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On March 7, Howe decided that the positions on Dorchester Heights were too strong to attack-and an ingenious weapon of defense devised by the Americans was not destined to be tried in warfare! The Americans had placed in position on the brow of the steep hill, in front of their works, rows of
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THE EVACUATION
barrels filled with loose earth and stones, to be rolled down to break the ranks of the British. Upon giving up the idea of attacking these works, Howe also abandoned all thought of resistance, and decided to evacuate Boston. On March 8 he began informal negotiations, through prominent citizens of Boston, with the object of securing the withdrawal of the British forces unharmed in exchange for the safety of the town of Boston.
Thus quickly was the decisive military result won without a battle; but there can be no question of the fact that the bloodless battle of Dorchester Heights was won on the blood- stained field of the battle of Bunker Hill. The menacing spectre of Bunker Hill hung over the intrenchments on Dor- chester Heights. And this dread shape, with its threat of another scene of slaughter unknown to European warfare, was a danger the British were unable to face. Then and there the Battle of Bunker Hill became a decisive victory for the Americans.
THE EVACUATION (MARCH 17, 1776)
There was some delay in preparations before the British troops left the town, but this result was never in doubt, and the circumstances of the case made the evacuation peaceful. The official British announcement was as follows: "General Howe, commander-in-chief of his majesty's forces in North America, having taken a resolution on the seventh of March to remove from Boston to Halifax with the troops under his command, and such of the inhabitants, with their effects, as were desirous to continue under the protection of his majesty's forces; the embarkation was effected the 17th of the same month, with the greatest order and regularity, and without the least interference from the rebels."
In this announcement was a reference to a pathetic phase of the evacuation. More than a thousand refugees left Bos- ton with the British troops. These were Loyalists who had pinned their fortunes to the Royal cause. Many of them were to become expatriated, as the expulsion of the British army, on which they had relied, meant that they were leaving their homes forever.
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BUNKER HILL AND SIEGE OF BOSTON
THE RESULTS OF THE SIEGE (1775-1776)
In Great Britain the news of the evacuation was unexpected, and it made a painful impression. The blow to British pres- tige could not be mistaken. The excuses of the Ministry, that the British general had "only shifted his position," could not make public opinion blind to the fact that the British general had been driven out of Boston. This caused much adverse criticism, in Parliament and out of it.
In America, this blow to British prestige did great harm to the Royal cause throughout the Colonies. Its object lesson, that the Americans had been able to drive out a strong British army, had been so conspicuous that it could not be misunder- stood. Therein lay the true significance of the inscription on the medal voted by Congress to Washington, "Hostibus primo fugatis", and this "first putting the enemy to flight" gave a new aspect to the war-which must be added to the immediate results of the siege itself.
Yet the immediate results of the siege were certainly deci- sive, in every sense of the word. In Massachusetts it was a final blow for Royal rule. The evacuation of Boston meant the evacuation of Massachusetts-and forever. King Street was to become State Street. This was symbolical of the change brought about by the expulsion of the British troops from Boston, because the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was destined to be a State of the United States. Never again was there any danger of British rule for Massachusetts.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
ADAMS, CHARLES FRANCIS .- "The Battle of Bunker Hill" (Am. Historical Review, 1896, Vol. I, pp. 401-413).
Annual Register; a Review of Public Events at Home and Abroad (Lon- don)-Established in 1758 by Richard Dodsley. A collection of materials used and copied in many English and American works. See the volumes for 1775, 1776.
BOSTON (MASS.) : CITY COUNCIL .- Celebration of the Centennial Anniver- sary of the Battle of Bunker Hill. With an Appendix Containing a Survey of the Literature of the Battle (Boston, 1875).
BOSTON (MASS.) : CITY COUNCIL .- A Memorial of the American Patriots who Fell at the Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775. With an Ac- count of the Dedication of the Memorial Tablet ... and an Appendix Containing Illustrative Papers (Boston, 1896)-Appendix prepared by W. H. Whitmore.
