 
 step. And Boston was being marked down 
 as the most obnoxious of the towns of America. 1 
 
 1 The Castle, or Castle William, referred to in this 
 chapter, was the old fort on Castle Island. It was never 
 put to any other use than as a barracks and magazine. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 CHARLES TOWNSHEND, SAM ADAMS, AND THE 
 MASSACRE 
 
 UNFORTUNATELY, when the Stamp 
 Act was repealed, the way had been 
 left open for future trouble. The 
 Rockingham ministry, the most liberal which 
 could then be assembled, even in repealing the 
 Stamp Act thought it incumbent upon them 
 to assert, in the Declaratory Act, the right 
 to tax America. The succeeding ministry, 
 called together under the failing Pitt, was 
 the means of reasserting the right. Pitt, 
 too ill to support the labor of leading his 
 party in the Commons, entered the House 
 of Lords as Earl of Chatham, thus acknowl- 
 edging the eclipse of fame and abilities which 
 in the previous reign had astounded Europe. 
 It was during one of his periods of illness, 
 when he was unable to attend to public affairs, 
 
 41 
 
42 The Siege of Boston 
 
 that a subordinate insubordinately reversed 
 his public policy by proceeding once more 
 to tax America. 
 
 Charles Townshend was Chancellor of the 
 Exchequer. It was he who had urged the 
 reenactment of the Sugar Act in 1763, and 
 he now saw opportunity to put through a 
 more radical policy. In violation of all im- 
 plied pledges, disdaining restraint from his 
 colleagues, this brilliant but unstable poli- 
 tician introduced into Parliament a new bill 
 for raising an American revenue. "I am 
 still," 1 he declared, "a firm advocate of the 
 Stamp Act. ... I laugh at the absurd 
 distinction between internal and external 
 taxation. ... It is a distinction without a 
 difference ; if we have a right to impose the 
 one, we have a right to impose the other ; the 
 distinction is ridiculous in the sight of every- 
 body, except the Americans." 
 
 " Everybody, except the Americans ! " The 
 phrase, from an important speech at a criti- 
 cal moment, marks the fact that a world of 
 
 1 Bancroft, vi, 48. 
 
The Massacre 43 
 
 thought divided the two parts of the Empire 
 more truly than did the Atlantic. But not 
 as yet so evidently. It is only in uncon- 
 scious acknowledgments such as these that 
 we find the English admitting the new classi- 
 fication. In studying the years before and 
 after this event we find the Americans often 
 called Puritans and Oliverians, while the 
 possible rise of a Cromwell among them is 
 admitted. Yet the parallel, though unmis- 
 takably apt, and containing a serious warning, 
 was never taken to heart, even in America. 
 
 Americans were very slow in approaching 
 the conclusion that colonists had irrefragable 
 rights. Caution and habit and pride in the 
 name of Englishman kept them from it ; 
 the colonist, visiting England for the first 
 time, still proudly said that he was going 
 "home." There was no reason why this 
 feeling should ever change, if only the spirit of 
 compromise, the basis of the British Consti- 
 tution, had been kept in mind by Parliament. 
 But the times were wrong. Hesitate as the 
 colonists might before the syllogism which 
 
44 The Siege of Boston 
 
 lay ready for completion, its minor and major 
 premises were already accepted. That they 
 were Englishmen, and that Englishmen had 
 inalienable rights, were articles of faith among 
 them. The conclusion would be drawn as 
 soon as they were forced to it. And Town- 
 shend was preparing to force them. 
 
 Townshend proposed small duties on lead, 
 paints, glass, and paper. Besides this, he 
 withdrew the previous export duty, one 
 shilling per pound, on tea taken from Eng- 
 land to America, and instead of this he laid 
 an import duty of threepence per pound. 
 This was ingeniously new, being internal 
 taxation in a form different from that of 
 the Stamp Act. At the same time was 
 abandoned the ancient contention that cus- 
 toms duties were but trade regulations. The 
 new taxes were obviously to raise an English 
 revenue. For the execution of the new laws 
 provision was made in each colony for col- 
 lectors to be paid directly by the king, but 
 indirectly by the colonies. The head of these 
 collectors was a board of Commissioners of 
 
The Massacre 45 
 
 the Customs, stationed at Boston. It will 
 be seen that thus were begun new irritations 
 for the colonies, in the shape of duties for 
 the benefit of England, and of a corps of offi- 
 cials whose dependence on the crown made 
 sure that they would be subservient tools. 
 
 While this was done, no change was made 
 in the plan to maintain in America an army 
 at colonial expense. Indeed, New York was 
 punished for refusing to supply to the troops 
 quartered in the city supplies that had been 
 illegally demanded. Its assembly was not 
 allowed to proceed with public business until 
 the supplies should be voted. Thus every 
 other colony was notified what to expect. 
 
 The Revenue Acts were passed in July, 
 1767. Upon receiving the news the colonies 
 expressed to each other their discontent. 
 Concerning the Customs Commissioners Bos- 
 ton felt the greatest uneasiness. "We shall 
 now," wrote Andrew Eliot, "be obliged to 
 maintain in luxury sycophants, court para- 
 sites, and hungry dependents." The strong- 
 est expression upon the general situation was 
 
46 The Siege of Boston 
 
 in Dickinson's "Farmer's Letters." * "This," 
 said he, "is an innovation, and a most 
 dangerous innovation. We being obliged to 
 take commodities from Great Britain, special 
 duties upon their exportation to us are as 
 much taxes as those imposed by the Stamp 
 Act. Great Britain claims and exercises the 
 right to prohibit manufactures in America. 
 Once admit that she may lay duties upon her 
 exportations to us, for the purpose of levying 
 money on us only, she will then have nothing 
 to do but to lay those duties on the articles 
 which she prohibits us to manufacture, and 
 the tragedy of American liberty is finished." 
 
 There was but one way to meet the situation. 
 In October the town of Boston resolved, 
 through its town meeting, to import none of the 
 dutiable articles. The example was followed 
 by other towns until all the colonies had 
 entered, unofficially, into a non-importation 
 agreement. The question arose, What further 
 should be done? Otis was beginning his men- 
 tal decline. It was now that Samuel Adams, 
 
 1 Farmer's Letters, quoted in Bancroft, vi, 105. 
 
The Massacre 47 
 
 or Sam Adams, as Boston better loves to call 
 him, came into the leadership which he ever 
 after exercised. 
 
 He was a man of plain Boston ancestry, 
 whose father had interested himself in public 
 affairs, and who, like his son, was of doubtful 
 business ability. Sam Adams's interests were 
 evident from his boyhood, and when in 1743 
 he took his degree of Master of Arts at Har- 
 vard, he presented a thesis on the subject : 
 "Whether it be Lawful to resist the Supreme 
 Magistrate, if the Commonwealth cannot 
 otherwise be preserved." Although he in- 
 herited a little property from his father, and 
 although from the year 1753 he served con- 
 stantly in public offices, up to the year 1764 
 he had scarcely been a success. His patri- 
 mony had largely disappeared; further, as 
 tax-collector he stood, with his associates, 
 indebted to the town for nearly ten thousand 
 pounds. The reason for this is not clear; 
 the fact has been used to his disadvantage 
 by Tory historians, the first of them being 
 Hutchinson, who calls the situation a "de- 
 
48 The Siege of Boston 
 
 falcation." But in order to feel sure that 
 the state of affairs was justified by circum- 
 stances, we need only to consider that in 
 the same year Adams was chosen by the 
 town on the committee to "instruct" its 
 representatives, and a year later was himself 
 made a legislator. From that time on, his 
 influence in Boston and Massachusetts poli- 
 tics steadily grew. 
 
 His political sentiments were never in 
 doubt. In his "instructions" of 1764 are 
 found the words : " If Taxes are laid upon us 
 in any shape without our having a legal rep- 
 resentative where they are laid, are we not 
 reduced from the Character of free Subjects 
 to the miserable State of tributary Slaves ?" x 
 Throughout the Stamp Act agitation he was 
 active in opposing the new measures. He 
 was found to be ready with his tongue, but 
 especially so with his pen. For this reason 
 he was constantly employed by the town and 
 the Assembly to draft their resolutions, and 
 some of the most momentous documents of 
 
 1 Hosmer, "Life of Samuel Adams," 48. 
 
The Massacre 49 
 
 the period remain to us in his handwriting. 
 When at last, at the beginning of 1768, 
 some one was needed to express the opinion 
 of Massachusetts upon the Townshend Acts, 
 Samuel Adams was naturally looked to as 
 the man for the work. 
 
 He drafted papers which were, one after 
 the other, adopted by the Massachusetts As- 
 sembly. The first was a letter of remon- 
 strance, addressed to the colony's agent in 
 London, and intended to be made public. It 
 protested, in words seven times revised by the 
 Assembly, against the proposed measures. 
 Similar letters were sent to members of the 
 ministry and leaders of English opinion. An- 
 other letter was addressed to the king. Of 
 the success of this, Adams apparently had 
 little hope, for when his daughter remarked 
 that the paper might be touched by the royal 
 hand, he replied, "More likely it will be 
 spurned by the royal foot." The final one of 
 these state papers was a circular letter ad- 
 dressed to "each House of Representatives or 
 Burgesses on the continent." This expressed 
 
50 The Siege of Boston 
 
 the opinion of Massachusetts upon the new 
 laws, and invited discussion. That nothing 
 in this should be considered underhanded, a 
 copy of the circular letter was sent to England. 
 
 It is significant that at the same time the 
 new revenue commission sent a secret letter 
 to England, protesting against New England 
 town meetings, "in which the lowest me- 
 chanics discussed the most important points 
 of government with the utmost freedom," 1 and 
 asking for troops. 
 
 This begins the series of misrepresentations 
 and complaints which, constantly sent secretly 
 to England, became a leading cause of trouble. 
 The working of the old colonial system is here 
 seen in its perfection. Believing in the right 
 to tax and punish, the Ministry appointed 
 officers of the same belief. These men, find- 
 ing themselves in hot water in Boston, were 
 annoyed and perhaps truly alarmed, and 
 constantly urged harsher measures and the 
 sending of troops. The ministry, listening 
 to its own supporters, and disbelieving the 
 
 1 Bancroft's "United States," vi, 128. 
 
The Massacre 51 
 
 assertions of the American Whigs, more and 
 more steadily inclined toward severity. 
 
 Perhaps no falser idea was created than 
 that Boston was riotous. Says Fiske : "Of 
 all the misconceptions of America by Eng- 
 land which brought about the American 
 Revolution, perhaps this notion of the tur- 
 bulence of Boston was the most ludicrous." 
 One of the most serious also. The chief 
 cause was in the timorousness of Bernard, the 
 governor. On the occasion of the anniver- 
 sary of the repeal of the Stamp Act, when, as 
 Hutchinson said, "We had only such a mob 
 as we have long been used to on the Fifth of 
 November," Bernard wrote that there was 
 "a disposition to the utmost disorder." As 
 a crowd reached his house, "There was so 
 terrible a yell it was apprehended they were 
 breaking in. It was not so; however, it 
 caused the same terror as if it had been so." 
 That such a letter should have any effect on 
 home opinion is, as Fiske says, ludicrous. 
 Yet the mischief caused by these reports is 
 incalculable. "It is the bare truth," says 
 
52 The Siege of Boston 
 
 Trevelyan, "that his own Governors and 
 Lieutenant-Governors wrote King George out 
 of America." 1 
 
 Another little series of incidents at this 
 time shows the official disposition to magnify 
 reports of trouble. For some weeks the ship 
 of war Romney had lain in the harbor, sum- 
 moned by the commissioners of customs. 
 That the ship should be summoned was in 
 itself an offence to the town ; but the con- 
 duct of the captain, in impressing seamen in 
 the streets of Boston, was worse. Bad blood 
 arose between the ship's crew and the long- 
 shoremen ; one of the impressed men was 
 rescued, but the captain angrily refused to 
 accept a substitute for another. Trouble 
 was brought to a head by the seizure, on the 
 order of the commissioners of customs, of 
 John Hancock's sloop, the Liberty, on al- 
 leged violation of regulations. Irritated by 
 the seizure, and by the fact that the sloop 
 was moored by the side of the Romney, a 
 crowd threatened the customs house officers, 
 
 1 "American Revolution," Part i, 43. 
 
The Massacre 53 
 
 broke the comptroller's windows, and, taking 
 a boat belonging to the collector, after parad- 
 ing with it through the streets, burnt it on the 
 Common. 
 
 This was the second disturbance in Boston 
 which can be called a riot. But it was of 
 small size and short duration ; the influence 
 of the Whig leaders, working through secret 
 channels, quieted the mob, and there was 
 no further trouble. Nevertheless, four of the 
 commissioners of the customs seized the occa- 
 sion to flee to the Romney, and to request of 
 the governor protection in the Castle, declar- 
 ing that they dared not return. But the 
 remaining commissioner remained undisturbed 
 on shore, and a committee of the council, ex- 
 amining into the matter, found that the 
 affair had been only "a small disturbance." 
 A committee from the Boston town meeting, 
 going in eleven chaises to Bernard at his 
 country seat, secured from him a promise to 
 stop impressments, and a statement of his 
 desire for conciliation. Nevertheless Bernard, 
 Hutchinson, and the various officers of the 
 
54 The Siege of Boston 
 
 customs, used the incident in their letters 
 home to urge that troops were needed in 
 Boston. 
 
 This was but an interlude, though an in- 
 structive one, in the main course of events. 
 Massachusetts had protested against the new 
 Acts. The next issue arose when the Assem- 
 bly was directed, by the new colonial secre- 
 tary, Lord Hillsborough, to rescind its Re- 
 monstrance and Circular Letter. The debate 
 on the question was long and important ; the 
 demand was refused by a vote of seventeen 
 to ninety-two. The curious can still see, in 
 the Old State House, the punch-bowl that 
 Paul Revere was commissioned to make for 
 the "Immortal Ninety-two;" and there still 
 exist copies of Revere's caricature of the 
 Rescinders, with Timothy Ruggles at their 
 head, being urged by devils into the mouth 
 of hell. These are indications of the feelings 
 of the times. The immediate result was that 
 in June, 1768, Bernard dissolved the house, 
 and Massachusetts was "left without a legis- 
 lature." Upon the news reaching England, 
 
The Massacre 55 
 
 it was at last resolved to send troops to Boston. 
 The crisis in Massachusetts was now serious. 
 Against the governor and the expected troops 
 stood only the council, with slight powers. 
 Some machinery must be devised to meet the 
 emergency, and the solution of the difficulty 
 was found by Samuel Adams. His mind first 
 leaped to the ultimate remedy for all troubles, 
 and then found the way out of the present 
 difficulty. 
 
 The ultimate solution was independence. 
 Though in moments of despondency and ex- 
 asperation the word had been used by both 
 parties, until now no one had considered 
 independence possible except Samuel Adams. 
 From this period he worked for it, in secret 
 preparing men's minds for the grand change. 
 According to a Tory accusation made in a 
 later year, Adams "confessed that the in- 
 dependence of the colonies had been the 
 great object of his life; that whenever he 
 met a youth of parts he had endeavored to 
 instil such notions into his mind, and had 
 neglected no opportunity, either in public or 
 
56 The Siege of Boston 
 
 in private, of preparing the way for inde- 
 pendence." 1 
 
 Another Tory source, a deposition gathered 
 when the Tories were preparing an accusa- 
 tion against Adams, shows the agitator at 
 work. During the affair of the sloop Liberty, 
 "the informant observed several parties of 
 men gathered in the street at the south end 
 of the town of Boston, in the forenoon of the 
 day. The informant went up to one of the 
 parties, and Mr. Samuel Adams, then one of 
 the representatives of Boston, happened to 
 join the same party near about the same 
 time, trembling and in great agitation. . . . 
 The informant heard the said Samuel Adams 
 then say to the same party, 'If you are men, 
 behave like men. Let us take up arms im- 
 mediately, and be free, and seize all the 
 king's officers. We shall have thirty thou- 
 sand freemen to join us from the country.'" 
 
 The statement of the deposition is crude 
 and overdone, yet there can be no doubt 
 that from this time Adams did work for the 
 
 1 Hosmer's "Life of Adams." 
 
The Massacre 57 
 
 one great end. At first he was alone, yet he 
 recognized the temper of the continent, and 
 saw the way that the political sentiments of 
 the country were tending. The methods which 
 he followed were not always open ; for never 
 did he avow his true sentiments, while often 
 protesting, on behalf of the town or the 
 province, loyalty to the crown. Doubtless 
 he did train the young men up as he saw 
 them inclined. In one case we know that 
 he failed. "Samuel Adams used to tell me," 
 said John Coffin, a Boston Tory, '"Coffin, 
 you must not leave us ; we shall have warm 
 work, and want you.'" 1 But in other cases 
 Adams succeeded : one by one John Han- 
 cock, Josiah Quincy, Jr., John Adams, and 
 Joseph Warren were by him brought into 
 prominence. And at the same time he began 
 to accustom men's minds to new methods of 
 political activity. 
 
 This Adams did in the present difficulty, 
 when, in default of the Assembly, he yet 
 needed an expression of the opinion of the 
 
 1 Sabine's " Loyalists." 
 
58 The Siege of Boston 
 
 province. Through his means was called a 
 convention of the towns of Massachusetts, 
 which met in Faneuil Hall, on the 22d of 
 September, 1768. 
 
 The convention was self-restrained. It 
 called upon the governor to convene the 
 Assembly, and approved all the acts which 
 had caused the Assembly's dismissal ; it re- 
 solved to preserve order, and quietly dis- 
 solved itself. "I doubt," said the British 
 Attorney-General, "whether they have com- 
 mitted an overt act of treason, but I am sure 
 they have come within a hair's breadth of it." 
 
 Immediately afterwards arrived the ships 
 with troops. These were landed with much 
 parade, to find a peaceful town, yet one 
 which from the first was able to annoy them. 
 Demand was made for quarters for the sol- 
 diers ; the Selectmen and Council replied by 
 referring to the law which forbade such a 
 requisition until the barracks at Castle Wil- 
 liam should be filled. By neither subtlety nor 
 threats could the town be induced to yield; 
 the troops camped on the Common until, at 
 
The Massacre 59 
 
 great expense, the crown officials were forced 
 to hire quarters. It was but the beginning 
 of the discomfort of the troops, openly scorned 
 in a town where three-quarters of the people 
 were against them. Where few women except 
 their own camp-followers would have to do 
 with the soldiers, where the men despised 
 them and the boys jeered, where "lobster- 
 back" was the mildest term that was flung 
 at them, there was no satisfaction in wearing 
 the king's uniform. 
 
 Eighteen months of this life wore upon 
 the soldiers. The townsfolk became adepts 
 at subtle irritations, against which there was 
 not even the solace of interesting occupation ; 
 for except for daily drill there was nothing 
 to do. In time the more violent among the 
 troops were ripe for any affray; while the 
 lower classes among the inhabitants, stanch 
 Whigs and sober livers, were sick of the 
 noisy ribaldry which for so long had made 
 unpleasant the streets of the town. Out of 
 these conditions grew what has been called 
 the Boston Massacre. 
 
60 The Siege of Boston 
 
 The best contemporary, and in fact the 
 best general authority for this event is the 
 "Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre in 
 Boston." This was published by the town 
 for circulation in England, and is still extant 
 in Doggett's reprint of 1849, and in Kidder's 
 of 1870. In a report of a special committee 
 the town rehearses both the events of the 
 Massacre and the proceedings which followed 
 it. Seventy-two pages of depositions are 
 appended to the report of the committee : no 
 other single event of those days is made so 
 vivid to us. 
 
 The Massacre was preceded by minor dis- 
 turbances. On the second of March, 1770, 
 insults having passed between a soldier and a 
 ropemaker, the former came to the ropewalk, 
 "and looking into one of the windows said, 
 by God I'll have satisfaction ! . . . and at last 
 said he was not afraid of any one in the rope- 
 walks. I" — thus deposes Nicholas Feriter, 
 of lawful age, "stept out of the window and 
 speedily knocked up his heels. On falling, 
 his coat flew open, and a naked sword ap- 
 
The Massacre 6 1 
 
 peared, which one John Willson, following me 
 out, took from him, and brought into the 
 ropewalks." The soldier returned a second 
 and a third time, each time with more men 
 from his regiment. At the last they were 
 "headed by a tall negro drummer, with a 
 cutlass chained to his body, with which, at 
 first rencounter," says valiant Nicholas, "I 
 received a cut on the head, but being imme- 
 diately supported by nine or ten more of the 
 ropemakers, armed with their wouldring sticks, 
 we again beat them off." 
 
 For three days there was, among the two 
 regiments stationed in the town, anger which 
 the inhabitants endeavored to allay by the 
 discharge of the ropemaker who gave the 
 original insult, and by agreements made with 
 the commanding officer, Colonel Dalrymple. 
 But, as afterwards appeared, there were warn- 
 ings of further trouble. Cautions were given 
 to friends of the soldiers not to go on the 
 streets at night. The soldiers and their 
 women could not refrain from dark hints of 
 violence to come. It is even possible that 
 
62 The Siege of Boston 
 
 violence was concerted. On the night of the 
 fifth a number of soldiers assembled in At- 
 kinson Street. "They stood very still until 
 the guns were fired in King Street, then they 
 clapped their hands and gave a cheer, saying, 
 'This is all that we want'; they then ran 
 to their barracks and came out again in a 
 few minutes, all with their arms, and ran 
 toward King Street." "I never," so runs 
 other testimony, "saw men or dogs so greedy 
 for their prey as these soldiers seemed to be." 
 But the affray was of small proportions, 
 and soon over. The actual outbreak origi- 
 nated in a quarrel between a barber's boy 
 and a sentry, stationed in King Street below 
 the east end of the Town House. 1 Boys and 
 men gathered, the sentry called out the 
 guard, fire-bells were rung, and the crowd 
 increased. The captain of the guard was not 
 the man for the emergency. Said Henry 
 Knox, afterward general and Secretary of 
 War, "I took Captain Preston by the coat 
 
 1 King Street is now State Street, and the Town 
 House is the Old State House. 
 
The Massacre 63 
 
 and told him for God's sake to take his men 
 back again, for if they fired his life must 
 answer for the consequence ; he replied he 
 was sensible of it, or knew what he was about, 
 or words to that purpose ; and seemed in 
 great haste and much agitated." The gather- 
 ing still increased, there was crowding and 
 jostling, snowballs and possibly sticks were 
 thrown ; the soldiers grew angry and the 
 officer uncertain what to do. "The soldiers," 
 testified John Hickling, " assumed different 
 postures, shoving their bayonets frequently 
 at the people, one in particular pushing 
 against my side swore he would run me 
 through ; I laid hold of his bayonet and told 
 him that nobody was going to meddle with 
 them. Not more than ten seconds after this 
 I saw something white, resembling a piece of 
 snow or ice, fall among the soldiers, which 
 knocked the end of a firelock to the ground. 
 At that instant the word ' Fire ! ' was given, 
 but by whom I know not; but concluded it 
 did not come from the officer aforesaid, as I 
 was within a yard of him and must have 
 
64 The Siege of Boston 
 
 heard him had he spoken it, but am satisfied 
 said Preston did not forbid them to fire ; I 
 instantly leaped within the soldier's bayonet 
 as I heard him cock his gun, which that mo- 
 ment went off. ... I, thinking there was 
 nothing but powder fired, stood still, till . . . 
 I saw another gun fired, and the man since 
 called Attucks, fall. I then withdrew about 
 two or three yards. . . . During this the 
 rest of the guns were fired, one after another, 
 when I saw two more fall. ... I further 
 declare that I heard no other affront given 
 them than the huzzaing and whistling of 
 boys in the street." 
 
 After the firing, other soldiers were sum- 
 moned to the spot, and more townspeople 
 appeared. The soldiers, says the official nar- 
 rative, "were drawn up between the State 
 House and main guard, their lines extended 
 across the street and facing down King Street, 
 where the town people were assembled. The 
 first line kneeled, and the whole of the first 
 platoon presented their guns ready to fire, as 
 soon as the word should be given. . . . For 
 
The Massacre 65 
 
 some time the appearance of things were 
 dismal. The soldiers outrageous on the one 
 hand, and the inhabitants justly incensed 
 against them on the other : both parties 
 seemed disposed to come to action." 
 
 Had the affair gone further, so that the 
 soldiers fired again, or the townspeople stormed 
 the barracks, then the affray would have re- 
 sembled the riots not uncommon in Europe 
 at that time, and known even in England. 
 In such a case the turbulence of Boston might 
 have been proved. But the good town was 
 later able to claim that up to the actual 
 breaking out of hostilities not one soldier or 
 Tory had been harmed in Massachusetts. In 
 the present case nothing further happened. 
 The stubborn people stood their ground,, but 
 the eager troops were restrained and led 
 away. The punishment of the offenders took 
 place according to law, with John Adams 
 and Josiah Quincy, Jr., leaders of the Whigs, 
 as successful defenders of the captain. 
 
 The important consequences were political. 
 Though the people dispersed that night, they 
 
66 The Siege of Boston 
 
 assembled on the morrow in a crowded town 
 meeting, where Samuel Adams guided the 
 actions of the assembly. Adjourning from 
 Faneuil Hall to the Old South, which itself 
 could not accommodate them all, the throng 
 passed the very spot of the Massacre and 
 under the windows of the State House, where 
 the lieutenant-governor viewed them. This 
 man was Hutchinson, acting governor in the 
 absence of Bernard, and at last about to 
 arrive at the goal of colonial ambition. 
 
 Thomas Hutchinson has been too much 
 condemned, and of late years almost too 
 much commended. He had spent thirty years 
 in the service of the colony, holding more 
 offices, and more at the same time, than any 
 man of his generation. Now he was un- 
 popular and misjudged, yet he was a man 
 for his day and party honest and patriotic ; 
 his end, in exile in England, was one of the 
 tragedies of American loyalty. But though 
 a braver man than Bernard and more public- 
 spirited, his methods were equally under- 
 handed, and he fatally mistook the capacity 
 
The Massacre 67 
 
 of his countrymen to govern themselves. A 
 man who could wish for less freedom of 
 speech in England was not the man to sym- 
 pathize with the spirit of Americans. 
 
 He now, backed by a few councillors and 
 officials, was to face Sam Adams and the 
 Boston town meeting. With a committee 
 from the meeting, Adams came to the State 
 House to demand the withdrawal of the 
 troops to the Castle. Hutchinson answered 
 that he would withdraw one regiment, but 
 had not the power to remove both. Retiring 
 at the head of his committee, Adams passed 
 through a lane of people on his way to the 
 Old South. "Both regiments or none!" he 
 said right and left as he passed, and every 
 one took up the word. "Both regiments or 
 none!" cried the meeting. Voting his re- 
 port unsatisfactory, it sent him back to the 
 governor to repeat his demand. 
 
 "Now for the picture," wrote John Adams 
 many years after. "The theatre and the 
 scenery are the same with those at the dis- 
 cussion of the writs of assistance. The same 
 
68 The Siege of Boston 
 
 glorious portraits of King Charles the Second, 
 and King James the Second, to which might 
 be added, and should be added, little miser- 
 able likenesses of Governor Winthrop, Gov- 
 ernor Bradstreet, Governor Endicott, and 
 Governor Belcher, hung up in obscure corners 
 of the room. Lieutenant-Governor Hutchin- 
 son, commander-in-chief in the absence of 
 the governor, must be placed at the head of 
 the council-table. Lieutenant-Colonel Dal- 
 rymple, commander of his majesty's military 
 forces, taking rank of all his majesty's coun- 
 cillors, must be seated by the side of the 
 lieutenant-governor and commander-in-chief 
 of the Province. Eight-and-twenty council- 
 lors must be painted, all seated at the council- 
 board. Let me see, — what costume ? What 
 was the fashion of that day in the month of 
 March ? Large white wigs, English scarlet- 
 cloth coats, some of them with gold-laced 
 hats ; not on their heads indeed in so august 
 a presence, but on the table before them or 
 under the table beneath them. Before these 
 illustrious persons appeared Samuel Adams, 
 
1722 — Samuel Adams — 1803 
 
 By John Singleton Copley 
 
The Massacre 69 
 
 a member of the House of Representatives 
 and their clerk, now at the head of the com- 
 mittee of the great assembly at the Old South 
 Church." 1 
 
 It is this moment that Copley chose to 
 represent Adams. Facing the governor, the 
 officers, and the councillors, Adams stood in 
 his simple "wine-colored suit," and appealed 
 to the charter and the laws. "If you have 
 power to remove one regiment, you have 
 power to remove both. It is at your peril 
 if you do not. The meeting is composed of 
 three thousand people. They are become 
 very impatient. A thousand men are already 
 arrived from the neighborhood, and the coun- 
 try is in general motion. Night is approach- 
 ing ; an immediate answer is expected." 2 
 
 Hutchinson was a man learned in the his- 
 tory of the province and the people, and the 
 occasion had impressed him already. As the 
 meeting had passed under his windows on 
 the way to the Old South, a friend at his 
 
 1 Hosmer's "Samuel Adams," 172. 
 2 Bancroft, vi, 344. 
 
70 The Siege of Boston 
 
 side had remarked that this was not the kind 
 of men that had sacked his house. He had 
 noted the resolute countenances of the best 
 men of the town, and had — to use his own 
 words — judged their spirit to be as strong, 
 and their resolve as high, as those of the 
 men who had imprisoned Andros. Adams, 
 narrowly watching him now, marked the 
 tumult in Hutchinson's mind. 
 
 "I observed his knees to tremble," said 
 Adams afterward ; " I saw his face grow pale ; 
 and I enjoyed the sight." 1 For Hutchinson, 
 poorly supported and irresolute, the strain 
 was too great. He temporized and parleyed, 
 but he thought again of Andros, and gave 
 way. It was a complete triumph for the 
 town. The troops, until their removal to the 
 Castle could be effected, were virtually im- 
 prisoned in their barracks by a patrol of 
 citizens. From that time they bore the name 
 of the "Sam Adams regiments." 
 
 1 Bancroft, vi, 345. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE TEA-PARTY AND ITS CONSEQUENCES 
 
 STEP by step the mother country and its 
 colonies were advancing to a rupture. 
 The first step was taken at the test con- 
 cerning the writs of assistance, the second at 
 the passage of the Stamp Act and its repeal, 
 the third resulted in the Massacre and the 
 withdrawal of the troops from Boston. Each 
 time the colonies gained the practical ad- 
 vantages which they sought ; each time the 
 king's party, while yielding, became more 
 exasperated, and presently tested the strength 
 of the colonies once more; and each time it 
 was Boston that stood as the head and front 
 of opposition. The town was marked for 
 martyrdom. 
 
 In the case of the Townshend Acts, the 
 victory of the colonists was temporarily com- 
 plete. The movement had come to a head at 
 
 71 
 
72 The Siege of Boston 
 
 Boston in an actual outbreak, the Massacre, 
 which obscured the greater issues ; never- 
 theless the issues were won. America would 
 not submit to the new revenue laws. Very 
 calmly it had avoided them by refusing to 
 import from England. A thorough test of 
 nearly two years showed that from north to 
 south the colonies were almost a unit in re- 
 jecting English and foreign goods, and in 
 relying on home manufactures. From imr 
 portations of more than a million and a quar- 
 ter pounds, two-thirds fell clean away, 1 and 
 the merchants of England felt the pinch. 
 There was but one thing to do, and England 
 grudgingly did it. The withdrawal of the 
 troops from Boston was acquiesced in, and 
 the revenue acts, the cause of all the trouble, 
 were repealed, except for a duty still main- 
 tained upon tea. 
 
 The response was such that England was 
 relieved. New York began to import those 
 articles which had been made free of duty. 
 The non-importation agreement was broken, 
 
 1 Trevelyan, "American Revolution," Part I, 104. 
 
The Tea-Party and its Consequences 73 
 
 as the colonies perceived. "You had better 
 send us your old liberty pole," wrote Phila- 
 delphia scornfully to New York, "since you 
 clearly have no further use for it." 1 Whigs and 
 Tories both saw that, the agreement thus 
 broken, other colonies would follow the ex- 
 ample of New York. 
 
 The advantage was now clearly with the 
 king, and he endeavored to make the most 
 of it, not by abiding in peace, but by taking 
 a further step. He ordered that colonial 
 judges should in future be paid from the Eng- 
 lish treasury. No one in the colonies could 
 fail to see that the blow was aimed directly at 
 the independence of the judiciary. 
 
 Massachusetts was alarmed. Boston sent 
 resolutions to the governor, but Hutchinson, 
 now at last in the chair, refused to listen to 
 the town meeting. In this moment of in- 
 dignation, Samuel Adams conceived a scheme 
 which was the longest step yet taken toward 
 independence. 
 
 1 "A Card from the Inhabitants of Philadelphia," 
 Bancroft, vi, 366. 
 
74 The Siege of Boston 
 
 This was the idea of Committees of Cor- 
 respondence, to be permanently maintained 
 by each town and even by each colony. The 
 idea of such committees was not novel. It 
 had been suggested years before by Jonathan 
 Mayhew, and had more than once been used 
 in emergencies. But permanent committees, 
 watching affairs and at any time ready to act, 
 were new. Naturally composed of the best 
 men in each town, they would at all times 
 be ready to speak, and to speak vigorously. 
 The plan, when perfected, eventually enabled 
 the colonies to act as a unit. From the first 
 it gave strength to the Americans ; in the 
 present instance it spread the news of the 
 king's action and roused indignation, and 
 before long it brought about an act which 
 startled the English-speaking world. 
 
 This was the Boston Tea-Party. The king 
 had a hand in making the fire hot. He had 
 been vexed by his unsuccessful tariff, and 
 was now especially irritated that his con- 
 cessions had brought about no result in one 
 important particular. 
 
The Tea-Party and its Consequences 75 
 
 Until the present every shipmaster had 
 been a smuggler, and all the Whigs dealt 
 in smuggled goods. This was according to 
 old English practice, but as a matter of fact 
 illicit trade was more decorous in America 
 than in England. Whereas in Cornwall the 
 forces of the smugglers were so strong that 
 they chased the revenue cutters into harbors 
 and landed their goods by bright moonlight, 
 in America the appearances of legality were 
 gravely preserved. 
 
 Nevertheless the result was the same, and 
 in one quarter was actually serious. The 
 recent tariff had brought to the royal treasury 
 scarcely three hundred pounds from tea. The 
 situation was no better now that the tea- 
 duty was the only one remaining. So com- 
 pletely did America, while still drinking tea 
 in quantity, avoid the duly imported article, 
 that the revenue of the East India Company 
 fell off alarmingly. On pathetic representa- 
 tions of the financial state of the company, 
 the king gave permission, through a subser- 
 vient Parliament, for the company to export 
 
7 6 The Siege of Boston 
 
 tea to America free even of the English duty. 
 The company had lost hundreds of thousands 
 of pounds since the Townshend Acts went in 
 force ; now by favorable terms it was to be 
 enabled to undersell in the colonial market 
 even the smuggled teas. Taking advantage 
 of this new ruling, tea was promptly shipped, 
 in the autumn of 1773, to different consignees 
 in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and 
 Charleston. 
 
 It was confidently expected that the col- 
 onies would buy the tea. No one in the gov- 
 ernment supposed that the Americans would 
 be blind to their own interests. This much, 
 indeed, was admitted by the leaders among 
 the Whigs, that once the tea was on sale Yankee 
 principle might be sorely tempted by Yankee 
 thrift. Indignant at the insidious tempta- 
 tion, determined that no such test should be 
 made, and resenting the establishment of a 
 practical monopoly throughout the colonies, 
 the leaders resolved that the tea should not 
 be landed. 
 
 It is an odd fortune that connected the 
 
The Tea-Party and its Consequences 77 
 
 Chinese herb so closely with the struggle 
 of principle in America. To this day, while 
 the issues are obscured in the mind of the 
 average American, he remembers the tax on 
 tea, and that his ancestors would not pay 
 it. Picturesque tales of ladies' associations 
 depriving themselves of their favorite bev- 
 erage, of men tarring and feathering un- 
 popular tradesmen, have survived the hundred 
 and thirty odd years which have passed since 
 then ; and the impression is general that the 
 colonists would not pay a tax which bore 
 heavy on them. But it will be noticed by 
 those who have attentively read this account 
 that the colonists were refusing to pay 
 less, in order that they might have the 
 satisfaction of paying more. They balked, 
 not at the amount of the tax, but at its 
 principle. 
 
 In the case of the tea-ships the duty of 
 action fell upon Boston. Charleston and 
 Philadelphia had taken a positive stand 
 resolving not to receive the tea ; but the ships 
 were due at Boston first. The eyes of the 
 
78 The Siege of Boston 
 
 continent were upon this one town. Boston 
 made ready to act, yet of the preparations 
 we know nothing. While the story as it is 
 told is interesting enough, there is no record 
 of the secret meetings in which the events 
 were prepared. Hints are dropped, and it 
 is asserted that within the Green Dragon 
 tavern, a favorite meeting-place of the Whigs, 
 were finally decided the means by which the 
 workmen of the town should carry out the 
 plans of the leaders. But of these meetings 
 nothing is positively known ; all we can say 
 with certainty is that the plans worked per- 
 fectly, and that Sam Adams must have had 
 a hand in their making. 
 
 The Sons of Liberty took the first step 
 toward forcing the consignees of the tea to 
 resign. "Handbills are stuck up," writes 
 John Andrews, "calling upon Friends ! Citi- 
 zens ! and Countrymen ! " To Liberty Tree 
 the "freemen of Boston and the neighboring 
 towns" were invited, by placard and adver- 
 tisement, "to hear the persons, to whom the 
 tea shipped by the East India Company is 
 
The Tea-Party and its Consequences 79 
 
 consigned, make a public resignation of their 
 office as consignees, upon oath." 1 
 
 But the consignees did not come, though 
 the freemen did. The townspeople, forming 
 themselves into a "meeting," sent a com- 
 mittee to the consignees, demanding that 
 they refuse to receive the tea. But the con- 
 signees believed themselves safe. They were 
 merchants of family and property, the gov- 
 ernor's sons were among them, and it was 
 rumored that Hutchinson had a pecuniary 
 interest in the success of the venture. They 
 refused to give the pledge. 
 
 The official town meeting now took up 
 the matter. Before the tea arrived, and 
 again after the appearance of the first ship, 
 the town called upon the consignees to resign. 
 Each time the consignees refused. The second 
 town meeting, after thus acting in vain, dis- 
 solved without the customary expression of 
 opinion. Hutchinson himself records that 
 "this sudden dissolution struck more terror 
 into the consignees than the most minatory 
 
 1 "Memorial History of Boston," iii, 45. 
 
80 The Siege of Boston 
 
 resolves." From that moment the matter 
 was in the hands of the Boston Committee 
 of Correspondence. 
 
 By means of the committee, at whose 
 head was Adams, communication was held 
 with the towns throughout Massachusetts. 
 The province was greatly excited, and re- 
 peated demands for resignation were made 
 upon the consignees, but they clung to their 
 offices and the hope of profit. Delays were 
 skilfully secured, and the first ship was 
 entered at the customs, after which accord- 
 ing to law it must within twenty days either 
 clear for England or land its cargo. The 
 governor was resolved not to grant a clear- 
 ance, and rejoiced over his opponents. "They 
 find themselves," he said, "in invincible diffi- 
 culties." 
 
 But everything was prepared. To the last 
 minute of the twenty days the Whigs were 
 patient. Petition after petition, appeal af- 
 ter appeal, went to the governor or the con- 
 signees. There was no success. On the 
 last day, the 16th of December, 1773, all 
 
The Tea-Party and its Consequences 81 
 
 three of the tea-ships were at Griffin's Wharf, 
 watched by the patriots. A town meeting, 
 the largest in the history of Boston, crowded 
 the Old South, and again resolved that the 
 tea should not be landed. "Who knows," 
 asked John Rowe, "how tea will mingle with 
 salt water ? " The remark was greeted with 
 cheers, yet one more legal step might be 
 taken, and the meeting, sending Rotch, the 
 master of the first tea-ship, to the governor 
 at Milton to ask for a clearance, patiently 
 waited while he should traverse the fifteen 
 miles of his journey. During the hours of 
 his absence there was no disturbance; when 
 he returned, the daylight had gone, and the 
 Old South was lighted with candles. Seven 
 thousand people were silent to hear the re- 
 port. It was brief, and its meaning was 
 clear : the governor had refused ; the last 
 legal step had been taken. Then Samuel 
 Adams rose. 
 
 "This meeting," he declared, "can do 
 nothing more to save the country." 
 
 It was the expected signal. Immediately 
 
82 The Siege of Boston 
 
 there was a shout from the porch, and the 
 warwhoop sounded out of doors. The meeting 
 poured out of doors and followed some fifty 
 men in the garb of Indians, who suddenly- 
 appeared in the street. They hurried to 
 Griffin's Wharf. There they posted guards, 
 took possession of the tea-ships, and hoisting 
 the chests from the holds, knocked them 
 open and emptied the tea into the water. 
 Under the moon the great crowd watched 
 in silence, there was no interference from the 
 troops or the war-ships, and in three hours 
 the last of the tea was overboard. Nothing 
 remained except what had sifted into the 
 shoes of some of the "Indians," to be pre- 
 served as mementoes of the day. 
 
 "They say," wrote John Andrews dryly 
 two days later, "that the actors were Indians 
 from Narragansett. Whether they were or 
 not, to a transient observer they appear'd 
 as such, being cloath'd in Blankets with the 
 heads muffled, and copper color'd counte- 
 nances, being each arm'd with a hatchet or 
 axe, and pair pistols, nor was their dialect 
 
The Tea-Party and its Consequences 83 
 
 different from what I conceive these geniusses 
 to speak, as their jargon was unintelligible to 
 all but themselves. Not the least insult was 
 offer'd to any person, save one Captain Con- 
 ner, a letter of horses in this place, not many 
 years since remov'd from dear Ireland, who 
 had ript up the lining of his coat and waist- 
 coat under the arms, and watching his op- 
 portunity had nearly fill'd 'em with tea, 
 but being detected, was handled pretty 
 roughly. They not only stripp'd him of his 
 cloaths, but gave him a coat of mud, with a 
 severe bruising into the bargain ; and noth- 
 ing but their utter aversion to make any 
 disturbance prevented his being tar'd and 
 feather'd." 
 
 Such was the Boston Tea-Party, "the 
 boldest stroke," said Hutchinson, "that had 
 yet been struck in America." Much has 
 been written about it. It has been minimized 
 into a riot, and magnified into a deed of 
 glory. As a matter of fact, it was neither 
 the one nor the other, yet if either it was 
 nearer the latter. Carried out by Boston 
 
84 The Siege of Boston 
 
 mechanics, but doubtless directed by Boston 
 leaders, it was a cool and deliberate law- 
 breaking, the penalty" for which, could the 
 offenders but have been discovered, would 
 have been severe. But none of the actors 
 in the affair were betrayed at the time, though 
 hundreds in the town must have had posi- 
 tive knowledge of their identity. Names, 
 like those of the burners of the Gas-pee eighteen 
 months before, were not given out until after 
 the Revolution, and even to-day the list of 
 them is not complete. 
 
 The project of the king and the East India 
 Company was a failure. In one way or other 
 the other three seaports either destroyed 
 or sent back their tea. But Boston was the 
 first and most violent offender. It was on 
 her that punishment was to descend. 
 
 The news of the Tea-Party came to England 
 at a time when king and Parliament were 
 less amiably disposed than usual toward 
 Massachusetts. Some weeks before had hap- 
 pened the affair of the Hutchinson letters. 
 Benjamin Franklin, then Postmaster-General 
 
The Tea-Party and its Consequences 85 
 
 of England, and agent for Massachusetts, 
 had secured possession of certain letters written 
 by Governor Hutchinson and by others in 
 office in the colony. These letters proved be- 
 yond doubt that the Massachusetts officials 
 had been secretly urging upon the home gov- 
 ernment repressive measures against the col- 
 ony. This was but what Bernard had done, 
 and what had been suspected of his successor ; 
 yet the actual proof was too much for Frank- 
 lin. He sent the letters, under pledge of 
 secrecy, home to be read by the leaders among 
 the Massachusetts Whigs. But the pledge 
 of secrecy could not be kept. The letters 
 were read in the Assembly and then published. 
 "He had written," says Bancroft of Hutch- 
 inson, " against every part of the Constitution, 
 the elective character of the Council, the 
 annual choice of the Assembly, the New 
 England organization of the towns ; had 
 advised and solicited the total dependence 
 of the judiciary on the Crown, had hinted at 
 making the experiment of declaring Martial 
 Law, and of abrogating English liberty; had 
 
86 The Siege of Boston 
 
 advised to the restraint of the commerce of 
 Boston and the exclusion of the Province 
 from the fisheries." 1 Hutchinson's defence 
 was that he "had never wrote any public 
 or private letter that tends to subvert the 
 Constitution." But he was thinking of the 
 Constitution rather than the Charter. The 
 province was thoroughly roused, and sent to 
 England a firm yet respectful petition de- 
 manding his dismissal. 
 
 But Hutchinson had been serving the 
 king as the king wished to be served. The 
 wrath of the government fell upon Franklin. 
 In a crowded meeting of the Privy Council, 
 with scant respect for the forms of law, 
 Franklin was subjected to elaborate abuse. 
 There were none to defend him who could 
 gain a respectful hearing ; he stood immovable 
 under the tongue-lashing of the Solicitor- 
 General, and made no reply. " I have never," 
 he said afterwards, "been so sensible of the 
 power of a good conscience, for if I had not 
 considered the thing for which I have been 
 
 1 Bancroft, vi, 461, 462. 
 
The Tea-Party and its Consequences 87 
 
 so much insulted, as one of the best actions 
 of my life, and what I should certainly do 
 again in the same circumstances, I could 
 not have supported it." x The suit which he 
 wore that day he put carefully away, and 
 did not wear it again until as Commissioner 
 for the United States he signed in Paris the 
 treaty of alliance with France. 
 
 Franklin was deprived of his office under 
 the crown, and the king who directed the 
 punishment, the council who condemned him, 
 and the Parliament which cheered them both 
 on, were not yet satisfied. When the news of 
 the Tea-Party came, they felt that their chance 
 had come to strike at the real culprit. The 
 king consulted General Gage, who was fresh 
 from Boston, and listened eagerly to his 
 fatally mistaken account of the situation. 
 "He says," wrote the king to Lord North, 
 " 'They will be lions while we are lambs ; 
 but if we take the resolute part they will 
 undoubtedly prove very meek.' Four regi- 
 ments sent to Boston will, he thinks, be 
 
 1 Bancroft, vi, 498. 
 
88 The Siege of Boston 
 
 sufficient to prevent any disturbance." 1 On 
 such a basis the king and his prime minister 
 planned the laws which should punish the 
 town of Boston. 
 
 The first act was the Boston Port Bill. It 
 closed the port to all commerce until the 
 East India Company should be paid for its 
 tea, and the king satisfied that the town was 
 repentant. Nothing except food and fuel 
 was to be brought to the town in boats ; in 
 fact, as Lord North promised the Commons, 
 Boston was to be removed seventeen miles 
 from the ocean. For Salem was made the 
 port of entry, and there the governor and 
 the collector, the surveyor and the comp- 
 troller, and all underlings were to go*. It 
 was planned to station war-ships in Boston 
 Harbor to enforce the law. 
 
 The second law was the "Bill for the better 
 Regulating the Government of the Massachu- 
 setts Bay," generally called the Regulating 
 Act. This virtually swept away the charter 
 of Massachusetts. It provided first that the 
 1 Avery, "History of the United States," v, 190. 
 
The Tea-Party and its Consequences 89 
 
 Council was to be appointed by the king, 
 and next that without the consent of the 
 Council the governor might appoint or re- 
 move all officers of justice, from judges to 
 constables. By the provisions of the law even 
 the jury lists could be controlled by appointive 
 officers. Finally town meetings were made 
 illegal throughout the province, except for 
 the election of town officers, and other nec- 
 essary local business. 
 
 The third proposal of the government was 
 a bill "for the Impartial Administration of 
 Justice," in proposing which "it was observed 
 that Lord North trembled and faultered at 
 every word of his motion." It provided that 
 magistrates, officers, or soldiers might be tried 
 for "murder, or any other capital offence," in 
 Great Britain. 
 
 The fourth act made provision for quarter- 
 ing troops in Boston. 
 
 The bills went through Parliament without 
 much opposition. Says Trevelyan, "Even 
 after the lapse of a century and a quarter the 
 debates are not pleasant reading for an Eng- 
 
90 The Siege of Boston 
 
 lishman." * It was assumed that the punish- 
 ment was just, and that not only Boston but 
 also the whole continent would take it meekly. 
 A few voices were raised in protest, but as a 
 rule even the Opposition was silent. One by 
 one the bills became law. One more step 
 was taken toward separation. 
 
 1U American Revolution," Part I, 181. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 THE OCCUPATION OF BOSTON 
 
 EARLY in May of 1774 Hutchinson, 
 ostensibly called to England to advise 
 the king, gave up his offices in Massa- 
 chusetts. His exile was approaching. Never 
 again was he to see the fair hill of Milton, 
 nor to look from its top upon the town and 
 harbor that he loved. The Whigs exulted 
 over the fall of "the damn'd arch traitor;" 
 yet surely, though as an official he failed in 
 his task, and as a patriot misread the temper 
 and the capacity of his countrymen, he com- 
 mands our pity. Amid the booming of the 
 cannon which welcomed his successor he pre- 
 pared for his departure. Except for his pa- 
 thetic letters and journals he made no further 
 mark upon his times or ours. His Milton 
 estate remains, but his house is gone, and 
 the very street that he lived on bears 
 
 91 
 
92 The Siege of Boston 
 
 the name of Adams, his most persistent 
 enemy. 
 
 Hutchinson's successor was Thomas Gage, 
 the first governor sent to Boston with an 
 army at his back. He was well known in 
 the colonies, for he had fought well at Brad- 
 dock's defeat, had married an American wife, 
 and was courteous and affable. It remained 
 to be seen whether one of his hesitating tem- 
 perament could meet the situation. With 
 four regiments he had undertaken to pacify 
 Massachusetts. He had his four regiments 
 and more, yet he must occasionally have 
 wondered why he found no more signs of 
 weakness in the ranks of his opponents. 
 
 At this time there were in Boston four 
 chief classes of Whigs. The first were the 
 ministers, and these for many years had been 
 American to the core. As the first settlers 
 of Massachusetts, whether Puritan or Pilgrim, 
 had fled away from prelacy, so their spiritual 
 descendants still hated the name of bishop. 
 In fact, episcopacy in New England was still 
 weak, and its greater part was concentrated 
 
The Occupation of Boston 93 
 
 in Boston itself. Some few of its ministers 
 preached submission ; but they either had to 
 content themselves with Tory congregations, 
 or lost their pulpits, or had them boarded up 
 against them. The wiser part was taken by 
 most in avoiding politics. The sole Congre- 
 gational minister who supported the king was 
 Mather Byles, famed for his witticisms, and 
 he likewise declined to bring into the pulpit 
 any mention of the affairs of the day. "In 
 the first place," he told those .who demanded 
 an expression of his opinion, " I do not under- 
 stand politics ; in the second place you all 
 do, every man and mother's son of you ; in 
 the third place you have politics all the week, 
 so pray let one day in the seven be devoted 
 to religion ; in the fourth place I am engaged 
 in work of infinitely greater importance. 
 Give me any subject to preach on of more 
 consequence than the truth I bring to you, 
 and I will preach on it next Sabbath." x 
 
 Gage's support from the pulpit was there- 
 fore weak, while at the same time the oppo- 
 
 1 Sabine's " Loyalists," 190. 
 
94 The Siege of Boston 
 
 sition from the same source was strong. 
 Those country ministers who were of the 
 political creed of Sam Adams confessed it 
 each Sabbath, and desisted not on week days 
 from strengthening the wills of their congre- 
 gations. More than that, like their prede- 
 cessors in older times, many held chaplain- 
 cies in the militia, and on training days turned 
 out, not only to approve by their presence the 
 object of the drill, but also to stir the spirit 
 of the homespyn soldiery by prayers to the 
 God of Moses, and of Joshua, and of David. 
 Those in Boston, under the very nose of the 
 general and in the presence of his soldiery, 
 abated nothing of their zeal, but preached 
 resistance as before. Gage, as he looked 
 among them for signs of wavering, could 
 have found very little comfort. 
 
 The lawyers next, like the clergymen, had 
 supplied the Whigs much of their strength. 
 Surely, up to the present the patriot party 
 had been distinguished by pliancy and per- 
 sistence. These characteristics had come from 
 the lawyers, whose rejoinders and remon- 
 
The Occupation of Boston 95 
 
 strances, petitions, resolves, and appeals were 
 familiar professional devices. Yet Gage might 
 have found hope in these men. For the pur- 
 pose of all their delays had been compromise, 
 and their hope was the avoidance of blood- 
 shed. The lawyers had showed, too, a love 
 of fair play ; for while they pressed the Tories 
 hard, they had also taken the lead in protest- 
 ing against mob violence. Again, leading 
 Whig lawyers had defended — and acquitted 
 — the perpetrators of the Massacre. Possi- 
 bly such men might be made to see reason. 
 
