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Chapter 39:
Bunker Hill battle.
June 17, 1775.
Ward determined, if possible, to avoid a general
Chap. Xxxix} 1775. June 17. |
action.
Apprehending that, if reenforcements should leave his camp, the main attack of the
British would be made upon
Cambridge, he refused to impair his strength at Headquarters; but he ordered the New Hampshire regiments of
Stark, stationed at
Medford, and of
Reed, near
Charlestown neck, to march to
Prescott's support.
When word was brought that the
British were actually landing in
Charlestown, the general regarded it as a feint, and still refused to change his plan.
But here the character of
New England shone out in its brightest lustre.
The welcome intelligence that the
British had actually sallied out of
Boston, thrilled through men, who were ‘waiting impatiently to avenge the blood of their murdered countrymen.’
Owing to the want of activity in
Ward, who did not leave his house during the whole day, all was confusion; but while the bells were ringing and the drums
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beating to arms, officers who had longed for the op-
Chap. Xxxix} 1775.
June. 17. |
portunity of meeting the
British in battle, soldierswho clung to the officers of their choice with constancy, set off for the scene of battle, hardly knowing themselves whether they were countenanced by the general, or the committee of safety, or the council of war; or moved by the same impetuous enthusiasm which had brought them forth on the nineteenth of April, and which held ‘an honorable death in the field for the liberties of all
America preferable to an ignominious slavery.’
The veteran,
Seth Pomeroy of
Northampton, an old man of seventy, once second in rank in the
Massachusetts army, but now postponed to younger men, heedless of the slight, was roused by the continuance of the cannonade, and rode to
Charlestown neck; there, thoughtful for his horse, which was a borrowed one, he shouldered his fowling-piece, marched over on foot, and amidst loud cheers of welcome, took a place at the rail fence.
Joseph Warren also, after discharging his duty in the committee of safety, resolved to take part in the battle.
He was entreated by
Elbridge Gerry not thus to expose his life.
‘It is pleasant and becoming to die for one's country,’ was his answer.
Three days before, he had been elected a provincial major-general.
He knew perfectly well the defects of the
American camp, the danger of the intrenched party, and how the character of his countrymen and the interests of mankind hung in suspense on the conduct of that day. About two o'clock he crossed
Bunker Hill, unattended, and with a musket in his hand.
He stood for a short time near a cannon at the rail
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fence in conversation with
Putnam, who declared a
Chap. Xxxix} 1775. June 17. |
readiness to receive his orders; but
Warren declined to assume authority, and passed on to the redoubt, which was expected to be the chief point of attack.
As soon as he arrived there
Prescott proposed that he should take the command; but he answered as he had done to
Putnam: ‘I come as a volunteer, to learn from a soldier of experience;’ and in choosing his station he looked only for the place of greatest danger and importance.
Of the men of
Essex who formed
Little's regiment, full a hundred and twenty-five hastened to the aid of
Prescott;
Worcester and
Middlesex furnished more than seventy from
Brewer's regiment, and with them the prudent and fearless
William Buckminster, of
Barre, their lieutenant colonel.
From the same counties came above fifty more, led by
John Nixon, of
Sudbury.
Willard Moore, of
Paxton, a man of superior endowments, brought on about forty of
Worcester county; from the regiment of
Whitcomb, of
Lancaster, there appeared at least fifty privates, but with no higher officers than captains.
Not more than six light field pieces were brought upon the ground; but from defective conduct and want of ammunition, even these were scarcely used.
A few shot were thrown from two or three of them; as if to mark the contrast with the heavy and incesssant cannonade of the
British.
At the rail fence there were, as yet, but the
Connecticut men, whom
Prescott had detached.
The two field pieces had been deserted by the artillerymen.