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SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
BRACKENRIDGE, HUGH HENRY .- The Battle of Bunkers-Hill. A Dramatic Piece (Phila. R. Ball, 1776; reprinted in the author's Gazette Publi- cations, Carlisle, Pa., Alexander & Phillips, 1806).
BRADFORD, ALDEN .- A Particular Account of the Battle of Bunker, or Breed's Hill ... by a citizen of Boston (Boston, Hilliard, 1825).
BURGOYNE, JOHN .- "General Burgoyne's Letter to Lord Stanley" (S. A. DRAKE, Bunker Hill : the Story told in Letters from the Battle Field by British Officers Engaged, Boston, 1875)-See pp. 39-41.
CLARKE, JOHN (lieutenant of Marines) .- An Impartial and Authentic Narrative of the Battle on Bunker's Hill (Printed for the author, London, 1775; reprinted in the Magazine of History with Notes and Queries, extra numbers, Vol. II, no. 8, pp. 251-277, N. Y., 1909)-Gives some details not otherwheres mentioned.
COFFIN, CHARLES .- History of the Battle of Breed's Hill (Portland, Me., Colesworthy, 1835)-Contains accounts by American officers.
CONNECTICUT HISTORICAL SOCIETY, editor .- Orderly Book and Journals Kept by Connecticut Men 1775-1778 (Connecticut Historical Society, Collections. Vol. VII, Hartford, 1899).
DEARBORN, HENRY .- An Account of the Battle of Bunker's Hill (Boston, Munroe & Francis, 1818)-First appeared in the Port Folio, March, July, 1818.
DRAKE, SAMUEL ADAMS .- Bunker Hill: the Story Told in Letters from the Battle Field by British Officers Engaged (Boston, Nichols & Hall, 1875).
DRAKE, SAMUEL ADAMS .- General Israel Putnam, the Commander at Bunker Hill (Boston, Nichols and Hall, 1875).
DRAKE, SAMUEL ADAMS .- Old Landmarks and Historic Personages of Boston (Boston, Osgood, 1873).
DRAKE, SAMUEL ADAMS .- Historic Fields and Mansions of Middlesex (Boston, Osgood, 1874).
ELLIS, GEORGE EDWARD .- An Oration, Delivered at Charlestown, 17th of June, 1841 (Charlestown, Emmons, 1841)-Full narrative of the battle, with illustrative documents.
ELLIS, GEORGE EDWARD .- Sketches of Bunker Hill Battle and Monument: with Illustrative Documents (Charlestown, (Mass.), Emmons, 1843). FORCE, PETER, compiler .- American Archives; Consisting of Authentic Records, State Papers, Debates, and Letters and Other Notices of Publick Affairs, the Whole Forming a Documentary History of the Origin and Progress of the North American Colonies; of the Causes and Accomplishment of the American Revolution. Fourth Series (6 vols., Washington, 1837-1846)-See Vol. II concerning the battle.
FORTESCUE, JOHN WILLIAM .- A History of the British Army (11 vols., London, Macmillan, 1899-1923)-See Vol. III, pp.
FROTHINGHAM, RICHARD .- The Battle-Field of Bunker Hill: with a Rela- tion of the Action by William Prescott, and Illustrative Documents (Privately printed, Boston, 1876).
FROTHINGHAM, RICHARD .- The Command in the Battle of Bunker Hill (Boston, Little & Brown, 1850).
FROTHINGHAM, RICHARD .- "Illustrations of the Siege of Boston" (Mass. Historical Society, Proceedings, Vol. XIV, pp. 261-298, Boston, 1876). FROTHINGHAM, RICHARD .- History of the Siege of Boston, and of the Battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill; with Illustrative Documents (Boston, Little and Brown, 1849)-Includes personal nar- atives and official accounts, and Lieut. Page's plan of the battle.
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SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
GAGE, THOMAS .- Letter to the Earl of Dartmouth, dated Boston, June 25, 1775 (RICHARD FROTHINGHAM, History of the Siege of Boston, Boston, 1849)-See pp. 386-387. General Gage sent substantially the same account to the Earl of Dunmore, at Virginia, dated June 26: this was also printed as a handbill.