 A more numerous class than the lawyers 
 was made up of the merchants, small and 
 large. Some few of these men had made 
 their own way in the world, yet most of them 
 may almost have been said to have held 
 hereditary positions in the provincial aristoc- 
 racy. By far the larger number of them 
 were Whigs, some of considerable estate, 
 others — like that John Andrews from whose 
 letters I have already quoted and shall quote 
 more — were men of moderate means, 
 shrewdly working for a "competency." Gage, 
 
g6 The Siege of Boston 
 
 looking forward to the enforcement of the 
 Port Bill, could see that these men would be 
 hard hit. While they had so far been firm 
 in the colonial cause, the coming temptation 
 to desert their party would be very strong. 
 Income, security, and the favor of the king 
 awaited them. 
 
 At the end of this series was the largest 
 class of all, the mechanics. Until now these 
 men had been eager in their demonstrations 
 against technical oppression — which yet was 
 technical after all. No Boston Whig had 
 ever known a tithe of the wrongs of the 
 French peasant or the Russian serf. No 
 laboring class on earth enjoyed or ever had 
 enjoyed greater freedom or less hampered 
 prosperity. But with the enforcement of the 
 Port Bill all this would change. Gage hoped, 
 and the Tories declared, that the mechanics, 
 so soon as pressure was applied, would "fall 
 away from the faction." 
 
 The first results of the new regime were 
 not promising. To begin with, on the news 
 of the passage of the Port Bill the Committee 
 
The Occupation of Boston 97 
 
 of Correspondence of Boston called a meeting 
 of the committees of the neighboring towns. 
 This meeting scouted the idea of paying for 
 the tea, and in a circular letter to the other 
 colonies proposed a general cessation of trade 
 with Great Britain. Similarly the town meet- 
 ing of Boston discussed the situation, pro- 
 nounced against the Port Bill, and appealed 
 to all the sister colonies, entreating not to be 
 left to suffer alone. In more homely language 
 the merchants appealed to their friends. 
 "Yes, Bill," wrote John Andrews to his 
 brother-in-law in Philadelphia, " nothing will 
 save us but an entire stoppage of trade, both 
 to England and the West Indies. . . . The 
 least hesitancy on your part to the Southerd, 
 and the matter is over." 
 
 There was little hesitancy. The suggestion 
 made by the Boston Whigs was taken up, and 
 the maritime towns, which had been expected 
 to take advantage of Boston's predicament, 
 began to discontinue trade, not merely with 
 Great Britain, but also with the West Indies. 
 Then Salem, which was to be the capital in 
 
98 The Siege of Boston 
 
 place of Boston, formally repudiated the idea 
 of profiting by the situation. The news 
 spread to the other colonies, and they began 
 to act. New York proposed, and the sister 
 provinces agreed in, a call for "a general 
 Congress." In less than a month after the 
 coming of the news of the Port Bill, Boston 
 was assured that the continent would not 
 leave her to suffer alone. ,- 
 
 But then, on the first of June, 1774, the 
 Port Bill went into effect. So literally was 
 it interpreted, that all carriage by boat in the 
 harbor was forbidden. No owner of a pas- 
 ture on the harbor islands might bring his 
 hay to the town ; no goods might be brought 
 across any ferry ; not even carriage by water 
 from wharf to wharf in the town was allowed. 
 Further, while food and fuel, according to the 
 provisions of the act, might be brought to 
 Boston by water, all vessels carrying them 
 were forced to go through troublesome formal- 
 ities. They must report at the customs in 
 Salem, unload, load again, and receive a 
 clearance for Boston. Returning, they might 
 
The Occupation of Boston 99 
 
 carry enough provision to last them only to 
 Salem. Besides all this, the Commissioners 
 of Customs at Salem undertook to decide 
 when Boston had enough provisions. The 
 blockade, as enforced by them and the ships 
 of war in Boston Harbor, was minutely com- 
 plete and vexatious. 
 
 Yet at their mildest its provisions were 
 complete enough. Trade by sea with the 
 town was stopped. Consequently, so mari- 
 time were the town's activities, prosperity 
 was instantly checked. All the workers im- 
 mediately dependent on the sea for a living, 
 sailors, wharfingers, longshoremen, and fisher- 
 men, were at once thrown out of employ- 
 ment. Then by a severe interpretation of 
 the act all ship-building was stopped, since the 
 authorities declared that, on launching, any 
 boat would be confiscated. The shipyards 
 shut down, the boats ready to launch were 
 filled with water "for their preservation," 1 
 and ship-carpenters, calkers, rope-makers, 
 and Sailmakers were thrown out of work. 
 1 Andrews Letters. 
 
ioo The Siege of Boston 
 
 Much misery to the unemployed would have 
 been the result but for the forethought of 
 the patriot leaders. 
 
 These men, early realizing the threatened 
 hardship, called for help from the rest of the 
 country. The response was prompt. "A 
 special chronicle," says Bancroft, "could 
 hardly enumerate all the generous deeds." 
 While Lord North, fresh from an interview 
 with Hutchinson, cheered the king with the 
 belief that the province would soon submit, 
 South Carolina was sending a cargo of pro- 
 visions in a vessel offered for the purpose by 
 the owner, and sailed without wages by the 
 captain and her crew. Sheep were driven 
 into Boston from all New England; provi- 
 sions of every kind were brought in ; wheat 
 was sent by the French in Quebec ; money 
 was subscribed and sent from the more distant 
 points. All supplies thus received were put 
 in the hands of a donation committee, who 
 distributed the gifts to the needy. 
 
 Yet in spite of such relief as this, and 
 though for a short time employment was 
 
The Occupation of Boston ioi 
 
 given to workmen by permitting them to 
 finish, launch, rig, and send away the ships 
 then on the stocks, the situation was hard at 
 best. It was felt not only by the lower 
 classes, but by the merchants, whose profits 
 ceased, and by all who depended for their 
 income on the current trade and activity of 
 the town. Gossipy John Andrews gives us 
 the situation as it affected him. "If you'll 
 believe me (though I have got near two 
 thousand sterling out in debts and about as 
 much more in stock), I have not received 
 above eighty or ninety pounds Lawful money 
 from both resources for above two months 
 past ; though previous to the port's being 
 shut, I thought it an ordinary day's work if 
 I did not carry home from twenty to forty 
 dollars every evening." So little ready money 
 circulated in the town "that really, Bill, I 
 think myself well off to satisfy the necessary 
 demands of my family, and you may as well 
 ask a man for the teeth out of his head as to 
 request the payment of money that he owes 
 you (either in town or country, for we are 
 
102 The Siege of Boston 
 
 alike affected), for you'll be as likely to get 
 the one as the other." 1 
 
 Now was, indeed, the time to discover the 
 weak points in the cause and organization of 
 the Americans. Even strong Whigs were at 
 times discontented, and chiefly among the 
 middle class, without whom the leaders could 
 have no strong support. Much of the distress 
 of the shopkeepers and merchants came from 
 the "Solemn League and Covenant" which, 
 proposed on the first news of the Port Bill, 
 was now in actual operation. Andrews's case 
 must have been typical of many. He had 
 countermanded all goods on the news of the 
 Port Bill, and acquiesced in the non-importa- 
 tion agreement: "but upon y<? measure not 
 being adopted by the Southern Colonies, I 
 embraced the first opportunity and re-ordered 
 about one-fourth part of such goods as I 
 thought would be in most demand, and be- 
 
 1 The Andrews Letters, as already noted, are in the 
 Massachusetts Historical Society's Proceedings for 
 the volume of 1 864-1 865. I shall refer to them fre- 
 quently without quoting pages. 
 
The Occupation of Boston 103 
 
 hold ! in about three or four weeks after 
 that, I heard of y? amazing progress the non- 
 consumption agreement had made through 
 y? country; which, in my opinion, has 
 serv'd rather to create dissensions among 
 ourselves than to answer any valuable 
 purpose." 
 
 Many of the Tories held the same opinion. 
 Could not the waverers, they asked Gage, be 
 induced to change their political faith, and 
 especially could not the leaders be tempted ? 
 
 Among these leaders the influence of Otis 
 was waning. He had always been eccentric 
 and unreliable, and now his intellect was 
 threatened. An assault upon him had nearly 
 ruined both his health and his reason. But 
 his place had been taken by others. Samuel 
 Adams, John Adams, Joseph Warren, and 
 John Hancock were the men whose names 
 were oftenest mentioned. Sinister rumors 
 were frequent that Gage had been directed 
 to seize them and deport them to England." 
 Whether or not more evidence against them 
 was needed, no arrest was as yet attempted. 
 
104 The Siege of Boston 
 
 Instead, in at least three quarters there was 
 some hope of corruption. 
 
 Warren the general left untempted ; it is 
 no small tribute to the patriot's character 
 that there could be no doubt of his integrity. 
 Warren was not yet thirty-five years old, 
 was of good social position, had an excellent 
 practice and an assured future. His tempera- 
 ment was frank and manly, and so enthusias- 
 tic as to be fiery. Once already, on the 
 anniversary of the Massacre in 1772, he had 
 addressed the town meeting in condemnation 
 of the government measures ; on many other 
 opportunities, before and since, he had either 
 spoken in public or expressed his opinions 
 through the press. While no advocate of 
 violence, he was unreservedly a Whig, and 
 nothing could be made of him. So far as is 
 known, no attempt was made to corrupt him. 
 
 The case of John Adams was different, 
 at least to Tory eyes. He was ambitious : 
 no one who knew him could doubt that he 
 was conscious of his own ability. Further, 
 he was poor, with a growing family to support ; 
 
The Occupation of Boston 105 
 
 he was known, with the troubled times which 
 he clearly foresaw, to be anxious for his 
 children's future. Surely there was a pos- 
 sibility that Adams might be wise, and be 
 tempted to the safer course ; and fortunately 
 there was at hand an instrument to induce 
 him to become a Tory. Adams was the close 
 personal friend of Jonathan Sewall, the king's 
 attorney-general for the province, and an 
 admirable character. The chance of dis- 
 tinction, the certainty of prosperity, and 
 the importunities of such a friend, might in 
 the end persuade Adams. 
 
 Of John Hancock it was often argued among 
 the Tories that he might almost be left 
 to himself. If Adams was ambitious, Han- 
 cock was more so ; known to be vain, he was 
 believed to be jealous by nature. With these 
 weaknesses, he was also instinctively an aris- 
 tocrat. How long, asked the Tories, would 
 he continue to consort with men of low 
 social position ? How soon would he rebel 
 at being led by the nose by the wily Adams ? 
 Position and influence were ready for him as 
 
106 The Siege of Boston 
 
 soon as he chose to go over to the king. The 
 bait was always plain, and he might be 
 counted on eventually to take it. 
 
 Even Samuel Adams, so reasoned the ad- 
 visers of Gage, might be bought. For Adams 
 was poor. In his devotion to public affairs 
 he had let his business go to ruin, had seen his 
 money melt away, had even sold off parts of 
 his own house-lot. His sentiments were no 
 better known in Boston than his threadbare 
 clothes. His sole income was from his salary 
 as clerk of the house of representatives, only 
 a hundred pounds a year. To the new gov- 
 ernor it was the most natural thing in the 
 world to suppose that the discontent of such 
 a man could soon be removed. He forgot 
 Hutchinson's words : " Such is the obstinacy 
 and inflexible disposition of the man, that 
 he never would be conciliated by any office 
 or gift whatever." 1 
 
 Gage sent, therefore, Colonel Fenton to 
 Adams with offers which would tempt any 
 man that had a price. No definite knowl- 
 
 1 Wells, "Life of Adams," ii, 193. 
 
The Occupation of Boston 107 
 
 edge of the inducements has come down to 
 us : money, place, possibly even a patent of 
 nobility. We know, however, that they were 
 coupled with a threat in the form of advice 
 to make his peace with the king. And we 
 can imagine Adams as, rising from his 
 seat, and standing with the habitual nervous 
 tremor of head and hands which often led 
 his adversaries to mistake his mettle, he 
 delivered his fearless reply. 
 
 "Sir, I trust I have long since made my 
 peace with the King of kings. No personal 
 consideration shall induce me to abandon 
 the righteous cause of my country. Tell 
 Governor Gage that it is the advice of Samuel 
 Adams to him no longer to insult the feelings 
 of an exasperated people ! " 1 
 I And this was in the face of a situation the 
 like of which had never been known in 
 America. "Notwithstanding which," wrote 
 John Andrews, "there seems to be ease, 
 contentment, and perfect composure in the 
 countenance of almost every person you 
 
 1 Wells, "Adams," ii, 193. 
 
108 The Siege of Boston 
 
 meet in the streets, which conduct very much 
 perplexes the Governor and others, our lords 
 and masters, that they are greatly puzzled, 
 and know not what to do or how to act, as 
 they expected very different behaviour from 
 us." 
 
 There is but one explanation of such a 
 state of mind in the Whigs, in the face of 
 the evidently approaching trial. Their con- 
 sciences were clear. This revolution, when 
 finally it came about, was quite within the 
 spirit of the British Constitution. The Whigs 
 believed they were right, and had no fear 
 of the consequences. No testimony to their 
 virtues, as the backbone of a new nation, 
 will speak louder than their present attitude. 
 External testimony is not hard to quote. 
 "The people of Boston and Massachusetts 
 Bay," wrote Thomas Hollis but a few weeks 
 before this time, "are, I suppose, take them 
 as a body, the soberest, most knowing, vir- 
 tuous people at this time upon earth." Other 
 English opinion to the same effect, and French 
 admiration by the chapter, might be quoted. 
 
The Occupation of Boston 109 
 
 Yet a truer proof of the quality of the people 
 is to be found in the calm self-confidence 
 which "very much perplexed" the governor. 
 
 One more comment may safely be ventured 
 here. Before two years were over it was 
 known that Gage, and perhaps even Hutch- 
 inson during his administration, had had 
 the most complete information of the secret 
 doings of the Whig leaders. In fact, even 
 the deliberations of the workmen's caucuses 
 must have been known to Gage. That no 
 arrests were made can mean but one thing : 
 that the Whigs were honest in their endeavor 
 to work their ends by legal means. Samuel 
 Adams may have foreseen the eventual out- 
 come, and knowing it to be inevitable may 
 have striven to make it speedy and complete. 
 But there was no general scheme for inde- 
 pendence, no plot for a revolt. "The Father 
 of the Revolution" laid his plans in silence, 
 and waited for the ripening of the times. 
 
 Gage and his advisers, "greatly puzzled," 
 also watched the crystallizing of opinion. 
 Of the temper of the Bostonians, although 
 
no The Siege of Boston 
 
 oppressed by the Port Bill, there could pres- 
 ently be no doubt. Emboldened by the pres- 
 ence of troops in the town, the Tories called 
 town meetings, first to resolve to pay for the 
 tea, and then to dismiss the Committee of 
 Correspondence. These two actions, if taken, 
 would have totally changed the situation. 
 The meetings were crowded, every courtesy 
 was shown the Tories, and in the second 
 meeting, since Adams was absent, the Whigs 
 had to be content with the leadership of 
 Warren. But there was no hesitation in 
 either case. The first meeting rejected the 
 proposal to pay for the tea. In the second 
 the discretion of Warren proved equal to his 
 zeal, his management of the meeting was 
 perfect, and the vote upheld the Committee 
 of Correspondence by a large majority. 
 
 The next action explains the absence of 
 Adams from Boston at such an important 
 time. According to the new laws, the As- 
 sembly met at Salem, under the eye of 
 the governor and in the presence of his 
 troops. Gage knew very well that a call 
 
The Occupation of Boston in 
 
 had been sent throughout the colonies for an 
 election of delegates to a general Congress 
 which should deliberate on the present situ- 
 ation. He had no intention that delegates 
 should be elected from Massachusetts. He 
 had partisans in the Assembly, and an inform- 
 ant on the committee to introduce legislation. 
 Every move was reported to him. Never 
 did Sam Adams dissemble more cleverly. 
 So dull and spiritless did public matters 
 seem, that Gage's informant thought it 
 safe to go home on private business. 
 Then Adams acted. Quietly laying his 
 plans, on the morning of the seventeenth 
 of June, 1774, he locked the door of the 
 chamber and proposed that the Assembly 
 elect delegates to the Continental Congress. 
 A Tory pleaded sickness and hurried to Gage 
 with the news ; but the door was again locked, 
 and the business proceeded. Though the 
 governor sent his secretary with a message 
 dissolving the Assembly, the secretary knocked 
 in vain. The doors were not opened until 
 delegates had been elected to the Congress, 
 
H2 The Siege of Boston 
 
 a tax laid to pay their expenses, and reso- 
 lutions passed exhorting the province to 
 stand firm. 
 
 One of the delegates-elect was John Adams. 
 For years he had declined to hold public 
 office, and had even avoided town meetings. 
 There was now a natural Tory hope that he 
 might refuse this office ; there was even a 
 last chance to wean him from the Whig 
 cause, for he was presently to ride on circuit, 
 and there would meet his friend Sewall. 
 When the two met, the Tory reasoned ear- 
 nestly, pointing out the irresistible power of 
 Great Britain. But Adams was ready with 
 his answer. "Sink or swim, live or die, 
 survive or perish with my country is my 
 unalterable determination." * And so went 
 another hope of the Tories. 
 
 The summer of 1774 wore along, with no im- 
 provement in the situation. Rather it became 
 worse. So much time had elapsed without 
 definite news of the passing of the Regulating 
 
 1 Bancroft, edition of 1876, iv, 344. Subsequent 
 references to Bancroft will be to this edition. 
 
The Occupation of Boston 113 
 
 Act, that there was hope that the measure 
 had failed. But early in August came news of 
 its passage, and with it a list of appointments 
 for the new Council. The appointees were 
 all chosen from among the Tories, or from 
 those inclined to the king's side. "It is 
 apprehended," wrote Andrews, "that most 
 of 'em will accept." 
 
 Now at last it was natural to suppose 
 that the Whigs had come to the end of their 
 resources. Their Assembly was dissolved, a 
 Tory held each appointive position, Boston 
 was filled with soldiers, and the harbor was 
 guarded by ships of war. Active opposition 
 to the troops would have been madness, and 
 it seemed impossible to conduct even the 
 ordinary business of the town, for now town 
 meetings might legally be called only for 
 the purpose of electing officers. Yet when 
 Gage called the selectmen before him, and 
 graciously indicated his willingness to allow 
 meetings for certain harmless purposes, the 
 reply surprised him. There was no need, 
 said the selectmen, to ask his permission for 
 
114 The Siege of Boston 
 
 a meeting : they had one in existence already. 
 In fact they had two, the May meeting and 
 the June meeting, each legally called before 
 the enforcement of the Regulating Act, and 
 each legally "adjourned" until such time 
 as it was needed. The technical subterfuge 
 was too much for Gage, and the adjournments 
 continued in spite of the law. 
 
 As the Massachusetts delegates prepared 
 for their journey to Philadelphia, where the 
 Congress was to be held, there occurred, if 
 we can believe the story told by John Andrews 
 — it was certainly believed in Boston at the 
 time — a demonstration of affection for Sam- 
 uel Adams. "For not long since some per- 
 sons (their names unknown) sent and ask'd 
 his permission to build him a new barn, the 
 old one being decay'd, which was executed 
 in a few days. A second sent to ask leave 
 to repair his house, which was thoroughly 
 effected soon. A third sent to beg the favor 
 of him to call at a taylor's shop and be meas- 
 ur'd for a suit of cloaths and chuse his cloth, 
 which were finish'd and sent home for his 
 
The Occupation of Boston 115 
 
 acceptance. A fourth presented him with a 
 new whig, 1 a fifth with a new Hatt, a sixth 
 with a pair of the best silk hose, a seventh 
 with six pair of fine thread ditto, a eighth 
 with six pair shoes, and a ninth modestly 
 inquired of him whether his finances want 
 rather low than otherways. He reply'd it 
 was true that was the case, but he was very 
 indifferent about these matters, so that his 
 poor abilities was of any service to the Pub- 
 lick ; upon which the Gentleman obliged him 
 to accept of a purse containing about 15 or 
 20 Johannes." It is possible that these 
 attentions to Adams grew out of the desire 
 that he, so well known in Boston that his 
 shabbiness meant nothing, should appear 
 well at the Congress, where his dress, might 
 prejudice others against him. True or not, 
 this little story has its significance, for, says 
 Andrews to his correspondent, " I mention this 
 to show you how much he is esteem'd here. 
 They value him for his good sense, great 
 abilities, amazing fortitude, noble resolution, 
 
 1 Sic! 
 
1 16 The Siege of Boston 
 
 and undaunted courage : being firm and un- 
 mov'd at all the various reports that were 
 propagated in regard to his being taken up 
 and sent home, 1 notwithstanding he had 
 repeated letters from his friends, both in 
 England as well as here, to keep out of the 
 way." 
 
 If the governor desired to arrest Adams, he 
 had plenty of opportunity. There was even 
 a public occasion to take all the delegates 
 together, when they left the town on their 
 way to Philadelphia. "A very respectable 
 parade," wrote Andrews, "in sight of five of 
 the Regiments encamp'd on the Common, 
 being in a coach and four, preceded by two 
 white servants well mounted and arm'd, with 
 four blacks behind in livery, two on horse- 
 back and two footmen." Perhaps Gage 
 breathed a sigh of relief with the "brace of 
 Adamses" away, but his real troubles were 
 only beginning. 
 
 Massachusetts would have nothing to do 
 with the newly appointed officers. The thirty- 
 
 1 Note the use of the word, as meaning England. 
 
The Occupation of Boston 117 
 
 six councillors, appointed under writ of man- 
 damus, excited the most indignation. Of the 
 Boston nominees thirteen accepted, two de- 
 clined, and four took time to consider; 
 throughout the province the proportion was 
 about the same. But those who wavered and 
 those who accepted presently heard from 
 their neighbors. Leonard of Taunton, hear- 
 ing of a surprise party mustering from the 
 neighboring towns, departed hastily for Bos- 
 ton. His father, by promises that he would 
 urge his son to resign, with difficulty pre- 
 vailed on the disgusted neighbors to leave the 
 councillor's property unharmed. In Worces- 
 ter, Timothy Paine was taken to the com- 
 mon, and, in the presence of two thousand 
 standing in military order, he read his declina- 
 tion of his appointment. Ruggles of Hard- 
 wick was warned not to return home ; his 
 neighbors swore that he should never pass 
 the great bridge of the town alive. Murray 
 of Rutland, like Leonard of Taunton, escaped 
 the attentions of his townspeople, who scorned 
 the threat of confiscation and death, and 
 
n8 The Siege of Boston 
 
 demanded his resignation. "This," wrote his 
 brother to him, "is not the language of the 
 common people only : those that have here- 
 tofore sustained the fairest character are the 
 warmest in this matter ; and, among the 
 many friends you have heretofore had, I 
 can scarcely mention any to you now." 
 
 The people did not always act with vio- 
 lence, but the compulsion which they put 
 upon their fellow-townsmen was strong. 
 Watson of Plymouth, long respected in the 
 town, had been appointed by the king to the 
 Council, and had intended to accept. But 
 when he appeared in church on the following 
 Sunday, his friends rose and left the meeting- 
 house. In the face of their scorn he bowed 
 his head over his cane, and resolved to resign. 1 
 
 More than twenty of the thirty-six coun- 
 cillors either declined their appointment, or 
 resigned. The rest could find no safety ex- 
 cept in Boston, under the protection of the 
 troops. Even the courts were prevented from 
 
 1 1 take these facts from Bancroft and the Andrews 
 Letters. 
 
The Occupation of Boston 119 
 
 sitting, in one case by the ingenious method 
 of packing the court-room so solidly with 
 spectators that judge and sheriff could not 
 enter. Only among the garrison at Boston 
 was there comfort for the Tory officials. 
 
 Boston itself was troublesome enough. 
 When Gage, regarding himself as "person- 
 ally affronted" by John Hancock, 1 removed 
 him from command of the Cadets, the com- 
 pany sent a deputation to Salem and returned 
 him their standard, declining longer to keep 
 up their customary service as the governor's 
 body-guard. The governor, vexed, replied 
 that had he previously known of their inten- 
 tions, he would have dismissed them himself. 
 
 The town meetings troubled him also. 
 Salem held one under his nose, in spite of a 
 feint to interrupt them by the soldiers. When 
 he summoned the committee of correspond- 
 ence of the town to answer for the meeting, 
 they were stubborn and defiant, refused to 
 
 1 Hancock seems to have practised upon Gage the 
 subterfuge which he afterwards used with Washington, 
 pretending to be too ill to wait upon him. 
 
120 The Siege of Boston 
 
 give bail when arrested, and were conse- 
 quently — released ! Other towns held meet- 
 ings to elect delegates to a county conven- 
 tion, and the governor was powerless to stop 
 them. Although he had many more troops 
 than the four regiments with which he first 
 declared that he could do so much, he felt 
 his helplessness, and, cursing the town meet- 
 ings, waited for more soldiers. He sum- 
 moned the remnant of his council to meet in 
 Salem ; but the members were afraid to come, 
 and, departing from his orders, he allowed 
 them to sit in Boston. 
 
 And now, as the weeks passed on, even 
 Boston was rumbling with the thunder of 
 the coming storm. Israel Putnam, having 
 driven to Boston a flock of sheep, the gift 
 to the poor of Boston from his Connecticut 
 town, became the lion of the day. Meeting 
 on the Common some of his old friends in 
 the regular army, they chaffed him on the 
 military situation. Twenty ships and twenty 
 regiments, they told him, were to be expected 
 if the country did not submit. "If they 
 
The Occupation of Boston 121 
 
 come," returned the stanch old Indian fighter, 
 "I am ready to treat them as enemies." 
 
 At length the forms of law failed even in 
 Boston. When the judges summoned a jury, 
 it not only refused to take oath, but pre- 
 sented a written protest against the au- 
 thority on which the court acted. The judges 
 gave up the attempt in despair, and the 
 governor and his advisers thought that mat- 
 ters were come to a pretty pass when a mere 
 petit juror could declare "that his conscience 
 would not let him take oath whiles Peter 
 Oliver set upon the bench." * There was 
 apparently no punishment to meet such 
 obduracy. 
 
 But at last news came to Gage on which 
 he felt compelled to act. Much powder had 
 been stored in the magazine at Quarry Hill 
 in Charlestown. He was informed that dur- 
 ing August the towns had removed their 
 stock, until there remained only that which 
 belonged to the province. This stock Gage 
 determined to secure against possible illegal 
 
 1 Andrews Letters. 
 
122 The Siege of Boston 
 
 seizure, by seizing it himself. On the morning 
 of the first of September, by early daylight, 
 detachments of troops in boats took the 
 powder to the Castle, and also secured 
 two cannon from Cambridge. Rumors of 
 violence and bloodshed spread rapidly, and 
 by nightfall half of New England was in 
 motion, marching toward Boston. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE POWDER ALARM AND THE WINTER OF 
 
 i 774-1 775 
 
 GAGE had by this time given up hope 
 of winning to his side the leaders of 
 the Whigs. If he still retained a 
 doubt of the temper of the people, the events 
 of the first and second of September would 
 have made him certain. Marching in com- 
 panies, they converged upon Cambridge, 
 whence the Lieutenant-Governor, Andrew 
 Oliver, hastily departed to Boston, to implore 
 Gage to send out no troops, lest not a man 
 of them should return alive. On his way in, 
 Oliver passed Warren hastening out. But 
 his influence was not needed. The militia 
 companies had already laid aside their weapons 
 and were parading peacefully upon Cambridge 
 common. There they were addressed by 
 two of the Mandamus Council, who confirmed 
 
 123 
 
124 The Siege of Boston 
 
 their resignations and promised in no way 
 to be concerned in the acts of Gage's govern- 
 ment. Then the high-sheriff came under 
 the attention of the meeting, and likewise 
 promised to do nothing under the new laws. 
 
 Hallowell, the Commissioner of Customs, 
 escaped more serious handling. Passing by 
 the common and its assemblage of Whigs, he 
 "spoke somewhat contemptuously of them." 
 They promptly sent some mounted men after 
 his chaise. On seeing them coming he stopped 
 his chaise, unhitched his horse and mounted, 
 and ran his pursuers a close race to Boston 
 Neck, where he found safety with the guard. 
 
 Oliver, returning to Cambridge with the 
 governor's promise to send out no troops, 
 was waited upon by the great assemblage. 
 The Whigs demanded his resignation as a 
 councillor. This, after demurring, Oliver 
 gave, and offered to resign also from the 
 lieutenant-governorship. But this the com- 
 pany allowed him to keep. Andrews records, 
 "It is worthy remark that Judge Lee re- 
 marked to 'em, after he had made his resig- 
 
The Powder Alarm 125 
 
 nation, that he never saw so large a number 
 of people together and preserve so peaceable 
 order before in his life." 
 
 This orderly meeting, proceeding with par- 
 liamentary forms, passed a resolve that Gage 
 was within his legal rights in removing the 
 powder from the store-house. They then 
 "voted unanimously their abhorrence of mobs 
 and riots," x and with these lessons given for 
 any one to learn, they peaceably turned toward 
 their homes. On their way they turned back 
 those who, from further away, were eagerly 
 coming to avenge the rumored death of their 
 countrymen and the bombardment of the 
 town. Putnam, after disbanding his Con- 
 necticut company, wrote to urge the men of 
 Massachusetts to take better care of the 
 remainder of their powder. 
 
 The "Powder Alarm" stirred the country 
 everywhere. At Philadelphia its exaggerated 
 reports greatly disturbed the Congress, but 
 the response was significant. "When the 
 horrid news was brought here of the bombard- 
 
 1 Bancroft. 
 
126 The Siege of Boston 
 
 ment of Boston," wrote John Adams, "which 
 made us completely miserable for two days, 
 we saw proofs both of the sympathy and 
 the resolution of the continent. War ! war ! 
 war ! was the cry, and it was pronounced in 
 a tone which would have done honor to the 
 oratory of a Briton or a Roman. If it had 
 proved true, you would have heard the thun- 
 der of an American Congress." * j 
 
 Gage now, for the first time, seems to have 
 had a glimmer of an idea of the formidable 
 forces that were against him. He began to 
 consider the military situation, and the de- 
 fence of the town against another such rising. 
 If on the next occasion the provincials should 
 attempt to pursue a commissioner not merely 
 to the Neck, but past it, there must be means 
 of stopping them. Gage gave orders to for- 
 tify the Neck, which was in those days the 
 single land approach to Boston. 
 
 The modern city in no way resembles the 
 old town. Now, between South Boston and 
 Cambridge, a score of highways lead into the 
 
 1 Adams Letters, 39. 
 
The Powder Alarm 1 27 
 
 city. Bridges and even tunnels give direct 
 communication from South Boston, Cam- 
 bridge, Charlestown, Chelsea, and East Bos- 
 ton. But in 1774 South Boston was a mud- 
 flat ; the Back Bay — at least at high water 
 — was what its name implies ; Chelsea was 
 Winnisimit, with but half a dozen houses ; 
 and East Boston was an island, having but 
 two houses on it. Now the flats have been 
 filled up, the mainland brought closer, and 
 the approaches bridged. In Governor Gage's 
 day Boston was still a peninsula, roughly 
 pear-shaped, and connected with the main- 
 land by a strip of land which was, at high 
 tide, scarcely a hundred yards wide. 
 
 Batteries commanding the road which 
 crossed this isthmus seemed, at the time, 
 quite sufficient to defend the town. It was 
 not till later that Gage began to consider the 
 heights of Dorchester and Charlestown, which, 
 to the south and north, threatened Boston. 
 Now he set to work upon an earthwork at the 
 Neck, brought cannon there, and began to 
 build block-houses. It was reported that he 
 
128 The Siege of Boston 
 
 was to cut a ditch across the Neck, and con- 
 fine traffic to a narrow bridge ; but at the 
 objection of the selectmen such an idea, if 
 he had considered it, was given up. Protest 
 against the new earthworks was also lodged. 
 The selectmen of the town, and a committee 
 from the convention for Suffolk County 
 which then happened to sit, came to Gage 
 with remonstrances. Warren, from the con- 
 vention, twice urged his demands. "Good 
 God, gentlemen," responded the harried gov- 
 ernor, "make yourselves easy, and I will be 
 so." 1 
 
 There was no more ease of mind for Gov- 
 ernor Gage. Within the limits of Boston 
 and Charlestown were several cannon belong- 
 ing to the militia organizations of the town. 
 When the general tried to secure the Charles- 
 town guns from secretion by the provincials, 
 they disappeared. "Ever since," wrote An- 
 drews a fortnight later, "the General has 
 ordered a double guard to y» new and old 
 gun houses, where y? brass field pieces be- 
 
 1 Andrews Letters. 
 
The Powder Alarm 129 
 
 longing to our militia are lodged : notwith- 
 standing which . . . We'n'sday evening, or 
 rather night, our people took these from the 
 Old house (by opening the side of the house) 
 and carried away through Frank Johonnot's 
 Garden. Upon which he gave it in orders 
 the next day to the officer on guard to re- 
 move those from the New house (which 
 stands directly opposite the encampment of 
 the 4th Regiment and in the middle of the 
 street near the large Elm tree), sometime the 
 next night into the camp ; and to place a 
 guard at each end, or rather at both doors, 
 till then. At the fixed hour the Officer went 
 with a number of Mattrosses to execute his 
 orders, but behold, the guns were gone!" 
 Lest the guns in the North Battery should 
 similarly be spirited away, the bewildered 
 general ordered them to be spiked. 
 
 His state of mind was not improved when 
 he received, as he did early in September, 
 the resolutions passed by the Suffolk conven- 
 tion. The Suffolk Resolves, as they are 
 called, covered the whole of the existing situa- 
 
130 The Siege of Boston 
 
 tion. Repudiating the king's claim to un- 
 conditional obedience, they declared the Regu- 
 lating Act unconstitutional, and called on all 
 officers under it to resign their places. They 
 advised that all taxes should be withheld 
 from the king's treasury, and suggested a 
 provincial congress to deal with the affairs of 
 Massachusetts. The resolves further declared 
 that the Americans had no intention of ag- 
 gression, advised peaceful measures, but 
 threatened to seize all crown officers if any 
 political arrest were made. Looking forward 
 to the eventual rupture, the resolves advised 
 the towns to choose their military officers 
 with great care, and finally made provision 
 to spread alarm or summon assistance at a 
 moment's notice. 
 
 Affairs had now reached a new phase. 
 The barrier which Gage had erected at the 
 Neck had effectually cut him off from the 
 province which he had been sent to govern. 
 From that time on he had no authority be- 
 yond the range of his batteries. 
 
 Boston was his, to be sure. In spite of 
 
The Powder Alarm 131 
 
 alarms (for once the field day of the Ancient 
 and Honorable Artillery Company, the pride 
 of the province, aroused the fleet ; and once 
 the little navy was awake all night against 
 an attack that never came), in spite of such 
 alarms, no attempt was made upon his army 
 or his ships. The town was quiet, and Tory 
 ladies and gentlemen were at last at ease. 
 On the Mall they might daily watch the 
 parade of the troops, speak their minds about 
 the faction, and agree upon the cowardice of 
 the provincials. Yet the Whigs of Boston 
 made no submission. They were, as Warren 
 wrote of them, "silent and inflexible." At 
 the same time they had everything at stake. 
 Their leaders Hancock and Warren still lived 
 openly among them, in the face of the threat 
 of arrest. The artisans, too, at this period 
 put behind them a great temptation. For 
 many months they had been idle ; now 
 within a few weeks the governor had com- 
 menced building barracks for the troops, upon 
 which Boston workmen were engaged. For 
 the first time since the Port Bill went into 
 
132 The Siege of Boston 
 
 effect they were earning a comfortable living. 
 But now they refused to work longer for the 
 king. In vain Gage appealed to the select- 
 men and to Hancock. One and all the 
 artisans withdrew, to subsist, as before, upon 
 the donations that still continued to come in 
 from the other towns and colonies. 
 
 Outside the barrier at the Neck was an 
 unparalleled state of affairs. In Massachu- 
 setts there was no legal government. The 
 charter had been abrogated, but the new 
 system had been rejected by the people. 
 There were no judges and no courts, no 
 sheriffs ; there was no treasury, and no ma- 
 chinery of government whatever. Conse- 
 quently there was a striking opportunity 
 for lawlessness. Yet the quiet in the province 
 was remarkable. In the absence of execu- 
 tive and judicial officers, the selectmen of 
 the towns and the Committees of Correspond- 
 ence took upon themselves the work that 
 was to be done, and did it quietly and well. 
 There was no thievery, no murder, no re- 
 pudiation of debts. So far as their ordinary 
 
The Powder Alarm 133 
 
 life was concerned, the people simply lived 
 on in their ancient way. 
 
 There was, nevertheless, plenty of law- 
 lessness of the new kind. Just as soon as 
 the people could catch the newly appointed 
 officials, they forced them to resign ; and 
 whenever the courts attempted to sit they 
 were made to adjourn. There continued the 
 little migration of Tories toward Boston, 
 always in the expectation that the sojourn 
 was to be brief, and that presently Gage 
 would have the situation in hand. Most 
 of the refugees, however, never saw their 
 homes again. As for Gage, he was sus- 
 pected of detaining the remaining councillors 
 in Boston, lest he should not have any left 
 to him. Indeed, his position in Salem had 
 already become so undignified and uncom- 
 fortable that early in September, with the 
 Commissioners of Customs and all other 
 officials, he returned to Boston. There he 
 also withdrew the two regiments with which 
 he had ineffectually endeavored to sustain 
 his prestige in Salem. Yet he had not been 
 
134 The Siege of Boston 
 
 long in Boston before he was forced to watch 
 the preparations for a new act of defiance. 
 
 Already, unfortunately for him, he had 
 convened the Assembly to meet at Salem. 
 Now that he was in Boston he desired the 
 legislators to meet there also ; yet he could 
 not adjourn them until they met. This he 
 planned to do. The delegates, however, knew 
 that if they came to Boston they must take 
 their oaths of office before the Mandamus 
 Council. To this the representatives would 
 never submit, and accordingly planned an- 
 other move. Boston carried out its part 
 under the eye of the governor. The town 
 elected its representatives, chief among whom 
 were Hancock, Warren, and the absent Sam- 
 uel Adams. The meeting then deliberately, 
 reminding the delegates that they could 
 not conscientiously discharge their duty under 
 the conditions which the governor would 
 impose, "empowered and instructed" them 
 to join with the delegates from other towns 
 in a general provincial congress, to >ct 
 upon public matters in such a manner as 
 
The Powder Alarm 135 
 
 should appear "most conducive to the true 
 interest of this town and province, and most 
 likely to preserve the liberties of all America." 
 
 Thus the town of Boston, inflexible but 
 no longer silent, calmly ignored the gov- 
 ernor and his troops. A strong governor 
 would have imprisoned the delegates and 
 dissolved the meeting ; Gage allowed it to 
 proceed for the rest of the day with illegal 
 business, and did nothing. 
 
 It was at this time that the conduct of 
 affairs fell into the hands of Warren. Adams 
 was away at Philadelphia, and Hancock, 
 though older than Warren and an excellent 
 figurehead, had neither Warren's wisdom 
 nor his fiery energy. It was Warren who 
 corresponded with the Congress at Phila- 
 delphia and with the Committees of Corre- 
 spondence of the Massachusetts towns, and 
 it was to him that the province naturally 
 turned. When we remember him as the 
 hero of Bunker Hill, it is well also to recall 
 him as the tried servant and the excellent 
 adviser of the public. 
 
136 The Siege of Boston 
 
 One act of his at this point is worth re- 
 membering. As we have seen, Episcopalians 
 were not in good odor with the Massachu- 
 setts Whigs ; the colony had been founded as 
 an asylum from "prelacy," and still, after 
 nearly two hundred and fifty years, the few 
 members of the English church were chiefly 
 supporters of the crown. Warren now took 
 occasion to remind his brethren that to the 
 south conditions were different, and that 
 "the gentlemen of the Established Church of 
 England are men of the most just and liberal 
 sentiments." In a printed letter he requested 
 fair treatment of all Episcopalians, and ended 
 by quoting from a letter of Samuel Adams 
 an account of the Episcopal chaplain of 
 the Philadelphia Congress, whose first prayer 
 moved many of the members to tears. Al- 
 though this chaplain later turned his coat, 
 the reminder was timely and valuable, for 
 many southern Whigs, among them Wash- 
 ington himself, were members of the Estab- 
 lished Church. 
 
 As to the proposed provincial congress, 
 
The Powder Alarm 137 
 
 Gage now hastened to forestall the conse- 
 quences of his own action. He declared 
 the convening of the Assembly inexpedient, 
 and removed the obligation to attend. Never- 
 theless ninety of the delegates came together, 
 waited a day for the governor, then formed 
 themselves into a provincial congress, and 
 adjourned. On the nth of October they 
 met again at Concord, this time with nearly 
 two hundred more members, and in the old 
 meeting-house began their sessions with Han- 
 cock as their president, but with Warren as 
 the most influential member of their body. 
 
 His influence was thrown on the side of 
 moderation. There were plenty in the prov- 
 ince ready to urge violence. They argued 
 that the old charter should be resumed; and 
 as if the present acts were not sufficiently 
 revolutionary, were ready to proceed to vio- 
 lent measures. But the time had not yet 
 come. Massachusetts sentiment, responding 
 to persecution, was far in advance of the 
 feelings of the rest of the country. No 
 action could safely be taken until the other 
 
138 The Siege of Boston 
 
 colonies were ready to support New England. 
 In constant touch with Samuel Adams — 
 for Paul Revere and other trusted couriers 
 were always on the road with letters — Warren 
 was able to remind his colleagues of the need 
 of patience, and to cool their ardor by his 
 warnings that in open rebellion they would 
 stand alone. His services, and those of the 
 steadfast band who supported him, were in- 
 valuable. In these days he rose to the full 
 stature of political leadership, in guiding the 
 actions of the provincial congress and in con- 
 straining it to patience. 
 
 And yet its acts were revolutionary enough. 
 It must be remembered that until this time 
 the Whigs of Massachusetts had remained 
 within their constitutional rights. Apart 
 from the Tea-Party, no word or act of town 
 meeting or of legislature, or even of any 
 prominent citizen, needed for justification 
 anything more than the ancient charter 
 rights of the province. But now the pro- 
 vincial congress went beyond anything that 
 had ever been done before. It appointed a 
 
The Powder Alarm 139 
 
 Committee of Safety, which should prepare 
 for equipping and raising an army. It ap- 
 pointed a Committee of Supplies, which 
 presently gathered together a few hundred 
 spades and pickaxes, some muskets, a thousand 
 wooden mess-bowls, four thousand flints, 
 and a small supply of peas and flour — a 
 pitiful attempt to compete with the vast 
 resources of Great Britain. More than this, 
 it appointed a Receiver-General, to keep the 
 public money of the province. It might be 
 argued that all these acts were still within 
 the charter rights, yet the Whig position 
 was no longer so strong as on the occasions 
 when it had caused the crown lawyers to 
 doubt. With a treasurer engaged in receiv- 
 ing the taxes which the towns willingly paid 
 him, and with generals appointed to command 
 an army, it began to look as if Massachu- 
 setts were in rebellion. 
 
 Gage was perplexed. His province was 
 out of his control, and now came the news 
 that the Continental Congress, before ad- 
 journing, had voted approval of the course of 
 
140 The Siege of Boston 
 
 Massachusetts. In fact, Congress had voted 
 its support. "Resolved, that this congress 
 approve of the opposition made by the in- 
 habitants of the Massachusetts Bay to the 
 execution of the late acts of Parliament ; 
 and, if the same shall be attempted to be 
 carried into execution by force, in such case 
 all America ought to support them in their 
 opposition." With such words in his mind, 
 Gage had to listen to the ringing of the 
 church bells in welcome to Samuel Adams as 
 he returned from Philadelphia. Adams and 
 Cushing, two of the Boston delegates, now 
 took their seats in the provincial congress, 
 and the remaining two delegates were in- 
 vited to attend. The public acts of the 
 congress continued bold and uncompromis- 
 ing, and every little while there came to 
 the harried governor some public letter of 
 remonstrance, or some delegation from an 
 aggrieved town or county convention, to 
 object, to expostulate, or to demand. Never 
 were people better trained to politics than 
 the Americans at this moment. Gage was 
 
The Powder Alarm 141 
 
 quite unfitted to cope with them. Hutchinson 
 would have been more vigorous, and even 
 Bernard more clever. The king fitly charac- 
 terized his governor as "the mild general." 
 
 Gage, in his perplexity, now made trouble 
 by suggesting the recruiting of Indians against 
 the day of rebellion, and called for more 
 troops from England. The disgusted king 
 sought to replace him as commander-in- 
 chief by the one English soldier whom the 
 Americans held in respect, in fact, as the 
 hero of the French war, almost in reverence. 
 But Sir Jeffrey Amherst bluntly told the 
 king that he would not serve against the 
 Americans, "to whom he had been so much 
 obliged." The king was forced to content him- 
 self by sending to Gage's support three major- 
 generals, as if in the hope that their divided 
 counsels would bring about a uniform policy. 
 
 Of. these three men America was to hear 
 a good deal in the next seven years. The 
 least important of them was Sir Henry Clin- 
 ton, of respectable military skill. More strik- 
 ing in character was Sir John Burgoyne, poet, 
 
142 The Siege of Boston 
 
 dramatist, parliamentarian, upon whom 
 America will ever look with the indulgence 
 which the victor feels for one who is signally 
 and completely defeated. "General Big- 
 talk," the Yankee balladist called him when 
 once the siege was in progress. It is true 
 that Burgoyne had an easy flow of words, 
 and we shall before long find him doing his 
 share to make Gage ridiculous. But Bur- 
 goyne had his manly parts, and though he 
 lacked greatness, he commands at times our 
 sympathy and our respect. He made a 
 romantic marriage, which proved a happy 
 one ; and his real claim to literary distinction 
 lies in the letter in which, on his departure 
 for America, he commended his wife to the 
 care of the king. Burgoyne, in a still brutal 
 age, was a humanitarian, and was one of the 
 first, not only to oppose flogging in the army, 
 but also to advocate friendly personal rela- 
 tions between officers and men. America 
 seldom took Burgoyne seriously, but he is to 
 us of to-day a pleasing and picturesque 
 character. 
 
The Powder Alarm 143 
 
 The third of the new generals was Sir 
 William Howe, whose chief misfortune was 
 that fate had set him to oppose Washington. 
 He came of a family well known in American 
 annals, for one brother was now an admiral 
 popular in the colonies, and another was still 
 mourned in America for his brilliant talents 
 and magnetic personality. William Howe 
 had gained his seat in Parliament by appeals 
 to the memory of that brother, and by 
 promises to take no active military command 
 against America. But on being offered the 
 post under Gage, Howe asked if this were a 
 request or an order. The adroit king re- 
 turned the proper answer, and Howe, protest- 
 ing that no other course was open to him, 
 prepared to sail for Boston. 
 
 Meanwhile Gage, alone, made various futile 
 moves, at which the province looked with 
 patience. From time to time his troops 
 marched a few miles into the country, and 
 returned again. In January he sent a de- 
 tachment to Marshfield, to occupy the village 
 so that the loyal residents might drink their 
 
144 The Siege of Boston 
 
 tea in peace. It was a comfort to him to 
 think that there was one town in the province 
 in which a militia company was drilling for 
 his support, and with the king's muskets. A 
 month later Gage sent troops to Salem, in 
 order to seize some cannon ; but the com- 
 mander, finding the country in arms to 
 receive him, wisely withdrew his little force 
 after — to use a term yet to be invented — 
 "saving his face" by crossing a bridge under 
 promise of immediate return. 
 
 The Reverend Jonas Clark, speaking of 
 this event, adds an indignant note to an 
 equally indignant sermon. 1 "This unsuccess- 
 ful expedition was made on Lord's day, 
 Feb. 26, 1775. The party consisted of 200 
 or 300 men ; it was commanded by Lieut. 
 Col. Leslie. The vessels which brought them 
 to Marblehead, arrived in the harbour, on the 
 morning of the sabbath ; and the better to 
 conceal their intentions, lay quietly, at anchor, 
 near to the wharves, with but very few hands 
 upon deck (the troops being kept close) 'till 
 
 1 A Sermon preached at Lexington, April 19, 1776, 26. 
 
The Powder Alarm 145 
 
 the people of the town were assembled for 
 the services of religion. — While the inhabit- 
 ants were thus engaged in their devotions to 
 God, the party landed and made a speedy 
 march to Salem. But all their precaution 
 did not avail them for the accomplishment of 
 their enterprize. The eagle-eyes of a watch- 
 ful and wary people, justly jealous of every 
 measure of their oppressors, are not easily 
 evaded. Their motions were observed, and 
 such timely notice given, that such numbers 
 were collected and such measures taken, 
 before they arrived, as effectually frustrated 
 their design and obliged them to return de- 
 feated and chagrined." 
 
 So, throughout the winter, the garrison and its 
 governor accomplished nothing — or less than 
 nothing, if one considers that Gage proved to the 
 provincials the weakness of his character, while 
 at the same time he angered them by issuing, 
 when the provincial congress appointed a day 
 of prayer, a proclamation against hypocrisy. 
 
 As the winter passed there was at times 
 hope that the political situation might be 
 
146 The Siege of Boston 
 
 relieved by action of Parliament. Yet though 
 the worst House of Commons in history had 
 been dissolved, the one which took its place 
 was, at its beginning, little better. It learned 
 wisdom only from the events of the war. 
 To this Parliament Chatham and Burke now 
 appealed in vain ; even Fox, at last definitely 
 taking his stand with the supporters of 
 America, could not move it from its sub- 
 servience to the king. When finally a bill 
 was introduced to deprive America of its 
 fisheries, it began to seem that legislative 
 oppression could go no further. 
 
 And now to other Americans than Samuel 
 Adams it became evident that there was no 
 hope of concession from England. The second 
 provincial congress began its sittings. War- 
 ren was still on the Committee of Safety. 
 Preble, Ward, and Pomeroy were reappointed 
 generals, and to them were added Thomas 
 and Heath. Supplies were voted for an army 
 of fifteen thousand. There was still hope of 
 conciliation, but, wrote Warren, "every day, 
 every hour, widens the breach." 
 
The Powder Alarm 147 
 
 The town of Boston knew how wide the 
 breach was, and how different the points of 
 view. The letters and diaries of the time 
 show the constant little irritations which ex- 
 asperated both sides. In those days, if the 
 British soldier was not so sober as now, the 
 British officer was far more given to drink. 
 From "the Erskine incident" until almost 
 the outbreak of hostilities, drunken officers 
 made trouble with the inhabitants, and found 
 them less submissive than the average British 
 citizen. Yankee burghers had an uncom- 
 fortable trick of arming themselves with 
 cudgels and returning to the attack ; the 
 watch occasionally locked up Lieutenant This 
 and Ensign That ; and more dignified citizens, 
 disdaining personal conflict, brought their 
 complaints to the general, thus adding to his 
 troubles. John Andrews tells the story of 
 the school boys who, in the phrase of the 
 day, "improv'd" the coast on School Street. 
 "General Haldiman, improving the house 
 that belongs to Old Cook, his servant took it 
 upon him to cut up their coast and fling 
 
148 The Siege of Boston 
 
 ashes upon it. The lads made a muster, and 
 chose a committee to wait upon the General, 
 who admitted them, and heard their complaint, 
 which was couch'd in very genteel terms, com- 
 plaining that their fathers before 'em had im- 
 prov'd it as a coast from time immemorial, &ca. 
 He ordered his servant to repair the damage, 
 and acquainted the Governor with the affair, 
 who observ'd that it was impossible to beat 
 the notion of Liberty out of the people, as it 
 was rooted in 'em from their Childhood.'''' 
 
 Gage did his best to be fair to the inhabit- 
 ants, and they acknowledged his endeavor. 
 But the officers, less experienced than he 
 and with fewer responsibilities, and also less 
 acquainted with the spirit of the colonists, 
 were angry with him for what they called his 
 subservience. They dubbed him Tommy, and 
 confided their indignation to their diaries. 
 "Yesterday," wrote Lieutenant Barker of the 
 King's Own, 1 "in compliance with the request 
 
 1 His diary is published in the Atlantic Monthly for 
 April and May, 1877, 384 and 544. I shall use it freely 
 without further definite reference. 
 
The Powder Alarm 149 
 
 of the Select Men, Genl Gage order'd that 
 no Soldier in future shou'd appear in the 
 Streets with his side Arms. Query, Is this 
 not encouraging the Inhabitants in their 
 licentious and riotous disposition ? Also 
 orders are issued for the Guards to seize all 
 military Men found engaged in any disturb- 
 ance, whether Agressors or not ; and to secure 
 them, 'till the matter is enquired into. By 
 Whom ? By Villains that wou'd not censure one 
 of their own Vagrants, even if He attempted 
 the life of a Soldier ; whereas if a Soldier 
 errs in the least, who is more ready to accuse 
 than Tommy ? His negligence on the other 
 hand has been too conspicuous in the affair of 
 Cn. Maginis to require a further comment." 
 
