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Rufus Putnam (search for this): chapter 19
r. Ill supplied as he was with powder, and having no resource for artillery but in the captures made from the enemy by privateers and the cannon which had been dragged overland from Lake George, he still made the necessary arrangements to occupy the position, in the hope to bring the enemy out and force them to offer battle. To that end the council of Massachusetts, at his request, called in the militia of the nearest towns. The engineer employed to devise and superintend the works was Rufus Putnam; and the time chosen for their erection was the eve of the anniversary of the Boston massacre. To Mar. harass the enemy and divert attention, a heavy cannonade and bombardment of the town was kept up during the two previous nights. Soon after candlelight on the fourth of March, the firing was renewed with greater vehemence than before from Cobble Hill, now Somerville, from Lechmere's Point, now East Cambridge, and from a battery in Roxbury, and was returned with such zeal by the Britis
s, began their embarkation at four in the morning; in less than six hours they were all put on board one hundred and twenty transports; Howe himself, among the last to leave the town, took passage with the admiral in the Chatham; before ten they were under way; and the citizens of Boston, from every height and every wharf, could see the fleet sail out of the harbor in a long line, extending from the castle to Nantasket Roads. But where were Thacher, and Mayhew, and Dana, and Molineux, and Quincy, and Gardner, and Warren? Would that they, and all the martyrs of Lexington and Bunker Hill, had lived to gaze on the receding sails! Troops from Roxbury at once moved into Boston, and others from Cambridge crossed over in boats. Everywhere appeared marks of hurry in the flight of the British; among other stores, they left behind them two hundred and fifty pieces of cannon, of which one half were serviceable; twenty five hundred chaldrons of sea coal; twenty five thousand bushels of whe
Trumbull Washington (search for this): chapter 19
fell in torrents on the morning of the sixth; so that the movement against the American lines was still further delayed, till it became undeniably evident, that the attempt must end in the utter ruin of the British army. If we had powder, said Washington, I would give them a dose they would not well like. Their hostile appearances subsided; Howe called a second council of war, and its members were obliged to advise the instant evacuation of Boston. When the orders for that evacuation were inifest confession of their inability to protect their friends, who had risked every thing in their cause. Who could now put trust in their promises? On the eighth, Howe, through the selectmen of Boston, wished to come to an understanding with Washington that the town should be spared, provided he might be suffered to leave it without molestation. The unauthenticated proposal could meet with no reply from the American commander in chief, who continued to strengthen his lines, drew nearer and n
the bustle, hurry, and alarm in the town. Twenty four hundred men were detailed and put under the command of Lord Percy to make the attack; but the men were pale and dejected; they shared the general consternation and remembered Bunker Hill; and Percy showed no heart for an enterprise, which Howe himself confessed to be hazardous. When they were seen to enter the boats, the Americans on the heights, who now expected an immediate attack, kindled with joy in their confidence of repelling them vth of March, a day never to be forgotten; avenge the death of your brethren; and the words, as they flew from mouth to mouth, inflamed still more the courage of his soldiers. But they were doomed to disappointment; the British sallying party and Percy, who did not intend to attempt scaling the heights till after nightfall, were borne in the transports to the castle; in the afternoon a violent storm of wind came up from the south, and about midnight blew with such fury that two or three vessel
Deschambault Thomas (search for this): chapter 19
deliberately considered, and prepared with consummate skill; every thing was ready; every man knew his place, his specific task, and the duty of executing it with celerity and silence. A party of eight hundred went in advance as a guard; one half of them taking post on the height nearest Boston; the other at the easternmost point, opposite the castle. They were followed by carts with intrenching tools, and by the working Chap. LIX.} 1776. Mar. party of twelve hundred under the command of Thomas, an officer whose great merit on this occasion is the more to be remembered from the shortness of his career. The ground, for eighteen inches deep, was frozen too hard to yield earth for the defences; but the foresight of the chief had amply provided substitutes; a train of more than three hundred carts, easily drawn by oxen over the frozen marshes, brought bundles of screwed hay to form a cover for Dorchester Neck where it was exposed to a raking fire, and an amazing quantity of gabions an
