USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Concord > History of the siege of Boston, and of the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill. Also an account of the Bunker Hill Monument. With illustrative documents > Part 2
USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > History of the siege of Boston, and of the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill. Also an account of the Bunker Hill Monument. With illustrative documents > Part 2
USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Lexington > History of the siege of Boston, and of the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill. Also an account of the Bunker Hill Monument. With illustrative documents > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40
1 Journals of the day. 2 In 1767, an addition was first made to the num- ber of men who commonly formed the garrison of Castle William. On the
7
THE BOSTON PORT BILL.
eral Gage writes, May 31, " for the arrival of the troops ; and I am told that people will then speak and act openly, which they now dare not do." Hence a respectable force was soon concentrated in Boston. On the 14th June, the 4th or king's own regiment, and on the 15th, the 43d regiment, landed at the Long Wharf, and encamped on the common. Additional transports with troops soon arrived in the harbor, and on the 4th and 5th of July, the 5th and 3Sth regiments landed at the Long Wharf. Lord Percy was among the officers of this ar- rival. At this time the governor had a country seat at Dan- vers. On the 6th of August the 59th regiment arrived from Halifax, and during the following week landed at Salem, and there encamped.1 Additional troops were ordered from New York, the Jerseys, and Quebec. These measures, General Gage writes, give spirits to one side, and throw a damp on the other. "Your lordship will observe, that there is now an open opposition to the faction, carried on with a warmth and spirit unknown before, which it is highly proper and necessary to cherish and support by every means ; and I hope it will not be very long before it produces very salutary effects." 2
The Boston Port Bill went into operation amid the tolling of bells, fasting and prayer, the exhibition of mourning em- blems, and every expression of general and deep sympathy. It bore severely upon two towns, Boston and Charlestown, which had been long connected by a common patriotism. Their laborers were thrown out of employment, their poor were deprived of bread, and gloom pervaded their streets. But they were cheered and sustained by the large contribu- tions sent from every quarter for their relief, and by the noble words that accompanied them. The mission of this law, how-
Ist of October, 1768, a body of seven hundred, covered by the fleet, landed in Boston, and with charged muskets marched to the common, amid the sullen silence of the people. In November following, parts of the 64th and 65th regiments joined them. Collisions with the inhabitants followed, and then the tragedy of the fifth of March, 1770. This occasioned the removal to the castle. Here they remained until the ministry resolved to subdue Massachusetts by arms.
1 Newell's Diary. 2 The letters of Lord Dartmouth and General Gage, or rather extracts from them, were published in the Parliamentary Register of 1775.
1*
:
8
COLONIAL POLITICS.
ever, was rather to develop an intense fraternal feeling, to promote concert of action and a union of the colonies, than to create a state of open war. The excitement of the public mind was intense ; and the months of June, July, and August, were characterized by varied political activity. Multitudes signed a solemn Icague and covenant against the use of British goods. The breach between the whigs and loyalists daily became wider. Patriotic donations from every colony were on their way to the suffering towns. Supplies for the British troops were refused ; and essays demonstrated that the royal authority had ceased, and that the people, being in a state of nature, were at liberty to incorporate themselves into an inde- pendent community. It was while the public mind was in this state of excitement, that other acts arrived, which Gen- eral Gage was instructed to carry into effect.
The British Parliament had passed two acts,1 virtually re- pealing the charter of Massachusetts, entitled " An Act for the better regulating the government of the Province of Massachu- setts Bay," and " An Act for the more impartial administra- tion of justice in said Province." The first law provided that the councillors, which were chosen by the representatives annually, should be appointed by the king, and should serve according to his majesty's pleasure; that the judges, sheriffs, and other civil officers, should be appointed by the governor, or, in his absence, the lieutenant-governor; that juries should be summoned by the sheriff's ; and that town-meetings, except the annual ones of March and May, and other public meet- ings, should not be held without the permission of the governor. The other act provided that offenders against the laws might be carried to other colonies or to England for trial. These arbitrary acts went to the root of the political system that had grown with the growth and had strengthened with the strength of Massachusetts. They undermined those fundamental prin- ciples which formed its basis. They struck down customs,
' The bill for regulating the government passed the House of Commons May 2, 1774, yeas 239, nays 64 ; the House of Lords, May 11, yeas 92, nays 20. The bill for the administration of justice passed the House of Commons May 6, 1774, yeas 127, nays 24 ; the House of Lords, May 18, yeas 43, nays 12. Both bills were approved May 20.