After the
British had landed, and just before they advanced, a party of
New Hampshire levies arrived,
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led on by
Colonel John Stark, who, next to
Prescott,
Chap. Xxxix} 1775. June 17. |
brought the largest number of men into the field.— When they came to the isthmus, which was raked by cannon,
Dearborn, one of his captains who walked by his side, advised a quick step.
‘
Dearborn,’ replied
Stark, ‘one fresh man in action is worth ten fatigued ones;’ and he marched leisurely across
Charlestown neck, through the galling fire of cannon shot, which buzzed about them like hail.
Of quickest perception, resolute in decision, the rugged trapper was as calm as though he had been hunting in his native woods.
At a glance upon the beach along
Mystic river, ‘I saw there,’ he related, ‘the way so plain, that the enemy could not miss it.’
While some of his men continued the line of defence by still weaving grass between the rails, others, at his bidding, leaped down the bank, and with stones from adjacent walls, on the instant threw up a breastwork to the water's edge.
Behind this, in the most exposed station that could have been selected, where a covered boat, musket proof, carrying a heavy piece of cannon, if it had been towed up the channel, could have taken them on the side and instantly dislodged them, he posted triple ranks of his men; the rest knelt or lay down.
The time allowed him no opportunity of consulting with
Prescott; they fought independently;
Prescott to defend the redoubt,
Knowlton and
Stark, with
Reed's regiment, to protect its flank.
These are all who arrived before the beginning of the attack; and not more than a hundred and fifty others of various regiments, led by different officers or driven by their own zeal, reached the battle ground before the retreat.
From first to last,
Putnam took an active interest in
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the expedition, and the appointment of
Prescott to
Chap. Xxxix} 1775. June 17. |
its command, was made with his concurrence.
Without in the least interfering with that command, he was now planning additional works on
Bunker Hill, now mingling with the
Connecticut troops at the rail fence, now threatening officers or men who seemed to him dilatory or timid, now at
Cambridge in person or by message, earnestly demanding reinforcements, ever busily engaged in aiding and encouraging, here and there, as the case required.
After the first landing of the
British, he sent orders by his son to the
Connecticut forces at
Cambridge, ‘that they must all meet and march immediately to
Bunker Hill to oppose the enemy.’
Chester and his company ran for their arms and ammunition, and marched with such alacrity that they arrived at the battle ground before the day was decided.
While the camp at
Cambridge was the scene of so much confusion,
Howe caused refreshments to be distributed abundantly among his troops.
The reenforcements which he had demanded, arrived, consisting of several more companies of light infantry and grenadiers, the forty-seventh regiment, and a battalion of marines.
‘The whole,’ wrote
Gage, ‘made a body of something above two thousand men;’ ‘about two thousand men and two battalions to reinforce him,’ wrote
Burgoyne; ‘near upon three thousand,’ thought very accurate observers, and a corps of five regiments, one battalion, and twenty flank companies, more than seventy companies must, after all allowances, be reckoned at two thousand five hundred men, or more.
It comprised the chief strength of the army.
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Not till the news reached
Cambridge of this
Chap. Xxxix} 1775. June 17. |
second landing at
Charlestown, was
Ward relieved from the apprehension, that the main body of the
British would interpose themselves between
Charlestown and
Cambridge.
Persuaded of the security of the camp, and roused by the earnest and eloquent entreaties of
Devens, of
Charlestown, himself a member of the committee of safety,
Ward consented to order reinforcements; among them his own regiment, but it was too late.
The whole number of
Americans on the ground at that time, including all such as crossed the causeway seasonably to take part in the fight, according to the most solemn assurances of the officers who were in the action, to the testimony of eye witnesses, to contemporary inquirers, and to the carefully considered judgment of
Washington, did not exceed one thousand five hundred men.
Nor should history forget to record that, as in the army at
Cambridge, so also in this gallant band, the free negroes of the colony had their representatives.
For the right of free negroes to bear arms in the public defence was, at that day, as little disputed in
New England as their other rights.