 Doubtless there is much to be said for the 
 soldiers, both officers and privates, since the 
 Bostonians had not abandoned their irritating 
 ways, even in the midst of an army. But the 
 army was also very hard to live with. On 
 the first of January our discontented officer 
 records, "Nothing remarkable but the drunk- 
 enness among the Soldiers, which is now got 
 
150 The Siege of Boston 
 
 to a very great pitch ; owing to the cheap- 
 ness of the liquor, a Man may get drunk for 
 a Copper or two." The officers, we have seen, 
 did not set their men a very good example ; 
 but even in their sober senses they were 
 scarcely conciliatory. They formed burlesque 
 congresses, and marched in mock procession 
 in the streets, absurdly dressed to represent 
 the leaders of the Whigs. On the queen's 
 birthday a banquet was held, and from the 
 balcony of the tavern the toasts were an- 
 nounced, while in the street a squad of sol- 
 diers fired salutes. Toasts to Lord North 
 were not relished in Boston, and reminders 
 of Culloden were too significant for those 
 whom the army already called rebels. It is 
 an interesting proof of the weakness of Gage's 
 hold upon his own army that such childish- 
 ness should have been permitted, or that 
 such threats should have been made to a 
 town that still was within its legal rights. 
 
 Beneath these petty quarrels we perceive 
 the fundamental differences. Over these the 
 more learned of both sides carried on a war 
 
The Powder Alarm 151 
 
 of words. The newspapers teemed with let- 
 ters, poems, essays, and dissertations ; and 
 Novanglus, Massachusettensis, Vindex, and 
 other pseudo-Romans endeavored to convert 
 each other, or else to point solemn warnings. 
 "Remember," writes a yeoman of Suffolk 
 County, "the fate of Wat Tyler, and think 
 how vain it is for Jack, Sam, or Will to war 
 against Great Britain, now she is in earnest ! 
 . . . Our leaders are desperate bankrupts ! 
 Our country is without money, stores, or neces- 
 saries of war, — without one place of refuge 
 or defence ! If we were called together, we 
 should be a confused herd, without any dis- 
 position to obedience, without a general of 
 ability to direct and guide us ; and our num- 
 bers would be our destruction ! Never did a 
 people rebel with so little reason ; therefore 
 our conduct cannot be justified before God ! 
 . . . Rouse, rouse ye, Massachusetians, 
 while it be yet time ! Ask pardon of God, 
 submit to our king and parliament, whom we 
 have wickedly and grievously offended." * 
 
 1 Frothingham's "Life of Warren," 413. 
 
152 The Siege of Boston 
 
 This exclamatory appeal plainly shows a 
 type of mind which often has saved the 
 British Empire, yet which at periods in his- 
 tory has come near to ruining it. English 
 conservatism has at most times been invaluable 
 to the country ; but when, as repeatedly 
 under the Stuart kings and again under 
 George III, it has forsaken its true task in 
 order to support absolutism, it has brought 
 the ship of state very near to wreck. In 
 reminding of the fate of Wat Tyler our Suf- 
 folk yeoman forgot, if indeed he ever knew, 
 the fate of Charles and James Stuart. The 
 majority of Englishmen have never been will- 
 ing to admit that in defending their consti- 
 tutional rights they were guilty of impiety. 
 Though such warnings and appeals were at 
 this time frequent enough, the Whigs paid 
 no regard to them. 
 
 When we leave the Tories and turn to the 
 soldiery we find one other common English 
 failing — underrating an adversary. Eng- 
 land had so long been victorious on land and 
 sea that it was almost a natural assumption 
 
The Powder Alarm 153 
 
 that she was superior to any force that could 
 be brought against her. But that she was 
 always right, or her opponents always cowards, 
 were corollaries that did not necessarily fol- 
 low. Yet both of these were implicitly believed, 
 not only by supporters at home, but also by 
 the army in America. As to Yankee coward- 
 ice, many a Tory could, and later did, warn 
 the troops against belief in it. But now, at 
 any rate, the belief was fully indulged. From 
 it was an easy step to general contempt. 
 Rascal and Scoundrel were common synonyms 
 for Whig. Lord Percy was a brigadier-gen- 
 eral and old enough to form his own con- 
 clusions, yet after living in the camp at 
 Boston for a month, he gives us a complete 
 analysis of the American character — the sum- 
 mary, no doubt, of British military opinion. 
 "The People here," he wrote home, "are the 
 most designing, Artfull Villains in the World. 
 They have not the least Idea of either Re- 
 ligion or Morality. Nor have they the least 
 Scruple of taking the most solemn Oath on 
 any Matter that can assist their Purpose, 
 
154 The Siege of Boston 
 
 tho' they know the direct contrary can be 
 clearly & evidently proved in half an Hour." 1 
 
 We see, then, the situation fully prepared: 
 an inflexible people, a weak governor, a 
 party of belivers in divine right, and a con- 
 temptuous soldiery. The next event, which 
 all but ended in violence, showed that there 
 needed but a little tenser situation in order 
 to bring about the rupture. 
 
 Now occurred the annual oration on the 
 Massacre. Since that tragedy, five years ago, 
 there had been an annual commemoration 
 of it in the form of a speech by one of the 
 Whig leaders. This year the post was one 
 of evident responsibility and even of danger, 
 but Warren, true to his character, solicited 
 the appointment. He announced his sub- 
 ject as " The Baleful Influence of Standing 
 Armies in Time of Peace." On the fifth 
 of March the crowd that came to hear him 
 filled the Old South to the doors. 
 
 The chance was one which, had Gage re- 
 ceived the orders which were supposed to 
 
 1 Bulletin of Boston Public Library, x, No. 87, 320. 
 
The Powder Alarm 155 
 
 have been sent him, and had he been the man 
 he ought to have been, he never should have 
 let slip. There in one building were, of the 
 chiefs of the "faction," Warren, Samuel 
 Adams, Hancock, and many lesser men. 
 They could be taken at one blow. Some 
 forty British officers were present, whether 
 to effect a capture or merely to cause a dis- 
 turbance was not known. At Samuel Adams' 
 instance they were given front seats, or places 
 on the steps of the pulpit. There they lis- 
 tened quietly to Warren's words. 
 
 The oration was, in the style of the day, 
 florid ; but it was full of genuine feeling. 
 Warren spoke of the rise of the British Em- 
 pire in America, the hope of its future, the 
 policy of the king, and the Massacre. Turning 
 then to the present situation, he spoke in words 
 which no one could mistake, bolder, perhaps, 
 than ever before had been publicly spoken in 
 the presence of hostile soldiers. He reminded 
 his countrymen of their martial achievements, 
 he spoke of the critical situation, and, 
 while disclaiming the desire for independence, 
 
156 The Siege of Boston 
 
 encouraged the colonists to claim their rights. 
 "An independence of Great Britain is not 
 our aim. No : our wish is, that Britain and 
 the colonies may, like the oak and ivy, 
 grow and increase in strength together. But, 
 whilst the infatuated plan of making one 
 part of the empire slaves to the other is per- 
 sisted in, the interest and safety of Britain 
 as well as the colonies require that the wise 
 measures recommended by the honorable, 
 the Continental Congress be steadily pursued, 
 whereby the unnatural contest between a 
 parent honored and a child beloved may 
 probably be brought to such an issue that the 
 peace and happiness of both may be estab- 
 lished upon a lasting basis. But, if these pacific 
 measures are ineffectual, and it appears the only 
 way to safety lies through fields of blood, I 
 know you will not turn your faces from our 
 foes, but will undauntedly press forward until 
 tyranny is trodden under foot, and you have 
 fixed your adored goddess, Liberty, fast by a 
 Brunswick's side, on the American throne." 1 
 
 1 Frothingham's " Life of Warren," 435-436. 
 
The Powder Alarm 157 
 
 These were fearless words, and full of mean- 
 ing. Had there been men of sense among 
 the officers present, they must have been 
 impressed by the solemnity of the warning ; 
 in fact, they were silent until the end. It 
 was not until after the oration, when the 
 meeting was voting thanks to the orator, 
 that the officers endeavored to interrupt 
 the proceedings. The cry of Fie ! was mis- 
 taken for that of Fire, and there was a 
 moment's panic. We have opposing accounts 
 of it. 
 
 "It was imagined," wrote our discontented 
 Lieutenant of the King's Own, "that there 
 wou'd have been a riot, which if there had 
 wou'd in all probability have proved fatal 
 to Hancock, Adams, Warren, and the rest 
 of those Villains, as they were all up in the 
 Pulpit together, and the meeting was crowded 
 with Officers and Seamen in such a manner 
 that they cou'd not have escaped ; however 
 it luckily did not turn out so ; it wou'd indeed 
 have been a pity for them to have made 
 their exit in that way, as I hope before long 
 
158 The Siege of Boston 
 
 we shall have the pleasure of seeing them 
 do it by the hands of the Hangman." 
 
 John Andrews looked at the matter dif- 
 ferently. " The officers in general behave 
 more like a parcel of children, of late, than 
 
 men. Captain of the Royal Irish first 
 
 exposed himself by behaving in a very scan- 
 dalous manner at the South meeting. . . . 
 He got pretty decently frighted for it. A 
 woman, among the rest, attacked him and 
 threatened to wring his nose." An outbreak 
 may have been what the officers wanted. 
 "But," says Samuel Adams, who acted on his 
 maxim that it is good politics to put and 
 keep the enemy in the wrong, "order was 
 restored, and we proceeded regularly, and 
 finished the business. I am persuaded, were 
 it not for the danger of precipitating a crisis, 
 not a man of them would have been spared." 1 
 
 The whole was a type of the existing situ- 
 ation. Here were the officers, still causing 
 petty disturbances ; here too, no doubt, were 
 Tories, contemptuous of the proceedings. 
 
 1 Wells, "Life of Adams," ii, 281. 
 
The Powder Alarm 159 
 
 Deeper still appears the real significance of 
 the occasion. On the one side was the gov- 
 ernor, unable, with all the power of the king, 
 to prevent a meeting of the citizens to con- 
 demn his presence in the town — for the 
 meeting was the "Port Bill meeting," ad- 
 journed from time to time since the previous 
 May. And on the other side were the citi- 
 zens, legally protesting and exasperatingly 
 defiant, evidently under perfect self-restraint, 
 determined not to strike the first blow. 
 
 The officers took, as usual, a puerile revenge 
 in the form of a burlesque. "A vast number" 
 of them assembled at the Coffee House in 
 King Street, and chose selectmen and an 
 orator, "who deliver'd an oration from the 
 balcony to a crowd of few else beside gaping 
 officers." * Others of them caught a country- 
 man who had been decoyed into buying a 
 musket from a soldier, and tarred and feath- 
 ered him. 
 
 But these were surface trivialities. Be- 
 neath them the true situation was grow- 
 
 1 Andrews Letters. 
 
160 The Siege of Boston 
 
 ing worse. Out in the country military 
 stores were being collected at Worcester and 
 at Concord ; and over in Parliament the 
 fisheries bill, designed to deprive thousands 
 in America of their living, was sure of pass- 
 ing. At last Franklin, who had stayed in 
 London as long as there seemed anything 
 for him to accomplish, patiently bearing hu- 
 miliation and insults, on the 20th of March 
 took ship for Philadelphia. It was the sign 
 that there was no further hope of peace. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 MILITARY PREPARATIONS 
 
 AS the spring of 1775 advanced, matters 
 took on a constantly more threatening 
 aspect. The governor's force in Bos- 
 ton was steadily increasing, and was approach- 
 ing a total of four thousand men. Vessels of 
 war were with equal steadiness being added to 
 the little fleet in the harbor. With each bud- 
 get of news from England it became evident 
 that Parliament would not yield, and at last 
 came word that Lord North had offered a joint 
 resolution that New England was in a state 
 of rebellion, which both houses pledged their 
 lives and fortunes to suppress. With such 
 a military force at his command, and with 
 such moral support from King and Parlia- 
 ment, Gage was in a position to take de- 
 cided action. 
 
 No one could doubt what that action would 
 
 M l6l 
 
1 62 The Siege of Boston 
 
 be. Since September the province had been 
 gathering its meagre military supplies. It 
 was but common sense to seize them be- 
 fore they could be used. Soon after the 
 new year Gage began his measures. "Genl. 
 Orders," writes disgruntled Lieutenant Barker. 
 "If any officers of the different Regts. are 
 capable of taking sketches of a Country, 
 they will send their names to the Dep. Adj. 
 Genl. . . . that is an extraordinary method 
 of wording the order ; it might at least have 
 been in a more genteel way ; at present it 
 looks as if he doubted whether there were 
 any such." However, there were such, and 
 in February the governor chose Captain 
 Brown and Ensign De Berniere (or Bernicre, 
 as the name is sometimes spelled) and sent 
 them out to map the roads. 
 
 The little expedition was somewhat absurd, 
 for the disguise which the officers wore was 
 sufficient to conceal them only from their 
 friends. When, at the first tavern at which 
 they stopped, they remarked that it was a 
 very fine country, the black woman who 
 
Military Preparations 163 
 
 waited on them answered, "So it is, and we 
 have got brave fellows to defend it, and if you 
 go any higher you will find it so." "This," 
 admits Ensign De Berniere, whose account 
 of the expedition was left in Boston at the 
 evacuation, and was "printed for the in- 
 formation and amusement of the curious," 
 "this disconcerted us a good deal." From 
 that time on, any one who took the trouble 
 to "eye them attentively" was in no doubt 
 as to their real character. 
 
 They went first to Worcester, where it was 
 possible that the governor might wish to 
 send troops, to protect the courts as well as 
 to seize stores. The weather was rough and 
 snowy, and the officers' task correspondingly 
 difficult ; the countrymen, by persevering so- 
 ciability, kept them in an uneasy state of mind. 
 After roughly mapping roads concerning which 
 the general should long before have had ac- 
 curate information, the two officers made their 
 way to Sudbury, where they hoped to rest with 
 a sympathizer, after walking in a snow-storm 
 for hours. But the town doctor, though long 
 
164 The Siege of Boston 
 
 a stranger at the house, came to call, and the 
 townspeople showed their host various other 
 undesirable attentions, so that in twenty 
 minutes the two officers were glad to leave 
 the place. They arrived again safely at 
 Worcester, "very much fatigued, after walk- 
 ing thirty-two miles between two o'clock and 
 half-after ten at night, through a road that 
 every step we sunk up to the ankles, and it 
 blowing and drifting snow all the way." 
 
 In spite of this experience, the two officers, 
 a month later, undertook a similar journey 
 to Concord. In this they succeeded, return- 
 ing with a rough sketch of the roads, but 
 bringing also their Concord host, who did 
 not think it safe to remain after entertaining 
 them. They brought information that in 
 Concord there were "fourteen cannon (ten 
 iron and four brass) and two cohorns," with 
 " a store of flour, fish, salt, and rice ; and a 
 magazine of powder and cartridges." 
 
 They might, in their two journeys, have 
 brought better information than that the 
 Concord Whigs "fired their morning gun, 
 
Military Preparations 165 
 
 and mounted a guard of ten men at night." 
 The stores at Concord had far better pro- 
 tection than these, as the two officers should 
 have learned at Framingham, where they 
 watched the drill of the militia company. 
 "After they had done their exercise, one of 
 their commanders spoke a very eloquent 
 speech, recommending patience, coolness, and 
 bravery (which indeed they very much 
 wanted), particularly told them they would 
 always conquer if they did not break, and 
 recommended them to charge us coolly, and 
 wait for our fire, and everything would succeed 
 with them — quoted Caesar and Pompey, 
 brigadiers Putnam and Ward, and all such 
 great men ; put them in mind of Cape Breton, 
 and all the battles they had gained for his 
 majesty in the last war, and observed that 
 the regulars must have been ruined but for 
 them." 
 
 Had the two officers known it, every town 
 in the province had just such a militia com- 
 pany, which at set seasons met, and drilled, 
 and listened to good old-fashioned exhorta- 
 
166 The Siege of Boston 
 
 tions to valor. It would not take long, 
 therefore, for the neighboring towns to send 
 their companies to reinforce the guard of ten 
 men which Concord set over its stores every 
 night. And yet the province was not satis- 
 fied with this ancient militia organization, 
 for it had set up another to strengthen it. 
 
 The militia was composed, as it had been 
 since the foundation of the colony, of the 
 whole body of male inhabitants of proper 
 military age. In some cases even clergymen 
 drilled in the ranks. More than once this 
 militia had gathered to repel an expected 
 attack of French or Indians ; it had stood 
 between the settlers and their foes from the 
 days of Miles Standish down to the French 
 and Indian War. The martial spirit still pre- 
 vailed among the youth of the colony, and 
 each town took pride in its company. In 
 1774 John Andrews thus records his innocent 
 delight in the appearance of the Boston 
 trainbands : — 
 
 "Am almost every minute taken off with 
 agreeable sight of our militia companies 
 
Military Preparations 167 
 
 marching into the Common, as it is a grand 
 field day with us. . . . They now vie with 
 the best troops in his majesties service, being 
 dress'd all in blue uniforms, with drums and 
 fifes to each company dress'd in white uni- 
 forms trim'd in y? most elegant manner ; 
 with a company of Grenadiers in red with 
 every other apparatus, that equal any regu- 
 lar company I ever saw both in appearance 
 and discipline, having a grand band of musick 
 consisting of eight that play nearly equal to 
 that of the 64th. What crowns all is the 
 Cadet company, being perfectly compleat 
 and under the best order you can conceive of, 
 with a band of musick likewise, that perform 
 admirably well. What with these and Pad- 
 dock's company of artillery make y? com- 
 pletest militia in America ; not a drummer, 
 fifer, and scarcely a soldier but what are in 
 compleat uniforms and thoroughly instructed 
 in the military exercises." 
 
 It was this Boston Cadet company that, 
 at the affront to its leader Hancock had re- 
 turned its standard to the governor and dis- 
 
168 The Siege of Boston 
 
 banded. Gage knew too well that others of 
 the companies were thoroughly disaffected. 
 In fact, many of the Boston young men left 
 the town before hostilities began, and were 
 ready to join with their country brethren in 
 showing that their military training was worth 
 something. 
 
 Yet early in the fall it was recognized in 
 the colony that the militia system was not 
 sufficient, being too slow of movement to 
 meet any such sudden expedition as that 
 which Gage sent to seize the powder. It is 
 not surprising, therefore, to find John Andrews 
 reporting on October 5 the existence of a 
 new body of troops, "which are call'd minute 
 men, i.e. to be ready at a minute's warning 
 with a fortnight's provision, and ammunition 
 and arms." There is doubt of the origin of 
 this body, but it was first officially accepted 
 in Concord, where the town adopted definite 
 terms of enlistment, the more important of 
 which reads : — 
 
 "We will ... to the utmost of our power 
 and abilities, defend all and every of our 
 
Military Preparations 169 
 
 charter rights, liberties, and privileges ; and 
 will hold ourselves in readiness at a minute's 
 warning, with arms and ammunition thus to 
 do." J 
 
 Tradition says that the terms of the en- 
 listment were interpreted literally, and that 
 wherever the minute men went, to the field, 
 the shop, or to church, gun and powder-horn 
 and bullet-pouch were ready to hand. It is 
 scarcely an exaggeration to suppose that, as 
 represented by French's statue, the farmers 
 actually left the plough in the furrow and 
 snatched up the ready rifle. 
 
 One further preparation was also made. 
 The rallying point was possibly Worcester, 
 where were the courts and some few stores ; 
 but it was more probably Concord. The 
 shortest route to Concord, or to the road 
 between Concord and Boston, was known to 
 the captain of every company of minute men 
 within a hundred miles. But that the cap- 
 tains should be notified of any emergency was 
 essential. A complete system of couriers for 
 
 dolman, "The Concord Minute Man," 12. 
 
170 The Siege of Boston 
 
 spreading news was projected in September, 
 and now was in good working order, so that, 
 with Boston as a radiating point, the sum- 
 mons could be sent over the province with 
 the greatest rapidity. By virtue of his effi- 
 ciency, trustworthiness, and picturesque per- 
 sonality, Paul Revere is accepted as the type 
 of the men who stood ready for this service. 
 
 This system, further, had been tested. 
 The spontaneous response to the Powder 
 Alarm in September had been ready enough, 
 for the men of Connecticut and New Hamp- 
 shire were in motion before the next day. 
 But through the winter of 1 774-1 775 there 
 had been minor alarms at each little expedi- 
 tion on which Gage sent his soldiers. By 
 these the new system was proved efficient. 
 Whether the troops marched to Jamaica Pond, 
 to the "punch bowl" in Brookline, or even 
 went, by sea and land, as far as Salem, the 
 militia of the surrounding towns showed a 
 prompt curiosity as to the object of the 
 excursion. These fruitless musters, far from 
 making the minute men callous to alarms, 
 
Military Preparations 171 
 
 served to prepare them to meet the great 
 occasion which they foresaw would finally 
 come. For that they were in excellent prac- 
 tice. 
 
 As to Concord itself, it had become very 
 important. The Congress, which after its 
 first week in Concord had been sitting in 
 Cambridge, now returned, and from the 22d 
 of March until the 15th of April 1 sat daily 
 in the meeting-house. The Committee of 
 Safety remained still longer, busy with the 
 gathering of supplies. It is within this period 
 that Berniere and Brown came on their spy- 
 ing expedition to Concord, and were directed 
 by a woman to the house of Daniel Bliss. A 
 threat of the Whigs to tar and feather her 
 sent her to the officers for refuge, and word 
 presently came to Bliss that the Whigs 
 " would not let him go out of the town alive 
 
 1 1 take many facts in the following pages from the 
 three pamphlets by George Tolman, "The Concord 
 Minute Man," "Preliminaries of Concord Fight," and 
 "Events of April Nineteenth." These, published by 
 the Concord Antiquarian Society, are invaluable to 
 the student of this period. 
 
172 The Siege of Boston 
 
 that morning." This fate the officers and 
 their host avoided by leaving in the night. 
 What became of the woman is not said, but 
 we may be easy about her : no injury, and in 
 fact no serious indignity, was put upon a 
 woman in New England at this period. The 
 officers returned to Boston with a report of 
 the stores in Concord. 
 
 This may have increased the anxiety of 
 the Committee of Safety. Already they had 
 voted, "requiring Colonel Barrett of Concord 
 to engage a sufficient number of faithful men 
 to guard the Colony's magazines in that 
 town ; to keep a suitable number of teams 
 in constant readiness, by day and night, to 
 remove the stores ; and to provide couriers 
 to alarm the neighboring towns, on receiving 
 information of any movements of the British 
 troops." x A watch was kept upon the British 
 movements; and finally, when, on the 15th, 
 Warren sent Paul Revere from Boston with 
 warning of suspicious movements, the Com- 
 mittee felt that soon Gage must strike. On 
 1 "Preliminaries," 23-24. 
 
Military Preparations 173 
 
 the 1 8th it ordered the removal of some of 
 the stores. "That very night," says Tolman, 
 without knowledge of affairs in Boston, the 
 work was begun. 
 
 Meanwhile, in response to another vote of 
 the committee, the British had been under 
 close observation. The vote was that "mem- 
 bers of this Committee belonging to the towns 
 of Charlestown, Cambridge, and Roxbury, be 
 required at the Province expense to procure 
 at least two men for a watch every night to 
 be placed in each of these towns, and that 
 said members be in readiness to send couriers 
 forward to the towns where the magazines 
 are placed, when sallies are made by the 
 army by night." In view of these prepara- 
 tions, it scarcely needs to be said that there 
 was nothing accidental about Concord fight. 
 Some day Gage was bound to strike at Con- 
 cord, and for that day the Whigs were ready. 
 
 It is now that Paul Revere comes promi- 
 nently into the course of events. Revere was 
 a Boston craftsman of Huguenot descent, 
 who was and is well known as a silversmith, 
 
174 The Siege of Boston 
 
 engraver, and cartoonist. His prints and 
 articles of silverware sell to-day for high 
 prices, and his house in North Square has 
 recently been fitted up as a public museum, 
 chiefly on account of a single act at a critical 
 moment. One is glad to know, however, that 
 Revere's fame is not accidental. His pictures 
 are historically interesting ; we should be the 
 poorer without his prints which give views of 
 Boston, and without his picture of the Mas- 
 sacre. His silver — we have mentioned his 
 punch-bowl for the "immortal Ninety-two" 
 — is usually beautiful. From the foundry 
 which he established later in life came cannon, 
 and church-bells which are in use to-day. 
 And finally his famous ride, the object of 
 which would have been brought about had 
 Revere been stopped at the outset, was but 
 one out of many. 
 
 "In the year 1773," says Revere of him- 
 self, 1 "I was employed by the selectmen of 
 
 1 After the Revolution, Revere wrote a narrative of 
 the events in which he was concerned. It is to be found 
 in several books, notably Goff's " Life of Revere." 
 
Military Preparations 
 
 175 
 
176 The Siege of Boston 
 
 the town of Boston to carry the account of 
 the Destruction of the Tea to New York, and 
 afterwards, 1774, to carry their despatches 
 to New York and Philadelphia for calling a 
 Congress ; and afterwards to Congress several 
 times." Revere does not mention the fact 
 that he was himself a member of the Tea- 
 Party. When he goes on to speak of still 
 more important events, he suppresses the fact 
 that he was one of the leaders, if not the 
 chief leader, of the Boston artisans. 
 
 "In the fall of 1774, and winter of 1775, 
 I was one of upwards of thirty, chiefly me- 
 chanics, who formed ourselves into a com- 
 mittee for the purpose of watching the move- 
 ments of the British soldiers, and gaining 
 every intelligence of the movements of the 
 Tories. We held our meetings at the Green 
 Dragon Tavern. We were so careful that 
 our meetings should be kept secret, that every 
 time we met, every person swore upon the 
 Bible that they would not discover any of 
 our transactions but to Messrs. Hancock, 
 Adams, Doctors Warren, Church, and one or 
 
Military Preparations 177 
 
 two more. ... In the winter, towards the 
 spring, we frequently took turns, two and 
 two, to watch the soldiers, by patrolling the 
 streets all night." 
 
 Such was the watch, then, kept upon the 
 royalists, and such were the preparations to 
 receive the troops when they should march 
 out. We know now that Gage was informed 
 of them, for among those whom Revere 
 names as confidants of the mechanics there 
 was a traitor to the cause. Yet though Gage 
 knew of the organization of the Whigs, of its 
 efficiency he had apparently not the glimmer 
 of an idea. It was with no expectation of 
 serious results that, when at last he learned 
 that the resolution declaring the colonies to 
 be in rebellion had passed Parliament, he 
 slowly put himself in motion to seize the stores 
 of the provincials. 
 
 The Americans were keenly aware of all 
 his movements. There were two common 
 methods of leaving the town, one by the 
 Neck, the other over Charlestown ferry. But 
 these routes lay through towns, either Rox- 
 
178 The Siege of Boston 
 
 bury or Charlestown, and to march so openly 
 meant to give the alarm. The Americans 
 were ready for Gage to take a third route : 
 across the Charles by means of boats, and 
 then by unfrequented roads until striking the 
 highway at Cambridge Common. This way 
 the Whigs suspected he might choose, and this 
 they found he did. 
 
 Gage's preparations were almost open. The 
 boats of the men-of-war were hauled up and 
 repaired at the foot of the Common. On the 
 14th, in the night, they were launched, and 
 moored at the sterns of the men-of-war. On 
 the 15 th was given out in general orders that 
 '"The Grenadiers and Light Infantry in 
 order to learn Grenadrs. Exercise and new 
 evolutions are to be off all duties till further 
 orders.' — This," remarks Lieutenant Barker 
 of the King's Own, " I suppose is by way of a 
 blind. I dare say they have something for 
 them to do." 
 
 This "something" was either one or both 
 of two objectives : the stores at Concord, 
 and the persons of Adams and Hancock, 
 
Military Preparations 179 
 
 then known to be staying at the house of the 
 Reverend Jonas Clark in Lexington. That 
 this latter objective was seriously considered, 
 at least by the Americans, we shall see from 
 Revere's narrative. There never has been 
 proof that Gage endeavored to seize either 
 them or Warren. But in any case the 
 stores were in danger, and strict watch was 
 kept. 
 
 There was evidence enough of a coming 
 expedition. As before the Massacre, there 
 were soldiers' rumors that something was to 
 happen, and the name of Concord was whis- 
 pered about. On the night of the 1 8th 
 word came in from the country that parties 
 of officers were riding here and there. This 
 same notice was sent by vigilant patriots 
 to Hancock at Lexington. In Boston itself 
 different persons noticed that the troops were 
 astir. Word of all this came from various 
 sources to Warren who, relinquishing for a 
 while his sittings with the Committee of 
 Safety, had for some days been working 
 for it at the post of responsibility and danger. 
 
180 The Siege of Boston 
 
 Warren finally decided that he must act. He 
 sent for the men who had pledged themselves 
 for this service, and gave them his directions. 
 
 One of these men was William Dawes, of 
 whom, except for his actions on this night, 
 we know little. Obeying his instructions, he 
 took horse, and rode across the Neck to go 
 to Lexington by way of Roxbury and Water- 
 town. 
 
 "About ten o'clock," writes Revere, "Dr. 
 Warren sent in great haste for me, and begged 
 that I would immediately set off for Lex- 
 ington, where Messrs. Hancock and Adams 
 were, and acquaint them of the movement, 
 and that it was thought they were the objects." 
 Revere was ready. In returning on the 15th 
 he had arranged signals to his friends in 
 Charlestown to inform them what route 
 the British would take ; he knew, also, how 
 he should cross — for the ferry was closed 
 at nine o'clock — and where he should get 
 his horse. From Warren's Revere went home, 
 got his "boots and surtout," and started. 
 Two of his friends rowed him to Charles- 
 

 The Old North Church 
 
 (From which Paul Revere's signals were displayed.) 
 
Military Preparations 181 
 
 town in a boat which was kept ready for the pur- 
 pose, another was already despatched to make 
 certain of the route the British would take. 
 
 Of the person and the actions of this other 
 friend there has been much dispute. The 
 weight of evidence seems to show that on 
 making sure of the route of the British, he 
 went to the Old North Church, still standing 
 in Salem Street, and from its steeple dis- 
 played the signal. I make no positive asser- 
 tion that he spent any time in watching the 
 British ; Revere, knowing the route, may 
 have signalled in order to make sure that the 
 news crossed the river, even though he him- 
 self might fail. The person who displayed the 
 signals seems to have been one Newman, the 
 sexton of the church, rather than Captain 
 Pulling, a friend of Revere's. At any rate, 
 the signals were hung while Revere was 
 crossing the river to Charlestown. He passed 
 unobserved not far from the Somerset man- 
 of-war, and remarks that "it was then young 
 flood, the ship was winding, and the moon 
 was rising." On landing, his Charlestown 
 
1 82 The Siege of Boston 
 
 friends told him they had already seen the 
 signals. Revere (if we still suppose that he 
 needed to make sure of the route) himself 
 must have taken a look at the signal lanterns, 
 as in Longfellow's poem. "Two if by sea." 
 This poetical language means merely that the 
 troops were preparing to cross the river in 
 their boats. This is the traditional account 
 of Revere's action. A contemporary mem- 
 orandum states, however, that on landing 
 Revere "informed [us] that the T [troops] 
 were actually in the boats." 
 
 "I got a horse," says Revere, "of Deacon 
 Larkin," which horse the deacon never saw 
 again. Before Revere started he again re- 
 ceived warning that there were British officers 
 on the road, but he was quite cool enough to 
 take note of the beauty of the night, " about 
 eleven o'clock and very pleasant." Crossing 
 Charlestown Neck, he started on the road for 
 Cambridge, when he saw before him two 
 horsemen under a tree. As Revere drew near, 
 they pushed out into the moonlight, and he 
 saw their uniforms. One of them blocked 
 
Military Preparations 183 
 
 the road, the other tried to take him, and 
 Revere, turning back, galloped first for 
 Charlestown and then "pushed for the Med- 
 ford road." Revere made the turn success- 
 fully; the officer who followed, ignorant of 
 the locality, mired himself in a clay pond. 
 Revere's road was now clear. He reached 
 Medford, and roused the captain of the minute 
 men ; then, hastening on through Menotomy, 
 now Arlington, and thence to Lexington, 
 he " alarmed almost every house." He reached 
 Lexington about midnight, and went directly 
 to the house of the Reverend Jonas Clark, 
 where Hancock and Adams were sleeping under 
 a guard of the militia. Revere asked admit- 
 tance, and the sergeant informed him that the 
 family had requested that no noise be made. 
 "Noise!" replied Revere in the phrase 
 familiar to every schoolboy, "you'll have 
 noise enough before long — the regulars are 
 coming out!" 1 The family was accordingly 
 at once aroused. 
 
 1 Most of these facts are from Frothingham's " Siege," 
 57-59, and from Revere's letter. 
 
184 The Siege of Boston 
 
 Meanwhile the troops had actually started. 
 "Between 10 and 11 o'clock," says Lieutenant 
 Barker, "all the Grenadiers and Light In- 
 fantry of the Army, making about 600 Men, 
 (under command of Lt. Coll. Smith of 
 the 10th and Major Pitcairn of the Marines,) 
 embarked and were landed on the opposite 
 shore of Cambridge Marsh." This phras- 
 ing is not immediately clear to one of to-day. 
 In those days every regiment had two special 
 companies, the heavy-armed grenadiers, so 
 called because they originally carried hand- 
 grenades, and the light-infantry company. 
 These were frequently detached for special 
 duty, as the present, when the Light Infanty 
 would be used for flanking purposes. Thus 
 every regiment in Boston was represented 
 in the expedition — and we may add in the 
 list of killed and wounded on the following 
 day. The number is generally estimated at 
 eight hundred. They were commanded by 
 the colonel who had been longest on duty 
 in New England. Smith was in character 
 too much like Gage himself. The general 
 
Military Preparations 185 
 
 would have done better to send one of his 
 brigadiers. 
 
 One at least of the brigadiers was reason- 
 ably alert. According to Stedman, Lord 
 Percy was crossing the Common after learning 
 from the general that a secret expedition had 
 just started. Perceiving a group of men 
 talking together, the nobleman joined them 
 in time to hear one say, "The British troops 
 have marched, but have missed their aim." 
 
 "What aim ?" asked Lord Percy. 
 
 The reply was, "The cannon at Concord." 
 
 Percy, in much perturbation, at once re- 
 turned to the general and told him that his 
 secret was known. Poor Gage complained 
 that his confidence had been betrayed, "for 
 that he had communicated his design to one 
 person only besides his lordship." 
 
 The student of the time sees in this story 
 a side-thrust at Mrs. Gage, on whom, as an 
 American, the officers were ready to blame 
 the knowledge of secrets which were gained 
 by Yankee shrewdness alone. In this case 
 we have seen that it was Gage that betrayed 
 
1 86 The Siege of Boston 
 
 himself to the eyes of Revere's volunteer 
 watch. The general hastily sent to order 
 the guard at the Neck to let no one leave 
 the town. But he was too late : Dawes was 
 gone, Revere was on the water, and the news 
 was out. 
 
 The expedition was bungled at the very 
 start. "After getting over the Marsh, where 
 we were wet up to the knees," says Lieuten- 
 ant Barker, "we were halted in a dirty road 
 and stood there till two o'clock in the morn- 
 ing, waiting for provisions to be brought from 
 the boats and to be divided, and which most 
 of the men threw away, having carried some 
 with 'em." As they waited there they might 
 have heard signal guns, and learned that in 
 a constantly widening circle of villages, "the 
 bells were rung backward, the drums they 
 were beat." The news had three hours' 
 start of them. At last, at two on the 19th, 
 having "waded through a very long ford 
 up to our middles," wet, dirty, and loaded 
 with the heavy equipment of the period, they 
 started on their march. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE NINETEENTH OF APRIL 
 
 JOHN HANCOCK never showed better 
 in his life than on the morning of the 
 19th of April. Many times the Tories 
 had tried to win him over. Hutchinson 
 himself had written: "At present, Hancock 
 and Adams are at variance. Some of my 
 friends blow the coals, and I hope to see a 
 good effect." Yet Adams and Hancock were 
 still enlisted in the same cause on this morn- 
 ing when blood was to be shed. And Han- 
 cock, when roused from his sleep at midnight, 
 was hot with the desire to take his musket 
 and fight on Lexington Green. 
 
 Adams and his friends — among them his 
 sweetheart — dissuaded him. The two Whig 
 leaders finally took the road to Woburn, 
 and in the succeeding days passed on to 
 Worcester and Hartford, planned the taking 
 
 187 
 
1 88 The Siege of Boston 
 
 of Ticonderoga, and, joining the other delegates 
 from Boston, in May met with the second 
 Continental Congress. If Gage had meant 
 to seize Hancock and Adams, he had lost 
 his chance. The outcome lay in the hands 
 of the fighting men. 
 
 Revere waited at Mr. Clark's house for 
 about half an hour, when Dawes arrived. 
 The two then set out for Concord, and were 
 joined on the way by "a young Dr. Prescott, 
 whom we found to be a high son of liberty." 1 
 They began to rouse the farmers along the 
 road, and had already gone halfway when 
 they saw in the road horsemen whom Revere 
 knew at once to be British officers. Revere 
 and Prescott, blocked in front and rear, 
 turned into a pasture; but this was a trap 
 where other officers were waiting. Prescott, 
 knowing the country, put his horse at a fence 
 and got away; Revere found himself sur- 
 rounded by six horsemen who, with swords 
 and pistols ready, ordered him to dismount. 
 There was nothing for him to do but comply. 
 1 Revere's narrative. 
 
The Nineteenth of April 189 
 
 Dawes, who had been behind upon the road, 
 turned to go back, and was pursued. He 
 rode into a farmyard, shouted out as to friends 
 in waiting, and frightened off his pursuers. 
 Both he and Prescott were useful in spreading 
 the alarm farther. 
 
 But Revere was caught. His chief captor 
 examined him, and got slight satisfaction. 
 "I told him, and added that their troops 
 had catched aground in passing the river 
 and that there would be five hundred Ameri- 
 cans there in a short time, for I had alarmed 
 the country all the way up." His anxious 
 captors consulted together, and were con- 
 ducting him back toward Lexington, "when 
 the militia fired a volley of guns, which 
 seemed to alarm them very much." They 
 asked if there were any other road to Cam- 
 bridge, took Revere's horse, and left him. 
 He hurried back to Lexington, to give Han- 
 cock and Adams the news that sent them 
 on their way. Revere himself remained long 
 enough to save a trunk of papers belonging to 
 Hancock. 
 
190 The Siege of Boston 
 
 Meanwhile the militia of the town, alarmed 
 by Revere, assembled and waited for the 
 troops. They sent two messengers toward 
 Cambridge to bring certain news, but each of 
 these blundered into the advancing regulars, 
 and were seized and held. The militia waited 
 for some hours, but on hearing no word they 
 were finally dismissed, with a warning to be 
 ready to come together again instantly. Some 
 went to their homes, some to the near-by 
 tavern, to finish out the night. 
 
 News came at last to Captain Parker that 
 the British were scarcely a mile away, and 
 in such numbers that his company could not 
 hope to oppose them. He called his men 
 together, nevertheless, "but only with a view 
 to determine what to do, when and where to 
 meet, and to dismiss and disperse." * The 
 minute men were still standing in their ranks 
 when the British suddenly appeared. 
 
 The succeeding events caused much con- 
 troversy at the time. Gage reported "that 
 the troops were fired upon by the rebels out 
 
 1 Clark's narrative. 
 
The Nineteenth of April 191 
 
 of the meeting-house, and the neighboring 
 houses, as well as by those that were in the 
 field ; and that the troops only returned the 
 fire, and passed on their way to Concord." 1 
 But in number the little company of minute 
 men were, according to Revere, who had just 
 passed through them, "about fifty"; the Rev- 
 erend Jonas Clark says "fifty or sixty, or even 
 seventy." Had there been even the two or 
 three hundred of the British reports, these 
 men, drawn up without protection on an open 
 green, are scarcely likely to have attacked a 
 force of more than twice their number. The 
 logic of the situation seems against Gage. 
 
 There is one more factor to consider. It is 
 well enough known that both the British 
 officers, and the Americans as a whole, were 
 under instructions not to fire, and earnest to 
 obey. But what of the British privates ? 
 Their eagerness for blood at the time of the 
 Massacre was so great as to account for that 
 tragedy; it was now not likely to be less. 
 There were even among the troops at Lex- 
 
 1 Clark's narrative. 
 
192 The Siege of Boston 
 
 ington two companies from one of the "Sam 
 Adams regiments." When we learn from 
 Lieutenant Barker that after the skirmish 
 "the Men were so wild they cou'd hear no 
 orders," we may even suspect that, as at the 
 Massacre, the men may have taken matters 
 into their own hands. 
 
 "For," says the minister of Lexington, "no 
 sooner did they come in sight of our com- 
 pany, but one of them, supposed to be an 
 officer of rank, was heard to say to the troops, 
 ' Damn them, we will have them ! ' — Upon 
 this the troops shouted aloud, huzza'd, and 
 rushed furiously towards our men. — About 
 the same time, three officers (supposed to be 
 Col. Smith, Major Pitcairn and another 
 officer) advanced, on horse back, to the front 
 of the body, and coming within five or six 
 rods of the militia, one of them cried out, 'ye 
 villains, ye Rebels, disperse; Damn you, dis- 
 perse !' or words to this effect. One of 
 them (whether the same, or not, is not easily 
 determined) said, 'Lay down your arms, 
 Damn you, why don't you lay down your 
 
The Nineteenth of April 193 
 
 arms ! ' — The second of these officers, about 
 this time, fired a pistol towards the militia, 
 as they were dispersing. — The foremost, 
 who was within a few yards of our men, 
 brandishing his sword, and then pointing 
 towards them, said, with a loud voice, to the 
 troops, 'Fire ! — By God, fire !' — which 
 was instantly followed by a discharge of arms 
 from the said troops, succeeded by a very 
 heavy and close fire upon our party, dispers- 
 ing, so long as any of them were within reach. 
 — Eight were left dead upon the ground ! 
 Ten were wounded." 1 
 
 This is the best contemporary account 
 which we have of the affair. It is evident 
 from his careful language and semi-legal 
 terms that the Reverend Mr. Clark, though 
 not on the ground until half an hour after- 
 wards, took all possible pains to gather the 
 facts, and considered himself upon oath in 
 reporting them. He was himself a witness of 
 the exultation of the troops at their victory, 
 and expresses his indignation. 
 1 Clark's narrative. 
 
194 The Siege of Boston 
 
 Tradition gives Major Pitcairn, of the Ma- 
 rines, a prominent part in the affair. "A 
 good man," says Stiles, "in a bad cause," 
 and adds that had Pitcairn ever been able to 
 say that he was sure the Americans fired 
 first, he would have believed him. Honest 
 Major Pitcairn could only state his belief. 
 
 So the first blood in the Revolution was 
 spilt. The death of one of the Americans, 
 Jonathan Harrington, was pitiful : shot within 
 sight of his home, he crawled to the door, and 
 expired at his wife's feet. To the heavy 
 volleys they received, the Americans returned 
 but a scattering fire ; some of them did not 
 fire at all. 1 Two British privates were 
 wounded, and Pitcairn's horse. 
 
 The troops, as soon as they could be 
 marshalled again, fired a volley and gave 
 three cheers, rested for a little while, and 
 marched on toward Concord. There, since 
 early morning, had gathered some of the 
 militia from Bedford and Lincoln, and about 
 sunrise the little company marched out of 
 
 1 Clark's narrative. 
 
The Nineteenth of April 195 
 
 town. " We thought," says Amos Barrett 
 quaintly, "we would go and meet the British. 
 We marched down towards Lexington about 
 a mile or mile and a half, and we saw them 
 coming." But on seeing their numbers the 
 militia turned back, "and marched before 
 them with our drums and fifes going, and 
 also the British. We had grand musick." 1 
 The provincials halted once or twice on the 
 hill that ran along the high road, and came 
 at last to the liberty pole, overlooking the 
 town. " The Yankees," records Lieutenant 
 Barker of the King's Own, "had that hill but 
 left it to us ; we expected they wou'd have 
 made a stand there, but they did not chuse 
 it." The militia, still withdrawing before 
 superior numbers, retreated across the river, 
 and the British occupied the town. 
 
 In place of the five bridges which to-day, 
 within a mile of the meeting-house, encircle 
 Concord, the town in 1775 had but two. 
 The first of these was the South Bridge, on 
 the present Main Street route to Marlborough 
 
 1 Letter of Amos Barrett, privately printed. 
 
196 The Siege of Boston 
 
 and South Acton. The other was the North 
 Bridge, on a highway now abandoned, which 
 in those days led to Acton, Carlisle, and Bed- 
 ford. Colonel Smith took possession of both 
 these bridges, and while his men searched 
 the town for stores, he sent a detachment 
 across the North Bridge to the farm of 
 Colonel Barrett, where it was known that 
 supplies had been kept. Of our two British 
 informants of the events of the day, Ensign 
 Berniere guided the troops that went to the 
 Barrett farm, Lieutenant Barker remained 
 with a detachment that stayed to guard the 
 bridge. Meanwhile, on a hillside beyond the 
 river, almost within gunshot of the bridge, 
 the militia watched the first detachment pass 
 on its errand, and counted the numbers of 
 the redcoats that held the nearer side of the 
 passage. 
 
 Colonel Smith speedily learned that his 
 journey had been nearly in vain. As we 
 have seen, already on the night before, with- 
 out news from Boston, the removal of the 
 stores had been begun. The alarm brought 
 
The Nineteenth of April 197 
 
 in by Dr. Prescott hastened the work. Men 
 and boys, and even women and girls, were 
 busy in hiding the stores or carrying them 
 away. Some of them were skilfully secreted 
 under the very eyes of the British. The 
 troops found little. In the town some few 
 gun-carriages, barrels of flour, wooden mess- 
 bowls, and wooden spoons were found and 
 destroyed. At Colonel Barrett's, acknowl- 
 edges Berniere, "we did not find so much 
 as we expected, but what there was we de- 
 stroyed." He was unaware that the cannon 
 had been laid in a ploughed field, and concealed 
 by turning a furrow over them, the work 
 continuing even while the troops were in sight. 
 Of proceedings in the town we get the best 
 picture from the petition of Martha Moulton, 
 "widow-woman," who in her deposition "hum- 
 bly sheweth : That on the 19th day of April, 
 1775, in the forenoon, the town of Concord, 
 wherein I dwell, was beset with an army of 
 regulars, who, in a hostile manner, entered 
 the town, and drawed up in form before the 
 house in which I live ; and there they con- 
 
198 The Siege of Boston 
 
 tinued on the green, feeding their horses 
 within five feet of the door ; and about fifty 
 or sixty of them was in and out of the house, 
 calling for water and what they wanted, for 
 about three hours." The neighbors had fled, 
 and poor Mrs. Moulton was left with "no 
 person near but an old man of eighty-five 
 years, and myself seventy-one years old, and 
 both very infirm. It may easily be imagined 
 what a sad condition your petitioner must be 
 in." But she committed herself to Provi- 
 dence, "and was very remarkably helpt with 
 so much fortitude of mind, as to wait on 
 them, as they called, with what we had, — 
 chairs for Major Pitcairn and four or five 
 more officers, — who sat at the door viewing 
 their men. At length your petitioner had, 
 by degrees, cultivated so much favor as to 
 talk a little with them. When all on a sudden 
 they had set fire to the great gun-carriages 
 just by the house, and while they were in 
 flames your petitioner saw smoke arise out 
 of the Town House higher than the ridge of 
 the house. Then your petitioner did put her 
 
The Nineteenth of April 199 
 
 life, as it were, in her hand, and ventured 
 to beg of the officers to send some of their 
 men to put out the fire; but they took no 
 notice, only sneered. Your petitioner, seeing 
 the Town House on fire, and must in a few 
 minutes be past recovery, did yet venture to 
 expostulate with the officers just by her, as 
 she stood with a pail of water in her hand, 
 begging them to send, &c. When they only 
 said, ' O, mother, we won't do you any 
 harm!' 'Don't be concerned, mother,' and 
 such like talk." But the widow Moulton per- 
 sisted, until "at last, by one pail of water 
 and another, they did send and extinguish 
 the fire." 1 It is pleasant to know that the 
 courageous old lady received three pounds for 
 her services, and that the smoke which rose 
 higher than the Town House served only to 
 give the signal for Concord fight. 
 
 All this while the numbers of the militia 
 had been growing. They were stationed on 
 the slope of Punkatasset Hill, and from 
 minute to minute squads and companies 
 
 1 Frothingham's "Siege," Appendix, 369-370. 
 
200 The Siege of Boston 
 
 came in from the neighboring towns. It has 
 been made a reproach to Concord that so 
 few of her men were there, but they were 
 engaged in the far more important duty of 
 saving the stores. Nevertheless, one of her 
 militia companies was on the ground, with 
 those individuals who were able to hurry 
 back after putting the stores in safety. The 
 Carlisle and Acton men had joined the wait- 
 ing provincials, whose numbers at last be- 
 came so threatening that the guard at the 
 bridge, in full sight of them, became uneasy. 
 
 The militia became uneasy also. Beyond 
 the bridge, in the town, they saw more smoke 
 than seemed warranted by merely burning 
 cannon wheels and spoons. The officers con- 
 sulted, and Captain Smith, of Lincoln, urged 
 that the bridge be forced. Davis of Acton, 
 speaking of his company, said, "I haven't a 
 man that's afraid to go !" The movement 
 was decided upon, and the militia, in double 
 file, marched down toward the bridge. The 
 Acton company had the lead, with Davis at 
 its head; beside him marched Major John 
 
The Nineteenth of April 201 
 
 Buttrick, of Concord, in command, with 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Robinson, of Westford, 
 as a volunteer aid. As the provincials drew 
 near, the British hastily retreated across the 
 bridge, and their commander awkwardly mar- 
 shalled his three companies one behind the 
 other, so that only the first could fire. As 
 some of the soldiers began to take up the 
 planks of the bridge, the Americans hastened 
 their march, and presently the British fired. 
 There is no question that they began the 
 fight, with first a few scattering guns, "up 
 the river," and then a volley at close range. 
 
 The whole was seen by the Concord min- 
 ister, William Emerson, from his study in the 
 Manse, close by. For a moment, he records, 
 he feared that the fire was not to be returned ; 
 but he need not have doubted. The British 
 volley killed the Acton captain, Davis, and 
 Hosmer, his adjutant. Then Major Buttrick, 
 leaping into the air as he turned to his men, 
 cried, " Fire, fellow-soldiers ; for God's sake, 
 fire!" 
 
 "We were then," records Amos Barrett, 
 
202 The Siege of Boston 
 
 of the second company, "all ordered to fire 
 that could fire and not kill our own men." 
 The return fire, though from the awkward 
 position of double file, was effective. Two 
 of the British were killed outright, another 
 fell wounded, and the whole, apparently 
 doubting their ability to hold the bridge, 
 hastily retreated upon the main body. "We 
 did not follow them," records Barrett. 
 " There were eight or ten that were wounded 
 and a-running and a-hobbling about, looking 
 back to see if we were after them." 
 
 As reminders of the fight, besides the 
 bridge which Concord, many years after its 
 disappearance, rebuilt on the centenary of 
 the day, the town points to the graves of the 
 two soldiers killed in the fight, who were 
 buried close by. Another memorial is seen 
 in the bullet-hole in the Elisha Jones house 
 near at hand, at whose door the proprietor 
 showed himself as the regulars hastily re- 
 treated. On being fired at, Jones speedily 
 removed himself from the scene, and from 
 subsequent history. 
 
The Nineteenth of April 203 
 
 There were no further immediate conse- 
 quences. The Americans crossed the bridge, 
 and stationed themselves behind the ridge 
 that overlooked the town ; the search-party 
 that had gone to Colonel Barrett's returned. 
 " They had taken up some planks of the 
 bridge," says Berniere of the Americans, 
 though the work was done by the British. 
 "Had they destroyed it, we were most certainly 
 all lost ; however, we joined the main body." 
 Colonel Smith now had his force together, 
 and had done all that could be done, yet for 
 two hours more he, by futile marchings and 
 countermarchings, "discovered great Fickle- 
 ness 1 and Inconstancy of Mind." The de- 
 lay was serious ; he had earlier sent to Gage 
 for reinforcements, and he ought now to have 
 considered that every minute was bringing 
 more Americans to the line of his retreat. 
 When, about noon, he started for Boston, 
 the situation was very grave. 
 
 The British left the town as they had come 
 
 1 "Feekelness," Emerson's letter, "Source Book of 
 the American Revolution," 146. , 
 
204 The Siege of Boston 
 
 in, with the grenadiers on the highway, the 
 light infantry flanking them on the ridge. 
 On this elevation, above the house he later 
 inhabited, Hawthorne laid the scene of the 
 duel between Septimius Felton and the British 
 officer. At Merriam's Corner the ridge ends. 
 Here the flankers joined the main body, and 
 together noted the approach of the Americans, 
 who had dogged them. The regulars turned 
 and fired, only to be driven onward by an 
 accurate response. " When I got there," says 
 Amos Barrett, "a great many lay dead, and 
 the road was bloody." From that time en- 
 sued a scattering general engagement along 
 the line of the retreat. 
 