9
THE REGULATING ACT.
which, in a century and a half's practice, had grown into rights. They invaded the trial by jury; and what was scarcely less dear to the colonists, they prohibited public meet- ings, and thus, it was said, "cut away the scaffolding of English freedom." The issue, no longer one of mere taxation, involved the gravest questions as to personal rights. The freeman was required to become a slave. It was the attempt- ed execution of these laws that became the immediate occasion of the commencement of hostilities between the American colonists and Great Britain.
Copies of these acts were received early in June,1 and were immediately circulated through the colonies. General Gage did not receive them officially until the 6th of August, and with them a letter of instructions from the government. Lord Dart- mouth hoped these new laws would have " the good effect" to give vigor to the civil authority, "to prevent those unwarrant- able assemblings of the people for factious purposes, which had been the source of so much mischief," and to secure an impar- tial administration of justice ; and he instructed the governor, at all hazards, to put them in force. Not only the dignity and reputation of the empire, but the power and the very existence of the empire, depended upon the issue ; for if the ideas of inde- pendence once took root, the colonial relation would be sev- ered, and destruction would follow disunion. It was actual disobedience, and open resistance, that had compelled coercive measures. With this imperative order there came a nomi- nation of thirty-six councillors. General Gage lost no time in attempting to carry these laws into execution. Twenty- four of the council immediately accepted. The first meeting of such of the members as could be collected was held on the Sth; and a meeting of the whole was called on the 16th. Judges, also, proceeded immediately to hold courts, and sheriffs to summon juries, under the authority of the new acts. The momentous question of obedience now came up. Should Massachusetts submit to the new acts? Would the other colonies see, without increased alarm, the humiliation of Mas- sachusetts ?
1 June 2, Captain Williamson, in 36 days from Bristol, (arrived) with copy of another cruel act of Parliament. - Newell's Ms. Diary.
10
COLONIAL POLITICS.
This was the turning point of the Revolution. It did not find the patriots unprepared. They had an organization beyond the rcach alike of proclamations from the governors, or of circulars from the ministry. This was the committecs of correspondence, chosen in most of the towns in legal town- meetings, or by the various colonial assemblies, and extending throughout the colonies. Their value was appreciated by the patriots, while their influence was dreaded by the crown. His majesty had formally signified his disapprobation of their appointment ;1 but the ministers of state corresponded with their colonial officials and friends; and why should it be thought unreasonable or improper for the agents of the colo- nists to correspond with each other ? The crisis called for all the wisdom of these committees. A remarkable circular from Boston, addressed to the towns, (July, 1774,) dwelt upon the dnty of opposing the new laws: the towns, in their answers, were bold, spirited, and firm, and echoed the necessity of resistance. Nor was this all. The people promptly thwarted the first attempts to exercise authority under them. Such councillors as accepted their appointments were compelled to resign, or, to avoid compulsion, retired into Boston. At Great Barrington, (August, 1774,) the judges, on attempting to hold courts, were driven from the bench, and the Boston people were gravely advised to imitate the example.2 At length the committee of Worcester suggested a meeting of various com- mittees, to conclude upon a plan of operation to be adopted through the province,3 and requested the Boston committee to call it. Accordingly, a meeting of delegates from the commit- tees of the counties of Worcester, Essex, and Middlesex, and of the committee of correspondence of Suffolk, was held on the 26th of August, 1774, at Faneuil Hall. It was first resolved that
1 Governor Hutchinson, in his message to the General Court, January 26, 1774, said : " I am required to signify to you his majesty's disapprobation of the appointment of committecs of correspondence, in various instances, which sit and act during the recess of the General Court." 2 A paper, in stating this fact, says : Here is now an example for you, inhabitants of Suffolk ! An infant county, hardly organized, has prevented the session of a court on the new system of despotism. 3 " A county congress" was suggested at a Bos- ton town-meeting, August 9, and the committee of correspondence authorized to appoint delegates to it. - Records.