They took their place not in a separate corps, but in the ranks with the white man, and their names may be read on the pension rolls of the country, side by side with those of other soldiers of the revolution.
Two days after the massacre at
Lexington,
Gage had threatened, that if the
Americans should occupy
Charlestown heights, the town should be burned.
Its inhabitants, however, had always been willing that the threat should be disregarded.
The time for the
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holocaust was now come.
Pretending that his flank-
Chap. Xxxix} 1775. June 17. |
ing parties were annoyed from houses in the village,
Howe sent a boat over with a request to
Clinton and
Burgoyne to burn it. The order was immediately obeyed by a discharge of shells from
Copp's Hill.
The inflammable buildings caught in an instant, and a party of men landed and spread the fire; but from the sudden shifting of the wind, the movements of the assailants were not covered by the smoke of the conflagration.
At half past 2 o'clock, or a very little later,
General Howe not confining his attack to the left wing alone, advanced to a simultaneous assault on the whole front from the redoubt to
Mystic river.
In
Burgoyne's opinion, ‘his disposition was soldierlike and perfect.’
Of the two columns which were put in motion, the one was led by
Pigot against the redoubt; the other by
Howe himself against the flank, which seemed protected by nothing but a fence of rails and hay easy to be scrambled over, when the left of
Prescott would be turned, and he would be forced to surrender on finding the enemy in his rear.
As they began to march, the dazzling lustre of a summer's sun was reflected from their burnished armor; the battery on
Copp's Hill, from which
Clinton and
Burgoyne were watching every movement, kept up an incessant fire, which was seconded by the
Falcon and the Lively, the
Somerset and the two floating batteries; the town of
Charlestown, consisting of five hundred edifices of wood, burst into a blaze; the steeple of its only church became a pyramid of fire; and the masts of the shipping, and the heights of the
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British camp, the church towers, the housetops of a
Chap. Xxxix} 1775. June 17. |
populous town, and the acclivities of the surrounding country were crowded with spectators, to watch the battle which was to take place, in full sight on a con-17.
spicuous eminence, and which, as the
English thought, was to assure the integrity of the
British empire, as the
Americans believed, was to influence the freedom and happiness of mankind.
As soon as
Prescott perceived that the enemy were in motion, he commanded
Robinson, his lieutenant colonel, the same who conducted himself so bravely in the fight at
Concord, and Henry Woods, his major, famed in the villages of
Middlesex for ability and patriotism, with separate detachments to flank the enemy; and they executed his orders with prudence and daring.
He then went through the works to encourage and animate his inexperienced soldiers.
‘The redcoats will never reach the redoubt,’ such were his words, as he himself used to narrate them, ‘if you will but withhold your fire till I give the order, and be careful not to shoot over their heads.’
After this round, he took his post in the redoubt, well satisfied that the men would do their duty.
The
British advanced in line in good order, steadily and slowly, and with a confident imposing air, pausing on the march to let their artillery prepare the way, and firing with muskets as they advanced.
But they fired too soon, and too high, doing but little injury.
Incumbered with their knapsacks, they ascended the steep hill with difficulty, covered as it was with grass reaching to their knees, and intersected with walls and fences.
Prescott waited till the enemy
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had approached within eight rods as he afterwards
Chap. Xxxix} 1775. June 17. |
thought, within ten or twelve rods as the committee of safety of
Massachusetts wrote, when he gave the word: ‘Fire.’
At once from the redoubt, and breastwork, every gun was discharged.
Nearly the whole front rank of the enemy fell, and the rest to whom this determined resistance was unexpected, were brought to a stand.
For a few minutes, fifteen or ten, who can count such minutes!
each, one of the
Americans, completely covered while he loaded his musket, exposed only while he stood upon the wooden platform or steps of earth in the redoubt to take aim, fought according to his own judgment and will; and a close and unremitting fire was continued and returned, till the
British staggered, wavered, and then in disordered masses retreated precipitately to the foot of the hill, and some even to their boats.