GORDON, WILLIAM .- The History of the Rise, Progress, and Establishment of the Independence of the United States of America; Including an Account of the Late War; and of the Thirteen Colonies, from their Origin to that Period (Printed for the author, 4 vols., London, 1788) -Much material taken from the Annual Register.
GREEN, SAMUEL ABBOTT .- "Colonel William Prescott; and Groton Soldiers in the Battle of Bunker Hill" (Mass. Historical Society, Proceedings, Vol. XLIII, pp. 92-99, Boston, 1910).
HALE, EDWARD EVERETT .- "The Siege of Boston" (JUSTIN WINSOR, editor, Memorial History of Boston, 4 vols., Boston, Osgood, 1882-1886)-See Vol. III, chap. II; with supplementary notes by the editor.
HEATH, WILLIAM .- Memoirs (Boston, Thomas and Andrews, 1798; re- printed N. Y., Abbatt, 1901)-Edited by William Abbatt. Brief ac- count.
HOWE, General Sir WILLIAM .- Orderly Book at Charlestown, Boston and Halifax, 1775-1776 to Which is Added the Official Abridgment of General Howe's Correspondence with the English Government (Lon- don, Stevens, 1880)-Edited by B. F. Stevens.
HUNNEWELL, JAMES FROTHINGHAM .- Bibliography of Charlestown, Massa- chusetts, and Bunker Hill (Boston, Osgood, 1880)-For additions see J. F. HUNNEWELL, A Century of Town Life (Boston, 1888), pp. 261- 300.
LOSSING, BENSON JOHN .- The Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution (2 vols., N. Y. Harper, 1851)-Also later editions.
MASSACHUSETTS (Commonwealth) : COMMITTEE OF SAFETY .- "Account of the Late Battle of Charlestown" (PETER FORCE, American Archives, Series IV, Washington, 1837-1846)-See Vol. II, cols. 1373-1376. Presented to the Provincial Congress, July 25, 1775.
MURDOCK, HAROLD .- Bunker Hill, Notes and Queries on a Famous Battle (Boston, Riverside Press, 1927).
NEW HAMPSHIRE INFANTRY : 2ND REGIMENT, 1775-1783 .- Orderly Book Kept by Jeremiah Fogg, Adjutant, on Winter Hill, during the Siege of Boston, 1775-1776 (Exeter, N. H., 1903)-MS. in the library of Har- vard College.
POTTER, ISRAEL RALPH .- Life and Remarkable Adventures of Israel R. Potter, who took a distinguished part in the Battle of Bunker Hill ... (Providence, printed by J. Howard, for I. R. Potter, 1824; reprinted in The Magazine of History with Notes and Queries, extra numbers, Vol. IV, no. 16, N. Y., 1911).
PRESCOTT, WILLIAM .- "Letter to John Adams, August 25, 1775" (RICHARD FROTHINGHAM, History of the Siege of Boston, Boston, Little and Brown, 1849)-See pp. 395-396.
PULSIFER, DAVID .- An Account of the Battle of Bunker Hill, Compiled from Authentic Sources (Boston, Williams, 1872)-Contains General Burgoyne's account at pp. 71-75.
Remembrancer, or Impartial Repository of Public Events (London, 1775, Vol. I)-Collection of strictures on the account of the battle by Gen. Gage.
STEDMAN, CHARLES .- The History of the Origin, Progress, and Termina- tion of the American War (Printed for the author, 2 vols., London, 1794)-British point of view.
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SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
STILES, EZRA .- Literary Diary (3 Vols., N. Y., Scribner's, 1901)-Edited by F. B. Dexter. Contains contemporary material on the battle.
SUMNER, WILLIAM HYSLOP .- "Reminiscences of General Warren and Bunker Hill" (New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 1838, Vol. XVI, pp. 1, reprinted, Boston, 1858.