11
COUNCIL IN FANEUIL HALL.
certain officers of the crown, - such as judges, and justices, and officers of courts, - were, by the act for the better regu- lation of the government, rendered unconstitutional officers ; and then a committee was raised, to report resolutions proper to be adopted on so alarming an occasion. The meeting then adjourned to the next day. On the 27th, this meeting con- sidered the report of its committee, and adopted it. Its pre- amble declares that the new policy of the ministry formed a complete system of tyranny ; that no power on earth had a right, without the consent of this province, to alter the minutest tittle of its charter ; that they were entitled to life, liberty, and the means of sustenance, by the grace of Heaven, and without the king's leave ; and that the late act had robbed them of the most essential rights of British subjects. Its resolves declare : 1. That a Provincial Congress is necessary to counteract the systems of despotism, and to substitute referee committees in place of the unconstitutional courts; and that each county will act wisely in choosing members, and reso- lutely executing its measures. 2. That, previous to the meet- ing of such congress, the courts ought to be opposed. 3. That officers attempting to hold them, or any others attempting to execute the late act, would be traitors cloaked with a pretext of law. 4. 'That all persons ought to separate from them, - laborers ought to shun their vineyards, and merchants ought to refuse to supply them with goods. 5. That every defender of the rights of the province, or of the continent, ought to be supported by the whole county, and, if need be, by the prov- ince. 6. That, as a necessary means to secure the rights of the people, the military art, according to the Norfolk plan, ought to be attentively practised. Such was the bold deter- mination of what may not be inaptly termed the executive of the patriot party. I know of no more important consultation of this period,1 or one that was followed by more momentous action. These resolves, reflecting as they did the deep convic- tions of the majority of the people, were carried out to the
1 This meeting does not appear to have been public. I have not met with a single allusion to it in print, either in the newspapers or in the histories. The proceedings, from Mss. in the rich cabinet of the Mass. Hist. Society, with the call, are in the Appendix.
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COLONIAL POLITICS.
letter. The result was, a Provincial Congress, hostile prepa- ration, a clash of arms, and a general rising of the people.
To the people of Middlesex County belongs the honor of taking the lead in carrying out the bold plan resolved upon in Faneuil Hall. A convention, consisting of delegates from every town and district in it, chosen at legal town-meetings, assem- bled at Concord on the 30th of August. It numbered one hun- dred and fifty, and constituted a noble representation of the character and intelligence of this large county. The mem- bers felt that they were dealing with "great and profound questions," - their own words, -at a stage when judicious revolutionary action, rather than exciting language, was re- quired. Their report and resolves are pervaded by that deep religious feeling that runs through the revolutionary docu- ments of New England, and are remarkable for their firmness, moderation, and strength. After reviewing the late acts, they say, "To obey them would be to annihilate the last vestiges of liberty in this province, and therefore we must be justified by God and the world in never submitting to them." Actu- ated by "a sense of their duty as men, as freemen, and as Christian freemen," they resolved that every civil officer, act- ing under the new acts, "was not an officer agreeable to the charter, therefore unconstitutional, and ought to be opposed." 'They concluded in the following lofty strain : "No danger shall affright, no difficulties shall intimidate us; and if, in support of our rights, we are called to encounter even death, we are yet undaunted, sensible that he can never die too soon who lays down his life in support of the laws and liberties of liis country." Memorable words for men to utter, who led at Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill ! Proceedings worthy to have emanated from these world-renowned battle-grounds.1
The governor, meantime, kept a watchful eye on these movements. He resolved to use his troops to disperse public meetings, and to protect the courts, and made his first attempt at Salem. A meeting was called in this town, August 20, by printed handbills from the committee of correspondence, and
' These proceedings were published at length in the journals of the time. A copy was officially sent to Congress, then in session at Philadelphia, where they were much applauded.