 In this kind of fighting the odds were 
 greatly with the Americans, as Gage, with 
 his memory of Braddock's defeat, might have 
 foreseen. The British complained with exas- 
 peration that the militia would not stand 
 up to them. The provincials knew better 
 than to do so. Lightly armed, carrying lit- 
 tle besides musket or rifle, powder horn and 
 bullet-pouch, — and all these smaller and 
 
The Nineteenth of April 205 
 
 lighter than the British equipment, — the 
 farmers were able with ease to keep up with 
 the troops, to fire from cover, to load, and 
 then again to regain the distance lost. Every 
 furlong saw their numbers increase. At Mer- 
 riam's Corner came in the Reading company ; 
 before long the survivors of the Lexington 
 company joined the fight to take their revenge ; 
 and from that time on, from north, from 
 south, and from the east, the minute men and 
 militia came hurrying up to join the chase. 
 
 Before five miles were passed, the retreat 
 had degenerated into a mere rout. " We at 
 first," says Berniere, " kept our order and 
 returned their fire as hot as we received 
 it, but when we arrived within a mile of 
 Lexington, our ammunition began to fail, and 
 the light companies were so fatigued with 
 flanking they were scarce able to act, and a 
 great number of wounded scarce able to get 
 forward, made a great confusion ; Col. Smith 
 (our commanding officer) had received a wound 
 through his leg, a number of officers were also 
 wounded, so that we began to run rather 
 
206 The Siege of Boston 
 
 than retreat in order. ... At last, after 
 we got through Lexington, the officers got to 
 the front and presented their bayonets, and 
 told the men that if they advanced they 
 should die : Upon this they began to form 
 under a heavy fire." There was, however, no 
 hope for them unless they should be reinforced. 
 In the nick of time the succor came. Early 
 in the morning Gage had received word that 
 the country was alarmed, and started to send 
 out reinforcements. There were the usual 
 delays ; among other mistakes, they waited for 
 Pitcairn, who was with the first detachment. 
 The relief party as finally made up com- 
 prised about twelve hundred men, with two 
 six-pounder field-pieces, under Lord Percy. 
 Percy went out through Roxbury with his 
 band playing Yankee Doodle, and as he went 
 a quick-witted lad reminded him of Chevy 
 Chase. More than once before night Percy 
 must have thought of the Whig youngster. 
 He was momentarily delayed at the Cam- 
 bridge bridge, where the Committee of Safety 
 had taken up the planks, but had frugally 
 
The Nineteenth of April 207 
 
 stored them in full view of the road. Percy 
 relaid some of the planks and hurried on 
 with his guns, leaving behind his baggage 
 train and hospital supplies, which were pres- 
 ently captured by a company headed by a 
 warlike minister. Percy was again delayed 
 on Cambridge Common for want of a guide ; 
 when again he was able to push on he spared 
 no time, and reached Lexington at the criti- 
 cal moment. He formed his men into a hol- 
 low square, to protect Smith's exhausted 
 men, who threw themselves down on the 
 ground, "their tongues hanging out of their 
 mouths like those of dogs after a chase." 1 
 Percy turned on the militia his two field- 
 pieces, "which our people," grimly remarks 
 Mr. Clark, writing after Bunker Hill, "were 
 not so well acquainted with then, as they 
 have been since." Percy had the satisfaction, 
 which both Berniere and Barker express, of 
 silencing the provincials. 
 
 1 This quotation from Stedman, himself a British 
 officer, is perhaps as well known as Revere's midnight 
 remark, already given. 
 
208 The Siege of Boston 
 
 He knew too well, however, that the Ameri- 
 cans were willing to be quiet only because 
 they awaited their own reinforcements. Every 
 minute of delay was dangerous, for now the 
 American military leaders were gathering. 
 If Hancock and Adams had left the field, 
 Warren hastened to it. We know some of his 
 sayings as he left Boston. "They have be- 
 gun it, — that either party can do ; and we'll 
 end it, — that only one can do." To the 
 remark, "Well, they are gone out," he re- 
 plied, "Yes, and we will be up with them 
 before night." Warren probably was present 
 at a meeting of the Committee of Safety 
 which was held that morning, but his biog- 
 rapher says: "I am unable to locate him 
 until the afternoon, about the time Lord 
 Percy's column rescued Colonel Smith's party 
 from entire destruction, which was at two 
 o'clock." 
 
 Warren was no mere adviser. With Gen- 
 eral Heath he had been planning for the work 
 of the day, and when, after half an hour's 
 rest, Percy's troops moved onward, the 
 
The Nineteenth of April 209 
 
 time came for the measures to be put into 
 effect. Warren went with Heath to the 
 scene of battle. Yet little could be done in 
 organized form, at least in the open country, 
 and the minute men continued to pick 
 off the British. But when the troops were 
 among houses, and in revenge for their losses 
 began to plunder * and burn, the Americans 
 for the first time began to close in. Many 
 of them fired from barricaded houses, and 
 were killed in consequence. The Danvers 
 company, the only one that tried to fight as 
 a body, were caught between the main col- 
 umn of the regulars and a strong flanking 
 party, and many were killed in an improvised 
 enclosure. But even without defences the 
 Americans became very bold, and the fight 
 fiercer. Warren, rashly exposing himself, had 
 a pin shot out of his hair. Percy, on the other 
 hand, lost a button from his waistcoat. 
 Nothing can explain the comparatively slight 
 
 1 "The plundering was shameful," says Lieutenant 
 Barker indignantly. See also depositions in Froth- 
 ingham's "Siege," Appendices. 
 
210 The Siege of Boston 
 
 losses of the British except the rapidity of 
 their march to safety. As it was, the regulars 
 were almost worn out with their exertions 
 when they saw ahead of them the hills of 
 Charlestown, and looking across the Back Bay, 
 might perceive on the slopes of Beacon Hill 
 half the population of Boston watching their 
 disgrace. 
 
 Boston had been in suspense since early 
 morning. All the Whigs had suspected the 
 meaning of Gage's preparations, and the 
 town was no sooner astir than the news was 
 abroad that the expedition had started. 
 Next came word that an officer had come 
 in haste with a message for Gage. At about 
 eight came news of the death of five men in 
 Lexington. Already Lord Percy's detach- 
 ment was parading, waiting for the Marines, 
 who in turn waited for their absent com- 
 mander. Thousands of people were in the 
 street, and even the schoolboys were running 
 about, for Master Lovell had dismissed his 
 school with the words, "War's begun, and 
 school's done." Through the day came con- 
 
The Nineteenth of April 211 
 
 flicting rumors. "About twelve o'clock it was 
 gave out by the General's Aide camps that 
 no person was kill'd, and that a single gun 
 had not been fir'd, which report was variously 
 believ'd." * Fairly correct accounts of the 
 fight at Lexington began to come in, em- 
 bellished with the addition that men had been 
 killed in the meeting-house. In the after- 
 noon people began to watch from the hills 
 for the return of the troops, and before sun- 
 set the noise of firing was heard. 
 
 Of the three British commanders, Lord 
 Percy was the only one who displayed any 
 military ability. He showed it in the route 
 which he chose for his retreat. From Cam- 
 bridge Common, where at last he arrived, 
 the road to Boston was long, and was broken 
 by the bridge whose difficult passage in 
 the morning he remembered. Therefore he 
 avoided it — and wisely, for the planks of 
 the bridge were up again, and this time in 
 use as barricades, while the militia were 
 ready for him. Instead, Percy shook off 
 1 Andrews Letters. 
 
212 The Siege of Boston 
 
 many of his waylayers, and saved some miles 
 of march, by taking the direct road to Charles- 
 town. Yet even this route was hard beset. 
 "I stood upon the hills in town," says An- 
 drews, "and saw the engagement very plain." 
 Many a Whig exulted as he watched, many 
 a Tory cursed, at the sight of the weary 
 regulars struggling forward, and of red figures 
 that dropped and lay still. Percy was barely 
 in time. Had the men of Essex, whose 
 strong regiment arrived just too late, been 
 quick enough to intercept them, and reso- 
 lute enough to throw themselves across the 
 retreat, it is more than likely that Percy 
 must have surrendered, for his ammunition 
 was almost gone. The exasperation of the 
 Americans at losing their prey was later 
 expressed in a court-martial of the Essex 
 colonel. At any rate, Percy was not headed, 
 and the regulars at last streamed across 
 Charlestown Neck, to find protection under 
 the guns of the fleet. 
 
 " Thus," grumbles Lieutenant Barker, 
 "ended this expedition, which from begin- 
 
The Nineteenth of April 213 
 
 ning to end was as ill plan'd and ill executed 
 as it was possible to be. . . . For a few 
 trifling Stores the Grenadiers and Light In- 
 fantry had a march of about 50 miles (going 
 and returning) and in all human probability 
 must every Man have been cut off if the 
 Brigade had not fortunately come to their 
 Assistance." 
 
 Speaking for the reinforcing brigade, Lord 
 Percy confessed that he had learned some- 
 thing. "Whoever looks upon them [the 
 Americans] merely as an irregular mob will 
 find himself much mistaken. They have 
 men among them who know very well what 
 they are about, having been employed as 
 rangers against the Indians and Arcadians. 
 . . . Nor are several of their men void of a 
 spirit of enthusiasm, . . . for many of them 
 concealed themselves in houses, and advanced 
 within ten yards to fire at me and other 
 officers, though they were morally certain of 
 being put to death. . . . For my part I 
 never believed, I confess, that they would 
 have attacked the King's troops, or have had 
 
214 The Siege of Boston 
 
 the perseverance I found in them yester- 
 day." x 
 
 This was the day which Massachusetts 
 now celebrates as Patriots' Day. Of her sons 
 forty-nine were killed, thirty-nine were 
 wounded, and five were taken prisoners. 
 Berniere's figures of the British losses are 73 
 killed, 174 wounded, and 26 missing. The 
 totals, for a day more important, as says 
 Bancroft, than Agincourt or Blenheim, are 
 very small. But the significance of the day 
 was indeed enormous. Previously, said War- 
 ren, not above fifty persons in the province 
 had expected bloodshed, and the ties to 
 England were still strong. Within ten weeks 
 Warren himself had written of England as 
 "home." After this day there was no turn- 
 ing back from bloodshed, and no American 
 ever again spoke of Britain by the endearing 
 name. 
 
 And the military situation was entirely 
 changed. In the morning Gage was still 
 the nominal governor of the province, free 
 
 1 "Memorial History of Boston," iii, 102. 
 
The Nineteenth of April 215 
 
 to come and go at will. At night he looked 
 out upon a circle of hostile camp-fires. " From 
 a plentiful town," says Berniere mournfully, 
 "we were reduced to the disagreeable neces- 
 sity of living on salt provisions, and fairly 
 blocked up in Boston." 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 BOSTON BELEAGUERED 
 
 GAGE and his army were at first sur- 
 rounded by a mere collection of 
 militia companies. As the pursuit 
 ceased on the evening of the 19th the baffled 
 Americans withdrew from the range of the 
 guns of the fleet. As well as they could they 
 gathered into their organizations and made 
 some kind of a camp, sleeping either out of 
 doors, or in convenient houses. A watch 
 was set at Charlestown Neck, and at Rox- 
 bury Prescott of Pepperell and his men stood 
 on guard against a sortie. The circuit be- 
 tween these points, comprising the whole 
 sweep of the Charles River and the Back Bay, 
 was likewise occupied. Headquarters were at 
 Cambridge. On the following days men from 
 the more distant towns came in, until before 
 long the minute men and militia from the 
 
 216 
 
Boston Beleaguered 217 
 
 adjoining provinces, New Hampshire, Rhode 
 Island, and Connecticut, were upon the ground. 
 
 Some of the records are striking. The men 
 of Nottingham, New Hampshire, gathered by 
 noon of the 20th and, after being joined 
 by men of the neighboring towns, set out 
 at two o'clock. "At dusk," says Bancroft, 
 "they reached Haverhill Ferry, a distance of 
 twenty-seven miles, having run rather than 
 marched; they halted in Andover only for 
 refreshments, and, traversing fifty-five miles 
 in less than twenty hours, by sunrise of the 
 twenty-first paraded on Cambridge common." 1 
 
 Israel Putnam, working on his farm in 
 Brooklyn, Connecticut, received the news the 
 morning after the fight at Concord. He 
 left his work at once, and, mounting a horse, 
 started out to rouse the militia, who, upon 
 mustering, chose him leader. As his idea of 
 a leader was one who went in front, he set 
 out at once for Boston, ordering them to 
 follow. He arrived in Cambridge at the 
 time when the Nottingham men are reported 
 
 1 Bancroft, iv, 535. 
 
218 The Siege of Boston 
 
 as parading, "having ridden the same horse 
 a hundred miles in eighteen hours." 1 
 
 Others followed in similar haste. Among 
 them, Benedict Arnold first began to attract 
 to himself public notice. Sabine says of him, 
 " I am inclined to believe, that he was a finished 
 scoundrel from early manhood to his grave." 
 Nevertheless, his fiery nature kept him for a 
 time with the Americans, and at the very out- 
 set he showed his independent spirit, having 
 characteristically refused to "wait for proper 
 orders." From New Hampshire came Stark, 
 the hero of the frontier wars. And from all the 
 towns came the militia leaders, who, gathering 
 their companies into regiments, began the 
 loose organization and crude subordination 
 which should make of the crowd an army. 
 
 In all this convergence of the militia toward 
 Boston, there was one side current. This set 
 toward Marshfield, where for some weeks had 
 been a detachment of regulars. During this 
 time there had been peace in the town but 
 strong feeling on both sides — Marshfield had 
 
 1 Bancroft, iv, 536. 
 
Boston Beleaguered 219 
 
 already produced a general for the king, and 
 now was about to give one to the provincials. 
 There had been one or two threatening demon- 
 strations from neighboring towns, which now 
 were repeated in earnest. On hearing the 
 news from Lexington and Concord, the militia 
 of the neighborhood gathered for an attack 
 on the regulars. But they came too late. 
 The British were embarking at Brant Rock, 
 hastened by the signal guns of the Marsh- 
 field men from a neighboring hill. Yet 
 though the regulars got safely away, they 
 left behind them the three hundred muskets 
 with which the Tory militia had drilled, and 
 which presently formed a part of the equip- 
 ment of the Whigs before Boston. That 
 equipment, while most irregular, was not to 
 be despised. By the 22d a strong army cov- 
 ered all land approach to Gage, who began to 
 consider himself between two fires. 
 j "The regulars encamped," says one British 
 account of the Concord expedition, "on a 
 place called Bunker's Hill." 1 There, under 
 
 1 "Memorial History of Boston," iii, 15. 
 
220 The Siege of Boston 
 
 the guns of the fleet, the tired troops found 
 safety ; and there, for all that any one can 
 see, it would have been wise of Gage to leave 
 them. With Bunker Hill at his command, 
 and with Dorchester Heights once occupied 
 by his forces, Boston would be safe from all 
 attack by the Americans — and not till then. 
 
 But on the next morning Gage withdrew 
 the troops to Boston. As a matter of fact, 
 he doubted his own strength, and greatly 
 exaggerated the power of the rebels, since his 
 first sensation was a dread lest the town 
 should rise at his back, and his army be 
 destroyed. Of this there was no real chance at 
 any time. Yet he drew in his men in order 
 to make himself secure, and began with the 
 selectmen negotiations looking to his safety. 
 
 There were many in the town who were 
 eager to leave it, and many outside anxious 
 to come in. The governor made the rule 
 that for the purpose of taking out family 
 effects but thirty wagons might enter the 
 town at a time. The ruling drew from War- 
 ren the following very characteristic letter. 
 
Boston Beleaguered 221 
 
 Cambridge, April 20, 1775. 
 
 Sir : — The unhappy situation into which this 
 colony is thrown gives the greatest uneasiness to 
 every man who regards the welfare of the em- 
 pire, or feels for the distresses of his fellow-men : 
 but even now much may be done to alleviate 
 those misfortunes which cannot be entirely 
 remedied ; and I think it of the utmost importance 
 to us, that our conduct be such as that the con- 
 tending parties may entirely rely upon the honor 
 and integrity of each other for the punctual per- 
 formance of any agreement that shall be made 
 between them. Your Excellency, I believe, knows 
 very well the part I have taken in public affairs : 
 I ever scorned disguise. I think I have done my 
 duty : some will think otherwise ; but be assured, 
 sir, as far as my influence goes, everything which 
 can reasonably be required of us to do shall be 
 done, and everything promised shall be religiously 
 performed. I should now be very glad to know 
 from you, sir, how many days you desire may be 
 allowed for such as desire to remove to Boston 
 with their effects, and what time you will allow 
 the people in Boston for their removal. When 
 I have received that information, I will repair to 
 congress, and hasten, as far as I am able, the 
 issuing a proclamation. I beg leave to suggest, 
 
222 The Siege of Boston 
 
 that the condition of admitting only thirty 
 wagons at a time into the town appears to me to 
 be very inconvenient, and will prevent the good 
 effects of a proclamation intended to be issued 
 for encouraging all wagoners to assist in removing 
 the effects from Boston with all possible speed. 
 If Your Excellency will be pleased to take the 
 matter into consideration, and favor me, as soon as 
 may be, with an answer, it will lay me under a great 
 obligation, as it so nearly concerns the welfare of my 
 friends in Boston. I have many things which I 
 wish to say to Your Excellency, and most sincerely 
 wish that I had broken through the formalities 
 which I thought due to your rank, and freely told 
 you all I knew or thought of public affairs ; and 
 I must ever confess, whatever may be the event, 
 that you generously gave me such opening, as 
 I now think I ought to have embraced : but 
 the true cause of my not doing it was the 
 vileness and treachery of many persons around 
 you, who, I supposed, had gained your entire 
 confidence. 
 
 I am, &c, 
 
 Joseph Warren. 
 
 His Excellency General Gage. 1 
 
 1 Frothingham's "Warren," 467. 
 
Boston Beleaguered 223 
 
 In striking contrast to the manly regret 
 expressed by Warren in this letter is the 
 scene enacted that afternoon at Cambridge, 
 where the Committee of Safety met. Doctor 
 Benjamin Church, one of the trusted leaders 
 of the Whigs, an orator on the Massacre, and 
 a pamphleteer, was a member of the com- 
 mittee, for which Warren had recently en- 
 gaged Paul Revere as messenger. Revere 
 writes, in the letter already quoted : " I was 
 sitting with some, or near all that commit- 
 tee, in their room ... in Cambridge. Dr. 
 Church, all at once, started up. 'Dr. War- 
 ren,' said he, 'I am determined to go 
 into Boston to-morrow.' (It set them all 
 a-staring.) Dr. Warren replied : 'Are you 
 serious, Dr. Church ? They will hang you 
 if they catch you in Boston.' He replied : 
 'I am serious, and am determined to go 
 at all adventures.' After a considerable 
 conversation, Dr. Warren said: 'If you are 
 determined, let us make some business for you.' 
 They agreed that he should go and get medicine 
 
 for their and our wounded officers." 1 
 1 Revere's narrative. 
 
224 The Siege of Boston 
 
 Church was the first American traitor. 
 Although possessed of all the Whig secrets, 
 he had for some months, perhaps longer, 
 been in communication with Gage. His jour- 
 ney to town was for the purpose of delivering 
 information, and for some time yet he managed 
 to carry on the double role. Nevertheless his 
 information, put in the hands of Gage, did 
 no harm. It throws but one more light upon 
 the incompetence of the general that, with 
 such information as Church now gave him, he 
 blundered so continually. 
 
 We learn from John Andrews' letters of 
 the agreement made between Gage and the 
 town. "Yesterday," he writes on the 24th, 
 "we had town meetings all day, and finally 
 concluded to deliver up all our arms to the 
 Selectmen, on condition that the Governor 
 would open the avenues to the town." In 
 this agreement the townspeople were advised 
 by the Committee of Safety to join. Accord- 
 ingly, there were delivered to the Selectmen, 
 and lodged in Faneuil Hall, "1778 fire-arms, 
 634 pistols, 978 bayonets, and 38 blunder- 
 
Boston Beleaguered 225 
 
 busses." * These were marked with their 
 owners' names, and were later to be restored. 
 As soon as this delivery of arms was effected, 
 hundreds applied for passes to leave the 
 town. Andrews must have reflected the feel- 
 ings of many when he wrote, "If I can escape 
 with the skin of my teeth, shall be glad." 
 
 There were for a few days much hurry 
 and bustle, both of egress and of ingress. At 
 first as many as wished were allowed to go 
 out, and the chief difficulty was one of trans- 
 portation. It is to be supposed that for a 
 while the admiral kept to his agreement to 
 lend boats to the refugees. There was a very 
 considerable exodus. "Near half the inhab- 
 itants," wrote Andrews on May 6, "have left 
 the town already, and another quarter, at 
 least, have been waiting for a week past." 
 Andrews probably exaggerated, yet hundreds 
 of the better class went out, and about five 
 thousand of the poor. These latter were 
 quartered among the different towns at pub- 
 lic expense. 
 
 1 Frothingham's " Siege," 95. 
 Q 
 
226 The Siege of Boston 
 
 But the outflow from Boston was speedily 
 checked. On the 6th Andrews was still in 
 Boston, and making up his mind to stay 
 on account of his property, but still anxious 
 to secure a pass for his wife, whose personal 
 fears — she was an aesthetic person, an amateur 
 artist whose landscapes Lord Percy had ad- 
 mired — were greater than her interest in 
 her husband's safety. She did safely get 
 away, amid the miserable procession that her 
 husband describes. "You'll see parents that 
 are lucky enough to procure papers, with 
 bundles in one hand and a string of children 
 in another, wandering out of the town (with 
 only a sufferance of one day's permission) not 
 knowing where they'll go." Andrews' wife 
 went out in a sailing vessel, but whether by 
 land or by water she was one of the last to go. 
 
 This was because the Tories interfered in 
 the general removal. It alarmed them to see 
 so many leave : these Whigs, and especially 
 those of good social position, were the best 
 hostages for the safety of the town from 
 assault. So they made vigorous expression of 
 
Boston Beleaguered 227 
 
 their discontent, and to them Gage yielded. 
 They had already formed military organiza- 
 tions for his support, and when they threatened 
 to quit the town and seek refuge in Canada 
 or London, the threat was too much for him. 
 Restrictions were at once put upon the issu- 
 ing of passes, and in a very short time the 
 conditions imposed were so severe that it was 
 practically impossible for people of the better 
 class to leave the town. "There are but very 
 few," wrote Abigail Adams, "who are per- 
 mitted to come out in a day; they delay 
 giving passes, make them wait from hour to 
 hour, and their counsels are not two hours 
 together alike. One day, they shall come 
 out with their effects ; the next day, mer- 
 chandise is not effects. One day, their house- 
 hold furniture is to come out ; the next, only 
 wearing apparel ; the next, Pharaoh's heart is 
 hardened, and he refuseth to hearken to them, 
 and will not let the people go." 1 Neverthe- 
 less the poor were still welcome to depart, 
 and from time to time were even sent out in 
 1 "Familiar Letters of John and Abigail Adams," 54. 
 
228 The Siege of Boston 
 
 order to relieve Gage of the necessity of feed- 
 ing them. 1 
 
 During this period a number of Tories 
 came to Boston. These were the families of 
 men already in the town, or were others who 
 felt that, though until the present their 
 homes had been safe for them, the future was 
 too doubtful. They hastened to put the 
 British defences between them and the Whigs. 
 Among them the most notable was Lady 
 Frankland of Hopkinton, who once had 
 been Agnes Surriage, the barefooted serving- 
 maid of the tavern at Marblehead. She now 
 was a widow of nearly fifty, and came down 
 from Hopkinton only to be detained before 
 the lines, and made the subject of memoranda 
 and petitions. The lieutenant who detained 
 her person was reprimanded, and by vote of 
 the provincial congress she was permitted to 
 enter Boston with " seven trunks ; all the 
 
 1 Lieutenant Barker makes a suggestion that must 
 have been popular among the officers. "I wonder the 
 
 G 1 will allow any of their people to quit the Town 
 
 till they return the Prisoners ; one wou'd think he might 
 get 'em if he'd try." 
 
Boston Beleaguered 229 
 
 beds with the furniture to them; all the 
 boxes and crates ; a basket of chickens, and 
 a bag of corn ; two barrels and a hamper ; 
 two horses and two chaises, and all the articles 
 in the chaise, excepting arms and ammuni- 
 tion ; one phaeton ; some tongues, ham, and 
 veal ; and sundry small bundles." * Evi- 
 dently thinking that Lady Frankland's house- 
 hold was well enough supplied, the congress 
 did not allow to pass her seven wethers and 
 two pigs. 
 
 There were others who left their homes, 
 though not to go to Boston. Of these Judge 
 Curwen of Salem is a type. He was con- 
 sidered — unjustly, he protests — as a Tory, 
 and finding his neighbors daily becoming 
 "more and more soured and malevolent 
 against moderate men," he left Massachu- 
 setts. In this case it was the wife who re- 
 mained behind, "her apprehensions of danger 
 from an incensed soldiery, a people licentious 
 and enthusiastically mad and broken loose 
 from all the restraints of law and religion, 
 
 1 "Memorial History of Boston," iii, 77. 
 
230 The Siege of Boston 
 
 being less terrible to her than a short passage 
 on the ocean." * Curwen went to Philadel- 
 phia, but finding the situation the same, 
 proceeded to London and there lived out the 
 war. Many others, like him, repaired to the 
 capital, and formed a miserable colony, living 
 on hope, watching the news from home, 
 pensioned or grudgingly maintained by the 
 government, and sadly feeling themselves 
 strangers in a strange land. 
 
 Without doubt the times were very hard 
 for men who, like Judge Curwen, wished 
 to take no side, but to live at peace with all 
 men. Of such men there was a very large 
 class, so large in fact that more than one 
 Tory sympathizer has claimed that the Revo- 
 lution was fought by a minority of the people 
 of the colonies, who were so virulent as to 
 force the moderates into their ranks from 
 dread of personal consequences. Such a claim 
 is weak upon its very face, and will not 
 bear examination. Most of the moderates 
 were but waiting to see how the cat would 
 
 1 Curwen's "Journal," 25. 
 
Boston Beleaguered 231 
 
 jump, and when once a preponderance of 
 sentiment showed they speedily took sides. 
 Had there been in the colonies a majority 
 desirous of a return to allegiance, the Whig 
 cause surely could not have survived the dark 
 days of the war. We can safely conclude 
 the majority to have been in favor of the 
 rights of the colonies, always understanding 
 that they desired nothing more than they 
 had always had since the accession of George 
 the Third. A man of such a type is clearly 
 seen in John Andrews, with his occasional 
 fits of depression and doubt, and his impatient 
 exclamations against the radicals among the 
 Whigs. Note, for instance, what he says 
 on the death of William Molineux, one of the 
 prominent Boston Whigs, whose death was 
 a loss to the cause. "If he was too rash," 
 remarked Andrews, "and drove matters to 
 an imprudent pitch, it was owing to his 
 natural temper; as when he was in business, 
 he pursued it with the same impetuous zeal. 
 His loss is -not much regretted by the more 
 prudent and judicious part of the community." 
 
232 The Siege of Boston 
 
 Yet though Andrews could thus express 
 himself, he could again speak quite otherwise, 
 as the remarks quoted in this book have 
 already shown. He doubted at times, and 
 was petulant against the fortune that brought 
 him discomfort and loss, but in the main he 
 was stanch. Andrews was, then, a type of 
 the moderate who threw in his lot with his 
 country. Judge Curwen, on the other hand, 
 was one of the smaller class which, in doubt 
 and despair, withdrew to the protection of 
 the crown. Many of them were too old to 
 fight ; many had not the heart to lift their 
 hands against their neighbors. Every country 
 sees such men at every war. Often they 
 may live peaceably, anguished with doubt, 
 and distressed for humanity. But in a civil 
 war there is seldom a refuge for them. It 
 was certainly so at the Revolution. A very 
 few among the Tories, venerated by their 
 neighbors, might remain neutral ; the re- 
 mainder must take sides, or go. The fight- 
 ing men felt that those who were not with 
 them were against them, and among the stay- 
 
Boston Beleaguered 233 
 
 at-home Whigs were plenty who were willing 
 to express the feeling. Hence the reproaches 
 and menaces which drove Judge Curwen 
 from his home, and hence the doubtful looks 
 in Philadelphia which made him "fearful 
 whether, like Cain, I had not a discouraging 
 mark upon me, or a strong feature of toryism." 
 Curwen crossed the water, and other mod- 
 erates slipped into Boston, to find themselves 
 as unhappy within the town as they had 
 been outside, in spite of the strength which 
 Gage was slowly gaining. 
 
 This strength was, so far, purely defensive. 
 Gage did not consider himself ready to take 
 the offensive. Those Tories who came to town 
 informed him of the numbers outside, and 
 he saw very plainly the result of sending an 
 expedition against a militia which would 
 melt before the head of his column, only to 
 attack it in flank and rear. So no action 
 was considered, especially as the rebels offered, 
 so far, nothing to strike at. Gage made him- 
 self as strong as he could, and waited rein- 
 forcements. 
 
234 The Siege of Boston 
 
 His strength was partly, as we have seen, 
 in the organization of the Tories. Their 
 men began at once to form themselves in 
 companies, under the general leadership of 
 Timothy Ruggles, who had long been a politi- 
 cal tower of strength, and was now assuming 
 military importance. The new volunteer com- 
 panies were, as we have seen, of such value 
 to Gage that they were able to make him 
 break his promise to let the townspeople leave 
 Boston. Yet so far as is known they did noth- 
 ing more in the siege than to parade and mount 
 guard. 
 
 Gage's chief attention was directed to for- 
 tifying. His situation was easily defensible 
 at certain points, and of them he first made 
 sure. At the south, across the passage to 
 Roxbury, were the "lines" of which all con- 
 temporary accounts speak. These Gage 
 strengthened until by the 4th of May Lieu- 
 tenant Barker records that the works were 
 almost ready for ten twenty-four-pounders. 
 From the Neck the western line of the penin- 
 sula of Boston ran in a general northerly 
 
Boston Beleaguered 
 
 235 
 
 Plan op the Siege 
 
236 The Siege of Boston 
 
 direction for about a mile and a half ; it then 
 ran east for nearly a mile ; then turning south, 
 it finally swept inward to the Neck. The out- 
 line had three projections, each caused by a 
 hill : Barton's Point at the northwest ; Copp's 
 Hill at the northeast ; and Fort Hill on the 
 middle of the eastern side. Each of these was 
 fortified as soon as possible. The four points 
 were Gage's main defences. 
 
 When these forts were finished, the town 
 was by no means secure. The forts com- 
 manded most of the northerly and easterly 
 sides, of which the war-ships commanded 
 the remainder ; but the whole western side 
 of the town, along the Common and the foot 
 of Beacon Hill, was open to attack. This 
 was, roughly speaking, along the line of the 
 present Charles Street, prolonged into Tre- 
 mont Street. The Back Bay beyond this 
 water-line was so shallow that no war-ship 
 could anchor there ; a night attack, delivered 
 in boats, might surprise the soldiers on the 
 Common in their barracks or their tents. 
 In order to command the western shore, 
 
Boston Beleaguered 237 
 
 and also to quell a possible rising in the town, 
 Gage erected a "small work" on Beacon Hill. 
 Later in the siege every one of these points 
 was strengthened ; a low hill, near the present 
 Louisburg Square, was protected; and re- 
 doubts were thrown up to defend the shore- 
 line of the Common. But the four main 
 works, and the Beacon Hill fort, were all 
 that Gage was able to accomplish before 
 Bunker Hill battle. He managed, however, 
 to put his army under strict military disci- 
 pline, which before the 19th of April he had 
 not imposed on them. 
 
 From letters and diaries we get glimpses 
 of the situation of the troops. They were 
 short of fresh provision, disgusted with their 
 situation, and at times not a little alarmed. 
 What other unexpected qualities the Yankees 
 might show no one could predict. They 
 were still, however, regarded as low in the 
 scale of humanity. On the fifth of May 
 Lieutenant Barker records the discovery of 
 a "most shocking" plot. "It was a scheme 
 to cut off all the officers of the Garrison. 
 
238 The Siege of Boston 
 
 Upon the 24th, the day we were to keep St. 
 George's day, the Rebels were to make a 
 feint Attack at night upon the Lines : a num- 
 ber of men were to be posted at the Lodgings 
 of all the Officers, and upon the Alarm Guns 
 firing they were to put the Officers to death 
 as they were coming out of their houses to 
 go to their Barracks. What a set of Villains 
 must they be to think of such a thing ! but 
 there is nothing be it ever so bad that these 
 people will stick at to gain their ends." The 
 horrified lieutenant ascribes to this dis- 
 covery the fact that Gage ordered the officers 
 to sleep at barracks. It is, however, more 
 likely that the general paid no attention to 
 the tale, but thought it time for officers and 
 men to be together. 
 
 Once more the army was shocked. A fire 
 broke out near property owned by Hancock, 
 and in putting out the blaze there was dis- 
 covered a chest of bullets "in Hancock's 
 store." The news spread rapidly, and was 
 regarded as another proof of the desperate 
 nature of the Whigs. 
 
Boston Beleaguered 239 
 
 So the army, uncomfortable and uneasy, 
 looked for its reinforcements, which before 
 long began to come in. Troop-ships arrived, 
 but the most welcome was the Cerberus, with 
 the three major-generals. The relief of the 
 garrison found expression in waggery ; they 
 called the generals the three bow-wows, and 
 circulated the doggerel : — 
 
 "Behold the Cerberus the Atlantic plow, 
 Her precious cargo Burgoyne, Clinton, Howe, 
 Bow wow wow !" 
 
 Burgoyne at this time made a special nick- 
 name for himself. Hailing a ship as they 
 entered the harbor, the generals learned that 
 the army was shut up by the provincials. 
 "What!" cried Burgoyne. "Ten thousand 
 peasants keep five thousand king's troops shut 
 up ! Well, let us get in, and we'll soon find 
 elbow-room !" 1 And Elbow-room was Bur- 
 goyne's name for a long time thereafter. 
 
 Yet the three new generals for a while did 
 nothing. Lieutenant Barker regretfully re- 
 
 1 Current newspapers, quoted in Frothingham's 
 "Siege," 114. 
 
240 The Siege of Boston 
 
 cords: "Tho' we have new Generals come 
 out, yet they have brought no more authority 
 than we had before, which was none at all." 
 It is safe to assume that on learning the 
 quality of the "peasants," Burgoyne was not 
 anxious to attack them with an inferior force. 
 The British therefore continued to await 
 reinforcements. 
 
 From Burgoyne's voluminous correspond- 
 ence we learn his state of mind. He had come 
 to the country unwillingly: "I received your 
 Majesty's commands for America with regret," 
 he wrote in his letter to the king, and else- 
 where records that the event was one of the 
 most disagreeable in his life. Nevertheless, 
 once enlisted in the campaign, he had thrown 
 himself into it. Perceiving in advance how 
 little, as junior major-general, he would have 
 to do, he endeavored to have himself trans- 
 ferred to the post at New York, where he 
 rightly perceived that there was much to be 
 done. He was in favor of attempting con- 
 ciliation. Had that post at this time been 
 occupied by Burgoyne, his quick wit, true 
 
Boston Beleaguered 241 
 
 sympathies with the Americans, and real 
 abilities might have made for him a different 
 name in the history of America. But his 
 attempt failed, and now, almost inactive in 
 his post at Boston, he was studying the situa- 
 tion, probing the weakness of Gage and learn- 
 ing the difficulties of his position. Gage had 
 little money for secret service, it is true, and 
 the provincials were stubborn foes whose true 
 measure Burgoyne had not yet taken, 1 but 
 he saw how poorly Gage had provided against 
 the calamities which had come upon him. 
 Burgoyne doubted the outcome, and fretted 
 at the situation. 
 
 In the meanwhile the rebels had been work- 
 ing to make that situation worse. Their 
 first need was to get some semblance of order 
 among the troops. At the head of the Massa- 
 chusetts army was Artemas Ward, a veteran 
 of the French wars, no longer vigorous, and 
 
 1 "There was hardly a leading man among the 
 rebels, in council, or in the field, but at a proper 
 time, and by proper management, might have been 
 bought." — Burgoyne to Lord Rochfort, June, 1775. 
 Fonblanque's " Burgoyne," 149-1 50. 
 
242 The Siege of Boston 
 
 never used to independent command. He 
 drew his authority from the Provincial Con- 
 gress of Massachusetts, which now hastily 
 came together, and communicated with Ward 
 chiefly through the Committee of Safety, of 
 one of whose meetings we have already had a 
 glimpse. The active head of the committee 
 was Warren, who kept in close touch with 
 Ward. 
 
 Organization proceeded slowly, complicated 
 by the fact that the other provinces main- 
 tained separate armies. The names of some 
 of the commanders are still familiar. Put- 
 nam and Spencer were the heads of the Con- 
 necticut troops ; John Stark was prominent 
 among the New Hampshire men ; while to 
 command the Rhode Islanders came Na- 
 thanael Greene. With praiseworthy suppres- 
 sion of provincial jealousies the commanders 
 speedily agreed to subordinate themselves to 
 Ward, as the oldest among them, and the 
 head of the largest body of troops. He was 
 regarded as commander-in-chief, and his 
 orders were to be observed by all. Yet the 
 
Boston Beleaguered 243 
 
 means to communicate orders and to receive 
 reports were long lacking. The combined 
 armies were far from being a unit, and if 
 attacked could resist little better than on 
 the 19th, as scattered bands, and not as a 
 whole. 
 
 The very size of the army was uncertain. 
 On paper there were more than twenty thou- 
 sand men ; as a matter of fact there can 
 seldom have been more than four-fifths of 
 that number. Of the actual total Massa- 
 chusetts provided 11,500, Connecticut 2300, 
 New Hampshire 1200, Rhode Island iooo. 1 
 Further, in its variable size this was the very 
 type of a volunteer army, of which every 
 man owned his equipment, clothed himself, 
 and considered himself still, to a large ex- 
 tent, his own master. Of the thousands living 
 within twenty-five miles of Boston, who 
 sprang to arms on the 19th, knowing that if 
 they were quick they might strike the Brit- 
 ish before night, few had the foresight to 
 prepare themselves properly for the cam- 
 
 1 Frothingham's "Siege," 101. 
 
244 The Siege of Boston 
 
 paign that was to follow. There were no com- 
 missary stores to supply them. Their affairs 
 at home they left just where they stood. In 
 the next few days many of these men went 
 home, for the necessary arrangement of their 
 affairs and for more clothing. The larger 
 number of them returned to camp imme- 
 diately, some were slower, and yet others 
 stayed for a longer time. Even those who 
 joined the army after more preparation often 
 had business that called them home, in which 
 case they considered it a hardship to be 
 denied. The officers sympathized, especially 
 when that business was haying. Cases oc- 
 curred in which the men on furlough were 
 making their officers' hay, while at the same 
 time drawing the pay of the province. The 
 position of the general commanding such 
 troops was not to be envied. 
 
 Further, military supplies were very few. 
 In spite of the preparations of the provincial 
 congress, there were on hand only sixty- 
 eight half-barrels of powder, a scanty stock 
 with which to begin the siege of a military 
 
Boston Beleaguered 245 
 
 garrison. Of cannon a varying number is 
 reported, few of them as yet of value, for 
 lack of shot to fit them. It was doubtless a 
 great relief to Ward that he was not called 
 upon to use his cannon, since they would 
 have drawn too heavily upon his scanty 
 supply of ammunition, which could be re- 
 placed but slowly. 
 
 Altogether, the position of senior major- 
 general was a difficult one. To knit into an 
 army such a mass of units, to create supplies 
 out of nothing, to organize a commissary and 
 means of communication, and maintain a firm 
 front over a line of ten miles, these were the 
 needs of the situation. We need scarcely 
 marvel that Ward, old and enfeebled, with 
 his hands tied by uncertain authority, could 
 not meet them. A genius was needed in his 
 place, and the good fortune was that the 
 genius eventually came. In the meanwhile 
 Ward, pottering at his task, depended much 
 on the initiative of his subordinates. The 
 passage from the Neck to Roxbury was now 
 guarded by Brigadier-General John Thomas 
 
246 The Siege of Boston 
 
 of Marshfield, 1 who to deceive the enemy as 
 to his numbers occasionally marched his force 
 of seven hundred round and round a hill. 
 The ruse was successful, for Lieutenant Bar- 
 ker wrote that "at Roxbury there must be 
 between 2 and 3000." Nevertheless, it is 
 hard to believe that so important a post 
 was long left so slightly guarded. Thomas 
 exercised his men with equal profit in cutting 
 down trees to obstruct the passage, and in 
 throwing up earthworks. Of other entrench- 
 ments, at this stage, we hear little. Putnam 
 wanted to fortify Prospect Hill, commanding 
 the passage from Charlestown Neck, but could 
 not get permission. Yet the whole country 
 about Boston was dotted with low hills, on 
 which might easily be made a chain of forti- 
 fications. 
 
 Besides such work as Thomas's, for a 
 
 1 "And yet to-day, if you should ask ten Boston men, 
 'Who was Artemas Ward ?' nine would say he was an 
 amusing showman. If you asked 'Who was John 
 Thomas ?' nine would say he was a flunky commemo- 
 rated by Thackeray." — E. E. Hale, " Memorial History 
 of Boston," iii, 100. 
 
Boston Beleaguered 247 
 
 month little was done. To be sure, early in 
 May a party of provincials, gathered in Con- 
 necticut and Vermont, and headed by Ethan 
 Allen and Benedict Arnold, took Ticonderoga 
 by surprise, and gained for America a fine 
 supply of cannon. We shall later see what 
 was done with this artillery, but there was no 
 present means of transporting it to Boston, 
 and no powder for its use, and so there was 
 no profit to the country save in encourage- 
 ment. Until the 21st of May nothing hap- 
 pened near Boston save small skirmishes, and 
 brushes of outposts. Here and there a float- 
 ing battery of the British warped up near 
 land and fired a few shots, and occasionally a 
 squad of riflemen did a little pot-hunting on 
 its own account. These skirmishes, except 
 as they accustomed the provincials to the 
 smell of powder, had no effect on the situa- 
 tion, until at last the opposing sides found 
 that they had something worth contending 
 for. 
 
 Gage had in Boston no supply of fresh 
 meat, but plenty of horses needing hay. It 
 
248 The Siege of Boston 
 
 occurred to him, finally, that the islands in 
 the harbor were plentifully stocked with sheep 
 and cattle, and besides grew plenty of grass. 
 He sent, therefore, on the 2 1st of May, a 
 party to bring hay from Grape Island, near 
 Weymouth. The Americans took the alarm, 
 soldiers were sent from the camp, the militia 
 who were at home turned out, and much 
 long-range shooting was indulged in. "It 
 was impossible to reach them, for want of 
 boats," wrote Abigail Adams, "but the sight 
 of so many persons, and the firing at them, 
 prevented their getting more than three tons 
 of hay, though they carted much more down 
 to the water. At last a lighter was mustered, 
 and a sloop from Hingham, which had six 
 port holes. Our men eagerly jumped on 
 board, and put off for the island. As soon as 
 they perceived it, they decamped. Our people 
 landed upon the island, and in an instant set 
 fire to the hay, which, with the barn, was soon 
 consumed, — about eighty tons, it is said." 
 
 Emboldened by this success, the provin- 
 cials began to take steps to remove from the 
 
Boston Beleaguered 249 
 
 islands the whole stock of cattle, sheep, and 
 hay. Though, on the 25th of May, the gar- 
 rison of Boston was largely reinforced and 
 ships were added to the squadron, the Ameri- 
 cans began work boldly with the islands 
 nearest at hand. Noddle's Island, now East 
 Boston, stretched within easy cannon shot of 
 the town ; it was reached from Hog Island 
 by means of a couple of fords, passable at 
 low tide. In broad day, on the 27th, the 
 Americans occupied the islands, and were 
 promptly assailed by the British in a schooner 
 and a sloop. The skirmish grew very obsti- 
 nate, but the schooner was left by the fleet to 
 fight it out by her own means and those of her 
 smaller consort. As a result, when she ran 
 aground she was seized, stripped, and burned. 
 On this day the Americans drove off the 
 stock on Hog Island, which, with their cap- 
 ture of the schooner, was considered a great 
 achievement. Three days later the stock 
 was driven from Noddle's Island : " a trifling 
 property," says Lieutenant Barker, "which 
 we have no connexion with." This non- 
 
250 The Siege of Boston 
 
 chalant dismissal of five hundred sheep and 
 lambs x scarcely comes well from one who had 
 recently recorded that his mess had "luckily 
 got a Sheep." Within a week other large 
 islands, which the army and the fleet might 
 naturally have regarded as their own store- 
 houses, were stripped of livestock and hay. 
 By these means the Americans were made 
 still more used to war, and according to con- 
 temporary accounts acted boldly, running 
 considerable risks. The total of stock saved 
 by this means was about twenty-two hundred, 
 and the loss of life trifling. 
 
 But the time was coming for more serious 
 work. Gage felt his courage rise with his 
 strength, and with his major-generals to back 
 him he planned action. But first he had to 
 fulminate. Much irritation had been caused 
 by mock proclamations mysteriously appear- 
 ing on the walls of the residences of the new 
 generals, and Gage now determined to issue 
 one in earnest. He called Burgoyne to his 
 aid, and the literary general drafted a master- 
 
 1 Frothingham's "Siege," no. 
 
Boston Beleaguered 251 
 
 piece. It was published on the 12th of 
 June. 
 
 Beginning "Whereas the infatuated multi- 
 tudes," it proceeded in pompous style to the 
 statement that the rebels were adding "insult 
 to outrage," for "with a preposterous parade of 
 military arrangement, they affected to hold the 
 army besieged." Gage offered to pardon all 
 who would lay down their arms, except Samuel 
 Adams and John Hancock, "whose offences 
 are of too flagitious a nature" for forgiveness. 
 
 The bombastic proclamation delighted the 
 Tories, who hoped for results from it. But 
 it deeply angered the Americans. "All the 
 records of time," wrote Abigail Adams, 1 
 "cannot produce a blacker page. Satan, 
 when driven from the regions of bliss, ex- 
 hibited not more malice. Surely the father 
 of lies is superseded." The provincial con- 
 gress prepared a counter proclamation, which 
 similarly offered annesty to all on the other 
 side, "excepting only . . . Thomas Gage, 
 Samuel Graves, those counsellors who were 
 
 1 Adams Letters, p. 64. 
 
252 The Siege of Boston 
 
 appointed by Mandamus and have not 
 signified their resignation, Jonathan Sewall, 
 Charles Paxton, Benjamin Hallowell, 1 and 
 all the natives of America who went out with 
 the British troops on the 19th of April." 
 We get from this an interesting glimpse of 
 those who most excited American resentment, 
 but the proclamation was never issued. More 
 exciting events occurred to prevent it. 
 
 Gage was planning to make himself secure 
 in Boston. Even he could not fail to see 
 that the heights of Charlestown and of Dor- 
 chester threatened his army. Now that his 
 three major-generals had come, and that 
 his reinforcements were arriving (the troop- 
 ships, said Lieutenant Barker, were "con- 
 tinually dropping in "), he felt strong enough 
 to take and hold the dangerous posts. His 
 plan was first to seize Dorchester Heights, and 
 for the action was set a date — the night of 
 the eighteenth of June. But Gage's counsel 
 
 1 Graves was the admiral, Sewall the attorney- 
 general, and Paxton and Hallowell were commissioners 
 of customs. 
 
Boston Beleaguered 253 
 
 was never well kept. While Burgoyne com- 
 plained that the British "are ignorant not 
 only of what passes in Congress, but want 
 spies for the hill half a mile off," the Ameri- 
 cans were in no such embarrassment. They 
 had spies at every corner, and — we may 
 suppose — listeners at many a door. Gage 
 had already arrested men supposed to have 
 been signalling from steeples. We do not 
 know how the news got through on this 
 occasion ; at any rate the Americans were 
 informed as early as the 13th. 1 
 
 The chiefs of the provincial army felt that 
 they were called upon to act. In the seven 
 weeks of the siege they had to some degree 
 tested the mettle of their men, and now be- 
 lieved they could be depended on to keep 
 together against an attack. The troops had, 
 on one occasion, made an expedition to 
 Charlestown, which lay practically deserted on 
 its peninsula, as if conscious of the fate which 
 was to overtake it. On the 13 th of May, 
 Putnam, to give his men confidence, marched 
 
 1 Frothingham's "Siege," 116. 
 
254 The Siege of Boston 
 
 his command, some twenty-two hundred men, 
 into the town, over Bunker and Breed's Hills, 
 where some of them were soon to lay down 
 their lives, along the water-front close by the 
 British shipping, and out of the town once 
 more. "It was," wrote Lieutenant Barker, 
 "expected the Body at Charles Town wou'd 
 have fired on the Somerset, at least it was 
 wished for, as she had everything ready for 
 Action, and must have destroyed great num- 
 bers of them, besides putting the Town in 
 Ashes." But no powder was burned. 
 j Now it was destined that Charlestown 
 should smell powder enough. On learning 
 the news of Gage's projected move, the 
 Committee of Safety called for an accounting 
 of the condition and supplies of the various 
 regiments, advised an increase in the army, 
 recommended that all persons go armed, 
 even to church, and finally on the 15th of 
 June took the decisive step of advising the 
 seizure of Bunker Hill. "And as the par- 
 ticular situation of Dorchester Neck is un- 
 known to this Committee, they advise that 
 
Boston Beleaguered 255 
 
 the council of war take and pursue such 
 steps respecting the same, as to them shall 
 appear to be for the security of this colony." 
 Thus inadequate was still the American 
 military organization : Ward was too old and 
 too weak to assume actual leadership, and 
 we find two consultative bodies advising each 
 other, with no responsible head. Up to this 
 time the Massachusetts congress had hoped 
 that the second Continental Congress, now 
 in session in Philadelphia, would adopt the 
 army as its own and send it a general ; but so 
 far no answer had come to their requests. 
 Nevertheless, even with this deficient or- 
 ganization something was effected. A de- 
 tachment was made up, consisting on paper 
 of fifteen hundred men, but in fact of about 
 twelve hundred. These were placed under 
 the command of Colonel William Prescott of 
 Pepperell, a veteran of Louisburg and an ex- 
 cellent soldier. Assembling on Cambridge 
 Common on the night of the 16th, "after 
 prayer by President Langdon, they marched 
 to Bunker Hill." x 
 
 1 Inscription in Cambridge. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL 
 
 THE strategy of Bunker Hill battle has 
 been criticised as often as the battle 
 has been described. We have already 
 seen that the choice of Charlestown instead 
 of Dorchester was owing to ignorance, on 
 the part of the Committee of Safety, of the 
 advantages of the latter. From Dorchester 
 Heights the town could equally well have 
 been threatened, the shipping more effec- 
 tively annoyed, reinforcements more safely 
 summoned, and retreat much better secured. 
 Nevertheless, since at this stage the British 
 might have taken any fortification, it is for- 
 tunate that the Americans chose as they 
 did, and left Dorchester for a later attempt. 
 Prescott's party of twelve hundred marched 
 in silence to Charlestown, and on the lower 
 slope of Bunker Hill the men rested for some 
 
 256 
 
The Battle of Bunker Hill 257 
 
 time while the officers discussed the situation. 
 On the ground were Prescott, Putnam, and 
 "another general," 1 with Colonel Richard 
 Gridley, the chief engineer. Their discussion 
 was as to the proper point to fortify. 
 
 The peninsula of Charlestown, as has al- 
 ready been said, stretched toward Boston 
 from the northwest. The approach to it 
 was by a narrow neck of land, on one side of 
 which, the northeast, ran the Mystic River ; 
 while on the southwesterly side was an inlet 
 from the Charles. The town, a settlement 
 of several houses, was on the bulge of the 
 peninsula nearest Boston ; but along the 
 Mystic rose a series of three hills, from the 
 lowest at Morton's or Moulton's Point, to 
 the highest at Bunker Hill. Morton's Hill 
 was 35 feet high, Breed's, in the centre, was 75 
 feet, and Bunker's was no. The question 
 arose, should Bunker Hill be fortified, as in 
 the orders, or Breed's, which was nearer 
 Boston and the shipping ? 
 
 Much time was spent in the discussion. 
 
 1 Frothingham's " Siege," 123. 
 
258 The Siege of Boston 
 
 Bunker Hill was higher and the safer, and com- 
 manded most landing points ; but Breed's Hill 
 seemed better suited to the eager spirits of the 
 officers. When at last Gridley reminded that 
 time was passing, the question seems to have 
 been decided by the urgency of the unknown 
 general, and a redoubt was laid out by the 
 engineer on the summit of Breed's Hill. 
 In the bright moonlight Prescott at once 
 set his men at work digging, endeavoring to 
 raise a good protection before morning. 
 
 In this he was successful. His men were 
 all farmers, used to the shovel and pick ; 
 the earth was soft and scarcely stony ; and 
 there was no interruption. Cheered from 
 time to time by the cry of the sentry on the 
 nearer ship, " All's Well ! " they pushed on 
 the work. When at daybreak the redoubt was 
 seen, the British could scarcely believe their 
 eyes, for a completed fort seemed to stand 
 there. 
 