ed as actors on the stage; they even attempted balls and planned a masquerade. The winter was mild; so that navigation was not interrupted, and provisions were imported in abundance from Ireland and England, from Barbados and Antigua. Thus they whiled away the time in their comfortable quarters, without a thought of danger, awaiting early summer, and large reinforcements, preparatory to their removal to New York. The possession of Dorchester Heights would give Washington the command of Boston and of a large Chap. LIX.} 1776. Feb. part of the harbor. Ill supplied as he was with powder, and having no resource for artillery but in the captures made from the enemy by privateers and the cannon which had been dragged overland from Lake George, he still made the necessary arrangements to occupy the position, in the hope to bring the enemy out and force them to offer battle. To that end the council of Massachusetts, at his request, called in the militia of the nearest towns. The engi
George Sackville Germain (search for this): chapter 19
offered the last year to prevent the invasion of Canada; and to complain that the white people had given them no support. Brother, so the Mohawk chief addressed Germain, we hope to see these bad children, the New England people, chastised. The Indians have always been ready to assist the king. And Germain replied: Continue to mGermain replied: Continue to manifest attachment to the king; and be sure of his majesty's favor. George and his ministers promised themselves important aid from the Iroquois and Northwestern warriors. Unconditional submission was now the watchword of Germain; and when on the evening of the same day the Duke of Grafton attempted once more, in the house of lorGermain; and when on the evening of the same day the Duke of Grafton attempted once more, in the house of lords, to plead for conciliation, the gentle Dartmouth approved sending over a sufficient force to awe the colonies into submission; Hillsborough would listen to no accommodation, short of the acknowledgment of the right of taxation and the submission of Massachusetts to the law for altering its charter; and Mansfield ridiculed the id
ndred refugees, began their embarkation at four in the morning; in less than six hours they were all put on board one hundred and twenty transports; Howe himself, among the last to leave the town, took passage with the admiral in the Chatham; before ten they were under way; and the citizens of Boston, from every height and every wharf, could see the fleet sail out of the harbor in a long line, extending from the castle to Nantasket Roads. But where were Thacher, and Mayhew, and Dana, and Molineux, and Quincy, and Gardner, and Warren? Would that they, and all the martyrs of Lexington and Bunker Hill, had lived to gaze on the receding sails! Troops from Roxbury at once moved into Boston, and others from Cambridge crossed over in boats. Everywhere appeared marks of hurry in the flight of the British; among other stores, they left behind them two hundred and fifty pieces of cannon, of which one half were serviceable; twenty five hundred chaldrons of sea coal; twenty five thousand b
nce of artillery; the Americans had almost no large guns that were serviceable: the British had a profusion of ammunition; the Americans scarce enough to supply their few cannon for six or eight days; and yet the British had no choice but to dislodge the New England farmers or retreat. Left very much to himself, Howe knew not what to pro- Chap. LIX.} 1776. Mar. pose; neither Burgoyne nor Clinton was with him to share his responsibility. If they retain possession of the heights, said Admiral Shuldham, I cannot keep a ship in the harbor. A council of war was called, and it was determined to assault the Americans. Washington had provided for the contingency; and had the British made a vigorous sally against the party at Dorchester, the Americans had floating batteries and boats ready to carry four thousand men into Boston. All day long the neighboring hills which commanded a view of the scene, were crowded with spectators, who watched the bustle, hurry, and alarm in the town. Twen
Richard Montgomery (search for this): chapter 19
. the American army found himself supplied with only money enough to answer claims antecedent to the last day of December; his want of powder was still Feb. so great as to require the most careful concealment. Congress had strangely lavished its resources on the equipment of a navy; leaving him in such dearth of the materials of war, that he was compelled to look for them in every direction, and at one time had even asked if something could be spared him from the hoped-for acquisitions of Montgomery. Having no permanent army, and unable to enlist for the year a sufficient number of soldiers to defend his lines, he was obliged to rely for two months on the service of three regiments of militia from Connecticut, one from New Hampshire, and six from Massachusetts; but at the same time, with all the explicitness and force that his experience, his dangers, and his trials could suggest, he set before congress the ruinous imperfections of their mili- Chap. LIX.} 1776. Feb. tary system. T
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