The column of the enemy which advanced near the
Mystic under the lead of
Howe, moved gallantly forward against the rail-fence, and when within eighty or one hundred yards, displayed into line, with the precision of troops on parade.
Here, too, the
Americans, commanded by
Stark and
Knowlton, cheered on by
Putnam, who like
Prescott bade them reserve their fire, restrained themselves as if by universal consent, till at the proper moment, resting their guns on the rails of the fence, they poured forth a deliberate, well directed, fatal discharge.
Here, too, the
British recoiled from the volley, and after a short contest, were thrown into confusion, and fell back till they were covered by the ground.
Then followed moments of joy in that unfinished redoubt, and behind the grassy rampart, where New
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England husbandmen, so often taunted with cowardice,
Chap. Xxxix} 1775. June 17. |
beheld veteran battalions shrink before their arms.
Their hearts bounded as they congratulated each other.
The night watches, thirst, hunger, danger, 17.
whether of captivity or death, were forgotten.
They promised themselves victory.
As the
British soldiers retreated, the officers were seen by the spectators on the opposite shore, running down to them, using passionate gestures, and pushing them forward with their swords.
After an interval of about fifteen minutes, during which
Prescott moved round among his men, encouraging them and cheering them with praise, the
British column under
Pigot rallied and advanced, though with apparent reluctance, in the same order as before, firing as they approached within musket shot.
This time the
Americans withheld their fire till the enemy were within six or five rods of the redoubt, when, as the order was given, it seemed more fatal than before.
The enemy continued to discharge their guns, and pressed forward with spirit.
‘But from the whole American line, there was,’ said
Prescott, ‘a continuous stream of fire,’ and though the
British officers were seen exposing themselves fearlessly, remonstrating, threatening, and even striking the soldiers to urge them on, they could not reach the redoubt, but in a few moments gave way in greater disorder than before.
The wounded and the dead covered the ground in front of the works, some lying within a few yards of them.
On the flank also, the
British light infantry again marched up its companies against the grass fence, but could not penetrate it. ‘Indeed,’ wrote some of the survivors, ‘how could we penetrate it?
Most of
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our grenadiers and light infantry, the moment of pre-
Chap. Xxxix} 1775. June 17. |
senting themselves, lost three-fourths, and many, ninetenths of their men. Some had only eight or nine men in a company left, some only three, four, or five.’
On the ground where but the day before the mowers had swung the scythe in peace, ‘the dead,’ relates
Stark, ‘lay as thick as sheep in a fold.’
Howe for a few seconds was left nearly alone, so many of the officers about him having been killed or wounded; and it required the utmost exertion of all, from the generals down to the subalterns, to repair the rout.
At intervals the artillery from the ships and batteries was playing, while the flames were rising over the town of
Charlestown, and laying waste the places of the sepulchres of its fathers, and streets were falling together, and ships at the yards were crashing on the stocks, and the kindred of the
Americans, from the fields and hills around, watched every gallant act of their defenders.
‘The whole,’ wrote
Burgoyne, ‘was a complication of horror and importance beyond any thing it ever came to my lot to be witness to. It was a sight for a young soldier, that the longest service may not furnish again.’
‘If we drive them back once more,’ cried
Prescott, ‘they cannot rally again.’
To the enduring husbandmen about him, the terrible and appalling scene was altogether new. ‘We are ready for the red-coats again,’ they shouted, cheering their commander, and not one of them shrunk from duty.
In the longer interval that preceded the third attack, a council of officers disclosed the fact, that the ammunition was almost exhausted.
Though
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Prescott had sent in the morning for a supply, he
Chap. Xxxix} 1775. June 17. |
had received none, and there were not fifty bayonets in his party.
A few artillery cartridges were discovered, and as the last resource the powder in them was distributed, with the direction, that not a kernel of it should be wasted.