 And now was a chance for a display of 
 military science on the part of Gage and 
 his three major-generals. There stood the 
 
The Battle of Bunker Hill 259 
 
 little low redoubt, unflanked and unsupported 
 by any other fortifications, easily cut off 
 from its own line of relief or retreat. If 
 now Gage had promptly seized the isthmus, 
 drawn his ships up close, and dragged a bat- 
 tery to the top of Bunker Hill, the Ameri- 
 can force could very soon have been driven 
 to surrender. Ruggles, the Tory brigadier, is 
 known to have advised this, and there were 
 some among the British leaders who urged 
 it. The general feeling, however, seems to 
 have been that it would be unmanly to 
 catch the Americans in the trap which they 
 had laid for themselves. In a hasty council 
 of war it was decided to assault the redoubt 
 in the good old British fashion of marching 
 up to its face. Gage was in no hurry even 
 for this. Contenting himself with ordering 
 the shipping and the Boston batteries to fire 
 upon the little fort, he gave the Americans 
 every chance to complete their defences, 
 while leaving the way open for reinforce- 
 ments. In a leisurely way he set about 
 preparing an expedition to cross Charlestown 
 
260 The Siege of Boston 
 
 ferry. The men were mustered, and equipped 
 as for a march. 
 
 Howe was to take charge of the assault, 
 and Burgoyne and Clinton to direct the Bos- 
 ton batteries. The fleet joined in the fire. 
 From Copp's Hill, from Barton's Point, 
 from five ships of war, and from a couple of 
 floating batteries, such a storm of round- 
 shot was poured upon the redoubt that its 
 defenders were amazed, and on the death 
 of a comrade were ready to stop work. But 
 Prescott, coolly insisting — against the pro- 
 test of a horrified chaplain — that the body be 
 immediately buried, took his stand upon the 
 parapet, and from there directed the finish- 
 ing of the redoubt. 
 
 In this position he was seen from Boston. 
 Gage, handing his field-glasses to a Tory who 
 stood near him, asked if he recognized the rebel. 
 The Tory was Willard of Lancaster, a man- 
 damus councillor, who well knew Prescott's 
 declared intention never to be taken alive. 
 
 "He is my brother-in-law," he replied. 
 
 "Will he fight ?" asked Gage. 
 
The Battle of Bunker Hill 261 
 
 "I cannot answer for his men," said Wil- 
 lard; "but Prescott will fight you to the gates 
 of hell!" 1 
 
 At the redoubt one of Prescott's aids fol- 
 lowed his example, and walking back and 
 forth on the parapet the two gave courage 
 to their men. These fell to and completed 
 the work. The rampart was raised to a con- 
 siderable height, platforms of earth or wood 
 were made inside for the defenders, and at 
 about eleven o'clock the men stacked their 
 tools and were ready. 
 
 The redoubt, when thus finished, was 
 roughly square, about "eight rods on the 
 longest side," which had a single angle pro- 
 jecting toward the south. Running north- 
 wards from the northeast corner Prescott had 
 made a breastwork of perhaps two hundred 
 feet, 2 to prevent flanking. It stretched toward 
 the Mystic River, but fell short by more than 
 a hundred yards. 
 
 1 Frothingham's "Siege," 126, and Sabine's "Loyal- 
 ists," 707. 
 
 2 Reports vary from eighty to three hundred feet. 
 
262 The Siege of Boston 
 
 Cooped up in this little fort, inadequately 
 protected against flanking, with shot con- 
 tinually striking on the sides of the redoubt, 
 Prescott's men waited. They had worked all 
 night and most of the morning, had little food 
 and water, saw as yet nothing of the relief 
 that had been promised them, and could tell 
 by the fever of activity visible in Boston's 
 streets that the red coats soon would come 
 against them. There is no wonder that 
 when Putnam rode up and asked for the en- 
 trenching tools (proposing, with the best of 
 military good sense, to make a supporting 
 redoubt on Bunker Hill), many of Prescott's 
 men were glad of the excuse to remove them- 
 selves from so dangerous a neighborhood. Of 
 those who carried back the tools, few returned. 
 
 But Prescott's remainder was stanch. The 
 men were already veterans, having endured 
 the work and the cannonade. Waiting in the 
 fort, some of them could appreciate the marvel 
 of the scene : a great stretch of intermingled 
 land and water, the shipping spread below, 
 close at hand the town of Charlestown, and 
 
The Battle of Bunker Hill 263 
 
 across the narrow river the larger town of 
 Boston, with its heights and house-tops 
 already crowded by non-combatants, viewing 
 the field that was prepared for the slaughter. 
 It was all in bright and warm weather, under 
 a cloudless sky. Since the world began, there 
 had been few battle-fields so spectacularly 
 laid out. 
 
 At last the bustle in Boston's streets pro- 
 duced results. From the wharves pushed 
 out into the placid water the boats of the 
 fleet, loaded to the gunwales with soldiers in 
 full equipment. As they neared the Charles- 
 town shore, the fire upon the redoubt was 
 doubled, and under its cover the troops 
 landed upon Moulton's Point. There Howe 
 at first deployed them, but after inspecting 
 the ground sent back for reinforcements. 
 For the men in the redoubt there were two 
 more hours of waiting. 
 
 Those two hours very nearly decided the 
 fate of the struggle, for had Howe moved 
 immediately to the assault there could have 
 been no such resistance offered him as later 
 
264 The Siege of Boston 
 
 he met. Prescott decided to send to Cam- 
 bridge for reinforcements ; but such was the 
 confusion that the messenger could get no 
 horse, and had to walk the six miles to 
 headquarters. There he was ill received, for 
 Ward, who during the whole day did not 
 leave his house, feared an attack on Cam- 
 bridge, dreaded to deplete his supply of pow- 
 der, and only upon repeated representations 
 ordered a couple of regiments in support of 
 Prescott. These regiments had to draw their 
 powder and make up their cartridges, and 
 arrived when the battle was just about to 
 begin. 
 
 The student of this day finds it difficult to 
 disentangle the varied accounts. Who was 
 on the field and who was not, what part was 
 taken by each, who was in command at this 
 point and who there, and the total of men 
 engaged, all either were or still are disputed 
 points. It seems to be beyond doubt, how- 
 ever, that Prescott from the first was in com- 
 mand at the redoubt, and that Putnam as- 
 sumed, and tried to execute, general oversight 
 
The Battle of Bunker Hill 265 
 
 of the field of contest outside the redoubt and 
 beyond the breastwork. 
 
 While Howe's troops lunched quietly at 
 Moulton's Point, the aspect of affairs for the 
 Americans became brighter. Prescott, seeing 
 that he must have better protection toward 
 the Mystic River, ordered a detachment of 
 Connecticut troops, under Captain Knowlton, 
 and with them six field-pieces — which seem 
 to have figured not at all in the result — to 
 "go and oppose" the enemy. Avoiding a 
 marshy spot of ground, Knowlton chose a 
 position some two hundred yards to the rear 
 of the redoubt and its breastwork. Here 
 was a fence, the lower part of stone, the 
 upper of rails. The men brought forward 
 from the rear another rail fence, leaned it 
 against the first, and wove in between the 
 rails hay which they found recently cut upon 
 the ground. This, the "rail fence" men- 
 tioned in all accounts of the battle, was their 
 sole protection. 
 
 Now began slowly to come across the 
 isthmus the first of the reinforcements that 
 
266 The Siege of Boston 
 
 strengthened the hands of the provincials. 
 They came partly as individuals, of whom 
 the most noted was Warren, who but the 
 day before had been appointed general by the 
 provincial congress. He came as a volun- 
 teer, knew his risk, and was prepared to die. 
 [ Curiously James Otis, it is said, was also 
 among the defenders of the redoubt, coming, 
 like Warren, as a volunteer. It was a strange 
 fate which sent him safely home, to live, still 
 wrecked in intellect and useless to his coun- 
 try, while Warren was to fall. 
 
 'By this time a lively hail of shot and shell 
 was falling on Charlestown Neck, and to 
 cross it was a test of courage. Seth Pomeroy, 
 brigadier-general, veteran of Louisburg, came 
 on a borrowed horse, and, sending back the 
 animal, crossed on foot. Others, alone, in 
 groups, or in semi-military formation, fol- 
 lowed him, to be directed by Putnam to the 
 rail fence, which needed defenders. At last 
 came one who needed no directions — Stark, 
 at the head of his New Hampshire regiment. 
 Although requested to hurry his men across 
 
The Battle of Bunker Hill 267 
 
 the Neck, Stark replied, "One fresh man in 
 action is worth ten fatigued ones," 1 and 
 would not change his step. Marching down 
 the slope of Bunker Hill, he quickly noted 
 that between the rail fence and the water the 
 beach was unguarded. "I saw there," he 
 said afterward, "the way so plain that the 
 enemy could not miss it." 2 Before the 
 attack could begin, Stark's men threw up a 
 rude breastwork of cobbles behind which 
 they could find a little shelter. — And now 
 at last the American defences were completed, 
 just as the troops were in motion to attack 
 them. 
 
 At this point Howe neglected a method of 
 attack which would have made his victory 
 immediate. The rail fence, and Stark's de- 
 fence upon the beach, were open to attack 
 from the river. We have seen that two float- 
 ing batteries ("large flat boats," says Lieu- 
 tenant Barker, "sides raised and musquet 
 
 1 Dearborn's account of the battle, Historical Maga- 
 zine for 1864. 
 
 2 Bancroft, v, 612. 
 
268 The Siege of Boston 
 
 proof") were used to bombard the redoubt. 
 These, like the shipping and the Boston bat- 
 teries, did no good whatever. But placed 
 in the Mystic in the proper position, they 
 could have raked the rail fence. "Had these 
 boats been with us," says our lieutenant, 
 "... they would have taken a part of the 
 Rebels entrenchment in flank, and in their 
 retreat wou'd have cut off numbers." But 
 Howe was only a soldier, such an aid ap- 
 parently never occurred to him, and the float- 
 ing batteries — gondolas, as they were called 
 — remained on the southern side of the penin- 
 sula. He ordered the attack. 
 
 The attack was triple, but the artillery fire, 
 on which Howe had counted, was at first 
 valueless, because for the six-pounders had 
 been sent over mostly nine-pound shot, thanks 
 to the chief of artillery, who was afterward 
 supposed to be making love to the school- 
 master's daughter. The cannon, further, got 
 into the marshy ground, and could not find 
 an effective position. So the real assault was 
 first delivered by the troops alone, one de- 
 
The Battle of Bunker Hill 269 
 
 tachment marching against the redoubt, and 
 one against the rail fence. 
 
 The troops moved with great confidence. 
 According to the habit of the time, they were 
 completely equipped as for an expedition, 
 with blankets and three-days' rations. It 
 has been computed that each soldier carried 
 about a hundred and twenty pounds. 1 They 
 were, therefore, greatly burdened at best; 
 and on so hot a day, with the grass to their 
 knees, and many fences to cross, their task 
 was the worse. But they advanced with 
 great composure, and apparently forgetting 
 the 19th of April they were deployed in open 
 order, as if to present each marksman with 
 a separate target. Howe led those who 
 marched at the rail fence, and General Pigot 
 led the assault upon the redoubt. Both 
 bodies of the regulars advanced with occa- 
 sional ineffective volleys. 
 
 At first, says tradition, a few Americans 
 fired when the troops came in range, but 
 
 1 Ross's " Life of Cornwallis," quoted in Fonblanque's 
 " Burgoyne," 159. 
 
270 The Siege of Boston 
 
 Prescott and his officers, leaping upon the 
 parapet of the redoubt, kicked up the muzzles 
 of the guns. If the men would but obey 
 him, Prescott told them, not a British soldier 
 would get within the redoubt. At the rail 
 fence the men were likewise prevented from 
 firing, Putnam threatening to cut down any 
 who disobeyed. They were ordered not to 
 shoot until the regulars passed a stake which 
 Stark set up for a mark. Many familiar say- 
 ings were passed among the provincials : 
 "Wait till you see the whites of their eyes ! 
 Aim at the crossing of the belts ! Pick out 
 the handsome coats !" 
 
 As if to add to the impressiveness of the 
 scene, it was about this time that Charles- 
 town, set on fire a little while before, that it 
 should not give cover to the Americans, and 
 that the smoke should confuse the rebels, 
 burst into general conflagration. The town 
 had been for weeks almost deserted, in dread 
 of this fate ; now at the command of Howe 
 red-hot shot were thrown in among the houses, 
 and marines landed from the ships and fired 
 
The Battle of Bunker Hill 271 
 
 the wharves and waterside buildings. The 
 act was, however, a wanton one, for no ad- 
 vantage was gained or lost to either side by 
 the fire. 1 
 
 At last the troops were near enough. 
 
 1 The picturesqueness of this scene has been remarked 
 by many writers. The best contemporary description 
 is, of course, Burgoyne's. "To consider this action as a 
 soldier, it comprised, though in a small compass, almost 
 every branch of military duty and curiosity. Troops 
 landed in the face of an enemy ; a fine disposition ; a 
 march sustained by a powerful cannonade by moving 
 field artillery, fixed batteries, floating batteries, and 
 broadsides of ships at anchor, all operating separately 
 and well disposed ; a deployment from the march to 
 form for the attack of the entrenchments and redoubt ; 
 a vigorous defence ; a storm with bayonets ; a large and 
 fine town set on fire by shells. Whole streets of houses, 
 ships upon the stocks, a number of churches, all sending 
 up volumes of smoke and flame, or falling together in 
 ruins, were capital objects. A prospect of the neigh- 
 boring hills, the steeples of Boston, and the masts of 
 such ships as were unemployed in the harbor, all crowded 
 with spectators, friends and foes alike in anxious sus- 
 pense, made a background to the piece ; and the whole 
 together composed a representation of war that I think 
 the imagination of Lebrun never reached." — Fon- 
 blanque, "Burgoyne," 156. 
 
272 The Siege of Boston 
 
 They had themselves been firing for some 
 time, volleying as they advanced, but firing 
 too high. Now, as they reached a line some 
 eight or ten rods from the redoubt, Prescott 
 gave the word to fire, and to continue firing. 
 The discharge from the redoubt was close, 
 deadly, and incessant, while at the rail fence 
 the reception of the British was even more 
 fatal. For a few minutes the regulars held 
 their ground, returning the fire as best they 
 might, yet decimated by the American bul- 
 lets, and seeing their officers falling all about 
 them. There was no hope to advance, and 
 sullenly they withdrew. 
 
 If ever there was a moment that marked 
 the fate of our nation, it was that one. It 
 forecast Bennington, Saratoga, and York- 
 town, Gettysburg and the Wilderness. Well 
 might the provincials exult as they saw the 
 retreat of the regulars ; and well might Wash- 
 ington exclaim, when he learned that the 
 farmers had driven the British, "Then the 
 liberties of the country are safe ! " * 
 
 1 Lodge's "Washington," i, 133. 
 
The Battle of Bunker Hill 273 
 
 But the battle was not yet won. The 
 slaughter among, the officers was frightful, 
 yet the leaders were uninjured. Howe gave 
 the order, the troops formed again, and again 
 advanced to the attack. The Americans 
 admired them as they approached, preserving 
 unbroken order, and stepping over the bodies 
 of the slain as if they had been logs of wood. 
 This time the troops were allowed to come 
 nearer yet, but when the provincials fired 
 at the word the carnage was greater than 
 before. In the smoke the officers were seen 
 urging their men, striking them with their 
 sword hilts, and even pricking them with the 
 points. But it was in vain. The officers 
 themselves were shot down in unheard-of 
 proportion, and at the rail fence those who 
 survived out of full companies of thirty- 
 nine were in some cases only three, or four, 
 or five. Nothing could be done under such 
 a fire. Leaving their dead within a few 
 yards of the American lines, for a second time 
 the British retreated. 
 
 At last Howe had learned his lesson. While 
 
274 The Siege of Boston 
 
 his officers, for the sake of the men, implored 
 him to find some other way to conquer the 
 redoubt, he determined on a third assault. 
 He ordered that the knapsacks be left behind, 
 and that the troops be formed in column. 
 In the work of rallying the disheartened 
 men he was ably helped by Clinton, who, 
 observing a detachment in disorder near 
 their boats, impetuously hurried across the 
 river, reformed their ranks, and put himself 
 at their head. Some four hundred marines 
 came over as reinforcements ; according to 
 Lieutenant Barker, the 47th regiment came 
 also. Howe disposed his forces in three 
 columns, to attack the three faces of the 
 redoubt. 
 
 Between the first and second assaults 
 there had been less than half an hour's in- 
 terval. This time the wait was longer, and 
 the Americans ineffectually sought to take 
 advantage of it. Messengers were again sent 
 to Ward ; the general, learning at last that 
 so many of the British forces were occupied 
 in the battle that Cambridge was safe from 
 
The Battle of Bunker Hill 275 
 
 an attack, gave orders that more regiments 
 should go to Prescott's assistance. To save 
 the day there was yet time, but of the regi- 
 ments thus ordered, few companies reached 
 the ground, and fewer still took part in the 
 action. And in this the weakness of the 
 American organization was sadly evident. 
 From first to last Ward seems to have sent 
 to Bunker Hill sufficient force to have won 
 the battle ; but as he never left his house 
 he could take no pains to make sure that 
 his orders were obeyed. As a matter of fact, 
 of the regiments despatched, one went to 
 Lechmere's Point, where it must have secured 
 an excellent view of the battle, but was com- 
 pletely useless. Being next ordered "to the 
 hill," it was conducted by its colonel, James 
 Scammans, to Cobble Hill ; thence he sent 
 to Bunker Hill to learn if he was wanted. 
 Receiving a vigorous reply from Putnam, 
 Scammans at last marched his men to Bunker 
 Hill, reaching the top in time to witness 
 the end of the battle. In similar fashion 
 young Major Gridley of the artillery battalion, 
 
276 The Siege of Boston 
 
 whom "parental partiality" had given too 
 much responsibility, took post at a distance, 
 and fired at the shipping. Both Scammans 
 and Gridley were later court-martialled. 
 Other officers lost their way, or, like Colonel 
 Mansfield, who stayed with his regiment to 
 "support" Gridley in his position of safety, 
 disobeyed orders. 
 
 These facts serve to show not only the con- 
 fusion of the day, but also the bad judgment, 
 to use no stronger phrase, of unseasoned 
 soldiers. It is fair to say that the hesitancy 
 of some was offset by the heroism of others. 
 When Colonel Gerrish, who was later cash- 
 iered, could bring his men no further for- 
 ward than Bunker Hill, his adjutant, Chris- 
 tian Febiger, a Dane, led a part of the com- 
 mand to the rail fence, and fought bravely 
 there. One of the captains of artillery, dis- 
 regarding Gridley's commands, took his two 
 guns to Charlestown, and served one of 
 them at the rail fence. Other individuals 
 named and unnamed, with or without orders, 
 went to the field, took post where they could, 
 
The Battle of Bunker Hill 277 
 
 and fought for their own hand. Yet these 
 are scattered instances in the midst of too 
 many failures to obey. Those who did march 
 down to the field of carnage, with "no more 
 thought," as one of them confessed, "of 
 ever rising the hill again than I had of as- 
 cending to Heaven, as Elijah did, soul and 
 body together," — those who thus devoted 
 themselves left many behind on the safe 
 side of Bunker Hill, or posted ineffectively 
 behind distant fences or trees. Of the thou- 
 sand Americans who during this last pause 
 in the battle might have reached the post 
 of danger, not enough arrived to affect the 
 result. 
 
 At last, while aides were still beating up 
 for more support, and Putnam himself was 
 returning from a similar errand, Howe put 
 his troops in motion. This time the move- 
 ment against the rail fence was but a feint ; 
 and now for the first time the artillery of 
 either side did effective service in the battle. 
 Against the protest of the artillery officers 
 that the ground was too soft to take better 
 
278 The Siege of Boston 
 
 position, Howe ordered them forward, and 
 they loyally obeyed. They found a post 
 from which they could enfilade the breast- 
 work, and at their first discharge of grape 
 sent its defenders into the redoubt for safety. 
 It was the beginning of the end. Prescott, 
 as he saw the breastwork abandoned, and 
 marked the three advancing columns, saw 
 that the redoubt was doomed. 
 
 And yet the day ought not to have been 
 lost. Had Ward but sent a hundred pounds 
 of powder, the fight might have been won. 
 But Prescott looked for it in vain. Or had 
 those men, whom he saw shooting at long 
 range from positions of safety, come for- 
 ward to reinforce the defenders of the redoubt, 
 the scales might have been turned. But 
 the fight was to end as it had begun, with 
 Prescott's small detachment still unsupported, 
 left all day without food or water, and now 
 at the end without powder. As the troops 
 climbed the hill a few artillery cartridges 
 were opened and their powder distributed 
 among the provincials. Some of the men 
 
The Battle of Bunker Hill 279 
 
 thus had three or four charges to their guns, 
 some had only one ; besides this, there were 
 few bayonets among them. The wonder is 
 that the men awaited the assault. 
 
 This time the regulars came within twenty 
 yards of the redoubt before the word was 
 given to fire. The heads of the columns 
 were swept away, but the rest came on, and 
 mounted the parapet. The first who topped 
 it were shot down, among them Pitcairn. 
 But then the American powder was spent, and 
 from three sides the British swarmed into 
 the redoubt. Reluctantly Prescott gave his 
 men the word to retreat. 
 
 For a few moments the fighting was fierce. 
 Some of the provincials were unwilling to run, 
 and fought till they were killed. Some used 
 stones, and some their clubbed muskets, re- 
 tiring unwillingly. It might be supposed that 
 the slaughter was great. But the British, 
 for the very reason that they had entered from 
 three sides, were afraid to fire on the farmers 
 for the sake of their own men ; the dust rose 
 up in clouds, and so in the confusion most 
 
280 The Siege of Boston 
 
 of the defenders escaped, like Peter Brown, 
 who wrote his mother: "I was not suffered 
 to be touched, although I was in the front 
 when the enemy came in, and jumped over 
 the walls, and ran half a mile, where balls 
 flew like hailstones, and cannon roared like 
 thunder." 1 
 
 Prescott came off unhurt. Those who saw 
 him said that he "stepped long, with his 
 sword up." He saved his life by parrying 
 the bayonets which were thrust at him, al- 
 though some of them pierced his clothes. 
 
 That more were not killed in the pursuit 
 was due to two factors. The first was the 
 exhaustion of the soldiers, who, tired with 
 carrying heavy loads in the unwonted heat 
 (and an American summer is like the trop- 
 ics to an Englishman), were winded with 
 their last charge up the hill. They were 
 therefore in no good condition to follow up 
 their victory, and the fugitives were soon 
 away beyond Bunker Hill. Yet that the 
 pursuit was so poor was due partly to the 
 
 1 Appendix to Frothingham's "Siege," 393. 
 
The Battle of Bunker Hill 281 
 
 defenders of the rail fence. These men, 
 more like veteran regiments than fragments 
 of many commands, withdrew in a body, 
 continually threatening those who offered 
 to close in from behind. The end of the 
 fight was as honorable to them as its be- 
 ginning. 
 
 But there was much loss. A number 
 were killed in the redoubt, and the slopes of 
 Bunker Hill were dotted with slain, killed by 
 bullets and cannon shot. At the Neck some 
 few more were killed. The total of dead, 
 according to Ward's record, was 115, of the 
 wounded 305, of the captured 30. Slightly 
 varying totals are reported. 1 
 
 The great personal loss on the part of the 
 Americans was in the death of Warren. 
 There had been no need of his coming, and 
 his value for higher services — he was presi- 
 dent of the provincial congress and had 
 just been appointed a major-general — was 
 greater than at the post of actual conflict. 
 
 1 Washington reported later 139 killed, 36 missing, 
 278 wounded. 
 
282 The Siege of Boston 
 
 But his fiery spirit, of which we have seen 
 so much, would not be denied. That day 
 he waked with a headache, but on learning 
 of the expected battle he declared himself 
 well. Friends tried to detain him, but he 
 replied with the Latin phrase, "It is sweet 
 and becoming to die for one's country." 
 On reaching the field he met Putnam, who 
 offered to take his orders. But Warren had 
 come as a volunteer, and asked where he 
 should go. Putnam showed him the redoubt, 
 saying, "There you will be covered." 
 
 "Don't think," said Warren, "that I come 
 to seek a place of safety ; but tell me where 
 the onset will be most furious." 
 
 Putnam still sent him to the redoubt. 
 "That is the enemy's object." 
 
 Warren went to the redoubt, where the men 
 received him with cheers, and Prescott of- 
 fered him command. But Warren still de- 
 clined, took a musket, and fought with the 
 men. There is no doubt that part of the 
 credit of the stout defence belongs to him. 
 When the retreat was ordered he withdrew 
 
The Battle of Bunker Hill 283 
 
 unwillingly, and was among the last to leave 
 the redoubt. After he had gone but a little 
 way in the open field he was shot in the head, 
 and died instantly. Once, when the British 
 questioned the courage of the Americans, 
 he had said, "By Heavens, I hope I shall die 
 up to my knees in blood ! " He had had his 
 wish. 
 
 Warren's death at the time was not cer- 
 tainly known to either friend or foe ; his body 
 was buried on the field, and was disinterred 
 and identified only after the evacuation. 
 Of the Boston leaders, he was the only one 
 who gave his life for the cause. He was 
 sadly missed, a man of keen intellect and 
 excellent political sense, of deep sympathies, 
 and high honor. A magnetic leader, he 
 could ill be spared. 
 
 The last figure on the battle-field was 
 Putnam's. At the unfinished fortification on 
 Bunker Hill he implored the fugitives to rally 
 and "give them one shot more." The pro- 
 fanity which he used on this occasion he after- 
 wards penitently acknowledged in church. 
 
284 The Siege of Boston 
 
 He retired only when the pursuers were close 
 behind, but went no further than Prospect 
 Hill. There, seizing on the chance which so 
 long had been denied him, without orders he 
 collected men and commenced another re- 
 doubt. The next day he was found there, 
 unwashed, still digging, and ready for another 
 battle. 
 
 Prescott returned to Cambridge, reported 
 at headquarters, and offered if given sufficient 
 troops to retake the hill. But Ward was 
 afraid of his own position, and would not 
 sanction the attempt. 
 
 The British loss was very heavy, about 
 one thousand and fifty, of whom a quarter 
 were killed, while ninety-two among the 
 dead were officers. Pitcairn was carried to 
 Boston, and died there. Colonel Abercrom- 
 bie was killed, and many others of lesser 
 note. As soon as it was possible the wounded 
 officers were conveyed to Boston for medical 
 attendance, and we have in Major Clarke's 
 narrative a dismal picture of one sad proces- 
 sion. " In the first carriage was Major Will- 
 
The Battle of Bunker Hill 285 
 
 iams, bleeding and dying, and three dead 
 captains of the fifty-second regiment. In the 
 second, four dead officers ; then another with 
 wounded officers." 
 
 The Americans, at first discouraged by 
 their defeat, in the course of time came to 
 regard it as a victory. This it certainly was 
 not, yet it had all the moral effect of a British 
 defeat. The regulars learned that the pro- 
 vincials would stand up to them. "Damn 
 the rebels," was the current phrase; "they 
 would not flinch." * Many of the officers felt 
 called upon to explain, in letters home, the 
 reason for the defeat. The American rifles, 
 argued one, were "peculiarly adapted to take 
 off the officers of a whole line as it advances 
 to an attack." They reasoned that the re- 
 doubt, whose perfection when examined was 
 astonishing, must have been the work of 
 days. As to the comparative uselessness of 
 the British cannon, it was explained by the 
 nine-pound shot (some say twelve) sent for 
 the six-pounders. Said one newspaper: "It 
 
 1 Moore's "Diary of the Revolution," no. 
 
286 The Siege of Boston 
 
 naturally required a great while to ram down 
 such disproportioned shot ; nor did they, 
 when discharged, fly with that velocity and 
 true direction they would have done, had 
 they been better suited to the size of the 
 cannon." l 
 
 But aside from a few such absurdities, the 
 body of the army and the British public 
 recognized at last that they had formidable 
 antagonists. This was no such fight as that 
 on the 19th of April, when the shifting pro- 
 vincials gave the regulars nothing to strike 
 at. This was a pitched battle, and the 
 farmers had all but won it. The British 
 were amazed by the stubborn defence, and 
 the rapidity and accuracy of the American 
 fire. The proportion of killed among the 
 officers was greater than any before known, 
 and veterans admitted that the slaughter was 
 worse than at Minden, the deadliest of recent 
 European battles. It is with reason, then, 
 that Boston still celebrates Bunker Hill. It 
 
 1 These two quotations are from Frothingham's 
 biege. 
 
The Battle of Bunker Hill 287 
 
 was the first signal proof of American cour- 
 age, and forecast the success of the siege. In- 
 deed, it is not too much to say that Bunker 
 Hill battle had influence in deciding the out- 
 come of the war. Howe, destined to be the 
 leader of the British forces, never forgot the 
 lesson of the redoubt on Breed's Hill, or of 
 the flimsy fence of rails and hay. It was 
 seldom that he could resolve to send his men 
 against a rebel entrenchment. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 WASHINGTON TAKES COMMAND 
 
 THE immediate effect of the battle of 
 Bunker Hill upon the American army 
 — or rather armies — was one of dis- 
 may. The result was confusion. In fact, no 
 study of the battle can fail to impress the 
 examiner with the belief that outside the re- 
 doubt the whole conduct of the Americans 
 was haphazard. Except for Stark's regiment, 
 which itself came on in detachments, the re- 
 inforcements dribbled to the field in com- 
 panies, platoons, or squads. They placed 
 themselves where the hasty judgment of 
 Putnam directed them, or if he was absent 
 to beat up for more troops, chose their own 
 positions and fought under their own officers. 
 Putnam gave orders, yet was not always 
 obeyed ; and sent urgently for reinforcements, 
 but, though his demands were received by 
 
 288 
 
Washington takes Command 289 
 
 officers from other colonies, got no response. 1 
 In this individual character of the fighting the 
 day was much like that of the 19th of April. 
 And after the battle conditions were much 
 the same. Putnam commenced independ- 
 ently to fortify Prospect Hill. On Winter 
 Hill the New Hampshire troops made a re- 
 doubt, and at Roxbury General Thomas 
 hastily strengthened his position. Even at 
 Cambridge Ward began to fortify. Word 
 had been sent out to summon the militia, 
 and as on the 19th of April these responded 
 with alacrity and in great numbers. It was 
 hourly expected that the British would sally 
 from Boston, and the provincials kept them- 
 selves in a confused readiness. In the mean- 
 time the British cannon played steadily on 
 the American fortifications, and the thunder 
 of the artillery spread apprehension in the 
 
 1 One Massachusetts colonel, who had urgently 
 applied to Ward for permission to go to the Hill, 
 but was refused, three times ignored the order of 
 Putnam to come to his assistance — Putnam being 
 from Connecticut. See Frothingham's "Siege," 168, 
 note. 
 
290 The Siege of Boston 
 
 neighboring country. Abigail Adams wrote 
 from Braintree : "The battle began upon our 
 intrenchments upon Bunker's Hill, Saturday 
 morning about three o'clock, and has not 
 ceased yet, and it is now three o'clock Sab- 
 bath afternoon. It is expected they will 
 come out over the Neck to-night, and a 
 dreadful battle must ensue." * Yet the 
 British did not come out, quiet gradually 
 fell on the two armies, the militia returned to 
 their homes, and the conduct of the siege 
 entered on a new phase. 
 
 Now more than ever the Americans recog- 
 nized that conditions were precarious, and 
 that the greatest need was for a better organi- 
 zation. Zeal was not wanting. Whenever 
 the British cannonade recommenced, when- 
 ever there were rumors of an attack, the 
 troops were ready for a fight. But means of 
 communication, and prompt and efficient 
 subordination, still were lacking. Nor does 
 it appear that those on the ground were able, 
 handicapped as they were by orders from the 
 
 1 Adams Letters, 67. 
 
Washington takes Command 291 
 
 different provincial assemblies, to produce 
 the necessary system. Higher political and 
 military authority both were needed before 
 the army could be efficient. Very fortunately 
 events had been preparing to supply them. 
 
 Since the middle of May the second Con- 
 tinental Congress had been sitting in Phila- 
 delphia. Among the Massachusetts delegates 
 were Hancock and the two Adamses. Gage 
 on the 1 2th of June had consigned Samuel 
 Adams and Hancock to the gallows, but 
 Hancock was serving as president of the 
 Congress, while the Adamses were important 
 members of committees. They watched and 
 waited for the growth of a sentiment which 
 should support New England in its resistance. 
 
 The position of the Congress was without 
 precedent. An illegal body, its delegates 
 were elected by conventions improperly con- 
 stituted. It had no authority to raise money, 
 to purchase arms, or to direct the actions of 
 the provinces. Though in New England war 
 was in progress, many of the delegates loved 
 the old order of things, and were not yet 
 
29 2 The Siege of Boston 
 
 ready to move toward independence. The 
 first actions of the Congress were for concilia- 
 tion. 
 
 There were those who saw that this was 
 impossible. Of the New England delegates, 
 very few ever again hoped for what was called 
 "an accommodation." Washington, on his 
 part, saw clearly that the end of the old 
 order had come. Franklin knew that inde- 
 pendence would be the result of the changes 
 then in progress. Yet these men, and others 
 like them, knew also that they could not 
 hurry the Congress into radical action, and 
 waited the effect of time. For weeks the 
 Congress discussed and argued, and finally 
 passed a resolve that "an humble and dutiful 
 petition be presented to his majesty." 1 This 
 would give a chance for feelings to cool, and 
 for the supporters of the king to work for his 
 interest. 
 
 But events would not stand still. In Eng- 
 land the news of Concord had not moved the 
 king to lenity ; he saw no lesson in the tragedy, 
 
 1 Bancroft, iv, 583. 
 
Washington takes Command 293 
 
 and insisted on pressing his policy. Lord 
 North's feeble endeavor to resign was checked, 
 supplies were sent to Virginia to support the 
 governor in his project of a rising of the 
 slaves, a scheme was pressed to raise in Caro- 
 lina a regiment of veteran Highlanders, and 
 orders were sent to rouse the Iroquois against 
 the rebels. Further, the king planned to 
 strengthen his forces by hiring troops from 
 the continent of Europe. 
 
 News of all this, coming across the Atlantic, 
 by degrees changed the aspect of affairs, and 
 made the members of the Congress doubtful 
 of reconciliation. They began to look to 
 their own positions, and to feel that, as Frank- 
 lin said, unless they hung together they 
 would all hang separately. To remind them 
 what they could do in self-defence the needs 
 of the army around Boston were frequently 
 brought to their attention. Its discipline, 
 equipment, and leadership were poor. At 
 last came a petition from Massachusetts, 
 begging that Congress should "take com- 
 mand of the army by appointing a generalis- 
 
294 The Siege of Boston 
 
 simo." J Such a step was open and complete 
 rebellion, and the Congress hesitated. By 
 private letters to Samuel Adams the desired 
 leader was pointed out : Washington. 
 
 The choice was doubly wise. To the 
 Adamses it had been plain that, though 
 Hancock was desirous of the post, it should 
 not be given to a New Englander. The New 
 England army would be knit together, and 
 its provincial jealousies appeased, by the 
 appointment of a general from another sec- 
 tion. Further, in all the continent there 
 was not another man of Washington's ex- 
 perience, ability, and steadfastness. 
 
 Washington was then in the prime of life, 
 forty-three years of age, and of such physique 
 as was needed for the bearer of the greatest 
 burden that had ever been put upon an 
 American. He was tall, finely built, majestic 
 in carriage and impressive of feature, and 
 accustomed from his youth to exposure, 
 hardship, and constant exertion. He had 
 long been used to depending upon himself, 
 
 1 Bancroft, iv, 590. 
 
Washington takes Command 295 
 
 and had acquired an independent judgment 
 that was almost unerring. Further, that 
 judgment had been exercised on military 
 matters. While Hancock had been at best 
 the captain of a militia company in time of 
 peace, Washington had from his nineteenth 
 year been commissioned with higher com- 
 mands, and had seen much active service. 
 More than one campaign owed its success 
 against the Indians largely to him, and it was 
 he and his Virginians who saved the remnant 
 at Braddock's defeat. He had a strong 
 temper under almost perfect control, patience 
 and persistence in equal amounts, and, with 
 a wonderful reserve, the quality of winning 
 the confidence of all honest men. 
 
 Besides all this, he was heart and soul in 
 the cause. While others had discussed and 
 hesitated, he had long ago made up his mind, 
 not only that the quarrel with the king would 
 come to violence, but that all Americans 
 should resist to the utmost. "Shall we," he 
 asked in a letter to a friend, after enumerat- 
 ing Gage's despotic acts, "shall we after this 
 
296 The Siege of Boston 
 
 whine and cry for relief, when we have already 
 tried it in vain ? Or shall we supinely sit 
 and see one province after another fall a 
 sacrifice to despotism ?" In a letter to a 
 British officer at Boston, he says, "Permit 
 me with the freedom of a friend (for you 
 know I always esteemed you), to express my 
 sorrow that fortune should place you in a 
 service that must fix curses to the latest 
 posterity upon the contrivers, and, if success 
 (which, by the by, is impossible) accompanies 
 it, execrations upon all those who have been 
 instrumental in the execution. . . . Give me 
 leave to add as my opinion that more blood 
 will be spilled on this occasion, if the minis- 
 try are determined to push matters to ex- 
 tremity, than history has ever yet furnished 
 instances of in the annals of North America, 
 and such a vital wound will be given to the 
 peace of this great country, as time itself 
 cannot cure or eradicate the remembrance 
 of." Few in those days had such certainty 
 of the result of an outbreak, and few were 
 so ready to participate in one. In the Vir- 
 
Washington takes Command 297 
 
 ginia convention he said, "I will raise a thou- 
 sand men, subsist them at my own expense, 
 and march them to the relief of Boston." No 
 wonder this was designated "the most elo- 
 quent speech that ever was made." He was 
 not called on to make good his promise, but 
 was sent to the two continental congresses. 
 At the second it was noticed that he attended 
 the sittings in his uniform of a Virginia colonel. 
 Though he took no part in the debates, he 
 made himself felt. Patrick Henry said of 
 him at this time : " If you speak of solid in- 
 formation and sound judgment, Colonel Wash- 
 ington is unquestionably the greatest man on 
 the floor." 1 
 
 To make the Congress "adopt" the army 
 at Boston, and to have Washington appointed 
 generalissimo, became the task of John Adams, 
 who at this time did the country perhaps his 
 greatest service. There were objections to 
 putting a Virginian at the head of New Eng- 
 enders, for colonial jealousies, and even 
 colonial lack of mutual understanding, might 
 
 1 These quotations are from Lodge's "Washington," i. 
 
298 The Siege of Boston 
 
 bring about a fatal sullenness in the men. 
 Adams discussed the matter in private with 
 many delegates, and could not succeed even 
 in making the Massachusetts and Virginia 
 representatives agree. At last, determined 
 to force action, one morning he announced to 
 Samuel Adams that something must be done. 
 "I am determined this morning to make a 
 direct motion that Congress should adopt 
 the army before Boston, and appoint Colonel 
 Washington commander of it. Mr. Adams," 
 he added in his diary, "seemed to think very 
 seriously of it, but said nothing." 
 
 Alone, then, but determinedly following 
 his inspiration, John Adams laid before the 
 Congress his proposal. First he spoke in 
 favor of accepting the New England army 
 as the army of the continent ; then he began 
 a eulogy of Washington. Hancock's eyes 
 flashed with resentment, and Washington 
 himself slipped from the room. There were 
 a few days of delay and debate, but the 
 energy of Adams carried his proposals. The 
 Congress adopted the army, appointed four 
 
Washington takes Command 299 
 
 major-generals and eight brigadiers, and 
 finally, on the 15th of June, chose the com- 
 mander-in-chief. On the 17th of June, the 
 day of Bunker Hill, Adams wrote joyfully 
 to his wife: "I can now inform you that the 
 Congress have made choice of the modest 
 and virtuous, the amiable, generous, and 
 brave George Washington, Esquire, to be 
 General of the American Army." * 
 
 This was a step which the Congress could 
 not retrace. The colonies were now in re- 
 bellion, and the members, as they realized 
 that the noose was preparing for their necks, 
 voted the meagre sum of twenty-five thousand 
 dollars to supply with powder the army 
 which alone stood between them and a sud- 
 den taking off. Yet the significance of the act 
 was not yet understood by the colonies at 
 large, for a few days later the assembly of 
 New York voted military escorts both to 
 Washington and to the royalist governor, 
 who happened to arrive on the same day. 
 
 Washington himself, however, knew better 
 
 1 Adams Letters, 65. 
 
300 The Siege of Boston 
 
 than any man the consequence of the momen- 
 tous step. He foresaw that the labor would 
 be difficult and the struggle long. On the 
 1 6th of June he accepted his commission, but 
 added: "Lest some unlucky event should 
 happen, unfavorable to my reputation, I 
 beg it to be remembered by every gentleman 
 in the room, that I, this day, declare with 
 the utmost sincerity, I do not think myself 
 equal to the command I am honored with. 
 
 "As to pay, Sir, I beg leave to assure the 
 Congress, that, as no pecuniary consideration 
 could have tempted me to accept this ar- 
 duous employment, at the expense of my 
 domestic ease and happiness, I do not wish 
 to make any profit from it. I will keep an 
 exact account of my expenses. These, I 
 doubt not, they will discharge ; and that is 
 all I desire." x 
 
 As soon as he could settle his affairs, Wash- 
 ington started for Boston. In New York 
 he heard the news of Bunker Hill, and was 
 cheered by it. He arrived on July 2 in 
 
 1 Sparks, "Writings of Washington," iii, I. 
 
Washington takes Command 301 
 
 Watertown, where the Massachusetts con- 
 gress was sitting, and received a congratu- 
 latory address. He then pressed on to Cam- 
 bridge, which he reached on the same day. 
 On the 3d, a year and a day before the Dec- 
 laration of Independence, and according to 
 tradition under the great elm still standing 
 near Cambridge Common, he took command 
 of the army. 
 
 The occasion was momentous, and was so 
 appreciated by a few at the time. Would 
 the critical volunteer army approve of its new 
 chief ? There was not a murmur against 
 him. From the first Washington's magnifi- 
 cent bearing and kingly self-confidence won 
 the admiration of his men. He brought 
 with him to the camp at Cambridge two who 
 were ambitious to displace him, yet of Lee and 
 Gates, both retired English officers, the first 
 never won a personal following, and the second 
 achieved but the meagre dignity of leadership 
 of a cabal. From the moment when he took 
 command of the army, Washington was, in- 
 deed, "first in the hearts of his countrymen." 
 
302 The Siege of Boston 
 
 And the student of our history cannot 
 help remarking how providential it was that, 
 almost at the outset of this struggle, Wash- 
 ington should come to the front. Eighty- 
 six years later, at the beginning of the Re- 
 bellion, there was no accepted chief. Lincoln 
 was doubted by the North, and the army 
 had no true leader. By a slow process Lin- 
 coln's commanding strength became known ; 
 by an equally tedious sifting of the generals 
 the qualities of Grant, Sherman, Thomas, 
 and Meade were discovered. Only the tre- 
 mendous resources of the North could have 
 withstood the strain of such a delay. Had 
 the same process been necessary at the out- 
 set of the Revolution, the colonies could 
 scarcely have maintained the struggle. Had 
 not Washington been at hand, accepted by 
 the Congress and admired by the army, the 
 virtual leader of both, the chances of success 
 would have been slight. But he was Lincoln 
 and Grant in one. Time and again, through 
 the long years, it was Washington alone who 
 brought victory from defeat. Without him 
 

 
 PC 
 
 w 
 
Washington takes Command 303 
 
 the colonies might have won their independ- 
 ence as the result of an almost interminable 
 guerilla warfare ; but with him the fight was 
 definite, decisive, glorious, and — for the in- 
 fant republic — mercifully short. 
 
 The army was now in the hands of a sol- 
 dier, one who knew, if any man did, what 
 was needed to make the raw militiaman 
 into a professional. Washington fell at once 
 to work. "There is great overturning in 
 camp," wrote the Reverend William Emerson, 
 he who had watched Concord Fight from 
 the window of his study. "New lords, new 
 laws. The Generals Washington and Lee 
 are upon the lines every day. New orders 
 from his Excellency are read to the respective 
 regiments every morning after prayers. The 
 strictest government is taking place, and 
 great distinction is made between officers 
 and soldiers. Every one is made to know 
 his place and keep in it. . . . Thousands 
 are at work every day from four till eleven 
 o'clock in the morning." 1 
 
 1 "Writings of Washington," iii, 491. 
 
304 The Siege of Boston 
 
 This simple statement shows, in the wonder 
 of the clergyman, not merely how much was 
 now being done, but how little had been done 
 before. As on the day of Bunker Hill, Ward 
 had been a headquarters general, but Wash- 
 ington was "upon the lines." Many times 
 later we find him exposing himself recklessly ; 
 now we see him constantly on active patrol 
 of his outposts, supervising the new forti- 
 fications or the carrying out of the new regu- 
 lations. 
 
 Apart from fortifying, which he drove 
 early and late, his immediate difficulties were 
 with the army organization, and these diffi- 
 culties began immediately. He brought with 
 him commissions for his major-generals and 
 brigadiers, and the commissions of the former 
 he bestowed at once. The fourth major- 
 general was Putnam of Connecticut, who 
 had had as his colleague Joseph Spencer, of 
 the same colony. "General Spencer's dis- 
 gust," wrote Washington on the 10th of 
 July, "was so great at General Putnam's 
 promotion, that he left the army without 
 
Washington takes Command 305 
 
 visiting me, or making known his intention 
 in any respect." 1 
 
 Upon this, Washington prudently with- 
 held the other commissions, and proceeded 
 cautiously, with regard to jealousies among 
 the officers. By careful diplomacy he suc- 
 ceeded in retaining for the new establishment 
 the services of most of the colonial brigadiers, 
 for Spencer returned, and Thomas, who saw 
 his juniors promoted over his head, agreed 
 to take rank beneath them. Only one among 
 the new appointees, Pomeroy, the veteran 
 of Louisburg who had fought at the rail 
 fence at Bunker Hill, declined his commission. 
 He had marvelled that in the battle Warren 
 should be taken and he, "old and useless," 
 be left unhurt. Now he withdrew from 
 further service on account of his age; yet, 
 going later upon a volunteer expedition, he 
 died of exposure. 
 
 Before the jealousies of the higher officers 
 were settled, Washington turned to the smaller 
 fry. He now had to meet the nature of the 
 
 1 "Writings of Washington," iii, 23. 
 
306 The Siege of Boston 
 
 New England volunteer. "There is no such 
 thing," he wrote before very long, "as getting 
 officers of this stamp to carry orders into 
 execution. ... I have made a pretty good 
 slam among such kind of officers as the Mas- 
 sachusetts government abounds in, having 
 broke one colonel and two captains for cow- 
 ardly behaviour in the action on Bunker 
 Hill, two captains for drawing more pay and 
 provision than they had men in their com- 
 pany, and one for being absent from his post 
 when the enemy appeared and burnt a house 
 close by it. . . . In short, I spare none, 
 and yet fear it will not all do, as these people 
 seem to be attentive to everything but their 
 own interest." 1 
 
 Washington was experiencing the difficulties 
 which Lincoln was later to know, in dealing 
 with the host of fair-weather soldiers and 
 jobbing self-seekers who come to the front 
 at the outset of a war. There was every 
 reason why for some time he should estimate 
 the New England character from what he 
 
 1 Lodge's "Washington," i, 138. 
 
Washington takes Command 307 
 
 saw of its worst side. Yet before the seven 
 years of war were over he knew its better 
 aspect. Massachusetts sent to the war nearly 
 twice as many men as any other colony, and 
 Connecticut was second. Measured by this 
 standard, Washington's own colony came 
 third in devotion to the cause. 1 
 
 We know that later he acknowledged his 
 appreciation of the devotion of New England 
 to the cause and to his person. It is par- 
 ticularly interesting to learn that he reversed 
 his judgment in one of the cases mentioned 
 above. Among those cashiered for disobe- 
 dience of orders and alleged cowardice at 
 Bunker Hill was John Callender, captain 
 of an artillery company. The trial went 
 against him, and Washington dismissed him 
 "from all further service in the continental 
 service as an officer." Callender, determined 
 to wipe off the stain on his honor, remained 
 as a private in the artillery service, and found 
 his opportunity at the battle of Long Island, 
 where the captain and lieutenant of his 
 
 1 Trevelyan's "Revolution," Part I, 378, footnote. 
 
308 The Siege of Boston 
 
 battery were shot. "He assumed the com- 
 mand, and, refusing to retreat, fought his 
 pieces to the last. The bayonets of the 
 soldiers were just upon him, when a British 
 officer, admiring his chivalrous and desperate 
 courage, interfered and saved him." * Wash- 
 ington ordered the record of Callender's sen- 
 tence to be expunged from the orderly book, 
 effected his exchange, and restored him his 
 commission. 
 
 Yet in too many of the cases the sen- 
 tence of incompetence or cowardice was just. 
 Even when simple laxity of discipline was at 
 the bottom of trouble, the effect was exas- 
 perating. Washington had much to teach 
 the minor members of his army. That it 
 was in all outward aspects a truly volunteer 
 assemblage, we have the testimony of an 
 eye witness. "It is very diverting," wrote the 
 Reverend William Emerson, "to walk among 
 the camps. They are as different in their 
 
 'See Frothingham's "Siege," and Appendix III of 
 Vol. 3 of the "Writings of Washington." Both of these 
 books quote Swett's "History of Bunker Hill Battle." 
 
Washington takes Command 309 
 
 form as the owners are in their dress ; and 
 every tent is a portraiture of the temper and 
 taste of the persons who encamp in it. Some 
 are made of boards, and some of sailcloth. 
 Some partly of one and partly of another. 
 Again others are made of stone and turf, 
 brick or brush. Some are thrown up in a 
 hurry, others curiously wrought with doors 
 and windows, done in wreaths and withes in 
 the manner of a basket. Some are your 
 proper tents and marquees, looking like the 
 regular camp of the enemy. . . . However, 
 I think this great variety is rather a beauty 
 than a blemish in the army." 1 
 
 When we consider, however, that the men 
 were dressed as variously as they were housed, 
 and armed as from a museum of historical 
 curiosities, we can easily see that the com- 
 mander would not agree with the clergyman 
 that such variety was to be admired. We 
 find him advocating the purchase of uniforms. 
 If nothing better can be had, he will be con- 
 tent with hunting-shirts, since a common 
 
 1 "Writings of Washington," Hi, 491. 
 
310 The Siege of Boston 
 
 costume would have a "happy tendency to 
 unite the men, and abolish those provincial 
 distinctions, that lead to jealousy and dis- 
 satisfaction." J Washington strove also, but by 
 the end of the siege was still unable, to provide 
 for his men some form of regulation firearm. 
 
 He found, further, that the number of the 
 troops had been overestimated. After wait- 
 ing eight days for returns which he expected 
 in an hour after his requisition, he found 
 that, instead of the twenty thousand troops 
 he had been led to hope for, he had but six- 
 teen thousand effective men. With these 
 he had to maintain a front of eight miles, 
 against an enemy who could at will strike 
 at any point. 
 
 In such a situation the only safeguard 
 was fortification. Before Washington's ar- 
 rival the redoubts on Prospect and Winter 
 Hills had been completed, with scattered 
 minor works. Washington at once began 
 by strengthening these, and by finishing all 
 uncompleted works. Then, in a manner char- 
 
 1 " Writings of Washington," iii, 22. 
 
Washington takes Command 311 
 
 acteristic of the whole siege, and which never 
 failed to take the British by surprise, one 
 August evening he sent a party to Plowed Hill, 
 "within point blank shot of the enemy on 
 Charlestown Neck. We worked the whole 
 night incessantly one thousand two hun- 
 dred men, and, before morning, got an in- 
 trenchment in such forwardness, as to bid 
 defiance to their cannon." 1 
 
 The British cannonaded for two days, but 
 the Americans, finding to their disappoint- 
 ment that no assault was intended, finished 
 the work at their ease. Similarly, as we 
 shall see, Washington later took Lechmere's 
 Point, commanding the river and the Back 
 Bay. Before many weeks the works at 
 Roxbury were made "amazing strong," and 
 the rebels were in position to welcome an 
 encounter. But there was no assault, and 
 Washington had instead to meet the vexa- 
 tions of his office. 
 
 These were often trivial enough. A com- 
 pany would protest against the appointment 
 
 1 Ibid., iii, 71. 
 
312 The Siege of Boston 
 
 of an officer unknown to them, a town would 
 apply for special guard, a prisoner would 
 demand the privilege of wearing his sword. 1 
 Washington met such requests with un- 
 varying courtesy, but with firmness ; even to 
 the governor of Connecticut he refused troops 
 for sea-coast protection. 
 