SWETT, SAMUEL .- History of Bunker Hill Battle, with a Plan (Boston, Munroe and Francis, 1827)-Praised by Richard Frothingham.
SWETT, SAMUEL .- Who was commander at Bunker Hill? With Remarks on Frothingham's History of the Battle (Boston, Wilson, 1850).
THACHER, JAMES .- A Military Journal during the American Revolutionary War, from 1775\to 1783 (2d ed., Boston, Cottons & Barnard, 1827)- Narrative of the battle, purporting to have been written in July, 1775. WEBSTER, DANIEL .- "Battle of Bunker Hill-General Putnam" (North American Review, 1818, Vol. VII, pp. 225-258)-Ascribed to Webster. "Review of An Account of the Battle of Bunker Hill," by H. Dear- born, major general."
WHEILDON, WILLIAM WILLDER .- New History of the Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775 (Boston, Lee & Shepard, 1875)-Reprinted from the Boston Daily Herald, revised and enlarged.
WHITCHER, WILLIAM FREDERICK .- The Relation of New Hampshire Men to the Siege of Boston (Concord, N. H., 1904)-Address delivered July 9, 1903.
WILKINSON, JAMES .- Memoirs of My Own Times (3 vols., Phila., Small, 1816)-Diagrams and plans in a companion volume. See chap. XIX. WINSOR, JUSTIN .- "The Literature of Bunker Hill, with its Antecedents and Results" (BOSTON : CITY COUNCIL, Celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, Boston, 1875)-See pp. 151- 174.
The newspapers of 1818 abound with letters, depositions, and articles in relation to the battle; e. g., Boston Patriot, Columbian Centinel (es- pecially December, 1824-January, 1825), Salem Gazette. Consult also the Analectic Magazine and the North American Review of that year. Files are in the libraries of the American Antiquarian Society (Wor- cester) and of the Massachusetts Historical Society (Boston) and at the Boston Athenæum.
PICTURES AND PLANS OF THE BATTLE
Gentleman's Magazine (London, 1775, Vol. XLV, p. 416)-Wood engrav- ing, purporting to be a view of the redoubt.
Pennsylvania Magazine (Sept., 1775).
TRUMBULL, Colonel JOHN made an engraving, 1796. Subsequently he painted the well-known picture now in the rotunda of the U. S. Capitol at Washington.
DE BERNIERE, Ensign HENRY, made a sketch, found in British baggage captured 1775 : see Analectic Magazine, February, 1818.
PAGE, Lieutenant, of the (British) Engineers, published in England a plan of the battle.
CHAPTER II
MASSACHUSETTS ON THE SEAS IN THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION (1775-1783)
BY OCTAVIUS T. HOWE Expert in Naval History
IRREGULAR PRIVATEERING (1775)
Privateering and piracy, terms which in early days seem to have been almost synonymous, date back to the estab- lishment of commercial relations between different nations and peoples. Gradually, however, maritime laws were evolved, which, among civilized nations, drew a sharp distinction between privateers and pirates. The privateer was an authorized vessel of war, carrying papers empow- ering it to destroy or capture and send into port any vessel belonging to a country with which the nation issuing the commission was at war. The prize, however, had to be tried in a court of admiralty and pronounced legal or il- legal. In the latter case the vessel was released to the owners, and suit for damages could be brought against the captors. Any capture made by an unauthorized party was piracy.
During the maritime wars of the seventeenth and eight- eenth centuries the Massachusetts colonies had often prof- ited by this war on private property. During the early months of 1775, when the country was seething with pa- triotism and war with England seemed imminent, several cases of illegal seizure of British vessels occurred, which, though revolutionary in their character, were hailed with en- thusiasm and approval by a great majority of the citizens of Massachusetts.
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31
WASHINGTON'S COMMISSIONS
Early in May 1775, Captain Linzee, of the British sloop of war Falcon, seized two sloops at New Bedford, one of them belonging to Wareham, with the intention of send- ing them to Martha's Vineyard to load sheep for Boston; but while on their way, manned by a crew from the Falcon, they were recaptured by an expedition led by Daniel Egery and Captain Pope. The sloops were not taken without a struggle, during which three of the men from the Falcon were wounded, one of them mortally. The prisoners, thirteen in number, were sent secretly to Boston, as the Quakers of New Bedford, through a writ of habeas corpus, made an effort to have them returned to the Falcon with an apology.
Another case of illegal capture occurred off Machias, Me. Two sloops, the Polly and the Unity, under convoy of the armed British schooner Margaretta, were in the harbor of Machias waiting for a cargo of lumber for the use of the British troops in Boston. The patriots of Machias de- cided that no lumber for the purpose designated should be shipped to Boston. Having first seized the two sloops, June 12-13, a party of forty men in the sloop Unity, under command of Jeremiah O'Brien, followed the Mar- garetta, which was endeavoring to escape, overtook her, and after a sharp battle which lasted an hour, during which there was loss of life on both sides, seized her and brought her back to Machias.
About a month after the capture of the Margaretta, two armed British vessels, the schooner Diligent and the tender Tapnaquish, appeared off Machias and were captured by Jeremiah O'Brien in the Machias Liberty,-late the sloop Unity,-and Benjamin Foster in another vessel. Later in the year a number of vessels were seized by private individ- uals going out in boats from our coast towns; but all, or most of these, were returned to their owners.
WASHINGTON'S COMMISSIONS (1775-1776)
George Washington took command of the army at Cam- bridge, July 3, 1775, but it was not until September that he found time to take up the question of warfare on the seas. September 2, 1775, the first regular commission for sea
32
MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR
service under Continental direction was issued. On that date, acting under general powers, Washington writes to Nicholas Broughton of Marblehead : "You, being appointed captain in the army of the United Provinces of North America, are directed to take charge of a detachment of said army and proceed on board the Schooner Hannah at Beverly, lately fitted out with arms, ammunition and provi- sions."
The Hannah was a fishing schooner belonging to Colonel Glover, who, although a citizen of Marblehead, owned a wharf in Beverly and conducted his fishing business from that place. In accordance with this order, Captain Brough- ton, taking a detachment from Colonel Glover's regiment of fishermen, hoisted his flag on the Hannah and sailed on his cruise. September 7, 1775, he writes General Wash- ington: "I beg leave to acquaint your Excellency that I sailed from Beverly last Tuesday and proceeded on my course. Took a ship off Cape Ann and sent her into Glou- cester." This prize, the first taken by a regularly com- missioned Continental vessel, was the British ship Unity, laden with naval stores.
At the time the Hannah sailed from Beverly two vessels were lying at the wharves of that town, which had been hired for the same purpose, the Lynch and the Franklin. On the return of the Hannah, Captain Broughton was ordered to take command of the Lynch and Captain Selman of the Franklin. The two vessels were ordered, when ready, to cruise in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and intercept British transports bound for Quebec and expected about this time. Although the two vessels took a few prizes they missed the transports and returned to Beverly. The Han- nah had not proved fit for the purpose for which she was hired and Colonel Glover had chartered for the Continental service a Marblehead vessel, the Lee, noted for her good qualities. The Hannah, Lynch, Franklin and Lee were all hired on the same terms, four shillings per ton per month, or five shillings four pence lawful money.
The man chosen to command the Lee was John Manly of Marblehead. Captain Manly was one of the few naval officers who seemed to suit General Washington and he
33
WASHINGTON'S COMMODORES
held during the whole war a deserved reputation for con- duct and courage. October 28, 1775, Captain Manly sailed on his first cruise in the Lee, flying the pine-tree flag from his main truck, and towards the last of November captured the British brigantine Nancy, laden with military stores. The Nancy was sent into Gloucester and her cargo, of in- estimable value, was loaded into wagons and sent over the road to Cambridge.
The Franklin, after her cruise under Captain Selman, had remained in Beverly harbor and Captain Samuel Tucker was appointed her commander. February 9, 1776, Captain Tucker sailed from Beverly in company with the Lee,-now under command of Captain Waters,-and was fortunate enough to capture two British transports, laden with supplies, and carrying 320 troops for the garrison in Boston. The capture of these vessels was of great im- . portance to the American cause, as possession of the pris- oners taken aboard rendered it almost impossible for the British to treat their American prisoners as rebels.