 One little correspondence throws a gleam 
 of unconscious humor on the dull routine 
 of Washington's correspondence. Hearing of 
 hardships suffered in Boston by prisoners 
 taken at Bunker Hill, Washington wrote to 
 remonstrate. Gage returned answer two days 
 later ; its original is found in Burgoyne's 
 letter book, "as wrote by me." It begins 
 in the usual style of the literary general : 
 "Sir, To the glory of civilized nations, hu- 
 manity and war have been made almost 
 compatible, and compassion to the subdued 
 is become almost a general system. Britons, 
 ever pre-eminent in mercy, have outgone 
 
 1 Washington's correspondence with Major Christo- 
 pher French is an interesting instance of the patience of 
 a great man with the impatience of a small one. 
 
Washington takes Command 313 
 
 common examples, and overlooked the crimi- 
 nal in the captive." Entering a general 
 denial of Washington's charges, the letter 
 goes on to bring counter-accusations, and 
 finally, after giving valuable advice, the 
 writers exhort Washington — of all men ! 
 — to "give free operation to truth." 
 
 Truly, as Burgoyne's biographer admits, 
 there is something irresistibly ludicrous in 
 the spectacle of such generals lecturing such 
 a man. The sequel was honorable to the 
 American chief. At first determined to re- 
 taliate upon some prisoners in his hands, 
 he changed his mind, apparently because 
 they, having been captured off Machias as 
 their vessel neared land, had "committed 
 no hostility against the people of this 
 country." 1 The general therefore gave them 
 
 1 The letters that passed between Washington and 
 Gage, and later between him and Howe, are to be found 
 in the volumes of his "Writings," and make interesting 
 reading. Washington had at this time no prisoners in 
 his hands other than those taken as described, because 
 the prisoners of the 19th of April had been exchanged on 
 the 6th of June. 
 
314 The Siege of Boston 
 
 the practical freedom of the town of Northamp- 
 ton. 
 
 One other correspondence caused about 
 this time a flutter of excitement. Charles 
 Lee was one of Washington's four major- 
 generals, a man who had seen military service 
 in many parts of Europe and America. He 
 had served in the British army from 1747 
 until 1763, when, his regiment being dis- 
 banded, he served in Poland and Turkey, 
 and finally, in 1772, came to America. Here 
 he took up, almost violently, the cause of 
 freedom, perhaps because of disappointment 
 in the English service, perhaps because he 
 foresaw opportunity. At any rate, he made 
 himself conspicuous, and was generally re- 
 garded as the foremost military man in 
 America, Washington alone excepted. Events 
 proved that Lee acknowledged no superior, 
 and impatiently desired to be rid of his 
 chief. Washington was always on formal 
 terms with his subordinate, no doubt because 
 he read in his character, besides a certain 
 ability, an unstable temperament and a 
 
Washington takes Command 315 
 
 hasty judgment. When once Lee was at 
 Cambridge he immediately rushed into a 
 correspondence with Burgoyne, under whom he 
 had served in Portugal thirteen years before. 
 The tone of his letter was highly literary. 
 Lee reminded Burgoyne of their old friend- 
 ship, and then, with many flourishes, went 
 at his business. He lamented the infatuation 
 of the times, when men of the stamp of Bur- 
 goyne and Howe could be seduced into an 
 impious and nefarious service, and remind- 
 ing Burgoyne of various bygone incidents, 
 called to his mind his experience with the 
 wickedness and treachery of the present 
 court and cabinet. He spread himself at 
 large on the principles of the present struggle, 
 rejoiced that Burgoyne came by command 
 of the king rather than his own desire, and 
 warned him of the miscreants who had in- 
 fatuated Gage. Then, explaining how his 
 three years in America had acquainted him 
 with facts, Lee begged Burgoyne to com- 
 municate the substance of the letter to Howe, 
 who to his horror seemed to be becoming the 
 
3 16 The Siege of Boston 
 
 satrap of an Eastern despot. Protesting his 
 devotion to America as the last asylum of 
 liberty, Lee signed himself with the greatest 
 sincerity and affection. 
 
 The letter was written before Bunker Hill, 
 but not answered until the 8th of July. In 
 his reply, Burgoyne hinted, with references 
 to Locke, Charles the First, and James the 
 Second, that he was equally well grounded 
 in the principles of liberty. He urged Lee to 
 lay his hand upon his heart, and say whether 
 the Americans wanted freedom from taxation 
 or independency. He, Burgoyne, with the 
 army and fleet, and the king himself, was 
 actuated only by the desire to maintain the 
 laws. Then, having letters from England 
 which were to be delivered into Lee's own 
 hands, Burgoyne proposed a personal inter- 
 view at the lines on Boston Neck, and sent 
 the compliments of Howe, Clinton, and Percy. 
 
 It must be admitted that Burgoyne's pur- 
 pose in this proposal was quite other than 
 to deliver letters, or even to argue upon 
 political differences. In a letter to Lord 
 
Washington takes Command 317 
 
 North Burgoyne explained his real purpose 
 in entering into correspondence with a rebel. 
 In the proposed interview he would have cut 
 Lee short in his paltry jargon, and pressed 
 upon him the real facts in the case. Next 
 he would have shown him the glory accruing 
 to a successful mediator, and then, playing 
 upon his pride, his interest, and his am- 
 bition, would have suggested a return to 
 his allegiance. Burgoyne supposed that the 
 reference to a mediator would have brought 
 to Lee the memory of General Monk, and 
 would have flattered him with the same in- 
 tention to restore the state. 
 
 There is upon this plan of Burgoyne's but 
 one comment to be made, and that has been 
 clearly stated by his own biographer. " If an 
 American General could have been found base 
 enough to purchase his restoration to the favour 
 of his late Sovereign by gross treachery to his 
 adopted country, an English General should 
 surely not have thought it worthy of his charac- 
 ter and position to bribe him to such an act." 1 
 
 1 Fonblanque's " Burgoyne." 
 
3 18 The Siege of Boston 
 
 Lee was not caught in the trap, though 
 perhaps not owing to his own caution. Bur- 
 goyne's letter was laid before the Provincial 
 Congress, which forbade the meeting. In 
 a brief letter Lee explained that it was feared 
 that the interview might create jealousies and 
 suspicions. Burgoyne caught at this state- 
 ment as showing, in the American staff, 
 dissensions fruitful of future results ; but the 
 hope was never justified. Lee's future share 
 in the siege faded into insignificance, and 
 his damage to the American cause was not 
 to come until later. 
 
 Washington may have supervised the cor- 
 respondence and influenced its result. It 
 affected him not at all, but in the midst of 
 many such little affairs he found opportunity 
 for really aggressive work. Once he was well 
 fortified, the next step was to vex and disturb 
 the enemy by cutting off supplies by sea, 
 and making the approach to Boston difficult. 
 For the latter purpose a detachment went 
 boldly in broad daylight and burned the 
 lighthouse at the harbor's mouth. Since 
 
Washington takes Command 319 
 
 the first attempt was not satisfactory, the 
 same men went again, and finished the job. 
 Other little expeditions, carried on against 
 either the harbor islands or the shipping 
 near the town, were successfully undertaken. 
 The men for such purposes were the fisher- 
 men of the sea-coast towns, thrown out of 
 work by the fisheries bill, and burning with 
 patriotic feeling. 
 
 Washington turned them to still better 
 account in beginning a navy. To be sure, 
 the little fleet which presently was busily 
 at work was at first a spontaneous growth, 
 for whenever a store-ship or king's sloop ran 
 aground or made land at the wrong harbor, 
 dories and fishing- vessels swarmed out to board 
 it. Even before Washington's coming pri- 
 vateers were acting for the country, but with 
 no better standing than pirates, for they 
 sailed under no flag and bore neither com- 
 mission nor letters of marque. The prov- 
 inces of Connecticut and Rhode Island legal- 
 ized the achievements of those who were busy 
 in their waters, but for the adventurous spirits 
 
320 The Siege of Boston 
 
 who dared the men of war in Massachusetts 
 Bay nothing was done until Washington 
 found the way. Since, even though the 
 need was imperative, he could not properly 
 authorize the existence of a navy, we find him, 
 on the second of September, wording a com- 
 mission in the following manner : "You being 
 appointed a captain in the army of the United 
 Colonies of North America, are hereby di- 
 rected to take command of a detachment of 
 said army, and proceed on board the schooner 
 Hannah, at Beverly." And thus the Ameri- 
 can Navy began its existence. Its vessels 
 were few and small, being chiefly "converted" 
 fishermen ; its purpose was to intercept stores 
 and gain information ; and it was especially 
 forbidden to engage with armed vessels, 
 "though you may be equal in strength, or may 
 have some small advantage." Before the 
 end of the siege this little company of vessels 
 was invaluable to Washington. 
 
 But in Washington's army lay his chief 
 hopes — and also his chief difficulties. That 
 whenever there was a chance for a fight the 
 
Washington takes Command 321 
 
 men were very ardent, he was glad to ac- 
 knowledge. But that when there was noth- 
 ing to relieve the monotony of the camp 
 they were indifferent to all discipline, he 
 knew only too well. They were incorrig- 
 ible traders of uniforms and equipment, 
 sticklers for seniority upon but a few months' 
 service, insistent for furloughs for return 
 to labor on their own affairs, and trouble- 
 some even in demanding pay by lunar instead 
 of calendar months. In order that their 
 Yankee ingenuity might find less time to in- 
 vent more trouble for him and for themselves, 
 Washington very sensibly worked them hard 
 at his fortifying, "Sundays not excepted." 1 
 
 There were, however, difficulties which 
 could be got over neither by work, nor by 
 thought, nor by gradually licking an army 
 into shape. Powder and arms both were 
 lacking. 
 
 Powder was scarcely to be had anywhere. 
 It was little made in the colonies, especially 
 not in the neighborhood of Boston. Again 
 
 1 "Writings of Washington," iii. 
 
322 The Siege of Boston 
 
 and again we find Washington writing for it, 
 and occasionally reporting his exact situation. 
 More than once the army had but nine rounds 
 to a man. On the twenty-fourth of August 
 Washington writes : "We have been in a ter- 
 rible situation, occasioned by a mistake in a 
 return ; we reckoned upon three hundred 
 quarter casks, and had but thirty-two 
 barrels." 1 A few days later the situation 
 was better, but still was bad enough, for he 
 writes : "We have only one hundred and 
 eighty-four barrels of powder in all (including 
 the late supply from Philadelphia), which is 
 not sufficient to give twenty-five musket 
 cartridges to each man, and scarcely to serve 
 the artillery in any brisk action one single 
 day." He sent to Bermuda to seize a sup- 
 ply, but his vessels arrived too late. Supplies 
 did slowly dribble in, and sometimes came 
 in encouraging quantities when a store-ship 
 was captured. But there never was plenty 
 on hand, and too often not enough, for the 
 powder would deteriorate in bad weather, as 
 
 1 " Writings of Washington," iii. 
 
Washington takes Command 323 
 
 was shown at a skirmish at Lechmere's Point. 
 As the troops formed for duty, cartridge 
 boxes were examined, "when the melancholy 
 truth appeared." * Further, the men, from 
 whom the lack of powder was concealed, were 
 fond of amusing themselves by indiscriminate 
 shooting. We find General Greene, in an 
 order to his troops, threatening severe punish- 
 ment to those who shot at geese passing over 
 the camp. And so, with little acquisitions of 
 powder, and steady depletion, Washington 
 was never for a day properly supplied. 
 
 His difficulty in finding muskets, though 
 never so great, was always considerable. 
 The gunsmiths of Philadelphia, who had been 
 expected speedily to equip his army, were not 
 able to supply a satisfactory portion of the 
 arms required, so that Washington was re- 
 duced to sending agents through the neigh- 
 boring towns to buy guns. Their success was 
 small. He tried also to buy the muskets of 
 those men who, on the expiration of their 
 term of service, went home. Here again the 
 
 1 Ibid. 
 
324 The Siege of Boston 
 
 result was poor, for the men, mindful of the 
 possibility of militia service, were very un- 
 willing to part with their arms. 
 
 Yet the men had an ineradicable propensity 
 to dicker among themselves. Arms and equip- 
 ment changed hands in true Yankee fashion ; 
 even clothing was traded in, and the camp, 
 when the men were off duty, must at times 
 have been as busy as a market. Nothing 
 better shows this than the diary of David 
 How, whose brief entries prove him to be a 
 true New Englander. Months later than 
 Washington's first attempts to buy arms 
 from the men, we find entries as follows. 
 
 "13 (January, 1776) I Bought a gun & 
 Bayonet & Cateridge Box of Joseph Jackson 
 and gave 42/6 Lawfull Money for the Whole. 
 I have been Makeing Cateridges this Day. . . . 
 
 "20 I Bought a frock & Trouses of Parley 
 Macingtyre and give 6 / Law. 
 
 "22 Peter Gage Staid Hear Last Night and 
 I bought 3 Pare of Shoes of him @ 5 / 6 per 
 pare 
 
 " 23 I sold a pare of Shoes for 6/8. 
 
Washington takes Command 325 
 
 " 26 I Sold my Cateridge box For 4/6 Law- 
 full Money. 
 
 "16 March I sold my gun to Timothy 
 Jackson for Three pound Lawfull Money." 
 
 We see in David How, even when soldier- 
 ing, the qualities which later made him one 
 of the richest men in Haverhill. The diary 
 shows, also, what appears to be the visit to 
 the camp of a shoe pedler. Modern dis- 
 ciplinarians would scarcely condone this, nor 
 would they permit How's opportunity of 
 making money when cooking for his company. 
 For he writes : — 
 
 "24 day (January, 1776) I Cook this day 
 & Bought 3 Barrels of Cyder for 9 / per Barrel. 
 
 "25 day I Bought 7 Bushels of Chesnuts 
 & give 4 pisterens per bushel. 
 
 "30 We have Sold Nuts and Cyder Every 
 Day This Week." 
 
 It was in the face of this well-nigh incor- 
 rigible tendency to make money out of the 
 situation that Washington struggled to turn 
 his militiamen into soldiers. We gather from 
 his orderly books that he had difficulties with 
 
326 The Siege of Boston 
 
 disorders of many kinds, not the least of 
 which were caused by the visits of "pretended 
 suttlers" 1 who sold bad rum. To check 
 drunkenness he licensed the sutlers and 
 limited their activities, and for general dis- 
 cipline he worked steadily to show officers 
 and men alike what was expected of them. 
 And all the time he diligently tried to pur- 
 chase weapons, though with so little success 
 that at last he even took up the question of 
 implements more primitive than muskets. 
 There was in camp a company of Stockbridge 
 Indians, who were so successful as to way- 
 lay a British sentry or two and kill them with 
 arrows. Franklin, perhaps taking the hint 
 from this, wrote to prove that the long-bow 
 might be revived, but Washington would 
 have none of it. Pikes, however, whose use 
 in European warfare was fairly recent, he 
 would consider. A number were ordered, 
 and after them a second set of stronger make, 
 the first being "ridiculously short and light." 2 
 In October came to light the treason of 
 
 1 Henshaw's " Orderly Book." 2 Ibid. 
 
Washington takes Command 327 
 
 Dr. Benjamin Church. As already shown, 
 he had for some time before the 19th of April 
 been in communication with Gage. On the 
 22d, when he went into Boston with the 
 knowledge of the Committee of Safety, he 
 doubtless saw the general in person. An 
 occurrence now showed that he was writing 
 to the British commander, though his agency 
 was not at first suspected. From Newport 
 came a letter, brought by an American 
 patriot to whom it had been given by a 
 woman from Cambridge, who had requested 
 to have it delivered to some officer of the 
 British vessel stationed in the harbor. The 
 American kept the letter, and, suspecting its 
 purport, opened it. It was in cipher. This 
 in itself was suspicious, and the letter was 
 brought to Washington, who caused the 
 woman to be arrested and questioned. At 
 first she was obstinate, but finally she named 
 Church as the writer of the letter. He in his 
 turn was put under guard, but had had time 
 to destroy any papers that might betray 
 him. The letter when deciphered proved to 
 
328 The Siege of Boston 
 
 give little information besides the numbers 
 of the American forces. From first to last 
 Church had been of little value to Gage. 
 
 But the army and country, as Washington 
 wrote, were "exceedingly irritated." Church 
 was a man of pleasing address and ready 
 language, and had stood high in Boston for 
 years. He had written Whig pamphlets, had 
 been an orator on the Massacre, and had 
 served on many committees, notably the 
 Committee of Safety. In consequence he 
 had been given the highest office that a phy- 
 sician could look for, that of surgeon-general 
 to the army. Resentment at his betrayal 
 was extreme, and Abigail Adams was prob- 
 ably right when she wrote, "If he is set at 
 liberty, even after he has received a severe 
 punishment, I do not think he will be safe." 
 
 Church was not set free. As a member of 
 the Massachusetts Congress he was brought 
 before the House, and allowed to make his 
 defence, which was elaborate and able. 
 Church claimed that he was writing to his 
 brother, and that his intentions were harm- 
 
Washington takes Command 329 
 
 less ; but he was not believed, and was ex- 
 pelled from the House. Later the Continen- 
 tal Congress adjudged him guilty, and ordered 
 him confined in jail. Released later on ac- 
 count of his health, he was allowed to sail 
 for the West Indies. His vessel was never 
 again heard from. 
 
 This was Washington's foretaste of the 
 treason of Arnold. It may have disturbed 
 him deeply, but of that he gave no sign. So 
 far as we can see, he dismissed the matter 
 from his mind and went on with his work of 
 providing a way for assaulting the town. 
 Congress desired this, the country looked for 
 it, and his own fiery nature urged him to the 
 risk. 
 
 On the nth of September, having pre- 
 viously notified his generals that he would 
 lay the question before them, he had called a 
 council of war, and proposed an attack upon 
 Boston. They were unanimously against it. 
 Now, in October, he again laid the matter 
 before his council of war, and reached prac- 
 tically the same result, General Greene alone 
 
33° The Siege of Boston 
 
 thinking the scheme practical, "if ten thou- 
 sand men could be landed at Boston." x If it 
 is true that councils of war do not fight, the 
 result was natural ; but the situation was a 
 very difficult one. The British had made 
 Charlestown practically impregnable against 
 anything except surprise, by. a powerful re- 
 doubt on Bunker Hill. As for Boston itself, 
 it was fortified at all prominent points, and 
 was very strongly garrisoned by veteran 
 troops. The Neck could not be forced, and 
 to cross in boats over the Back Bay was 
 a hazardous undertaking. It was common 
 sense, therefore, to wait until ice should make 
 it possible to assault the town at several 
 points. With his wonderful patience Wash- 
 ington accepted the situation, and contented 
 himself with wishing that the British would 
 attack him. There were continual rumors 
 that the British plan was laid, and deserters 
 frequently came from Boston prophesying a 
 sally ; but still the regulars lay in their fast- 
 ness, and did not move. 
 
 1 Trevelyan's "Revolution," Part I. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 EVENTS IN BOSTON FROM JUNE TO DECEMBER, 
 
 I77S 
 
 THE history of events in Boston after 
 the battle of Bunker Hill is of a quite 
 different tenor from that which we have 
 just been considering. From the time when 
 the wounded, and the more distinguished of 
 the dead, were carried over from Charlestown 
 on the evening of the seventeenth of June, the 
 sober truth struck home, not yet to the 
 Tories and the common run of officers, but 
 to the generals. They were in a tight place, 
 from which it would be difficult to escape with 
 credit. 
 
 They might — and some of them did — 
 reckon it out by common arithmetic. If it 
 cost a thousand men to take a hill, and re- 
 quired another thousand to garrison it when 
 taken, how much could the British army 
 
 331 
 
33 2 The Siege of Boston 
 
 master of the rolling country that lay before 
 its eyes ? Beyond the exit from either pen- 
 insula the next hill was already fortified, and 
 the Americans prepared to "sell it at the 
 same price." * 
 
 The British generals wrote very plainly in 
 explaining the situation to their superiors at 
 home. To be sure, Gage was a trifle disin- 
 genuous in reviewing the past. While ad- 
 mitting that the recent trials at arms proved 
 the rebels "not the despicable rabble too 
 many have supposed them to be," he ignored 
 his original boast concerning lions and 
 lambs. In stating that in all previous wars 
 the Americans had never showed so much 
 "conduct, attention, and perseverance," he 
 admitted his ignorance of colonial history. 
 But Gage was endeavoring to salve his smart 
 and conceal his own shame. 
 
 Burgoyne, with nothing to palliate, wrote 
 very frankly. "Look, my Lord," he said to 
 the Secretary of State for the Colonies, 
 
 1 This expression is ascribed to General Nathanael 
 Greene. 
 
June to December in Boston 333 
 
 "upon the country near Boston. It is all 
 fortification." His mathematics has been al- 
 ready quoted; he adds that the army had 
 nothing for transport in an active campaign of 
 any duration. Proceeding, he delicately points 
 out that Gage was not the man for the situation, 
 and laments again that the general had no 
 means of knowing what passed in the American 
 councils, or even within the American lines. 
 This is but another proof, if one were needed, 
 of the poor use to which Church had put his 
 opportunities. Surely he, as Arnold later, 
 sold his soul to little purpose. Few things in 
 this campaign are more honorable to America 
 than the fact that Washington's most pre- 
 cious secret, his lack of powder, though 
 known to many, never came to the ears of 
 the British generals. One may question if 
 the truth, if told, would have been believed, 
 for men of Gage and Howe's training could 
 scarcely suppose a man capable of such dar- 
 ing and dogged obstinacy as to hold his post 
 before them without powder, or guns, or, as 
 it finally turned out, almost without men. 
 
334 The Siege of Boston 
 
 But no statement has been made that the 
 commanders heard even rumors of Washing- 
 ton's difficulties. 
 
 After Bunker Hill, then, the British gen- 
 erals plainly saw that they could never cam- 
 paign successfully with Boston as a base. 
 As to what should best be done, Gage had no 
 idea ; Burgoyne, however, was ready with a 
 plan. He proposed to keep in Boston as 
 small a garrison, supported by as small a 
 fleet, as could safely be left, and to send the 
 rest of the troops and ships to harry the 
 coast. This proposition, if by the vague 
 term of chastisement he meant the burning of 
 defenceless towns, was unworthy of Burgoyne ; 
 but when later he proposed with this de- 
 tached force to occupy Rhode Island, doubt- 
 less using Newport as a base, he outlined a 
 plan which, if followed, would have seriously 
 embarrassed the Americans. But the advice 
 was not taken, and for months the British 
 generals contented themselves with wishing 
 they were at New York, without taking any 
 steps toward going there. 
 
June to December in Boston 335 
 
 One thing at least they should have done. 
 It will be remembered that the American 
 occupancy of Bunker Hill had been pre- 
 cipitated by knowledge of a British plan to 
 take Dorchester Heights. This plan of Gage's 
 was not abandoned after the battle. It is 
 spoken of in a letter of Burgoyne's, and is 
 laid down as a part of his scheme to make 
 Boston secure while his marauding fleet 
 menaced southern New England. We are 
 even able to suppose that feeble moves toward 
 seizing the Heights were twice made. Once 
 a couple of regiments, on transports, dropped 
 down the channel ; and once two regiments 
 were withdrawn from Charlestown to Boston, 
 with various companies from the castle. 
 Lieutenant Barker gives the reason why in 
 the latter case nothing was done: "the 
 Genl. hearing that they had got intelligence 
 and reinforced that place with 4000 men." 
 But this is mere rumor ; the Americans had 
 not yet sent any troops into Dorchester. 
 This leaves us very much in the dark as to 
 why the Heights were not occupied ; but 
 
336 The Siege of Boston 
 
 occupied they were not; the plan receives no 
 further mention, and though from month to 
 month the British watched Washington seiz- 
 ing posts ever nearer to Boston, they behaved 
 in all respects as if he were under pledge to 
 avoid Dorchester. 
 
 Gage's chief activity was in fortifying. He 
 strengthened his existing works, and en- 
 trenched himself particularly well at Bunker 
 Hill. As the American redoubt was of little 
 value to the British, they made their main 
 defence upon the top of the higher hill, and 
 mounted guns to sweep Charlestown Neck 
 and the country beyond. Little by little 
 both Gage and his successor strengthened this 
 post, cutting down trees for abatis, and 
 making advanced posts similar to those at 
 Boston Neck. Before the end of the siege 
 it was the strongest British post, and Wash- 
 ington knew better than to molest it, es- 
 pecially when he had a better move to make. 
 
 Actual military operations were trifling. 
 In retaliation for an American attack, on the 
 30th of July the regulars made a sally from 
 
June to December in Boston 337 
 
 Boston toward Roxbury, drove in the Ameri- 
 can advance guard, and burnt a house or 
 two. The undertaking appears to have been 
 without object, and resulted in nothing except 
 some harmless cannonading. At other times 
 armed boats ventured along the Cambridge 
 shore, or tried the rivers, always to be sent 
 back by the bullets of Yankee sharpshooters. 
 When the Virginia riflemen appeared, however, 
 there was less of this diversion. These men, 
 finding themselves debarred from the larger 
 field operations, resolved at least to get 
 something in return for their long march. 
 So they set themselves to watch for the 
 appearance of British exploring parties, and 
 even stalked the sentries. The officers in- 
 dignantly complained that this was not war 
 according to rule, but both they and their 
 sentries took care not to expose themselves. 
 The largest operation undertaken by the 
 British was at the approach of winter, when 
 early in November they sent a small force 
 to Lechmere's Point, at a time when a very 
 high tide had converted the place into an 
 
338 The Siege of Boston 
 
 island. They took a few cows, and lost a 
 couple of men ; on retiring they pointed to 
 the American unwillingness to attack them, 
 but this, as we have already learned, was on 
 account of the spoiled cartridges. 
 
 All these operations, it will be seen, took 
 place practically within the limits of the 
 Back Bay and its adjacent waters, into 
 which flowed the Charles River and a few 
 creeks. Once or twice British boats tried to 
 explore the Mystic, but with the coming of 
 the riflemen that diversion stopped. When 
 finally the Yankees dragged whale-boats to 
 the Mystic and Charles, and began building 
 floating batteries on their own account, British 
 curiosity as to the American shore-line lapsed 
 entirely. 
 
 Down the harbor Gage did nothing, except 
 to send, tardily, to repel American expedi- 
 tions. We have seen that the British could 
 not save the lighthouse. The Yankee fisher- 
 men now took occasion to remove from the 
 islands the hay and live stock which they 
 had not taken before Bunker Hill. Their 
 
June to December in Boston 339 
 
 activities drew from Burgoyne an indignant 
 letter. 
 
 "It may be asked in England, 'What is 
 the Admiral doing ?' 
 
 "I wish I were able to answer that ques- 
 tion satisfactorily, but I can only say what 
 he is not doing. 
 
 "That he is not supplying us with sheep 
 and oxen, the dinners of the best of us bear 
 meagre testimony ; the state of our hospitals 
 bears a more melancholy one. 
 
 "He is not defending his own flocks and 
 herds, for the enemy have repeatedly plun- 
 dered his own islands. 
 
 "He is not defending the other islands in 
 the harbour, for the enemy in force landed 
 from a great number of boats, and burned 
 the lighthouse at noonday (having first killed 
 or taken the party of marines which was 
 posted there) almost under the guns of two 
 or three men-of-war. 
 
 "He is not employing his ships to keep 
 up communication and intelligence with the 
 King's servants and friends at different parts 
 
34-Q The Siege of Boston 
 
 of the continent, for I do not believe that 
 General Gage has received a letter from 
 any correspondent out of Boston these six 
 weeks. 
 
 "He is intent upon greater objects, you 
 will think, — supporting in the great points 
 the dignity of the British flag, — and where 
 a number of boats have been built for the 
 enemy ; privateers fitted out ; prizes carried 
 in ; the King's armed vessels sunk ; the crews 
 made prisoners ; the officers killed, — he is 
 doubtless enforcing instant restitution and 
 reparation by the voice of his cannon and 
 laying the towns in ashes that refuse his 
 terms ? Alas ! he is not." * 
 
 Burgoyne finishes his indictment by lump- 
 ing with the admiral's inefficiencies the 
 weaknesses of quartermaster-generals, adju- 
 tant-generals, secretaries, and commissaries. 
 In all this we catch a glimpse of one 
 result of the king's policy, which was to 
 reward his friends and rebuke his enemies. 
 Since he classed with his enemies the Whigs 
 
 1 Fonblanque's "Burgoyne," 197-198. 
 
June to December in Boston 341 
 
 who were at home, he had only Tories to 
 draw from. From them came Admiral Graves, 
 and the crowd of incompetents who filled 
 offices in America. The royal service was 
 now paying the piper. 
 
 One result Burgoyne has noted very 
 plainly, in the lack of fresh provision. The 
 admiral could have protected the stock on 
 the harbor islands, and without unnecessary 
 violence could have seized provisions from 
 the shore towns. This, however, he did not 
 do, and we soon find the army complaining 
 of its fare. It was not that the commissary 
 was negligent; even the moneyed officers 
 were at times unable to satisfy their desire 
 for fresh meat, the supply of which was un- 
 certain. For lack of hay, the milk supply 
 soon disappeared, since cows could not be 
 fed and had to be killed. Cheerful news 
 came to the American camp that the vener- 
 able town bull had been sold for beef. The 
 army even tired of its supply of fish, which, 
 to be sure, never was great, though then as 
 now Boston lay close to good fishing grounds. 
 
342 The Siege of Boston 
 
 Salt pork was the main reliance, and before 
 the middle of the summer the army had had 
 altogether too much of that. 
 
 In consequence of this restricted diet the 
 wounded from Bunker Hill died in great 
 numbers. Of the wounded American prison- 
 ers very few survived. Some, as Washington 
 heard, were operated on in the common jail, 
 in which most of them were confined, and 
 where the chances of their recovery were 
 slight. They fared "very hard," said John 
 Leach, who had opportunity to know ; not 
 one of them survived amputation. As to the 
 rest, there can be no question that they were 
 badly treated. Their doctor complained that 
 they had had no bread for two days ; the 
 Provost replied "they might eat the Nail 
 Heads, and knaw the plank and be damn'd." * 
 Their more fortunate fellow-prisoners, who 
 were not taken in arms and who received food 
 from their families in Boston, sent the Bun- 
 ker Hill prisoners what comforts they could 
 bribe the soldiers to take to them ; but, says 
 
 Reach's "Journal." 
 
June to December in Boston 343 
 
 Leach's diary, " they have no Wood for days 
 together, to Warm their Drink, and dying 
 men drink them cold." By the 21st of Sep- 
 tember eighteen out of twenty-nine prisoners 
 had died in the jail. 
 
 Yet even the British wounded showed a 
 high mortality. This was largely on account 
 of the food, which, although it was the best 
 that was to be had, was none too good for 
 suffering men. The high death rate was in 
 part due to the American marksmanship, 
 which caused many body wounds. What 
 with such wounds, and such food, and the 
 unaccustomed heat, there were so many 
 deaths among the wounded that it was se- 
 riously stated that the American bullets were 
 poisoned. 
 
 There was, then, considerable discontent 
 among the British soldiery. Of it at one 
 time the Americans took ingenious advantage. 
 When the wind was setting toward the British 
 lines at Charlestown, the Americans at the 
 Medford lines scattered handbills that were 
 driven to the British sentries. On the bills 
 
344 The Siege of Boston 
 
 was to be read a comparison intended to in- 
 crease British discontent. It ran : — 
 
 PROSPECT HILL BUNKER'S HILL 
 
 I. Seven dollars a I. Three pence a 
 
 month. day. 
 
 II. Fresh provisions II. Rotten salt pork, 
 and in plenty. 
 
 III. Health. III. The scurvy. 
 
 IV. Freedom, ease, IV. Slavery, beggary, 
 
 affluence, and and want. 
 
 a good farm. 
 
 These handbills thus coming into the hands 
 of the privates were passed about secretly, 
 until the officers got wind of the device, and 
 complained to the Americans. The retort 
 was that the British themselves had already 
 been tempting sentries to desert. This de- 
 serting did go on throughout the siege, from 
 either side, though it would seem as if more 
 of the British fled from their service. Into 
 whichever lines they went, the deserters 
 always brought highly colored tales to buy 
 their welcome. The leaders very soon learned 
 how little reliance could be placed upon such 
 
June to December in Boston 345 
 
 information. "We ought not to catch at 
 such shadows as that. We have nothing 
 under God to depend upon, but our own 
 strength." 1 
 
 If the British private was discontented, 
 that was his habit ; and though the officers 
 grumbled as well, they had comparatively 
 little to complain of. To be sure, the food 
 was coarse, but it was plentiful. Even the 
 unaccustomed heat would seem comfortable 
 to a Bostonian of to-day. The marine officers 
 had more pleasant conditions, with their open 
 ports and harbor breezes, and decks frequently 
 sluiced with water. But the town itself had 
 no tall buildings or confined spaces ; gener- 
 ally speaking, it was open from water to 
 water, with plentiful shade. Boston in 1775 
 must have been as cool as its own summer 
 resorts of the twentieth century. 
 
 The Tories, at least, found it bearable. 
 They were accustomed to the summer heat, 
 and knew themselves much better off than 
 
 1 William T. Miller, of Newport, R.I., to his wife 
 Lydia. Mass. Hist, and Gen. Register, 1855. 
 
346 The Siege of Boston 
 
 the unfortunate members of their party who 
 had been unable to escape to the British 
 lines. Many of the country Tories were con- 
 fined, to their estates, and forbidden to com- 
 municate with each other. "I wish to God," 
 wrote Samuel Paine, "all our friends were 
 here out of the hands of such Villains." Com- 
 pared with such treatment, serenades by 
 thirteen-inch mortars and twenty-four pound- 
 ers were apparently trifling — though the 
 ladies did not think so. One, writing of the 
 skirmish on the night of July 30, spoke of 
 the "most dreadful cannonading," and "the 
 apprehensions that naturally seize every one, 
 either of the enemy breaking in, or the town 
 being set on fire." x Even Samuel Paine saw 
 the serious side of the situation. "These," he 
 asks, " are Governor Hutchinson's countrymen 
 that would not fight, are they ?" 
 
 It was because he realized that fight they 
 would, "and like the devil," that he and 
 others considered enlisting in the various 
 corps which were organized in the town. 
 
 1 Frothingham's "Siege," 230. 
 
June to December in Boston 347 
 
 According to Frothingham, who could find 
 no statistics of the numbers of Tory volun- 
 teers, there were at least three corps formed : 
 the Loyal American Associators under Tim- 
 othy Ruggles, the Loyal Irish Volunteers 
 under James Forrest, and the Royal Fenci- 
 ble Americans under Colonel Graham. 1 Ac- 
 cording to Samuel Paine, there was a fourth 
 corps, but it is not named. A commis- 
 sion in one of these organizations was par- 
 ticularly attractive, as the service was ex- 
 pected to be short, and at its expiration the 
 officers were to go upon half pay. Further, 
 the duties were very light, being confined 
 to drilling and patrolling the town. In the 
 military events of the siege these corps took 
 no part whatever. 
 
 It must be remembered, however, that out 
 of this situation England did gain some 
 valuable soldiers. The mettle of a few 
 of the Tories was shown at Bunker Hill, 
 where they went as individual volunteers, 
 and served with the troops. Others, dis- 
 
 1 Ibid., 279. 
 
348 The Siege of Boston 
 
 daining the toy-soldiering of their friends, 
 seized the chance to join the regular army, 
 and fought in it throughout the war, or until 
 their deaths. Such men were John Coffin, 
 Leverett Saltonstall, and the two Thomas 
 Gilberts. 
 
 Yet men of this quality were few, and at 
 least at this stage of the war the Tories were 
 of little service to their king. Most of them 
 were content to wait until the time when 
 the regulars should scatter the besiegers and 
 conduct the loyalists to their homes. Mean- 
 while they enjoyed the society into which 
 they were thrown. "We have here," wrote 
 Samuel Paine, "Earls, Lords, and Baronets, 
 I assure you Names that Sound grand." 
 These names did bring to the Tories a 
 fair amount of social gayety. Mrs. Gage 
 was at the head of her own little circle, not 
 always enjoyed by those who could not for- 
 get her American birth. There were other 
 groups of ladies who, whether English or 
 Tory, contrived to make the time pass pleas- 
 antly for themselves and for the men. With 
 
June to December in Boston 349 
 
 few responsibilities, and with confidence in the 
 future, the loyalists had a pleasant enough 
 summer, and saw ahead of them a comfort- 
 able winter. 
 
 The situation of the Whigs was not so en- 
 joyable. Before Bunker Hill, every one of 
 them who could leave Boston had done so. 
 But there were many of them left, and among 
 them were a number of the more respectable 
 and prominent of the Whigs. None of them 
 wrote letters, and few indeed kept diaries ; there 
 is, therefore, a notable lack of information con- 
 cerning their doings. We do know, however, 
 that they were at a great disadvantage as 
 against their Tory acquaintances. No priv- 
 ileges of the commissary were theirs, and no 
 favors were to be had from the military 
 authorities. When there was fresh meat in 
 the town the Whigs could get little of it 
 without repudiating their political creed; 
 when the supply was scant, the Whigs went 
 without. "They even denied us," wrote 
 John Andrews, looking back upon this period, 
 "the privilege of buying the surplusage of 
 
3 So The Siege of Boston 
 
 the soldiers' rations." Even before Bunker 
 Hill he had written, "It's hard to stay cooped 
 up here and feed upon salt provisions, more 
 especially without one's wife. . . . Pork 
 and beans one day, and beans and pork 
 another, and fish when we can catch it." 
 Throughout the summer the situation was 
 little bettered. "A loaf of bread the size we 
 formerly gave three pence for, thought our- 
 selves well off to get for a shilling. Butter 
 at two shillings. Milk, for months without 
 tasting any." 
 
 There were certain Whigs whose experiences 
 were more grim. To Gage, always in fear of 
 betrayal to the enemy, there came rumors 
 pointing to men whose known sentiments, 
 or whose actions, subjected them to suspicion. 
 Among these were one Carpenter, a barber, 
 who had swum to Cambridge and back ; 
 one "Dorrington, his son and maid, for blow- 
 ing up flies" 1 ; but particularly John Leach 
 and James Lovell, schoolmasters, with Peter 
 
 1 This obscure diversion caused the Dorringtons to 
 be suspected of signalling at night to the rebels. 
 
June to December in Boston 351 
 
 Edes, printer, and his father's partner, John 
 Gill. All of these four were obnoxious to the 
 Tories, being outspoken Whigs and teachers 
 of sedition, whether in their schools or their 
 publications. One by one they were im- 
 prisoned in the common jail, and held there 
 during various terms. Their treatment was 
 harsh and ungenerous, held in close neighbor- 
 hood with felons and loose livers, and not in- 
 formed of what they were accused. Leach and 
 Edes kept diaries when in prison. "From 
 the 2d July to the 17th," writes Leach, "a 
 Complicated scene of Oaths, Curses, De- 
 bauchery, and the most horrid Blasphemy, 
 committed by the Provost Marshal, his 
 Deputy and Soldiers, who were our guard, 
 Soldier prisoners, and sundry soldier women, 
 confined for Thefts, &c. . . . When our 
 Wives, Children, and Friends came to see us, 
 (which was seldom they were permitted) we 
 seemed to want them gone, notwithstanding 
 we were desirous of their Company, as they 
 were exposed to hear the most abandon'd 
 language, as was grating to the ears of all 
 
352 The Siege of Boston 
 
 sober persons." This Leach suspected to 
 be intentional, but the offensive actions and 
 words were incessant, especially on Sundays. 
 On the 17th Leach's son died, "whom I 
 left well in my house" ; but he was not allowed 
 to attend the funeral, nor to be tried, nor 
 dismissed. Three weeks after he and Lovell 
 had been put in jail they first learned of what 
 they were accused: Lovell of "being a Spy, 
 and giving intelligence to the rebels," and 
 Leach of "being a spy, and suspected of 
 taking plans." Their examination was a 
 farce, the witness against them not knowing 
 them apart. They were remanded to jail, 
 and lay there until October. Lovell fell sick, 
 and got a little better food, but no attention 
 from his jailers — "no Compassion toward him 
 any more than a Dog." On the same day 
 Leach noted that the Provost "Cursed and 
 Damned my little Child, for a Damn'd Rebel ; 
 he even Trembles at bringing my Diet." 
 Lovell grew better, and the vexatious treat- 
 ment continued with petty tyrannies. At 
 last, although no trial had yet been held, Edes, 
 
June to December in Boston 353 
 
 Gill, and Leach were released upon sureties 
 of two inhabitants that they would not leave 
 the town. 
 
 Lovell was kept in jail. He was son of 
 Master John Lovell of the Latin School, in 
 which he was usher until the opening of the 
 war. His frank utterances had so incensed 
 the authorities that they kept him in prison 
 until the end of the siege, and then carried 
 him with them to Halifax. His father was a 
 Tory, and, so far as the diaries of the prison 
 mates show, made no attempt to visit his son 
 in prison. James Lovell was exchanged in 
 the summer of 1776. 
 
 Through Edes' prison diary, and the brief 
 jottings which pass for the journal of Timothy 
 Newell, selectman, we get a glimpse of a turn- 
 coat. The incident in which he figures is 
 the only one that caused Newell, who gave 
 a scant hundred and twenty-five words to 
 Bunker Hill battle, to write at any length. 
 One John Morrison, formerly minister at 
 Peterborough, New Hampshire, had been 
 "obliged," says Edes, "to quit his people 
 
 2 A 
 
354 The Siege of Boston 
 
 on account of his scandalous behaviour." 
 He joined the provincial army, and is said 
 to have fought at Bunker Hill ; but a week 
 later he joined the British with the usual mis- 
 statements of the American intentions. In the 
 middle of September, Morrison moved for 
 permission to use for his services the Brattle 
 Street Church, "Dr. Cooper's Meetinghouse," 
 of which Timothy Newell was a member of 
 the parish committee. Newell, "with an 
 emotion of resentment," roundly refused to 
 deliver the key to Morrison and his friends, 
 and made his way into the presence of the 
 governor, where he stated that Morrison was 
 a man of infamous character. But the turn- 
 coat had respectable backers. ' Gage required 
 the key of Newell, and got it ; and Morrison 
 held at least one service in the church. It 
 was to this service, on the 17th of September, 
 that Edes was conducted, doubtless as a 
 privilege, and heard a political sermon on 
 the ingratitude of the provincials. Edes re- 
 marked that the Tories present affected to 
 grin, but it was horribly, with a ghastly 
 
June to December in Boston 355 
 
 smile. The newspapers, however, called it an 
 excellent discourse to a genteel audience, and 
 announced regular services. Morrison, still 
 contemptuously styled the deserter, figures 
 again in Newell's diary in November, when 
 he informed against an old Dutch woman 
 for trying to carry out of town more money 
 than her permit allowed. His profit on this 
 was ten dollars. When winter approached, the 
 Brattle Street Church was taken for use as a 
 barracks, and Morrison got himself a place 
 in the commissary department, which per- 
 haps was more to his liking than sermonizing. 1 
 The interview with Newell gives us a 
 glimpse of Gage in almost the last of his 
 troubles with the stiff-necked Bostonians. 
 Less than a fortnight later 2 he received word 
 from London that the king desired his pres- 
 ence, in order to consult upon future opera- 
 tions. Probably the unlucky commander saw 
 
 1 Leach's and Edes' "Journals," N. E. Hist and Gen. 
 Register, 1865 ; Newell's "Journal," Mass. Hist. Soc. 
 Collections, i, series iv; Frothingham's "Siege," 239; 
 Sabine's "Loyalists." 2 September 26. 
 
356 The Siege of Boston 
 
 in the message the end of his commission, 
 but he went as one expecting to return. As 
 was customary, he was presented with adula- 
 tory addresses, and on October 10 departed 
 in state. His welcome in England was not 
 so stately. The king did give him an inter- 
 view, and listened attentively to his explana- 
 tions, but it was popularly suggested that 
 the unsuccessful general be created Lord Lex- 
 ington, Baron of Bunker Hill. Gage's com- 
 mand was not restored to him, and he never 
 again went on active service. 
 
 One legacy indeed he left, perhaps the 
 worst act of his administration and the 
 most far-reaching, although the personal 
 blame does not lie with Gage himself. On the 
 4th of October he sent out a small fleet of 
 vessels which accomplished more harm than 
 good. It skirmished with privateers, and 
 eventually, reaching Falmouth, now Portland 
 in Maine, but then in Massachusetts ter- 
 ritory, attempted to levy upon the town. 
 Captain Mowatt, the commander, picked a 
 quarrel with the inhabitants, and finding 
 
June to December in Boston 357 
 
 them unyielding, burnt their village. The 
 blame lies between Mowatt and Admiral 
 Graves, both of whom had grudges against 
 the town on account of a previous incident. 
 The ministry repudiated the act, but the fact 
 is undeniable that it was within the spirit 
 of the instructions given to a later expedition, 
 to "destroy any towns" that would not 
 submit. 1 The effect on the Americans, how- 
 ever, was very far from teaching submission. 
 The news of the burning of Falmouth did 
 as much as any other event to impress the 
 provincials with the impossibility of an agree- 
 ment with the king. 
 
 In Gage's place now stood Howe, on whom 
 the British hopes centred. According to 
 the Tory Samuel Paine, Howe united the 
 spirit of a Wolfe with the genius of a Marl- 
 borough. Without prizing him quite so highly, 
 both the army and the administration looked 
 to Howe for action and results. It seemed to 
 them that now at last something must happen. 
 
 1 Instructions for Clinton's expedition to the south- 
 ward. Frothingham's "Siege," 292. 
 
358 The Siege of Boston 
 
 But Howe, though with a willing army 
 at his back, disciplined and well equipped, 
 did nothing. He strengthened the Charles- 
 town lines and the fort on Bunker Hill, he 
 improved the defences at Boston Neck, and 
 he began various batteries on Beacon Hill and 
 the shores of the Common. He demolished 
 a number of buildings in the north end of the 
 town, in order to make communication be- 
 tween his posts more direct. But except 
 for the little expedition across the Back 
 Bay to Lechmere's Point, which netted a 
 few cows, Howe attempted no offensive op- 
 erations. As already shown, the regulars 
 returned from Lechmere's Point as soon 
 as the provincials assembled in numbers, and 
 no attempt was made to hold the little hill. 
 Other skirmishes there were from time to time, 
 but these were insignificant, and they were 
 all. 
 
 The fact is that Howe's opinion coincided 
 exactly with those of Gage and Burgoyne. 
 The country was too strong to be forced, 
 especially since the Americans had spent a 
 
June to December in Boston 359 
 
 summer on their entrenchments. There was 
 no profit in taking a rebel fort if the army and 
 its situation were to be weakened thereby. 
 Howe looked with longing eyes toward New 
 York, took up Burgoyne's idea of a post in 
 Rhode Island, and believed that if he had 
 twenty thousand men holding all three posi- 
 tions the rebels would be beaten. But such 
 an army was not forthcoming, and the ques- 
 tion arose whether he had best stay in Bos- 
 ton or go to New York. In reply to ques- 
 tions from the ministry, Howe pointed out 
 that he had not a large enough fleet to con- 
 vey himself, his stores, and the Tories, from 
 the place. It was therefore understood that 
 more ships and men should be supplied him 
 in the spring, and that meanwhile he should 
 go into winter quarters. 
 
 This was done. Buildings in the town 
 were arranged to accommodate the troops, 
 two of the churches being fitted up for this 
 purpose. The tents were struck, and the 
 army made itself snug. Howe busied him- 
 self with routine matters of the camp, and 
 
360 The Siege of Boston 
 
 refused to budge. Though Washington first 
 fortified Cobble Hill in Somerville, the nearest 
 he had yet come to the British posts, and 
 though after that he came a step nearer, 
 seizing Lechmere's Point, Howe simply fired 
 from cannon, but made no attempt to storm 
 the works. The cannonading merely inured 
 the Americans to danger, and seeing that it 
 did them good rather than harm, Howe 
 presently stopped it. Washington, perhaps 
 not aware of the strength of his own position, 
 declared himself "unable, upon any principle 
 whatever," to account for Howe's inaction. 
 He suspected it might be intended to lull 
 him into a false sense of security, but resolved 
 to be more vigilant than ever. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 Washington's difficulties 
 
 THE situation at Boston in the fall of 
 1775 presents an interesting compari- 
 son : two generals of opposing armies, 
 each ready to welcome an attack, but each un- 
 able to deliver one. The difference between the 
 two, and the fact which determined the outcome, 
 was in the natures of the two men. Howe, 
 from a certain sluggishness of disposition, was 
 content to sit tight, and wait until the govern- 
 ment at home should send him his relief. 
 Though at each move his enemy came nearer, 
 Howe still appeared to believe that Dorchester 
 was safe from seizure, and was content so 
 to believe. But Washington was not satisfied 
 to be still. His nature urged him to action, 
 and though he knew himself too weak for an 
 assault, he constantly schemed and worked to 
 put his army into condition to strike. 
 
 361 
 
362 The Siege of Boston 
 
 In some ways his organization was already 
 complete. He had under him many of the 
 men who were to serve him through the war. 
 To be sure, he had Charles Lee, "the worst 
 present that could be made to any army ; " 
 but Lee's part in the siege was slight, for 
 Washington frequently employed him for dis- 
 tant undertakings. Gates was still present 
 also, but in a subordinate capacity. And an- 
 other of those who, before the war was over, 
 did their best to wreck the American cause, 
 was present for a while in the person of Bene- 
 dict Arnold, already distinguished by his 
 share in the taking of Ticonderoga. Early in 
 September, however, Arnold was sent on his 
 fruitless mission against Quebec. 
 
 But besides these men, not one of whom had 
 as yet proved his weakness, Washington had 
 already at his back some of the best soldiers 
 whom the war produced. Among the higher 
 officers were Putnam, Thomas, Sullivan, 
 Heath, and more particularly Greene. Of 
 lower grade were Stark, Morgan, Prescott, 
 and, not yet well known, Knox, the Boston 
 
Washington's Difficulties 363 
 
 bookseller whom we have seen endeavoring 
 to prevent the Massacre, who had studied 
 tactics in his own volumes and at the manoeu- 
 vres of the regulars, and who had escaped 
 from Boston just before the 17th of June. 
 There were yet others who were destined to 
 distinguish themselves, and Washington knew 
 that he had, among his officers, as courageous 
 and intelligent soldiers as were to be found 
 anywhere. 
 
 Yet they were but a nucleus, while his 
 supplies remained few and poor, and the 
 organization of the army unsatisfactory. As 
 the winter approached, Washington looked 
 forward uneasily to the expiration of the 
 terms of enlistment of his troops. Some 
 would lapse in December, the rest at the 
 first of January. His regiments were not 
 uniform in size, and they retained too much 
 of the provincial jealousy which had already 
 troubled him, and which had perhaps lost 
 Bunker Hill. It was very evident to him 
 that an entirely new army should be organ- 
 ized. 
 
364 The Siege of Boston 
 
 It was therefore welcome to him that 
 Congress should send a committee to help 
 him in the matter of reorganization. On 
 October 18 the committee, with Franklin at 
 its head, met with Washington, his staff, and 
 delegates from the four colonies which until 
 now had, practically alone, been prosecuting 
 the siege. The subject had been already 
 discussed by the council of war, and the little 
 convention was made acquainted with the 
 discrepancies in the organizations of the 
 different regiments, and the needs of the 
 army. It was decided to reduce the num- 
 ber of regiments from thirty-eight to twenty- 
 six. This meant not so much to reduce the 
 number of men as the number of officers. 
 The term of reenlistment was to be one year, 
 and the delegates assured Washington that he 
 could count on twenty thousand men from 
 Massachusetts, eight thousand from Con- 
 necticut, three thousand from New Hamp- 
 shire, and fifteen hundred from Rhode Island. 
 The regiments were to be uniform in size, 
 consisting of eight companies each; besides 
 
Washington's Difficulties 365 
 
 regular infantry, there were to be riflemen 
 and artillery. A system for clothing and sup- 
 plying the army was agreed upon. When the 
 little convention had broken up, the Com- 
 mittee from Congress remained for a few days, 
 revising the articles of war, considering the 
 disposition of naval prizes, and discussing a 
 number of minor topics. Upon the com- 
 mittee's return to Philadelphia, its actions 
 were ratified by Congress. 1 
 
 Washington then set himself with new 
 assurance to his task. Thanks to the con- 
 vention, he felt that he had a united country 
 at his back, and that much had been done 
 to dissipate colonial jealousies. These are 
 surprising to us of to-day : one is astonished 
 to find Greene seriously assuring "the gentle- 
 men from the southward" that the four New 
 England colonies, as soon as they had con- 
 quered King George, would not turn their 
 arms against the South. Yet had there been 
 any such intention, the New Englanders 
 
 1 See the "Writings of Washington," iii, 123-124, 
 note. 
 
366 The Siege of Boston 
 
 already had their hands full with the British, 
 and Washington was by no means out of the 
 woods. On paper he had an excellent organi- 
 zation ; but in fact, everything was still to be 
 done. 
 
 With the approach of winter, the first task 
 was to house his army. This was gradually 
 accomplished, and the regiments went into 
 their winter quarters. For a time, however, 
 there was a scarcity of food and fuel. This 
 was due, not to a lack of either, but to the 
 weakness in the system of providing for 
 them. For some weeks there was distress 
 and discontent ; at times we are told that 
 the troops ate their provision raw, and most 
 of the orchards and shade trees within the 
 camp were cut down for fuel. Washington 
 vigorously represented the state of the case 
 to the Massachusetts congress ; he gave per- 
 mission to cut wood in private wood-lots, 
 promising payment ; and finally the need was 
 met. The towns sent generous supplies of 
 wood to the camp, rations were provided in 
 plenty, and the only period of hardship which 
 
Washington's Difficulties 367 
 
 the Americans endured was safely passed 
 before the winter set in. 
 
 There was not much for the army to do 
 when once the barracks were built and new 
 quarters taken. The work of fortifying Lech- 
 mere's Point went on slowly, on account of the 
 frost ; it was not until the end of February 
 that the redoubt was completed, and its guns 
 mounted. But the troops were drilled, and 
 were kept busy in perfecting the fortifications. 
 Washington seized every chance to improve 
 his defences, as we see him when planning 
 new redoubts to guard against the possi- 
 bility of a sortie from the Neck. 1 
 
 The news of the burning of Falmouth 
 reached Washington on the 24th of October, 
 and greatly roused his indignation. As it 
 was expected that the British fleet might 
 next descend upon Portsmouth, he sent Gen- 
 eral Sullivan thither, with orders to put the 
 harbor in a state of defence, and at all events 
 to save the small store of powder which had 
 been brought into that place. This was a 
 
 1 See letter to Ward, "Writings," iii, 161. 
 
368 The Siege of Boston 
 
 capture by the little navy. Mowatt's fleet, 
 however, made no attempt upon Portsmouth, 
 and presently returned to Boston. Feeling 
 temporarily secure against further depredations 
 upon the coast, Washington put his whole 
 energy into the reorganization of his army. 
 The period from the end of November until 
 the early part of February was one of the 
 hardest in Washington's career. His diffi- 
 culties were those which we have seen already, 
 want of powder and want of arms, but to 
 them was added the great fear of a lack of 
 men. As to powder, its supply still fluc- 
 tuated, small quantities coming in irregularly, 
 and being steadily used in equally niggardly 
 amounts, or slowly spoiling in the soldiers' 
 pouches. Muskets were still scanty, and 
 Washington saw no hope except in buying 
 those of his soldiers whose terms were about 
 to expire, or in sending agents through the 
 neighboring towns to secure what they could 
 find. There was a corresponding lack of 
 cannon, bayonets, flints, and small appur- 
 tenances. 
 
Washington's Difficulties 369 
 
 But weaknesses of this kind were nothing 
 as compared with the threatened weakness in 
 men. Washington was deeply disappointed 
 at his failure to recruit his newly planned 
 army. Although the delegates of the prov- 
 inces had promised him full regiments, the 
 new recruiting system seemed to fail almost 
 entirely. The general presently perceived 
 several distinct factors that were working 
 against its success. 
 
 In the first place, the new plan provided 
 for fewer officers in the new army. Many of 
 the provincial regiments, especially those of 
 Massachusetts, had been over-officered, and 
 now, when the number of regiments was less 
 by twelve, it was evident that scores of officers 
 must either accept lower rank or leave the 
 army entirely. It was found that most of 
 those who could not obtain equal rank were 
 unwilling to remain, and that they were in- 
 fluencing their men to leave the army with 
 them. 
 
 Besides this, provincial jealousies worked 
 strongly in this matter of officers. Massa- 
 
37° The Siege of Boston 
 
 chusetts officers who had been forced out of 
 service might have found places in the Con- 
 necticut regiments, but the soldiers of the 
 other colony would have none of them. For 
 each company and each platoon held firmly 
 to the old idea that it must be consulted con- 
 cerning its officers, and no private would con- 
 sent to be commanded by a man from another 
 colony. This alone made plentiful trouble. 
 
 Finally the men themselves had ideas of 
 their own as to whether they cared to enlist. 
 To begin with, the shrewd among them 
 reckoned that if they only held out long 
 enough they might secure bounties for reen- 
 listing. Some were finicky as to their officers, 
 and waited until they should be satisfied. 
 And most of them perceived that as a reward 
 for patriotism they might at least receive 
 furloughs, and stood out for them. 
 
 The details of the work of enlisting were 
 very obscure and complicated. It was found 
 that officers were endeavoring to recruit their 
 own companies, and in their zeal had enrolled 
 men who were already registered elsewhere. 
 
Washington's Difficulties 371 
 
 Outsiders, anxious for commissions, were simi- 
 larly forming companies, and presenting them 
 for acceptance. Washington steadily refused 
 to receive such unauthorized organizations. 
 And finally it was suspected that many men 
 who had given in their names had no inten- 
 tion of serving. 
 
 What would make their defection more 
 certain was the irregularity of pay. Congress 
 had appropriated sums of money, but the 
 currency reached Washington slowly. It was 
 very singular, he complained, that the signers 
 of the scrip could not keep pace with his 
 needs. Further, Congress had a very im- 
 perfect idea of the magnitude of his legitimate 
 needs ; the appropriations were niggardly. 
 As the new year approached, when it was 
 important that the men should be paid, and 
 receive assurance of further pay, Washington 
 wrote to urge more remittances, that the sol- 
 diers might be satisfied. 
 
 Even the crews of the little navy gave 
 Washington no peace. His "plague, trouble, 
 and vexation" with them he was unable to 
 
372 The Siege of Boston 
 
 express ; he believed that there was not on 
 earth a more disorderly set. One crew de- 
 serted, and its vessel was docked. 
 
 To be sure, there were moments of satis- 
 faction in these dreary weeks of trial. Cer- 
 tain of the rejected officers rose above their 
 disappointments. One of these was Colonel 
 Whitcomb, who was not given a regiment in 
 the new establishment. At this his men 
 became so dissatisfied that they decided not 
 to enlist at all. Colonel Whitcomb, in order 
 to persuade them to remain, announced his 
 willingness to enlist as a private. The situa- 
 tion was saved by Colonel Jonathan Brewer, 
 who offered his command to Colonel Whit- 
 comb. Washington, in a general order, 
 thanked both of the officers. Brewer was 
 made Barrack-Master, "until something 
 better worth his acceptance can be pro- 
 vided." J 
 
 1 See the "Writings of Washington," iii, 161, note. 
 The facts concerning Washington's difficulties with 
 enlisting are taken chiefly from this volume, where 
 they can best be studied. 
 
Washington's Difficulties 373 
 
 Other relief was provided by captures of 
 British vessels. Of great importance to both 
 armies was the capture of the Nancy, an 
 ordnance brig with a complete cargo of 
 military supplies — saving only powder. So 
 valuable did Washington consider the capture 
 that he at once sent four companies to the 
 spot where the stores were landed, impressed 
 teams for transportation, and called out the 
 neighboring militia lest Howe should make 
 an effort to recover the royal property. The 
 British were on their part greatly disgusted at 
 the loss of the brig, not merely as weakening 
 them, but also as strengthening the enemy. 
 The chief prize on the ship was a thirteen- 
 inch brass mortar, which on its arrival in 
 camp was greeted with acclamation, and 
 by means of a bottle of rum was solemnly 
 christened the Congress. 
 
 It was about this time that Washington 
 had the satisfaction of being joined by his 
 wife. There had been a suggestion that her 
 residence on the Potomac was not safe, but 
 even before the naval raids Washington had 
 
374 The Siege of Boston 
 
 begun to suggest her joining him. She ar- 
 rived on the nth of December, and resided 
 until the end of the siege with him at his 
 headquarters in the old house still stand- 
 ing on Brattle Street, Cambridge. The house 
 has had an interesting history, having been 
 built by the Tory Vassalls, occupied by the 
 Marblehead regiment, by Washington, by Dr. 
 Andrew Craigie, surgeon at Bunker Hill, by 
 Jared Sparks, Edward Everett, Noah Webster, 
 and by the poet Longfellow, whose family 
 still owns it. The quarters were for Wash- 
 ington central and pleasant ; they gave him 
 his last taste of home life for years. 
 
 Yet we are not to imagine him at any time 
 free of difficulties. With December began 
 his troubles with the Connecticut troops, 
 whose enlistment had expired. In spite of 
 previous promises to remain until their places 
 were filled, and against orders to leave their 
 weapons, many of the Connecticut men 
 tried to slip away, guns and all. Washing- 
 ton frequently speaks of them in his letters 
 of the first half of December. In securing 
 

 ^I^^^^^SSiEsfl^^^^^^feUSkWi 
 
 Sjjfe 
 
 
 
 K 
 
 Sfc^^SjK3?V 
 
 
 ^w> 
 
 
 
 f$3$f 
 
 
 aSS^^^^sS^S^Wf,! a'K -k 
 
 
 EESyfAjiJgMBMBBgMi 
 
 i SBE>t3Pg^aa^ li T asafr iPOyl .Ear-' '."'iK 
 
 
 -f%g&§i§^ 
 
 ft#*3 
 
 fflwiSl™ 
 
 w$?lmk 
 
 fjHB»ii 
 
 iPsa 
 
 iB'Ml^S 
 
 X^><£|S35B*iy|ja 
 
 
 
 
 ^^^m^c, 
 
 
 iSar Basal iiSE&fy In 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 1 'PH^Si'ffiiriH 
 
 
 
 M#|P; Ws 
 
 *ijflfe.*. 
 
 
 H^^^KjT- 'i, -flj 
 
 
 
 
 
 1111111 
 
 
 • ;^J!Eft32§3RBtai« 
 
 S^affflwS^Svi '•' »iSSB l'HB r ' ' W>* ( '; 1 
 
 mSM-i- 
 
 l SraR@S?e rwGni 
 
 
 HbSSs^. 
 
 ■■(S3^®S^^^^^ 
 
 fc'yyajaEWt jBMB^j^'t^liESaSj^l' '. . |K$ ' 
 
 
 ■'*r,' : - ~c3§&$v25 
 
 ^^Wte^^f^*^HMr^W3^gUEjj3^i^|]^gg|. jfe^ffi^iij ^- 
 
 ^@' 
 
 •^W^Sw^^ji^^,* 
 
 
 W(Sm 
 
 T'^^^^^^ 
 
 v ^^S^SS^^^Sl^S^^^^^^^^^^^^' 
 
 
 ^-O^B5t''HW3C«:'r« 
 
 ^^^^^^^^tW^&i 
 
 Bii 
 
 « 
 
 a 
 
 H 
 
 OS 
 < 
 
 Q 
 < 
 
 g 
 
 3 
 
 n 
 < 
 
Washington's Difficulties 375 
 
 their return he was well aided by the officers, 
 and by the aged but still energetic Governor 
 Trumbull, who heard of the actions of his 
 men with "grief, surprise, and indignation." 
 Trumbull called the assembly of Connecticut 
 together to consider the situation, but action 
 was forestalled by the people of the different 
 towns. The hint that the soldiers had best 
 return voluntarily, lest they be sent back 
 with a feathered adornment that nature had 
 not provided, was sufficient to hurry most of 
 them back to their service. 
 
 No sooner had this matter been smoothed 
 over, than Washington had to meet the gen- 
 eral situation, when on the first of January 
 most of the enlistments would expire. For 
 some weeks he had been anxiously watching 
 the returns of the enlistments, and the figures 
 frequently plunged him into depression. On 
 the 28th of November, finding that but 
 thirty-five hundred men had enlisted, he 
 wrote : " Such a dearth of public spirit, such 
 stock-jobbing, and such fertility in all the 
 low arts to obtain advantages of one kind 
 
376 The Siege of Boston 
 
 or another, in this great change of military 
 arrangement, I never saw before, and pray 
 God's mercy I may never be witness to again." 
 A week later he found himself under obliga- 
 tions to give furlough to fifteen hundred 
 men a week, in order to satisfy them. To 
 fill their places and those of the Connecticut 
 troops, he called on Massachusetts and New 
 Hampshire for five thousand militia. By 
 the middle of December scarcely six thousand 
 men had enlisted, and on Christmas Day 
 only eight thousand five hundred. On New 
 Year's Day his army, which was to have been 
 at least twenty thousand men, was not quite 
 half that number. 
 
 Under such circumstances many a weaker 
 man would have thrown up his office or aban- 
 doned his post. Washington stuck to his task. 
 If Howe would but remain inactive, the lag- 
 gard country would in time retrieve itself. 
 As a matter of fact, many of the soldiers, after 
 a brief period of liberty, returned of their 
 own accord to the standard. We find at 
 least one case in the diary of David How, 
 
Washington's Difficulties 377 
 
 which, in addition to revealing his actions, 
 gives a glimpse of the camp at the end of the 
 year, when many of the men were going 
 away, and the others were joining their new 
 regiments. 
 
 "This Day," writes How on the 30th of 
 December, "we paraded and had our guns 
 took from us By the Major to prise them. 
 
 "31. This Day we have been In an uprore 
 about packun our Things up In order to go 
 home a Monday morning as Soon as we Can. 
 
 "Jan 1. We have ben all Day a pecking 
 up our Things For to go home. 
 
 "2d we all Left Cambridg this morning I 
 went to mr. Granger and staid all night. 
 
 "3d I went to methuen. 
 
 "5d I went to Haver hill to by some Leather 
 for B retches. 
 
 "6 day I come to Andover and Staid at Mr. 
 os goods. 
 
 "7 day I come to Cambridge about Six a 
 Clock at Night. 
 
 "Jany the 8 1776 This Day I Began with 
 Mr. Watson. . . . 
 
378 The Siege of Boston 
 
 "Jan 14. * This Day I wint to Cobble 
 Hill & to Litchmor point and to prospeck hill 
 & So Home again. Nothing new. 
 
 "22. I listed with Leut David Chandler 
 in Coin Sergant Regment." 
 
 And so David How, veteran of Bunker 
 Hill, and doubtless many other young men, 
 found the lure of the camp, and let us say 
 the chance to serve the country, too much 
 to withstand. Freedom to earn their own 
 wages, and to stroll about the fortifications 
 on Sundays, were not to be measured against 
 the romance of soldiering and the hope of 
 battle. 
 
 This same New Year's Day, 1776, occurred 
 an event of importance in the hoisting of the 
 flag with the thirteen stripes. Previously 
 the colonies had used different devices, in the 
 South a rattlesnake flag with the motto, 
 "Don't tread on me," and for the Connecticut 
 troops the colony arms and the motto Qui 
 transtulit sustinet, "which we construe thus : 
 ' God, who transplanted us hither, will sup- 
 
 1 This was a Sunday. 
 
Washington's Difficulties 379 
 
 port us.'" 1 Massachusetts had used the pine- 
 tree flag and the motto "Appeal to Heaven," 
 and the little navy had a sign by which its 
 ships were known to each other, "the ensign 
 up to the main topping-lift." Now for the 
 first time the thirteen stripes with the British 
 crosses in the corner were raised, amid much 
 enthusiasm. 
 
 Curiously, this coincided with the coming 
 of the king's recent speech in Parliament, 
 and a strange interpretation was put upon the 
 appearance of the new flag. The British 
 had caused to be sent to the American lines 
 many copies of the speech, expecting that 
 its expression of the king's determination 
 to prosecute the war, even by the use of for- 
 eign troops, would bring the rebels to their 
 knees. The cheering in the American camp, 
 all the louder on account of the sentiments' 
 of his gracious majesty, and the appearance of 
 the new flag, combined to make the British 
 suppose that the provincials were weakening. 
 "By this time," wrote Washington grimly on 
 
 1 Frothingham's " Siege," 104. 
 
380 The Siege of Boston 
 
 the 4th, "I presume they begin to think it 
 strange, that we have not made a formal 
 surrender of our lines." 
 
 It was well that he could jest, however 
 sternly, for his situation was newly compli- 
 cated by the permission of Congress to attack 
 Boston whenever he might think expedient, 
 "notwithstanding the town and property 
 in it may be destroyed." Such permission 
 was equivalent to a broad hint, and there 
 were not lacking suggestions from many 
 obscure quarters that the country would be 
 more content if its general should relieve it 
 of the presence of the British army. Of 
 "chimney corner heroes" Washington had 
 a genuine contempt, but the resolve of Con- 
 gress was another matter, especially when 
 it came through the hands of John Hancock. 
 He was the largest property-owner in the 
 town, and prospectively the greatest sufferer 
 by its destruction, yet he cheerfully wrote, 
 "May God crown your attempt with success ! " 
 
 Long before now, had Washington been 
 able, he would have attempted to storm the 
 
Washington's Difficulties 381 
 
 town. But as often as he called a council of 
 war to consider the matter, so often did 
 his generals advise against the attempt. The 
 Americans were doubtful, and Lee, affecting to 
 mistrust the temper of the troops, would not 
 advise the venture. As to burning the town 
 by throwing carcasses 1 into it, Lee told the 
 others that the town could not be set on 
 fire by such means. Washington looked for 
 a chance to assault the town by crossing on 
 the ice, but for a long time the Back Bay did 
 not freeze, and when at last it did, he had 
 neither men nor powder. Such then was 
 his situation when he answered the letter 
 of Hancock. 2 He begged Congress to consider 
 his situation if, in spite of their wishes, he did 
 not act. And that they should clearly un- 
 derstand, he wrote these words : — 
 
 "It is not in the pages of history, perhaps, 
 
 1 Carcasses were hollow shells with several openings. 
 They were filled with combustibles, and when thrown 
 into a town were intended to set fire to buildings. 
 
 2 Washington's communications to Congress were ad- 
 dressed to Hancock, as its President. 
 
382 The Siege of Boston 
 
 to furnish a case like ours. To maintain a 
 post within musket shot of the enemy, for 
 six months together, without 
 and at the same time to disband one army, 
 and recruit another, within that distance 
 of twenty-odd British regiments, is more, 
 probably, than was ever attempted." 
 
 The significant omission in this passage is 
 the word "powder." At another time, when 
 doubtful of the safety of his letter, he used 
 the paraphrase, "what we greatly need." 
 He knew that his correspondents would 
 supply the omission and interpret the ref- 
 erence. But once at least, on the 14th of 
 January, when writing to Joseph Reed, for- 
 merly his aide, to whom at this period he 
 seems to have written more freely than to 
 any one else, Washington gave a complete 
 account of his situation when almost at its 
 worst, and ended with an explanation of 
 his state of mind. Conditions are so com- 
 pletely summarized, and his thoughts are 
 so frankly given, that the paragraphs had 
 best be given entire. 
 
Washington's Difficulties 383 
 
 "Our enlistments are at a stand; the fears 
 I ever entertained are realized; that is, the 
 discontented officers (for I do not know how else 
 to account for it) have thrown such diffi- 
 culties or stumbling-blocks in the way of 
 recruiting, that I no longer entertain a hope 
 of completing the army by voluntary enlist- 
 ments, and I see no move or likelihood to do 
 it by other means. In the last two weeks 
 we have enlisted but about a thousand men ; 
 whereas I was confidently led to believe, by 
 all the officers I conversed with, that we 
 should by this time have had the regiments 
 nearly completed. Our total number upon 
 paper amounts to about ten thousand five 
 hundred ; but as a large portion of these are 
 returned not joined, I never expect to receive 
 them, as an ineffectual order has once issued 
 to call them in. Another is now gone forth, 
 peremptorily requiring all officers under pain 
 of being cashiered, and recruits of being 
 treated as deserters, to join their respective 
 regiments by the 1st day of next month, 
 that I may know my real strength ; but if 
 
384 The Siege of Boston 
 
 my fears are not imaginary, I shall have a 
 dreadful account of the advanced month's 
 pay. 1 In consequence of the assurances given, 
 and my expectation of having at least men 
 enough to defend our lines, to which may 
 be added my unwillingness to burthen the 
 cause with unnecessary expense, no relief of 
 militia has been ordered in, to supply the 
 places of those, who are released from their 
 engagements tomorrow, and as to whom, 
 though many have promised to continue 
 out the month, there is no security for their 
 stay. 
 
 "Thus I am situated with respect to men. 
 With regard to arms I am yet worse off. 
 Before the dissolution of the old army, I 
 issued an order directing three judicious men 
 of each brigade to attend, review, and ap- 
 praise the good arms of every regiment ; 
 and finding a very great unwillingness in 
 the men to part with their arms, at the same 
 time not having it in my power to pay them 
 for the months of November and December, 
 
 1 He had paid in advance all who had enlisted. 
 
Washington's Difficulties 385 
 
 I threatened severely, that every soldier, 
 who should carry away his firelock without 
 leave, should never receive pay for those 
 months ; yet so many have been carried off, 
 partly by stealth, but chiefly as condemned, 
 that we have not at this time one hundred 
 guns in the stores, of all that have been taken 
 in the prize ship and from the soldiery, not- 
 withstanding our regiments are not half com- 
 plete. At the same time I am told, and believe 
 it, that to restrain the enlistment to men with 
 arms, you will get but few of the former, 
 and still fewer of the latter which would be 
 good for anything. 
 
 "How to get furnished I know not. I have 
 applied to this and the neighboring colonies, 
 but with what success time only can tell. 
 The reflection of my situation, and that of 
 this army, produces many an unhappy hour 
 when all around me are wrapped in sleep. 
 Few people know the predicament we are in, 
 on a thousand accounts ; fewer still will be- 
 lieve, if any disaster happens to these lines, 
 from what cause it flows. I have often 
 
386 The Siege of Boston 
 
 thought how much happier I should have 
 been, if, instead of accepting the command 
 under such circumstances, I had taken my 
 musket on my shoulder and entered the 
 ranks, or, if I could have justified the measure 
 to posterity and my own conscience, had 
 retired to the back country, and lived in a 
 wigwam. If I shall be able to rise superior 
 to these and many other difficulties, I shall 
 most religiously believe, that the finger of 
 Providence is in it, to blind the eyes of our 
 enemies ; for surely if we get well through 
 this month, it must be for want of their 
 knowing the difficulties we labor under. 
 
 "Could I have foreseen the difficulties, 
 which have come upon us ; could I have 
 known, that such a backwardness would have 
 been discovered among the old soldiers to 
 the service, all the generals on earth should 
 not have convinced me of the propriety of 
 delaying an attack upon Boston till this 
 time." 1 
 
 One more blow Washington was to receive, 
 
 1 "Writings of Washington," iii, 238-241. 
 
Washington's Difficulties 387 
 
 in the news of the failure of the expedition 
 against Quebec. This came to him on the 
 17th of January. But from about that time, 
 though very slowly, the prospect began to 
 brighten. His army strengthened, money was 
 loaned him by Massachusetts, and though 
 early in February he reported that he had in 
 camp two thousand men without guns, even 
 muskets were eventually provided. More- 
 over, cannon were now supplied him, through 
 the exertions of Henry Knox. Washing- 
 ton had detached him in November to 
 go to Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and 
 provide means for bringing the captured 
 cannon to camp. The general had even 
 hoped that more might be had from Quebec, 
 but that expectation was now gone. Knox, 
 in the face of many difficulties, fulfilled his 
 mission. On December 17 he wrote from 
 Lake George that he had got the cannon as 
 far as that point, and with forty-two "ex- 
 ceedingly strong sleds" and eighty yoke of 
 oxen expected to make the journey to Spring- 
 field, whence fresh cattle would bring him to 
 
388 The Siege of Boston 
 
 Cambridge. The artillery, in this humble 
 manner, at last arrived, howitzers, mortars, 
 and cannon, fifty-five pieces of iron or brass. 
 With what had been captured elsewhere 
 the supply was ample, and the guns, after a 
 delay at Framingham, were mounted at the 
 fortifications, or reserved for the attempt to 
 take Dorchester. Powder also had slowly 
 come in faster than it was used or could 
 spoil, and Washington found himself almost 
 ready to act. 
 
 When at last he could draw a long breath, 
 with the feeling that the worst of the situa- 
 tion was over, he gave, in letters to Joseph 
 Reed and John Hancock, his opinion of his 
 army as it then was, and of the means to 
 make it better. Placed behind any kind of 
 shelter, his provincials would give a good 
 account of themselves. But they could not 
 yet be depended on to make an assault in the 
 open field. For this they would have to receive 
 severer training, and in order to acquaint 
 them with their proper duties a longer term 
 of service was necessary. Even now, at the 
 
Washington's Difficulties 389 
 
 beginning of another year of service, the 
 men had the officers too much in their power, 
 for indulgence was necessary in order to 
 make them enlist again. He was therefore 
 firmly of the opinion that his present army, 
 and all new recruits, should be enlisted "for 
 and during the war." Thus Washington, 
 looking beyond his still uncompleted task, 
 like Lincoln many years later, perceived the 
 only means to final success. 
 
 But with the means which he had at hand 
 he was now impatient to act. It was almost 
 March, and at any time Howe might receive 
 the reinforcements which would enable him 
 to take the offensive. Washington prepared 
 to fortify Dorchester as soon as the state 
 of the ground would permit of digging, and 
 in order to lessen the work he prepared 
 fascines — which were bundles of sticks — 
 and chandeliers or frameworks to hold the 
 bundles in place in order to serve as the body 
 of an embankment. Remembering how at 
 Bunker Hill the regulars had been led to 
 suppose that the troops at the rail fence, 
 
390 The Siege of Boston 
 
 protected by nothing except the rails and 
 hay, were behind an embankment, he col- 
 lected ropes of hay to use if necessary for 
 the same purpose, but also to bind the wheels 
 of his carts that they might make no noise. 
 Carts he collected to the number of three 
 hundred. In the Charles River he prepared 
 boats enough to carry twenty-eight hundred 
 men. Two floating batteries were also made 
 ready there ; a third had earlier been destroyed 
 by the bursting of its cannon when firing at 
 the camp on the Common. Washington was 
 about to strike, with the suddenness which 
 characterized him, but also with the thorough 
 readiness. 
 
 For his camp, even if temporarily, was 
 now full. Early in February came in ten 
 regiments of militia, summoned on service 
 until the first of April. They manifested, 
 he wrote with satisfaction, the greatest alert- 
 ness, and the determination of men engaged 
 in the cause of freedom. And on the first of 
 March he called into camp the militia of the 
 neighboring towns, who were to report at 
 
Washington's Difficulties 391 
 
 Roxbury fully equipped for three days' ser- 
 vice. To these men was read his general 
 order, preparing their minds for action. They 
 were forbidden to play at cards or other games 
 of chance, and advised to ponder the im- 
 portance of the cause in which they were 
 enlisted. "But it may not be amiss for the 
 troops to know," he added, "that if any man in 
 action shall presume to skulk, or hide himself, 
 or retreat from the enemy without the orders 
 of his commanding officer, he will be instantly 
 shot down." And with this exhortation and 
 warning Washington concluded his prepara- 
 tions. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE WINTER IN BOSTON 
 
 WHEN the British army went into 
 winter quarters it was nearly at the 
 end of its difficulties concerning food. 
 Supplies from England had been very meagre, 
 and the occasional raids had provided poorly 
 for the wants of the town. But since October 
 matters had improved, largely because of the 
 criticism of the English Whigs in Parliament. 
 These pointed out the inactivity of the troops, 
 the humiliation of the situation, the sickness 
 and want in Boston. In order that nothing 
 should be left undone to remedy the last, 
 the perplexed ministry spent money lavishly 
 to provision its garrison. Five thousand 
 oxen, fourteen thousand sheep, with a great 
 number of hogs, were purchased, and shipped 
 alive. Vegetables, preserved by a new pro- 
 cess, were bought in quantities ; wheat and 
 
 392 
 
The Winter in Boston « 393 
 
 flour were collected ; wood, coal, hay, and 
 other fodder, with beer, porter, rum, Geneva, 
 and the more innocent vinegar, were gener- 
 ously provided. To be sure, the commissions 
 on all these purchases provided fortunes 
 for the relatives of those in office, and the 
 ship-owners found excuses for setting sail as 
 late as possible, in order to increase the hire 
 of their craft. As a result, much of the vast 
 expense — some six hundred thousand pounds 
 for provisions alone - — was wasted. Con- 
 trary gales detained the ships ; the live stock 
 died by wholesale, and was thrown over- 
 board ; the vegetables spoiled ; and numbers 
 of the ships were lost outright. Others, ar- 
 riving without convoy at the American coast, 
 were captured by the watchful privateers. 
 But of such vast supplies enough reached 
 Boston to relieve the worst distresses of the 
 inhabitants. Though the poorer of the Whigs 
 had either to sign humiliating declarations 
 in order to share in the rations of the troops, 
 or else to continue on meagre fare, there was 
 enough in the general market for the well-to-do 
 
394 The Siege of Boston 
 
 among them to supply themselves. John 
 Andrews, for instance, though he lived at 
 the rate of six or seven hundred sterling a 
 year, after October ate scarcely three meals of 
 salt meat, "for I was determined to eat fresh 
 provissions, while it was to be got, let it cost 
 what it would." 
 
 There was, however, for months a great 
 shortage of fuel. As the winter set in early, 
 and with severity, large quantities were 
 needed, and there was little on hand. The 
 troops, of their own initiative, had already, 
 even in the summer, begun to make depre- 
 dations on private property, stealing gates 
 and breaking up fences. This the com- 
 manders endeavored to stop, but took the 
 hint and did the same by official condem- 
 nation. As so many of the inhabitants had 
 left the town, the abandoned houses were 
 torn down for fuel. When the winter came, 
 the troops again began on their own account 
 to steal wood. Howe threatened to hang the 
 next man caught in the act, but still was 
 forced to follow the example. 
 
The Winter in Boston 395 
 
 In choosing buildings for destruction, it 
 was very natural to select Whig property. 
 Perhaps the harshest assault on provincial 
 sentiment had been made in summer, when 
 during August Liberty Tree was felled. The 
 Whigs felt very indignant, but took a peculiar 
 pleasure in the reflection that during the 
 operation a soldier had been accidentally killed. 
 In the various poems written on the occasion 
 the wretch's soul was unanimously consigned 
 to Hades. It was besides remarked that 
 the genuine tree of liberty, of which this had 
 been but a symbol, had now grown so great 
 as to overshadow the continent. 
 
 Besides Liberty Tree, the property of 
 leading Whigs suffered. "My house and 
 barn," writes Newell the selectman, on the 
 16th of November, "pulled down by order 
 of General Robinson." Leach the school- 
 master, whose imprisonment had made him 
 a marked man, had a hard fight to save his 
 property. On Christmas Day he found a 
 party of soldiers destroying his wharf, which 
 had been allotted, as was the custom, to one 
 
396 The Siege of Boston 
 
 of the regiments, in this case the light dra- 
 goons. In spite of his efforts Leach was not 
 able to stop this destruction, as evidently in 
 the present state of the town there was no 
 use for wharves. But when his schoolhouse 
 was threatened he carried the matter to 
 headquarters. Howe said Leach had corre- 
 sponded with the people without. " I denied 
 the charge. . . . Finally I told him, as an 
 Englishman, and a subject of the King's, I 
 claimed protection of my property ; and if 
 my House was pulled down, I would follow 
 him to England, or to China, for satisfaction. 
 I expected he would get angry, and order me 
 under Guard, or else to Gaol again. How- 
 ever, in General he behaved kindly." Howe 
 referred him to his subordinates, who de- 
 layed giving orders until the soldiers had 
 already broken into the schoolhouse. With 
 much resolution Leach got them from the 
 house and stood on guard at the door until 
 by referring to Howe the schoolhouse was 
 saved. But Leach had meanwhile lost "valu- 
 able Books and Instruments, Drawings, Col- 
 
The Winter in Boston 397 
 
 ours, Brushes, several curious Optick Glasses, 
 and sundry things of Value that I brought 
 from India and China, that I cannot replace 
 for money." 1 
 
 At this time was pulled down the Old 
 North Church, the steeple of the West Church, 
 and John Winthrop's house, one of the oldest 
 landmarks in the town. Over in Charlestown 
 the troops used for fuel the deserted houses 
 that had not been consumed on the 17th of 
 June. At one time they were demolishing a 
 mill near the American lines, but the pro- 
 vincials drove them away and presently 
 burnt the mill. At another time, by a similar 
 endeavor to lessen the British supply of fuel, 
 there was brought about one of the more 
 amusing incidents of the siege. 
 
 The officers in Boston, having little active 
 work to do, were endeavoring to forget the 
 irksomeness and the humiliation of their situa- 
 tion. Through no fault of their own the 
 position was a hard one ; they had boasted, 
 and were not allowed to make good their 
 
 1 "N. E. Hist, and Gen. Register," 1865, 313-314. 
 
398 The Siege of Boston 
 
 vainglory; they had despised their adver- 
 saries, and were cooped up in a provincial 
 town. In letters home they uneasily en- 
 deavored to explain their inaction ; by return 
 mail they learned what the wits of London 
 had to say of both them and the country. 
 "Mrs. Brittania," remarked Horace Walpole, 
 "orders her Senate to proclaim America a 
 continent of cowards, and vote it should be 
 starved, unless it would drink tea with her. 
 She sends her only army to be besieged in 
 one of her towns, and half her fleet to besiege 
 the terra firma; but orders her army to do 
 nothing, in hopes that the American Senate 
 in Philadelphia will be so frightened at the 
 British army being besieged in Boston that 
 it will sue for peace." There was sting in 
 these words, but no remedy for the smart. 
 
 In order to forget such flings, and to 
 banish the consideration of crowded quarters, 
 irregular rations (for there still were periods 
 of lean supply), slow pay, and inaction, the 
 officers tried to kill time. The cavalry regi- 
 ments searched for a means of exercising their 
 
The Winter in Boston 399 
 
 horses, and Burgoyne is credited with the 
 solution of their problem. Newell recorded in 
 his journal how his church, after being profaned 
 by Morrison, was examined by the colonel of the 
 light horse, to see if the building was available 
 for a riding-school. "But when it was con- 
 sidered that the Pillars must be taken away, 
 which would bring down the roof, they altered 
 their mind — so that the Pillars saved us." 
 A more notable building had to suffer in- 
 stead. The Old South was taken for the 
 purpose. The furnishings were torn out, and 
 Deacon Hubbard's carved pew was carted 
 away to be used as a hog-sty. The dis- 
 mantled church was transformed into a riding- 
 ring, with tanbark on' the floor, and a leaping- 
 bar. One of the galleries was fitted up for 
 a social meeting-place; the remainder were 
 used for spectators, for whose comfort was 
 put in a stove into which disappeared for 
 kindling many of the books and manuscripts 
 stored in the building. For the rest of the 
 siege the' Old South, once so formidable, was 
 a centre of Tory fashion. 
 
400 The Siege of Boston 
 
 Burgoyne was credited, also, with the de- 
 sign of putting an almost equally sacred 
 edifice to a purpose still more horrifying to 
 the good Calvinists of Boston. Faneuil Hall, 
 the cradle of liberty, was made a theatre. 
 Various plays were performed, and the ama- 
 teurs were even so ambitious as to attempt 
 the tragedies of 7,ara and Tamerlane. For 
 the latter performance Burgoyne wrote a 
 prologue and epilogue, which were spoken by 
 Lord Rawdon, who had distinguished himself 
 at Bunker Hill, and "a young lady ten years 
 old." But the great event of the season was 
 to be the production of a farce called the 
 Blockade of Boston. It was this performance 
 which the Americans interrupted, to the peren- 
 nial satisfaction of all students of local history. 
 
 The play was to be performed on a Jan- 
 uary night. The Busy Body had just been 
 given, and the curtain rose on the farce, pre- 
 senting a view of the American camp, and 
 the figure of Washington absurdly burlesqued 
 in uniform, wig, and rusty sword. At~this 
 moment a sergeant suddenly appeared on 
 
The Winter in Boston 401 
 
 the stage, calling out, "The Yankees are 
 attacking our works on Bunker's Hill!" 
 Conceiving this spirited action a part of the 
 play, the audience began to applaud. But 
 the sergeant vigorously repeated his state- 
 ment, the sounds of distant cannonading 
 were heard, and an aide called out, "Officers, 
 to your posts !" The officers responded in 
 all haste, and the performance was over for 
 the evening. The reason for this interrup- 
 tion was that Washington had despatched a 
 party to burn some of the houses still stand- 
 ing in Charlestown. The success of the at- 
 tempt had caused the cannonading, and the 
 consequent interruption of the play. No 
 historian of the siege has failed to remark 
 that the Whig ladies had the laugh of their 
 Tory sisters, forced to return without their 
 escorts. 
 
 A month before this incident, on the 5th 
 of December, Burgoyne had sailed for home, 
 recalled largely at his own instance, but al- 
 ready under consideration for the disastrous 
 expedition from Canada. He did not return 
 
402 The Siege of Boston 
 
 to Boston until 1777, when he came as a 
 prisoner. It was when entering the town 
 that he learned that the townspeople had 
 long memories for his real or ascribed indig- 
 nity to the Old South, for when he remarked 
 to a friend upon the Province House, the 
 headquarters during the siege, a voice from 
 the crowd reminded him that the riding-school 
 was close at hand. Since on the same occa- 
 sion an old lady loudly beseeched her neigh- 
 bors to "give the general elbow-room," Bos- 
 ton may be said to have taken its mild 
 revenge on him. 
 
 Theatrical performances, balls, and parties 
 were the amusements of the officers at this 
 period of the siege, and persons of fashion 
 doubtless were pleasantly situated. It was 
 not so comfortable for the troops and their 
 dependents, as we have already seen. The 
 lack of fuel and consequent depredations on 
 property led to plundering of a different kind, 
 and petty thievery, which Howe put down 
 with a stern hand. Heavy floggings were 
 meted out to delinquents, and a wife of one 
 
The Winter in Boston 403 
 
 of the privates was even sentenced to public 
 whipping for receiving stolen goods. While 
 there were no true horrors at this siege, there 
 was thus much roughness of conduct among 
 the soldiery, and of this the Whigs were sure 
 to be the victims. With the example of 
 Leach and Lovell before their eyes, the wiser 
 among the provincials spoke cannily and 
 walked softly, and attracted as little attention 
 as possible. But among the poorer class 
 there was much distress for lack of food and 
 fuel, for even when the troops had plenty, it 
 was difficult for the patriots to buy. 
 
 With their strength somewhat depleted, it 
 was not to be wondered at that the poorer 
 class was visited by smallpox. The epidemic 
 was a mild one, and few persons died, but 
 the visitation created great uneasiness. To 
 lessen his burden, during the winter Howe 
 sent out several companies of the poorer folk 
 from the town, landing them at Point Shirley, 
 with the certainty that the Americans would 
 care for them. But his action called down 
 much reproach, and he was accused of send- 
 
404 The Siege of Boston 
 
 ing out persons with the smallpox, in order 
 to infect the besieging army. It was even 
 charged that he had purposely inoculated 
 some of the evicted. This, of course, is not 
 to be believed ; but it is curious to find the 
 British at last taking satisfaction in the epi- 
 demic, since it would prevent Washington 
 from attacking. 
 
 Gradually a feeling of security came over 
 the besieged town. Admiral Graves had 
 been recalled, and Shuldham took his place. 
 The lighthouse was rebuilt and guarded. 
 Howe felt strong enough to detach a squad- 
 ron from the fleet in order to carry Clinton 
 with a body of troops to the southward. 
 This was the expedition that made the un- 
 successful attack upon Charleston. Howe 
 sent other vessels to the northern provinces 
 and the West Indies, which brought in sup- 
 plies. The store-ships from England con- 
 tinued to come in, and though Howe was 
 vexed and at times alarmed by the loss of the 
 valuable stores that fell into Washington's 
 hands, on the whole he felt very strong. So 
 
The Winter in Boston 405 
 
 much fuel arrived that in January the de- 
 struction of houses and wharves was stopped, 
 and the men who had been on duty for the 
 purpose were commanded to make themselves 
 presentable. Neatness was a hobby with 
 Howe, and he enforced it on his men, though 
 at times the untidiness of his troops seems to 
 have been remarkable. 1 
 
 There are two expressions which show the 
 confidence entertained at this period, not 
 only by the garrison at large, but by the 
 British general. One Crean Brush had made 
 himself a place in the service, not in a mili- 
 tary capacity, but as a useful hanger on. In 
 January, anticipating the result of the spring 
 campaign, he offered to raise a body of volun- 
 teers, not less than three hundred, with which 
 he proposed, after the "subduction of the 
 main body of the rebel force," to keep order 
 along the Connecticut, and to maintain com- 
 munication westward with Lake Champlain. 
 There is no record that Howe took him at 
 
 1 See his general order enumerating faults, in Sparks, 
 "Writings of Washington," iii, 236, note. 
 
406 The Siege of Boston 
 
 his word, but he well might have done so, so 
 completely did he misjudge the situation. For 
 about the same time he wrote to Lord Dart- 
 mouth that he was not apprehending any 
 attempt by Washington, "by surprise or 
 otherwise." 1 
 
 But the surprise came. On the night of 
 the second of March the American batteries, 
 so long silent, began to play. From Cobble 
 Hill, Lechmere Point, and Lamb's Dam in 
 Roxbury, the three redoubts nearest to Bos- 
 ton, the Americans bombarded the town, and 
 Howe's gunners instantly responded. The 
 American fire was ineffective. "Our people," 
 wrote David How, "splet the Congress the 
 Third Time that they fired it." Other heavy 
 mortars were likewise burst, doubtless owing 
 to the inexperience of the gunners. But 
 Washington's purpose, to "divert the atten- 
 tion" of the British from Dorchester, was ful- 
 filled. They had no eyes save for the oppo- 
 ing batteries. For three nights the diversion 
 continued ; on the 4th it was, wrote Newell, 
 
 1 See Frothingham's "Siege," 294-295. 
 
The Winter in Boston 407 
 
 "a most terrible bombardment and cannon- 
 ade, on both sides, as if heaven and earth 
 were engaged." At 
 Braintree, miles away, 
 Abigail Adams listened 
 to the roar, and re- 
 corded the rattling of 
 the windows, and the 
 continual jar of the 
 house. "At six in the 
 morning," she writes, 
 "there was quiet," but 
 the quiet was from sat- 
 isfaction on the one 
 side, and amazement 
 on the other. 
 
 On the two heights 
 of Dorchester, com- 
 manding the town and 
 the harbor, stood two 
 American redoubts, 
 larger and stronger 
 than the redoubt at Breed's Hill. On lesser 
 elevations stood smaller works. Seen from 
 
 Tower on Dorchester Heights 
 commemorating the evacua- 
 TION or Boston 
 
408 The Siege of Boston 
 
 below, Washington's preparations seemed 
 complete. 
 
 All that moonlit night, while the cannon- 
 ade proceeded, the Americans had been busy. 
 Everything had been prepared : the forts 
 were staked out, the carts were loaded, the 
 men were ready. As soon as the cannonade 
 began, the men and carts were set in motion ; 
 the road was strewn with hay, and bales were 
 piled to screen the carts as they passed to and 
 fro. The troops worked with a will, first 
 placing fascines in chandeliers to form the 
 outlines of their works, and then covering 
 them with earth. There is no better con- 
 temporary account given than in the diary 
 of an unnamed officer, published some ninety 
 years later. 1 He wrote : — 
 
 "A little before sunset marched off from 
 Roxbury; but for more than half a mile 
 before we came to Dorchester lines, 2 we over- 
 took teams in great plenty, nor did we find 
 
 1 See the Historical Magazine for 1864, 328-329. 
 
 2 These were a line of fortifications facing Dorches- 
 ter, made earlier in the siege. 
 
The Winter in Boston 409 
 
 any vacancy till we came to the lines ; in 
 some places they were so wedged in together, 
 we were obliged to leave the road to get 
 forward; we reached the lines at seven 
 o'clock, where we waited half an hour for 
 orders, when a signal was given and the 
 cannonade began at Lamb's fort, and was 
 immediately answered by a very warm fire 
 from the enemy's lines ; a brisk fire between 
 N. Boston and our fortifications on Cambridge 
 side, began soon after. It was supposed 
 there was a thousand shot hove this night, 
 by both armies, more than three fourths of 
 which were sent from Boston. 1 Our party, 
 consisting of about 2400 men, with 300 teams, 
 were crossing the marsh, onto the Neck, 
 which together with a fresh breeze from 
 the S. W. 2 concealed us from the enemy till 
 they could see our works by daylight. The 
 
 1 According to Knox's return, given in Frothingham's 
 "Siege," 298, footnote, the Americans threw only 144 
 shot and 13 shells. The British seem to have needed 
 only an occasional stimulus. 
 
 2 This breeze would bring the smoke of the Roxbury 
 cannonade between the Heights and Boston. 
 
41 o The Siege of Boston 
 
 division to which I was assigned, commanded 
 by Col. Whitcomb, was ordered onto the 
 northerly hill, where in one hour's time we 
 had a fort enclosed, with fascines placed in 
 shandelears ; and we immediately employed 
 as many men at intrenching as could be 
 advantageously used for that purpose. A 
 larger party was assigned to the high hill, 
 where they erected a larger fort, built much 
 in the same manner as ours. There were 
 four other smaller forts and batteries erected 
 this night on other eminences on the Neck." l 
 It is not to be wondered that the British, 
 on making the discovery, "seemed to be in 
 great confusion." 2 The labor that had been 
 expended appeared prodigious. Washington 
 himself was satisfied with the works ; he 
 
 1 It seems generally to be considered that there was 
 but one fort at Dorchester. The statement in the text 
 is confirmed by the Revolutionary Journal of Colonel 
 Baldwin, one of the engineers. " Six works thrown up 
 this night at different places on the Hills & high ground 
 a very Great work for one Night." 
 
 2 Washington's letter to Hancock, "Writings," iii, 
 
 304- 
 
The Winter in Boston 411 
 
 knew them to be secure against the British 
 cannon. To Howe the achievement was 
 amazing, and he is said to have exclaimed 
 that his whole army could not have done as 
 much in a month. He wrote to Lord Dart- 
 mouth that the rebels must have employed 
 at least twelve thousand men, whereas it was 
 accomplished by two details of little more 
 than two thousand men each. But in those 
 days the British soldier was a poor hand 
 with a shovel, while the Americans were all 
 farmers. Nevertheless it is worth noting the 
 difference in organization displayed in the tak- 
 ing of Dorchester and in the earlier seizure of 
 Breed's Hill. Instead of a small detachment 
 sent to unsurveyed ground, and unaided dur- 
 ing both the work and the battle, Washington 
 had his ground prepared, 1 his detachments 
 ready, and his cannon in reserve to send upon 
 the Heights. In the morning the redoubts, 
 presenting the appearance of finished fortifica- 
 tions, were manned with fresh men. 
 
 1 Colonel Baldwin records that he was on the ground 
 in the afternoon. 
 
412 The Siege of Boston 
 
 Howe called at once a council of war. To 
 it the admiral was summoned, and declared 
 positively that his fleet was at the mercy of 
 the rebels. There was but one opinion as to 
 the situation : the honor of the army was at 
 stake, and in addition the military reputation 
 of the general. It was promptly decided to 
 storm the works. 
 
 For this purpose twenty-four hundred men 
 were sent to the Castle, which lay close under 
 the Heights to the east, with but a narrow 
 channel between. The command of these 
 men was given to Lord Percy, who hoped 
 now for the distinction which illness had pre- 
 vented his achieving at Bunker Hill. The 
 attack was to be made at night. Within the 
 lines at Boston Neck was to be gathered 
 another force of troops, which was to second 
 the attack from that direction. This last, 
 in the face of the strong batteries at Rox- 
 bury, was a forlorn hope ; according to Lieu- 
 tenant Barker the troops were not to load, 
 but to advance with fixed bayonets, and may 
 have hoped to carry the works by surprise. 
 
The Winter in Boston 413 
 
 Washington would have welcomed the main 
 attack. During the day his works were 
 strengthened and his men reinforced. Or- 
 chards had been cut down to serve as abattis, 
 and barrels of earth were ready to roll down 
 upon the British. The men were confident; 
 they were commanded by Thomas, one of the 
 best of the brigadiers, and Washington was 
 there in person with a reminder that put 
 courage into the breast of every American. 
 For the day which he had chosen to decide 
 the fate of Boston was the fifth of March, 
 the anniversary of the Massacre. 
 
 Besides all this, Washington had another 
 weapon in reserve. In the Charles River, 
 out of sight of Boston, were his two floating 
 batteries and his bateaux filled with soldiers. 
 They were under Putnam, Sullivan, and 
 Greene ; and at a given signal, if Washington 
 deemed the opportunity good, they were to 
 cross the Back Bay and attack the town. — 
 Truly the preparations were for such fighting 
 as had never been seen in America. 
 But they came to naught, for nature took 
 
414 The Siege of Boston 
 
 a hand in the struggle. Mercifully, since 
 amid the projected battles the town itself 
 might have perished with its inhabitants, 
 there sprang up a gale. "A Hurrycane," 
 wrote Newell, "or terrible sudden storm." 
 The violence of the wind was such that no 
 boat could live in the channel between the 
 Castle and Dorchester, two of Percy's trans- 
 ports were driven ashore, and the attack was 
 postponed. The next day the wind con- 
 tinued, accompanied by heavy rain. The 
 Americans continued to labor on their works, 
 until to every eye they were impregnable by 
 any force that Howe might send against 
 them. Howe called another council, and 
 asked it to concur in his intention to evacuate 
 the town. There was no other decision to 
 make, and on the 6th of March 1 the orders 
 were given. 
 
 "Blessed be God," wrote Newell, "our 
 redemption draws nigh." 
 
 1 Frothingham says the 7th. But see the diaries of 
 Barker (Atlantic, 39, 553) and Newell (Mass. Hist. Soc. 
 Coll., 1, Series 4, 272). 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE EVACUATION 
 
 WASHINGTON, looking into Boston 
 from the Heights of Dorchester, wit- 
 nessed the confusion of the British 
 at the discovery of his works, and watched 
 with grim pleasure the preparations made to 
 attack him. The abandonment of the assault 
 was to him a great disappointment. He had 
 never seen men more alert and willing than 
 his soldiers on the Heights. If Howe had 
 sent a small force against them, Washing- 
 ton felt confident of repulsing it. Had the 
 attacking force been so large as to have appre- 
 ciably weakened the army in Boston, Wash- 
 ington would have delivered his counter- 
 stroke by means of the men in boats under 
 command of Putnam. "He would have had 
 pretty easy work of it," 1 wrote Washington, 
 
 1 Trevelyan, in concluding that Washington disap- 
 proved of this attack by Putnam, is apparently misled 
 
 4i S 
 
41 6 The Siege of Boston 
 
 still after nearly a month regretting the 
 issue. He wrote his brother, "that this 
 most remarkable interposition of Providence 
 is for some wise purpose, I have not a doubt. 
 But ... as no men seemed better disposed 
 to make the appeal than ours did upon that 
 occasion, I can scarcely forbear lamenting the 
 dis appointment. ' ' 
 
 Washington lay for a while inactive while 
 the enemy prepared for their departure. 
 But upon Howe's shoulders was thrown a 
 tremendous task. He had under him, in the 
 army and the fleet, about eleven thousand 
 men. 1 For them he had been gathering mili- 
 tary stores and provisions ; he had many 
 
 by General Heath's curious habit of referring to himself 
 in his Memoirs as "Our General." It was Heath who 
 opposed the project. Against Howe's flimsy defences 
 on the Back Bay, if weakened of defenders, Putnam 
 might well have prevailed, especially in a night attack. 
 They were, wrote Edward Bangs, "ill-constructed, and 
 designed for little but to frighten us." James Warren, 
 who reported on these works, found them to be very 
 weak. See Frothingham's "Siege," 329. 
 1 Frothingham's "Siege," 311. 
 
The Evacuation 417 
 
 horses, much artillery, and at least a partial 
 equipment for field service, in preparation for 
 the spring campaign. His army had been at 
 Boston for many months, some of the regi- 
 ments for nearly two years ; consequently 
 there had been a natural accumulation of 
 personal effects, for the convenience of the 
 officers, with their wives and families. To 
 carry away this army, its stores, and its 
 belongings, there was not at hand enough 
 shipping. 
 
 But the difficulty was greater than this, 
 for Howe had to consider the Tories and 
 their families. Long before this, when Gage 
 was in command, the ministry had written 
 that in case of evacuation "the officers and 
 friends of government must not be left to the 
 rage and insult of rebels, who set no bounds 
 to their barbarity." Howe's ships, there- 
 fore, were to be at the service of the Tories, 
 and with full knowledge of the involved re- 
 sults, he so informed them. 
 
 When the realization of the situation burst 
 upon the Tories, they were, said a contem- 
 
41 8 The Siege of Boston 
 
 porary letter, "struck with paleness and 
 astonishment." x "Not the last trump," 
 wrote Washington, "could have struck them 
 with greater consternation." 2 Until the very 
 last, no suspicion of such a result seems to 
 have disturbed them ; they had borne them- 
 selves confidently, and had expected to see 
 their enemies scattered when the new forces 
 should arrive. Among their Whig brethren 
 they had been very high-handed. "The select- 
 men say," wrote Eldad Taylor, who must 
 have been at Watertown when the selectmen 
 arrived there with the news of the evacua- 
 tion, "that the Tories were the most dreadful 
 of any, that all the sufferings of the poor for 
 the want of provisions and the necessaries of 
 life, were not equal to the dreadful scorn, 
 derision, and contempt from them." 
 