In his instruction to Captain Tucker for this cruise, Washington writes: "Treat prisoners with kindness and humanity. Their stock of money and clothing must be returned to them." It is to the credit of the officers of American privateers that these instructions, especially the first, have usually been observed; but privateering is rough business and a disposition to make free with the property of prisoners has characterized the privateer crews of every nation.
CRUISES UNDER COMMODORE MANLY (1778)
January 1, 1776, Captain Manly was appointed com- modore of Washington's fleet, which at this time included, in addition to the Lynch, Franklin and Lee, the schooners Warren and Harrison and the Commodore's flag ship, the schooner Hancock. The brigantine Washington, a former member of the fleet, had been captured by the British in December, 1775. The fleet continued to cruise during the whole of 1776 with considerable success, but with the loss of the Warren which was captured by the British frigate Milford.
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR
During the year 1776 and the early months of 1777, certain of our Massachusetts privateers were hired by the Council to cruise with Continental and State vessels, the whole fleet under command of Commodore Manly. The contract between the Council and the owners of the armed vessels, bound the State, for a fixed time, to insure the owners against loss by sea or enemy; to reimburse them for all powder expended; to divide any prize money equally among the fleet and to give each privateer one month's extra pay as a bonus. In return the owners gave a bond to the amount of £6000 that they would keep the agree- ment and obey Captain Manly's orders.
These cruises with Captain Manly were unpopular with both the owners and commanders of our privateers; and this unwillingness to work with either State or Continental vessels characterized our private armed navy during the whole war. Early in 1777 Washington's fleet was broken up by order of the Marine Committee of Congress.
Although the vessels commissioned by Washington were in no sense privateers but vessels hired by the United Colonies, yet the fact that they were officered and manned by citizens of Massachusetts and cruised before courts of admiralty had been established, puts them in a class by themselves. Certainly the conduct of the crews of some of these vessels, their lack of discipline, their readiness to loot the cargoes of prizes, their frequent desertion and disobedience of orders, show that "Our rascally privateers- men," as Washington once called them, regarded them- selves as a sort of sea-militia, who could do as they chose and go home when they pleased. It is to be remembered, however, as some extenuation of their conduct, that their pay was small and often in arrears and that prize money could not be obtained until the prize was condemned, and that was in the distant future. Still, despite the deficiencies of the crews and the incompetence of some of the com- manders, the armed vessels commissioned by Washington did much to hasten the surrender of Boston and help the cause of American liberty.
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THE STATE NAVY
THE STATE NAVY (1775-1780)
Some time in August, 1775, the two armed vessels Machias Liberty and Diligent, which had been captured in June off Machias, Me., by Jeremiah O'Brien, were taken into the service of the colony and are called the "nucleus" of the Massachusetts State Navy. Under command of O'Brien they are said to have taken some prizes and in October, 1776, they were discharged from further service.
December 29, 1775, the Massachusetts Council passed a resolution "That measures be taken by this Colony for our further Protection by Sea; " and a committee of the two houses was appointed January 12, 1776, to build five vessels. By September 1776, the sloops, Republic, Free- dom and Tyrannicide,-the latter afterwards rerigged as a brigantine,-and the brigantines Rising Empire, Inde- pendence and Massachusetts, were in commission. These vessels were armed with four- and six-pound guns and each manned by 100 to 125 men. At irregular intervals, the Hazard, Active, Mars, Defence, Tartar, Protector and Winthrop were added, so fifteen vessels comprised the Massa- chusetts navy that cruised during the war. One by one these vessels were sold, lost, or captured by the enemy : the Protector, a 26-gun frigate, the heaviest armed ves- sel that sailed in the State navy during the war, was captured in 1781; and when the war ended the sloop Win- throp was the last and only vessel of the State navy in commission.
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