 Upon the Tories was now put the hard 
 decision, whether to go or stay. In order to 
 decide, they needed to know what the Whigs 
 
 1 Eldad Taylor to his wife, Watertown, March 18, 
 1776. 
 
 2 "Writings," iii, 343. 
 
The Evacuation 419 
 
 would do to them; and to know that, they 
 had but to consider what they would do to 
 the Whigs in similar case. In their own 
 prison languished the Whig Lovell. They 
 thought of the Whig prisons which might be 
 waiting for them, and they decided to go. 
 
 It is not to be denied that the decision 
 was, under the circumstances, wise. The 
 loyalists were right in supposing that the 
 treatment which they would have meted to 
 the Whigs, the Whigs would mete to them. 
 For the country was inflamed against the 
 Tories ; Washington himself shared the sen- 
 timent against them. Much as we may 
 regret this feeling, we must remember that it 
 was natural to the age. Kind treatment to 
 an opponent in civil war was not yet gen- 
 erally practised ; it was Lincoln who made 
 the lesson acceptable to mankind. 
 
 Practically all of the Tories, therefore, 
 made up their minds to go. Some few, in- 
 deed, remained behind, counting upon their 
 humble station, or inoffensiveness. No harsh 
 treatment of them is recorded. The one 
 
420 The Siege of Boston 
 
 prominent Tory who remained, Mather Byles 
 the minister, soon weathered the storm that 
 rose against him. The remaining loyalists, 
 who planned to depart, were some eleven 
 hundred in number. It was necessary that 
 they should be accommodated in the ships, 
 necessary also that they should take with 
 them such of their valuables as were easily 
 portable. Howe gave orders that room be 
 made for them, and the orders were unselfishly 
 obeyed by the army and navy. 
 
 But the haste, the disorder, even the tu- 
 mult, in the days immediately following the 
 order to depart, were extreme. Each regi- 
 ment had to be assigned its transports, each 
 Tory to find space for himself and his family, 
 and if possible his goods. There was sorting 
 of effects, bundling up of valuables, and 
 strenuous efforts to get all in safety before 
 Washington should bombard. Diarists agree 
 in the concise terms with which they describe 
 the town. Says Newell for the 8th : "The 
 town all hurry and commotion, the troops 
 with the Refugees and Tories all embarking." 
 
The Evacuation 421 
 
 For the 9th he adds : "D°. D°. D°." And for 
 the 10th writes Lieutenant Barker : "Nothing 
 but hurry and confusion." 
 
 In the meantime the Americans at Dor- 
 chester strengthened their works, and fortified 
 one more eminence, which commanded the 
 channel. Washington did not wish to cannon- 
 ade the British, for if not attacked he saw 
 no advantage in attacking, lest the town 
 should be set on fire and burned. He there- 
 fore bided his time. All his action until now, 
 he wrote Hancock, was but preparatory to 
 taking post on Nook's Hill, a low promontory 
 which ran so far out upon Dorchester flats 
 that from its top cannon could enfilade the 
 British lines at the Neck, and could com- 
 mand almost any part of Boston. An attempt 
 to fortify it upon the night of the 9th was 
 betrayed by the folly of the men, who kindled 
 a fire and were dispersed by British cannon. 
 But by this Washington was not disturbed. 
 He was willing that Howe should delay for a 
 while, if the delay were not too long. He 
 himself had reasons for waiting, since he 
 
422 The Siege of Boston 
 
 reasoned that the British would, on depart- 
 ing, attempt to seize New York, and he 
 wanted time to prepare and despatch a force 
 to hold that place. So he watched the 
 British army, sent a regiment of riflemen to 
 strengthen New York, and made ready five 
 other regiments to depart as soon as the 
 British fleet should leave the harbor. 
 
 But at this time the inhabitants of Boston 
 were very uncertain of their own fate. Noth- 
 ing was more natural than that Washington 
 should attack, or that the exasperated British 
 should on departing, even if unassailed, set 
 fire to the wooden town. The selectmen, as 
 spokesmen for the inhabitants, therefore in- 
 quired of Howe what his intentions were. 
 Howe wrote in reply that he had no in- 
 tention of destroying the town, if he were 
 unmolested. This reply the selectmen sent 
 in haste to Washington, begging for a similar 
 assurance. Washington was not willing to 
 bind himself, and returned answer that as 
 Howe's note was "unauthenticated, and ad- 
 dressed to nobody," he could take no notice 
 
The Evacuation 423 
 
 of it. Nevertheless, since no threat was 
 made, the Bostonians felt more at ease. 1 
 
 All this time the wind was contrary, and 
 the troops unable to set sail. They there- 
 fore remained in their quarters, while com- 
 pleting their preparations for departure. As 
 the days passed Howe began to destroy 
 what he could not take with him, and to 
 seize what would be of advantage to the 
 rebels. His troops spiked cannon, burned 
 artillery and transport wagons, or else threw 
 them into the harbor, and ruined bulky 
 stores. What he did deliberately, his men 
 increased through malice. The 13th seems 
 to have been the worst day of this period. 
 "The Inhabitants," wrote Newell, "in the 
 utmost distress, thro' fear of the Town being 
 destroyed by the Soldiers, a party of New 
 York Carpenters with axes going thro' the 
 town breaking open houses, &c. Soldiers 
 and sailors plundering of houses, shops, ware- 
 houses — Sugar and salt &c. thrown into the 
 
 1 For this correspondence, see NewelFs " Diary," or 
 "Washington's Writings," iii, 531-53 3. 
 
424 The Siege of Boston 
 
 River, which was greatly covered with hogs- 
 heads, barrels of flour, house furniture, carts, 
 trucks &c. &c. — One Person suffered jour 
 thousand pounds sterling, by his shipping being 
 cut to pieces &c. — Another five thousand 
 pounds sterling, in salt wantonly thrown into 
 the river." No wonder that the sturdy old 
 selectman thought these to be "very dis- 
 tressed times." 
 
 Howe's agent in the work of plundering 
 was that Crean Brush who had offered to 
 police the western part of Massachusetts with 
 three hundred men. Him the general di- 
 rected to receive all linen and woollen goods 
 which were on sale, and to take those which 
 were not delivered, giving certificates for the 
 same. There is on file the petition of one 
 Jackson, begging for payment for goods 
 taken from him. Brush interpreted his com- 
 mission very freely, and it was suspected 
 that he was plundering on his own account. 
 Every soldier or sailor who could give his 
 officer the slip was doing the same, in spite of 
 Howe's honest efforts to stop the plundering. 
 
The Evacuation 425 
 
 There was a little genteel thievery as well. 
 Some of the Tories had unfairly secured more 
 than their share of room on shipboard, and 
 found this the chance to take their pick of 
 the furniture of their Whig relatives. "Wat," 
 wrote John Andrews to his brother-in-law in 
 Philadelphia, "has stripped your uncle's 
 house of everything he could conveniently 
 carry off. . . . He has left all the looking 
 glasses and window curtains, with some 
 tables and most of the chairs ; only two bed- 
 steads and one bed, without any bedding or 
 sheets, or even a rag of linnen of any kind. 
 Some of the china and the principal part of 
 the pewter is the sum of what he has left, 
 save the Library, which was packed up 
 corded to ship, but your uncle Jerry and Mr. 
 Austin went to him and absolutely forbid it, 
 upon his peril." 
 
 Another library did not fare so well. At 
 this time disappeared that part of the Prince 
 collection which had not been used for kind- 
 ling the fires in the Old South. With it van- 
 ished the Bradford manuscript history of 
 
426 The Siege of Boston 
 
 the Plymouth plantation, which a later gen- 
 eration freely returned. 
 
 While the Tories were so carefully looking 
 to the future, the Whigs were obliged to guard 
 what they could. Newell covers too many 
 incidents with etceteras, but John Andrews 
 who, as soon as the siege was lifted, was free 
 to begin again his correspondence, speaks 
 clearly of his difficulties. Through the siege 
 he had had the care of six houses with their 
 furniture, and as many stores filled with goods ; 
 but now he underwent more fatigue and 
 perplexity than for the past eleven months, 
 for "I was obliged," he says, "to take my 
 rounds all day, without any cessation, and 
 scarce ever fail'd of finding depredations 
 made upon some one or other of them, that 
 I was finally necessitated to procure men at 
 the extravagant rate of two dollars a day to 
 sleep in the several houses and stores for a 
 fortnight 1 before the military plunderers went 
 off — for so sure as they were left alone one 
 night, so sure they were plundered." Later 
 
 1 It cannot have been more than eleven days. 
 
The Evacuation 427 
 
 he was obliged to pay at the rate of a dollar 
 an hour for hands to assist him in moving; 
 but "such was the demand for laborers, that 
 they were taken from me, even at that, by 
 the tories who bid over me." 
 
 So, while the wind continued contrary, the 
 plundering and the destruction continued. 
 Before long the seashore dwellers might do 
 their share of rescue, as the articles which 
 were thrown into the harbor — "mahogany 
 chairs, tables, etc.," records Abigail Adams 
 — were cast up on the beaches. But one by 
 one the transports filled and dropped down 
 the harbor, until at last Washington grew im- 
 patient, and on the night of the 16th made his 
 last move. Though the British, aware of the 
 attempt, fired with their remaining guns all 
 night at Nook's Hill, the Americans doggedly 
 entrenched without returning a shot, and in 
 the morning showed a finished redoubt. It 
 was, as Trevelyan well says, Washington's 
 notice to quit. 
 
 Howe meekly accepted it. "At 4 o'clock 
 in the Morn.," writes Lieutenant Barker, 
 
428 The Siege of Boston 
 
 "the troops got under arms, at 5 they began 
 to move, and by about 8 or 9 were all em- 
 barked, the rear being covered by the Grena- 
 diers and Light Infantry." The ships sailed 
 down the channel, no shot was fired from 
 the American batteries, and in return the 
 Fowey, the last of the fleet, which Howe had 
 threatened should fire the town before she 
 departed, carried away with her her " carcases 
 and combustibles," and Boston stood free 
 and unharmed. 
 
 In half an hour the Americans were in 
 possession. From Roxbury a company of 
 five hundred, picked for the service because 
 they had had the smallpox, entered the 
 British lines, and manned the fortifications 
 which looked toward the harbor. In the 
 redoubt at Bunker Hill sentries appeared 
 to be still doing their duty ; but two men who 
 were sent to reconnoitre found them to be 
 dummies, and signalled their companions to 
 follow them. General Putnam was given 
 command of the town, from entering which 
 the army in general, and all civilians, were 
 
The Evacuation 429 
 
 prohibited until it was ascertained whether 
 there was danger of smallpox. 
 
 Washington's other measures were decisive. 
 He directed Manly, admiral of his little 
 squadron, to follow the British fleet and cut 
 off as many vessels as possible. One result 
 of this order gave the greatest satisfaction. 
 "The brave Captain Manly," wrote Andrews, 
 "has taken the Brig that contained that 
 cursed villain, Crean Brush, with great part of 
 the plunder he rob'd the stores of here, that 
 I immagine she must be the richest vessell 
 in the fleet." Other ships were either simi- 
 larly taken, or were forced to put ashore 
 from lack of provision or of preparation. 
 
 Another of Washington's moves was to 
 despatch his five regiments to New York. 
 They went by way of Norwich, Connecticut, 
 and from there, to save fatigue and time, 
 were taken by water to the city. They arrived 
 fresh and ready for the expected struggle, 
 but though they watched long for the British 
 fleet, it did not come. 
 
 Washington's third action was to defend 
 
43° The Siege of Boston 
 
 Boston against a possible return of the Brit- 
 ish. The "lines" at Boston and Charlestown 
 necks were demolished, and on the day after 
 the evacuation Putnam and his men were 
 at work building on Fort Hill a redoubt to 
 command the harbor. With this and the 
 Dorchester batteries the Bostonians might 
 have been satisfied, but within a month they 
 began fortifying Noddle's Island against any 
 possible attempt by sea. 
 
 In all these precautions the Americans 
 were hastened by the fact that the British, 
 though they had left the upper harbor, were 
 still in the lower, lying off Nantasket. " From 
 Penn's Hill," wrote Abigail Adams to her 
 husband, "we have a view of the largest 
 fleet ever seen in America. You may count 
 upwards of a hundred and seventy sail. They 
 look like a forest." Their stay greatly puz- 
 zled Washington : " what they are doing," 
 he wrote, "the Lord knows." He was 
 troubled as well. The ten regiments of militia, 
 which had strengthened his army since the 
 first of February, had promised to remain 
 
The Evacuation 431 
 
 only until the first of April, and he knew 
 that it was " as practical to stop a torrent, as 
 these people, when their time is up." He 
 therefore feared lest the British, by striking 
 with all their force upon his rear, might do 
 him great injury. 
 
 This was not the first time that Washing- 
 ton, reasoning according to his own nature, 
 expected from Howe that vigorous action 
 which the British general was unable to per- 
 form. Howe, humiliated as he must have 
 felt at receiving, while his vessel passed down 
 the harbor, a despatch from the ministry 
 applauding his decision not to evacuate the 
 town, had no thought of revenge. He blew 
 up the fortifications at the Castle, and pre- 
 pared to destroy the lighthouse, but his pur- 
 poses in remaining were to fit his fleet for 
 sea, and to warn those British vessels which 
 were bound for Boston. Nor had he the 
 slightest intention of seizing New York. 
 The statements which had come to Washing- 
 ton's ears, that Howe's destination was Hali- 
 fax, in spite of the American's incredulity, 
 
43 2 The Siege of Boston 
 
 were correct. On the 27th of March, ten 
 days after the evacuation, the greater part 
 of Howe's fleet weighed anchor, and sailed 
 away for Halifax. His army felt its shame. 
 "I do not know the thing so desperate," 
 wrote an officer, "I would not undertake, 
 in order to change our situation." 1 But in 
 spite of the chagrin in the hearts of his soldiers, 
 and the despair in the breasts of the Tories, 
 few of them ever looked upon Boston again. 
 
 Before this time it had been ascertained 
 that Boston was in no serious danger from 
 smallpox, and on the 20th the main body 
 of the army marched into Boston. It was 
 an occasion of great happiness to the inhab- 
 itants, and they "manifested a lively joy." 
 Two days later the town was thrown open 
 to all comers, and once more, as before the 
 Port Bill, entrance by land or ferry was free. 
 
 The town was speedily examined in all 
 particulars, and those who had suffered by 
 the siege were encouraged to bring in claims 
 for damages. It was found that, except 
 
 1 Frothingham's "Siege," 310. 
 
The Evacuation 433 
 
 for the absolute destruction of buildings for 
 fuel, the injury to houses was inconsider- 
 able. Where the common soldiers had lived, 
 interiors were defaced; yet externally the 
 houses of the town looked much as they had 
 before the siege. Where the officers had 
 lived, the dwellings had suffered little, and 
 even the homes of the prominent Whigs had 
 not been injured. Abigail Adams wrote to 
 her husband that their house was "very 
 dirty, but no other damage has been done to 
 it." She looked upon it as a new acquisition 
 of property. Washington took pains to write 
 Hancock, who had been so ready to sacrifice his 
 belongings to the cause of the country, that 
 his house, and even his furniture and pictures, 
 had received no damage worth mentioning. 
 
 To the immense satisfaction of all Whigs, 
 many military stores were found in the town. 
 Most important were more than two hun- 
 dred pieces of ordnance, the larger part of 
 which, though spiked, could soon be put into 
 serviceable condition. Balls and shells for 
 the cannon and mortars were found; pro- 
 
434 
 
 The Siege of Boston 
 
 visions, horses and their provender, medi- 
 cines in quantity, and many other articles 
 were discovered, amounting in value to nearly 
 
 forty thousand 
 pounds. The 
 booty of Brush 
 of course swelled 
 this amount. 
 
 The Whigs 
 now might see 
 their friends 
 again, and for a 
 short time en- 
 
 Gold Medal commemorating Washington's joyed military 
 
 VICTORY 
 
 society of a new 
 sort. John Andrews reports "nothing but a 
 continual round of company." "Last week," 
 he recorded, "I had the honor of General 
 Washington with his lady, General Gates, 
 Mr. Custos and Lady, with aid de Camps, 
 &ca, to dine with me." It was an occasion 
 of which he boasted to his dying day. In the 
 town, now flooded with provision, there were 
 many eager to feast Washington. 
 
The Evacuation 435 
 
 But he did not tarry long. While Howe 
 and his fleet were in the bay, he kept his men 
 at work demolishing the British defences 
 against the land, and strengthening the forts 
 which looked seaward, and he was continually 
 on his guard against the blow which Howe 
 might deliver. But when the British had 
 sailed away to the north-east, Washington 
 himself, on the 4th of April, set off for New 
 York. 
 
 Howe had nevertheless left vessels at Nan- 
 tasket Roads, to intercept the troop-ships 
 and stores which were on their way to him. 
 In this he was partly successful, for seven 
 ship-loads of Highlanders were by this means 
 saved from Yankee prisons. But even while 
 the evacuation was in progress British vessels 
 were captured in the harbor, and now in 
 sight of the squadron and its Highlanders 
 was taken the richest store-ship that had 
 yet fallen into American hands. There was 
 a brisk fight, also, between an American 
 schooner, aground on Shirley Point, and 
 thirteen boat-loads of men from the war- 
 
436 The Siege of Boston 
 
 ships. The boats were beaten off, but the 
 British had accomplished the death of the 
 captain of the schooner, America's first naval 
 hero, Mugford of Marblehead. 
 
 At length a determined effort was made 
 to drive away the squadron. The militia 
 was called out, and artillery was carried to 
 islands down the harbor. There was a brief 
 cannonade between the Americans and the 
 fleet. Then the British commander, find- 
 ing his anchorage no longer safe, blew up 
 the lighthouse and followed Howe to Halifax. 
 This was on the second anniversary of the 
 enforcement of the Port Bill. Two days 
 later the remainder of the Highlanders, un- 
 suspiciously entering the harbor, fell into 
 the hands of the Americans. 1 
 
 The British resentment aroused by this 
 last mischance was mild compared with the 
 general indignation which burst on Howe's 
 
 1 See concerning these men and their commander the 
 interesting monograph by Charles H. Walcott: "Sir 
 Archibald Campbell of Inverneil, sometime Prisoner of 
 War in the Jail at Concord, Massachusetts." Privately 
 printed. 
 
The Evacuation 437 
 
 head at his conduct of the defence of Boston, 
 and his hurried evacuation. The ministry 
 announced the departure from Boston in 
 the briefest fashion, but were forced to ex- 
 plain and excuse it in both the Commons and 
 the Lords. "The General thought proper 
 to shift his position," explained the Earl of 
 Suffolk to the Lords, "in order, in the first 
 place, to protect Halifax." 1 But the defence 
 was riddled, Howe's general weakness was 
 exposed, his neglect to fortify Dorchester 
 was pointed out, and the English Whigs 
 acutely reasoned that he must have had a 
 virtual agreement with Washington to pur- 
 chase the safety of the fleet and army at the 
 price of immunity to the town. Newspapers 
 and pamphleteers took up the subject, and 
 Howe was eventually forced to ask for an 
 inquiry into his conduct of the siege. To 
 his dying day he was severely criticised for 
 his generalship in America, and especially at 
 Boston. 
 
 Of the other British military leaders, not 
 
 1 "The Writings of Washington," iii, 531. 
 
438 The Siege of Boston 
 
 one was successful. Gage was never again 
 given a command. Burgoyne returned to 
 Boston only as a prisoner. Clinton for a 
 time commanded in America, but he was 
 recalled. 
 
 As for the master whom these generals 
 served, the king who was the cause of the 
 war, his failure was complete. George III lost 
 not only his revolted colonies, but also the 
 dearer prize for which he fought, personal 
 government. When at last peace was signed, 
 the Americans had gained independence, and 
 the English people had finally established the 
 supremacy of Parliament. The king might 
 reign, but he could no longer govern. 
 
 The fate of the Tories cannot detain us 
 long, painful as it was. Some few returned 
 to America after the war, and made again' 
 places for themselves. Among these was 
 Judge Curwen. Some went to England, where 
 they were out of their element. Dependent 
 for the most part on the bounty of the crown, 
 they lived in hope of a change of fortune. : 
 They longed for their homes, and sickened j 
 
The Evacuation 439 
 
 for a sight of the New England country, to 
 them the most beautiful on earth. Many of 
 them were too old to begin life anew : by the 
 end of the war it was recorded that, of the 
 Massachusetts Tory leaders, forty-five died 
 in England. One of these was Hutchinson, 
 upon whose life the best comment is the con- 
 cluding sentence of Sabine's brief biography : 
 "I forget, in his melancholy end, all else." 
 
 But numbers of the Tories remained in 
 Canada. Doubtless many were discouraged 
 from going to England by the reports of 
 the condition of those already there. "As 
 to your coming here," wrote Governor Went- 
 worth from London to a friend in New Bruns- 
 wick, "or any other Loyalist that can get 
 clams and potatoes in America, they would 
 most certainly regret making bad worse." 1 
 On such advice as this many, indeed most, 
 of the refugees remained in Canada, and after 
 the war, in which many of them fought, 
 were of great service in building up that 
 country. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick 
 
 1 Sabine's "Loyalists," 217. 
 
440 The Siege of Boston 
 
 received the larger number of them ; they 
 became leaders of the bar, judges, physicians, 
 ( prominent office-holders. It is not to be 
 denied that among them were suffering and 
 misery ; they had lost much and had to begin 
 again from the bottom, and many succumbed 
 to the difficulties of the new life. After the 
 war attempt was .made to gain from the 
 United States compensation for their losses ; 
 but the new country was unable even to 
 recompense those who had suffered in its cause. 
 The loyalists therefore looked to Britain for 
 help, and in some measure found it, in pensions, 
 grants of money, and holdings of land. 
 : There is much to regret in this emigration, 
 which took from New England such numbers 
 of men and women of good blood and gentle 
 breeding. For the Tories were largely of 
 the better class, many of them had been edu- 
 cated at Harvard, and they represented an 
 element which no community can afford to 
 lose. Some of the difficulties of the new 
 commonwealths were due to the loss of the 
 conservative balance-wheel ; some further 
 
The Evacuation 441 
 
 troubles beset them from the bitterness of 
 feeling in the new colonists across the border. 
 This has now died away, but boundary and 
 fisheries disputes long brought out the hos- 
 tility latent in the descendants of the Tories. 
 
 So much for the losers in the fight. 
 Of the winners, no American needs to be 
 more than reminded of their fame and their 
 successes. At the siege Washington made his 
 first claim to fame. He proved his tenacity, 
 his mastery of men, and the greatness of his 
 resolution and daring. Some of his gen- 
 erals followed him in his success, some were 
 failures. Lee attempted treachery, but was 
 finally discarded by both sides. Gates en- 
 deavored to displace Washington, but ruined 
 himself in the attempt. But most of Wash- 
 ington's other generals were able men. Greene 
 proved himself to be a military genius second 
 only to Washington. Knox, the sole Bos- 
 tonian on Washington's staff, commanded 
 the artillery throughout the war. 
 
 Of the chief Boston politicians, all ended 
 their days honorably. Soon after the evacua- 
 
44 2 The Siege of Boston 
 
 tion the body of Warren was sought for 
 among the dead buried on Bunker Hill. It 
 was found, identified, and entombed at Boston 
 with solemn mourning. Hancock presently 
 signed his name on the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence so large that King George could 
 read it without his spectacles. The Boston 
 merchant served the Continental Congress 
 for another year as its president; then re- 
 turning to Boston he became "King" Han- 
 cock, the governor of Massachusetts practi- 
 cally for life. John Adams passed to greater 
 usefulness as envoy to France, first minister 
 to Great Britain, and finally as Washington's 
 successor as President. But to a student of 
 Boston itself the mind dwells most willingly 
 on Samuel Adams, "the man of the town 
 meeting," who roused the rebellion, guided it 
 skilfully, served usefully in many public capaci- 
 ties, and became governor after Hancock's 
 death. His statue stands to-day in the square 
 named after him, not far from the Old South 
 and the old Town House, and within sight 
 of Faneuil Hall. 
 
The Evacuation 443 
 
 But we trespass beyond the period of 
 this history. When Howe sailed away, Bos- 
 ton's share in the Revolution was practically 
 ended. No attempt was made to retake the 
 town, for there could be no profit in gaining 
 what could not be held. In the remaining 
 years of the war the town had no more serious 
 duty than fitting out ships of war and priva- 
 teers, and of entertaining the officers of the 
 French fleet. But Boston had earned its 
 rest. For nearly sixteen years the town had 
 stood as the spokesman for liberty, the 
 leader of revolt. In bringing the country 
 safely through a critical period, the services 
 of Boston were essential. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Adams, John. 57. 65. Quoted, 67- 
 69. 103. 104-105. Elected to 
 Continental Congress, 11 1. Re- 
 fuses to support the king, 112. 126. 
 297-299. His house, 433. 442. 
 
 Adams, Samuel. 37. His earlier 
 career, 46-50. Independence his 
 object, 55-57. After the Mas- 
 sacre, 67-70. Sam Adams regi- 
 ments, 70. 74. 78-103. Attempt 
 to bribe him, 106-107. no. Tricks 
 the Governor at Salem, in. Dem- 
 onstration of respect for, 114-115. 
 Goes to the Continental Congress, 
 116. 138. Returns to Boston, 
 140. 155. 158. 178. 183. 187. 
 189. 251. 291. 294. 298. 442. 
 
 Andrews, John. 82. 91. 95. g7. 
 101. 102 and note. 107. 114. 
 124. 147. 158. 224. 226. 231- 
 232. 394. 425. 434. 
 
 Andros. Seizing of, 8. 70. 
 
 Arnold, Benedict. 218. 247. 362. 
 
 Barker, Lieut., Quotations from 
 Diary. 148-150. 157. 184. 186. 
 192. 195. 196. 212-213. 22 8. 
 246. 249-250. 252. 254. 274. 
 268. 412. 421. 427. 
 
 Bernard, Francis. Arrives as gov- 
 ernor, 23. Cowardice of, 51. 53. 
 54- 66. 
 
 Berniere, Ensign de. His expeditions 
 to map the roads, 162 ff. 196. 
 203. 207. 215. 
 
 Boston, The Town of. Proposition 
 to make Boston a city, 14. Det- 
 estation of mobs, 37. Non-im- 
 portation resolve, 46. Stamp Act 
 
 mob, 34-36; Discussed, 37. Not 
 riotous, 51. Customs riot, 53. 
 Tea-party town meetings, 79, 81. 
 Whigs, four classes of, 92-96, 
 Port Bill enforced, 98. Measures 
 of relief, 100. Refusal of town to 
 pay for tea, no. The selectmen's 
 answer to Gage, 113-114. State 
 of, 1 20-121. Geography of, 126- 
 127. After Powder Alarm, 131. 
 Ignores Gage, 134. Situation in, 
 147. Troubles with the troops, 
 148-150. Growing intensity, 158- 
 160. The Whig watch upon Gage, 
 176 ff. The 19th of April in, 206; 
 210-212. The Siege begins, 214. 
 The agreement with Gage to give 
 up arms, 224. Inhabitants leav- 
 ing, 225; prevented, 226-227. For- 
 tifications, 234-236. Evacuated, 
 428 ff. ' Boston's service to the 
 Revolution, 443. 
 
 Brush, Crean. 405. 424. 429. 434. 
 
 Bunker Hill. 219. 253-255. Battle 
 of, 256 ff. British redoubt on, 
 336,358. 353- 428. 
 
 Burgoyne, Sir John. 141-142. Ar- 
 rives at Boston; "Elbow-room," 
 239. His opinion of the situa- 
 tion, 240. Writes proclamation 
 for Gage, 250-251. 253. Descrip- 
 tion of Bunker Hill, 271, note. 
 Writes Gage's letter to Washing- 
 ton, 312-313. Correspondence with 
 Lee, 314 ff. Opinion of the situa- 
 tion after Bunker Hill, 332-333. 
 334. Opinion of the Admiral, 339- 
 340. Makes Old South a riding- 
 school, 399; and Faneuil Hall a 
 
 445 
 
446 
 
 Index 
 
 theatre, 400. Sails for home, 401. 
 Returns as a captive, 402. 438. 
 Byles, Mather. 93. 420. 
 
 Cambridge. The Powder Alarm 
 gathering, 123-124. Ward's head- 
 quarters, 216. Washington's head- 
 quarters, 374. 
 
 Castle, The; or Castle William. 58. 
 67. 70. 122. 431. 
 
 Charlestown. Strategic importance 
 of its hills, 127. Regulars encamp 
 at, 210-220, 252. 253-254. Battle 
 of Bunker Hill, 256 ff. Set on fire, 
 270. Further destruction of, for 
 fuel, 3g7, 400. 
 
 Charter, The, of Massachusetts. 
 Original grant by Charles I, 5. Of 
 William, 9-1 1. 86. Laws practi- 
 cally abrogating the Charter, 88- 
 89. 
 
 Chatham, Earl of. Pitt takes title, 
 41. Illness, 41. 146. 
 
 Church, Dr. Benjamin. A trusted 
 patriot leader, 176. Enters Bos- 
 ton, 223. The first American 
 traitor, 224. Treason discovered, 
 327 ff. 
 
 Clinton, Sir Henry. 141. Arrives 
 at Boston, 239. 260. 257, note. 
 438. 
 
 Cobble Hill. 360. 378. 406. 
 
 Common, Troops encamped on, 58. 
 
 Concord, Provincial Congress meets 
 at, 137. Berniere's visit to, 164. 
 Provincial Congress meeting in, 
 171. The stores in, 172. Removal 
 begun, 173. 
 
 Concord Fight. Nothing acci- 
 dental in its occurrence, 173. The 
 militia gather, 194. Geography of 
 the town, 195. The British in, 
 195 ff. The Fight, 200 ff. The 
 British retreat, 203. The Pursuit, 
 204 ff. 
 
 Continental Congress. 
 
 The First. Massachusetts dele- 
 gates elected, in. They depart 
 
 for Philadelphia, 116. Resolve 
 of Congress, 139-140. 
 
 The Second. 188. 291. Hesi- 
 tates before rebellion, 292. 
 "Adopts" the army, 298-299. 
 Sends committee to Washington, 
 364-365. Is irregular and niggardly 
 in appropriations, 371. Suggests 
 that Washington storm Boston, 
 380-381. 
 
 Correspondence, Committee of, 74. 
 80. 96-97. no. Preserve order 
 in Massachusetts, 132. . , 
 
 Curwen, Judge Samuel. 229-230, 
 232. 233. 439. 
 
 Customs, Officials of. Petition for 
 Writs of Assistance, 23. Com- 
 missioners, 44, 45. 50. 99. 
 
 Dawes, William. His ride to Lexing- 
 ton, 180, 186. Starts for Concord, 
 188. Strategy to escape pursuers, 
 189. 
 
 Dorchester. Strategic importance of 
 the Heights, 127, 252. 256. 335. 
 Fortified, 406 ff. 415. Nook's 
 Hill, 421, 427. 
 
 Edes, Peter. 350-351. 352. 353. 
 Emerson, Rev. William. Views Con- 
 cord Fight, 201. 203. 303. 308. 
 
 Falmouth, Burning of. 356-357. 
 Faneuil Hall. 58. 66. 244. 400. 
 Flag. 378-379- 
 
 Franklin, Benjamin. 84-85. 86-87. 
 160. 292. 293. 326. 364. 
 
 Gage, Thomas. 87. Governor; his 
 temperament, 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 
 103. 108. 109. Is tricked by 
 Sam Adams, 110-112. 113. Is 
 baffled by selectmen of Boston, 
 113-114. 116. 119. Seizes the 
 Powder, 1 21-122. 123. Fortifies 
 theNeck, 126-128. 129. 133. 137. 
 138. Disgusts the king, 141. 143. 
 His character, 145. 148. Sends 
 
Index 
 
 447 
 
 out Bemiere to map roads, 161 ff. 
 Prepares to act, 178. 214. Be- 
 tween two fires,' 210-220. With- 
 draws from Charlestown, 220. Let- 
 ter from Warren, 221-222. Agree- 
 ment with the town, 224. The 
 exodus checked, 226-227. He forti- 
 fies Boston, 240. Tries to get hay, 
 247 ff. Issues a proclamation, 251. 
 Strategy of Bunker Hill, 238-259. 
 260. 335. Continues to fortify, 
 336. Interview with Newell, 355. 
 Recalled, 355. Departs rom Bos- 
 ton, 356. In retirement, 438. 
 
 Gage, Mrs. Thomas. 185. 348. 
 
 George in. His mother's training, 
 12. His environment, 15-17. 38. 
 73- 74- 75- 84. 86. 87. Plans 
 the Port Bill, 88. 340-341- 438. 
 
 Graves, Admiral. 251. 338-340. 404. 
 
 Greene, Nathanael. 242. 323. 329. 
 362. 413. 44r. 
 
 Hallowell, Benjamin. Chased into 
 Boston, 124. 252. 
 
 Hancock, John. 57. 103. 119. 131. 
 132. 178-179. 183. 187. 189. 
 251. 291. 380. 381. 388. 442. 
 
 How, David, 324-325. 377-378. 406. 
 
 Howe, Sir William. 143. Arrives at 
 Boston, 239. Is given command in 
 Bunker Hill battle, 260. His 
 strategy, 263; 267. 269. 273. 
 277. 287. 333. Becomes com- 
 mander-in-chief, 357. Inactivity, 
 
 358. Desires to go to New York, 
 
 359. Interview with John Leach, 
 396. Sense of security, 404-406. 
 Surprised by the taking of Dor- 
 chester, 411. Calls council of war, 
 412. Plans to attack, 414. Is 
 prevented by a gale, 414. Orders 
 evacuation, 414. Prepares to 
 depart, 416 ff. Accepts "notice to 
 quit," 427. Evacuates, 428. 
 Stays at Nantasket with his fleet, 
 430. Sails for Halifax, 432. Public 
 indignation against him, 436-437. 
 
 Hutchinson, Thomas. In Writs of 
 Assistance case, 24. 26. Opposi- 
 tion to Stamp Act, 32. At Stamp 
 Act riot, 34. His house sacked, 36. 
 53. After the Massacre, 66. 68. 
 Gives way to Adams, 60-70. 
 Governor, 73. Tea-party, 70-81. 
 The Hutchinson Letters, 85-86. 
 Called to England, 91. Quoted, 
 106. 187. Death, 439. 
 
 Knox, Henry. At the Massacre, 62. 
 326. 387. 409, note. 441. 
 
 Labor, Restrictions on, Sabine's 
 opinion of their effect on the Revo- 
 lution, 30-31. 
 
 Leach, John. 342. 350. 351. 352- 
 353- 395-397- 
 
 Lechmere's Point. 323. 358. 360. 
 367. 378. 406. 
 
 Lee, Charles. Correspondence with 
 Burgoyne, 314 ff. 362. 44:. 
 
 Lexington. Hancock and Adams in, 
 178-179. 183. 187. 189. Militia 
 assemble, 190. The fight on the 
 Green, 190 ff. The retreat to, 205. 
 The British are reinforced, 206, 
 208. 
 
 Liberty, Sloop, the Affair of the. 52. 
 Samuel Adams at, 56. 
 
 Liberty, Sons of. 36. 37. 78. 
 
 Liberty Tree. The Great Tree, 34. 
 Named, 37. 78. Felled, 395. 
 
 Lovell, James. 350. 352. 353. 419- 
 
 Mandamus Councillors. 116-118. 
 123. 252. 
 
 Manly, Captain. 429. 
 
 Marshfield. Troops sent to, 143-144. 
 Driven from, 218-219. 
 
 Massacre, The. 59-65. Town Meet- 
 ing that followed, 66-70. 71. 104. 
 Warren's second oration on, 154 ft. 
 
 327- 413- 
 Mast trees. 12. 
 Militia of New England. 165-168. 
 
 The Minute Men, 168-169. Sys- 
 
448 
 
 Index 
 
 tern of summoning, 160-170. 
 Gather at Concord, 104-195. The 
 gathering about Boston, 216-218. 
 390-391. 430-431. 436. 
 Morrison the deserter. 353 ff. 
 
 Newell, Timothy. 353. 354. 355. 
 
 395- 399- 414- 420. 423, and note. 
 New England sentiment toward 
 
 England. 8. 9. 11. 18-19. 29. 
 
 42-44. 
 Non-Importation Resolves. 46. 
 
 Broken, 72-73. 97. 102. 
 North, Lord. 87. 89. 
 
 Old South Church. Massacre Town 
 Meeting, 66. Tea-party meeting, 
 81. 153 ff. Becomes a riding- 
 school, 400, 402. 425. 442. 
 
 Oliver, Andrew. Tax-collector, 33. 
 Burned in effigy, 34. Resigns 
 office, 35. At the Powder Alarm, 
 123-124. 
 
 Oliver, Peter. 121. 
 
 Otis, James. 25-27. 46. 266. 
 
 Percy, Lord. Opinion of the Ameri- 
 cans, 153. Opinion changed, 213. 
 185. 226. 412. 414. 
 
 Pitcairn, Major. 184. 192-194. 198. 
 
 ' : 279. 284. 
 
 Pomeroy, Seth. 19. 146. 266. 305. 
 
 Port Bill. 88. In force June 1, 1774, 
 98. 436- 
 
 Powder Alarm. 123 ft. 
 
 Prescott, Dr. Rides with Revere, 
 188. Escapes capture, 188, 189. 
 197. 
 
 Prescott, William, of Pepperell. 216. 
 255- 256. 258. 260. 261. 264. 
 270. 278. 279. 280. 284. 362. 
 
 Provincial Congress of Massachusetts. 
 The First. Suggested by Suffolk 
 Resolves, 130. Boston delegates 
 elected, 134-135. Organized, 137. 
 Meets at Concord, 137. Acts of, 
 138. 
 The Second. Meets, 146. 
 
 Putnam, Israel. 121. 125. 317. 
 242. 246. 253. 257. 264. 270. 
 277. 282. 283. 288. 289, and note. 
 304. 362. 413. 415. 428. 430. 
 
 Quincy, Josiah, Jr. 57. 65. 
 
 Regulating Act. 89. News of its 
 passage, 121-113. Declared un- 
 constitutional, 130. 
 
 Remonstrance and Circular Letter. 
 49. Refusal of Assembly to rescind, 
 54- 
 
 Revenue Acts. Provisions of, 44. 
 Passed, 45. Repealed, 72. 
 
 Revere, Paul. 37. 54. 138. 170. 
 173. His account of himself, 
 174 ff. His ride, 180 ff. Is cap- 
 tured, 188. Released, 189. Story 
 of Dr. Church, 223. 
 
 Safety, Committee of. Appointed, 
 139. Warren a member of, 146. 
 242- 254. 
 
 Salem. Made port of entry, 88. 97- 
 98. 99. Town meeting, 119. 
 Gage withdraws to Boston, 133. 
 Troops sent to, 144-145. 
 
 Shuldham, Admiral. 404. 412. 
 
 Siege. Summary of, 2-3. Froth- 
 ingham's history of, 3, note. Be- 
 ginning of, 214-215. The army 
 before Boston, 241 ff . The provin- 
 cials seize the hay and livestock on 
 the harbor islands, 248-250. They 
 plan to seize Bunker Hill, 253. 
 The battle, 256 ff. Washington 
 takes command, 301. He strips 
 the harbor islands, 318-319. The 
 American navy, 319-320. Dicker- 
 ing in camp, 324. The British in 
 Boston, 332. Operations, 336-338. 
 Desertion, 343-344. Diversions 
 of the garrison, 348 ; and of Whigs, 
 349. Imprisonments, 351 ff. Brit- 
 ish go into winter quarters, 359. 
 Efforts to provision Boston, 392- 
 393. Shortage of fuel, 394. Di- 
 
Index 
 
 449 
 
 versions of the officers, 397-398. 
 The Old South becomes a riding- 
 school, 399; and Faneuil Hall a 
 playhouse, 400. The interrupted 
 farce, 400. Discomforts in the 
 town, 402-403. Smallpox, 403. 
 Washington seizes Dorchester, 406 
 ff. Howe decides to attack, 412. 
 Is prevented by a storm, 414. 
 Evacuation ordered, 414. Confu- 
 sion in the town, 420 ff. Nook's 
 Hill taken, 427. Evacuation, 428. 
 Putnam enters, 428. The town 
 defended from sea attack, 430. 
 Howe's fleet sails, 432. The Ameri- 
 cans enter, 432. Highlanders cap- 
 tured, 436. Howe's squadron 
 driven away, 436. 
 
 Sons of Liberty. 36. 37. 78. 
 
 Stamp Act. 26. Provisions of, 27. 
 Opposition to its passage, 31. 
 Opposition to its enforcement, 32- 
 34. 38. Stamp Act Congress, 38. 
 Repeal, 38. 
 
 Stark, John. 218. 242, 266-7. 270, 
 288. 362. 
 
 Suffolk County Convention. 128. 
 Resolves of, 120-130. 
 
 Sugar Act, The, of 1733. 23. Re- 
 enacted 1763, 26. 42. 
 
 Taxation of the Colonies. 27-30. 
 31. 38-39. Declaratory Act, 41. 
 42. 44-45. "Farmer's Letters," 
 46. Revenue Acts, 44, 45, 72. 
 Tax on Tea, 72. 
 
 Tea. Tax on, 72. 75-76. Its con- 
 nection with the Revolution, 77. 
 Boston refuses to pay for, no. 
 
 Tea-Party. Boston. 74-84, 138. 
 
 Thomas, John. 146. 245-6. 289. 
 362. 413. 
 
 Ticonderoga. Taking of, 247. Can- 
 non brought to Boston, 387. 
 
 Tories. 21-23, 28. 39. no. 133. 
 Tory sentiment, 151-152. Tories 
 prevent the Whigs from leaving 
 Boston, 226-7. Tory refugees. 
 
 228. Situation in the country, 
 232-3. Military companies, 234. 
 2 5i- 33i- 345-6- Enlistments, 
 347-348. Surprised at order for 
 evacuation, 418. Decide to leave 
 Boston, 419. Genteel thievery, 
 425. Evacuation, 428. Their fate, 
 438 ff. 
 
 Town government. 7. 15. 
 
 Townshend, Charles. 42. 
 
 Trade restrictions. 12-13, 28. See 
 also Taxation, Non-Importation 
 Resolves. 
 
 Troops in Boston. Demands for, 50, 
 54. Sent, 55. Landed, 58. Their 
 life in Boston, 59. The Massacre, 
 60 ff. Withdrawn to the Castle, 
 70. 147-8. Diary of Lieut. 
 Barker, 148. Discontent, 148-150. 
 Opinion of Americans, 153. Opin- 
 ion changed, 213. Gage's force, 
 April, 1775, 161. The Concord 
 expedition, 184, 186. Condition in 
 early siege, 237. Opinion of the 
 Yankees, 238. Reinforcements, 
 239, 252. Opinion of Bunker Hill 
 battle, 286. Lack of fresh provi- 
 sion, 341. High death rate among 
 the wounded, 342-343. Summer 
 comfort, 345. Feel shame at 
 evacuation, 432. 
 
 Ward, Artemas. 146. 241. 242. 
 245. 246. 264. 274. 275. 281. 
 284. 289. 304. 
 
 Warren, Joseph. 57. 103. 104. no. 
 At Powder Alarm, 124. 128. 131. 
 Becomes leader in absence of 
 Adams, 135. Letter concerning 
 Episcopalians, r36. Leads the Pro- 
 vincial Congress, 137-138. 146, 
 Second Oration on the Massacre, 
 153 ff. 176. 179. Sends out 
 Dawes and Revere, 180. His ac- 
 tions on the 19th of April, 208-g. 
 214. Letter to Gage, 221-2. 242. 
 Goes to Bunker Hill, 266. His 
 conduct and death, 281-3. 44 2 . 
 
45o 
 
 Index 
 
 Washington, George. 136. 37a. 
 294-297. 298. 299. 300. Takes 
 command, 301. His importance 
 in the war, 302. 303. 304. Diffi- 
 culty with generals, 304-5 ; with 
 soldiers, 305-8; with uniforms, 
 308-9. Fortifies, 310, 311. Corre- 
 spondence with Gage, 313. 314. 
 Burns the lighthouse, 318-g. His 
 navy, 319. Difficulties, 320-1. 
 Lack of powder, 321, 382 ; of 
 muskets, 323, 384-385. His use 
 of pikes, 326. Councils of war, 329, 
 336. Seizes Cobble Hill and Lech- 
 mere Point, 360. His military 
 strength and weakness, 362-363. 
 Reorganization, 364-5. Winter 
 quarters, 366. Difficulties, 368 ff. 
 Joined by his wife, 373. Trouble 
 with Connecticut troops, 374. 
 Enlistments, 375 ff. Eager to 
 attack Boston, 381 . His summary 
 of his difficulties, 381-82; 383 ff. 
 Opinion of his men, 388-389. Pre- 
 pares to take Dorchester, 389-392. 
 Seizes Dorchester, 406 ff. Is 
 ready for Howe's assault, 413. 
 
 Disappointed at its prevention, 
 
 415. Awaits Howe's departure, 
 
 416. 418. 419. Sends troops to 
 New York, 422, 429. Fortifies 
 Nook's Hill, 427. Takes posses- 
 sion of Boston, 428. Fortifies, 430. 
 Puzzled by Howe's stay at Nan- 
 tasket, 430. Dines with John An- 
 drews, 434. Starts for New York, 
 435. His conduct of the siege, 441. 
 
 Whigs and Tories contrasted. 2 1-33. 
 418. 
 
 Whigs. Their four classes in Boston, 
 92-g6. Leaders of, 103 ff. 108. 
 Their acts betrayed, 109. Their 
 difficulties, 113. Force resigna- 
 tions of Mandamus councillors, 
 117-118. 13T. 138. Their watch 
 on Gage, 176 ff. Difficulties at 
 evacuation, 426. 
 
 Winthrop, John. "Avoid or pro- 
 tract," 8. His house pulled 
 down, 397. 
 
 Writs of Assistance. Petition for, 23. 
 Case tried before Hutchinson, 24. 
 Otis' speech, 25. Judgment de- 
 layed, 26. 
 
' I 'HE following pages contain advertisements of a 
 few of the Macmillan books on kindred subjects 
 
Stories from American History 
 
 Yankee Ships and Yankee Sailors 
 
 By JAMES BARNES 
 
 Tales of 1812, by the author of "Drake and his Yeomen," "For King 
 and Country," etc. Illustrated by R. F. Zogbaum and Carlton T. 
 Chapman. 
 
 Decorated cloth, illustrated, $1.50 net; by mail, $1.6/ 
 
 The Wilderness Road 
 
 By H. ADDINGTON BRUCE 
 
 The central figure in this story of the early development of the Middle 
 West is Daniel Boone, the man who blazed the famous Wilderness road. 
 In telling his story Mr. Bruce touches on such matters as the economic 
 and social factors influencing the movement across the mountains, and 
 the significance of that movement with relation to the growth of revo- 
 lutionary sentiment in the American colonies, etc. 
 
 Decorated cloth, illustrated, $1.50 rut; by mail, $i.6j 
 
 The Story of the Great Lakes 
 
 By EDWARD CHANNING and MARION F. LANSING 
 
 The Professor of American History in Harvard University, author of a 
 number of volumes on the History of the United States, has found an im- 
 mense amount of romance centred about the Great Lakes, from the time 
 of their discovery and early exploration by the French missionaries down 
 to the present time when they play so important a part in the industrial 
 progress of the Middle West. This book tells the story of these great in- 
 land waterways, with special reference to those picturesque aspects of his- 
 tory which interest the general reader. 
 
 Decorated cloth, illustrated, $1.30 net; by mail, $i.6j 
 
 The Story of Old Fort Loudon 
 
 By CHARLES EGBERT CRADDOCK 
 
 A Tale of the Cherokees and the Pioneers of Tennessee, 1760, by the 
 author of "The Prophet of the Great Smoky Mountains." Illustrated by 
 Ernest C. Peixotto. 
 
 Decorated cloth, illustrated, $1.50 net ; by mail, $1.63 
 
STORIES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY— Continued 
 
 Southern Soldier Stories 
 
 By GEORGE CARY EGGLESTON 
 
 Forty-seven stories illustrating the heroism of those brave Americans who 
 fought on the losing side in the Civil War. Humor and pathos are found 
 side by side in these pages, which bear evidence of absolute truth. Illus- 
 trated by Rufus F. Zogbaum. 
 
 Decorated cloth, illustrated, $1.50 net ; by mail, $1.60 
 
 Tales of the Enchanted Isles of the Atlantic 
 
 By THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON 
 
 Legends showing that the people of Europe were for centuries fed with 
 romances of marvellous and beautiful countries beyond the Atlantic. Be- 
 sides the early Irish, Spanish, and other traditions of the Happy Islands 
 of the West, there come to us, among others from our own race, the old 
 stories of King Arthur and his Avalon; of St. Brandan's Isle; of the Voy- 
 ages of Erik the Viking ; and of the vanishing Norumbega, so real a vision 
 to the imaginations of Queen Elizabeth's day. Illustrated by Albert 
 Hekter. 
 
 Decorated cloth, illustrated, $1.50 net; by mail, $r,62 
 
 De Soto and His Men in the Land of Florida 
 
 By GRACE KING 
 
 The author of "New Orleans: The Place and the People" has collected 
 into an entertaining volume stories of the brilliant armada which sailed 
 westward under De Soto in 1538 to subdue the natives and bring this 
 country under the Spanish crown. Old Spanish and Portuguese narra- 
 tives are the basis of its history. Illustrated by George Gibbs. 
 
 Decorated cloth, illustrated, $1.50 net; by mail, $/.6j 
 
STORIES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY— Continued 
 
 The Story of the New England Whalers 
 
 By JOHN R. SPEARS 
 
 Some of the most romantic and adventurous characters in American his- 
 tory are dealt with in this book, in which Mr. Spears tells of the Ameri- 
 can whaling industry. He has given us the life stories of the men to 
 whom more than to any others was due the upbuilding of the American 
 merchant service. Illustrated from photographs. 
 
 Decorated cloth, illustrated, $1.50 net; by mail, $1.63 
 
 The Story of the American Merchant Marine 
 
 By JOHN R. SPEARS 
 
 " For over twenty years Mr. Spears has been regarded as an authority on 
 American sea enterprises. The books from his pen are based upon long 
 study of the topics he treats. ... In the present volume he tells the 
 story of our merchant marine from its beginnings, through all the phases 
 of its history . . . that have marked this feature of our activities since 
 the Civil War." — Advocate of Peace. 
 
 Decorated cloth, illustrated, $1.50 net; by mail, $1.64 
 
 Buccaneers and Pirates of Our Coast 
 
 By FRANK R. STOCKTON 
 
 This book is an account of the offshoots of the early English, French, and 
 Dutch combinations against Spanish exactions in West India waters. 
 From the early buccaneer and later pirates Mr. Stockton has told these 
 wild and entertaining stories of picturesque figures. Illustrated by G. 
 Varian and B. W. Clinedinst. 
 
 Decorated cloth, illustrated, $r.;o net; by mail, $r.6j 
 
 The Last American Frontier 
 
 By Professor FREDERIC L. PAXSON 
 
 " His happy mastery of his subject enables his readers to grasp it far 
 more effectually than by the method of supplying them with dates and 
 incidents and leaving them to shape their own vision of the progress of 
 settlement as a whole." — The Living Age. 
 
 Decorated cloth, illustrated, $1.50 net; by mail, $1.61 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
 
 64-66 Fifth Avenue, New York 
 
ILLUSTRATED DESCRIPTIONS OF 
 AMERICAN PLACES AND PEOPLE 
 
 By M. A. DeWOLFE HOWE 
 
 Boston : The Place and the People 
 
 With over one hundred illustrations, including many from pen drawings 
 executed especially for this volume by L. A. Holman. 
 
 Decorated cloth, boxed, $2.00 net; by mail, $2.20 
 
 By Mrs. St. JULIEN RAVENEL 
 
 Charleston : The Place and the People 
 
 Illustrated from photographs and drawings by Vernon H. Bailey. 
 
 Decorated cloth, boxed, $2.00 net; by mail, $2.20 
 
 By GRACE KING 
 
 New Orleans : The Place and the People 
 
 With eighty-three illustrations from drawings by Frances Jones. 
 
 Decorated cloth, boxed, $2.00 net; by mail, $2.20 
 
 By AGNES REPPLIER 
 
 Philadelphia : The Place and the People 
 
 With eighty-two illustrations from drawings by Ernest C. Peixotto. 
 
 Decorated cloth, boxed, $2.00 net; by mail, $2.20 
 
 By JOHN C. VAN DYKE 
 
 The New New York : The Place and the People 
 
 With one hundred and twenty-six illustrations, including twenty-four in 
 color, by Joseph Pennell. 
 
 Decorated cloth, $4.00 net; by mail, $4.22 
 
 Welcome books, either for the traveller's use during his visit, or as a 
 pleasant reminder of bygone days, or to bring the different districts vividly 
 before the minds of intending travellers, or before those who are unable to 
 leave home. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
 
 64-66 Fifth Avenue, New York