13
THE SALEM MEETING.
the object was to elect delegates to a county convention to be holden at Ipswich. On the 23d of August, General Gage issued a proclamation, forbidding all persons from attending this meeting, "or any other not warranted by law," as they would be chargeable with all the ill consequences that might follow, and must "answer them at their utmost peril." The inhabitants, however, assembled on the 24th, according to the notice. By request, the committee waited on General Gage, who ordered them to dissolve the meeting. The committee began to argue the legality of the assembly. " I came to exe- cute the laws, not to dispute them," replied Gage. A detach- ment of troops was ordered to disperse the meeting ; but while the committee were in consultation, the people transacted their business and adjourned, and the discomfited governor grati- fied his resentment by arresting those who called the unlawful assembly.
The next attempt of General Gage indicated his intention to secure the cannon and powder of the province, and thus disarm the people. In Charlestown, on Quarry Hill, was a magazine, -- the powder-house, - where it was customary to store powder belonging to the towns and the province. Owing to the lowering aspect of public affairs, the towns, in August, withdrew their stock, which left only that belonging to the province. This fact was communicated to General Gage by William Brattle. of Cambridge, when it was determined to remove the remainder of the powder to Castle William. Ac- cordingly, on the first day of September, about sunrise in the morning, Lieutenant-Colonel Maddison, with two hundred and sixty troops, embarked in thirteen boats at Long Wharf, Bos- ton, landed at Temple's Farm, (The Ten Hills, ) crossed over Winter Hill to the powder-house, and carried the powder, two hundred and fifty half-barrels, on board the boats. Meantime a detachment went to Cambridge, and carried away two field- pieces, lately procured for the regiment of that place. The party then proceeded to Castle William.
The report of this affair, spreading rapidly, excited great indignation. The people collected in large numbers, and many were in favor of attempting to recapture the powder and can- non. Influential patriots, however, succeeded in turning their
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COLONIAL POLITICS.
attention in another direction. They were persuaded to remain quiet on this day, and on the next day, September 2, to carry into effect the resolves of the convention of Middlesex County, so far as it respected officers who were exercising authority under the new acts. Accordingly, under the sanction and direction of members of the committees of correspondence of Boston, Charlestown, and Cambridge, the people repaired in a body to the residence of Lieutenant-Governor Oliver, and obliged him to resign his office. The resignation of other important officers, who had accepted appointments or executed processes, was procured. General Gage was wisely advised by his adherents not to use force to disperse this meeting, and thus, unmolested, it actcd in a revolutionary manner almost within gun-shot of his batteries. Meantime the fact of the removal of the powder became magnified into a report that the British had cannonaded Boston, when the bells rang, beacon-fires blazed on the hills, the neighbor colonies were alarmed, and the roads were filled with armed men hastening to the point of supposed danger.
These demonstrations opened the eyes of the governor to the extent of the popular movement, and convinced him of the futility of endeavoring to protect the courts by his troops. He left Salem for Boston, to attend the Superior Court, on the 30th, and with the intention of sending a detachment to pro- tect the judges in holding a court at Worcester ; but his coun- cil hesitated as to the propriety of weakening his forces by division. It would be to tempt their destruction. "The flames of sedition," he writes, September 2, " had spread uni- versally throughout the country beyond conception ;" and he assured Lord Dartmouth that "civil government was near its end;" that the time for " conciliation, moderation, reasoning, was over," and that nothing could be done but by forcible means; that Connecticut and Rhode Island were as furious as Massachusetts ; that the only thing to be done was to secure the friends of government in Boston, to reinforce the troops, and act as circumstances might require. "I mean, my lord," he adds, " to secure all I can by degrees; to avoid any bloody crisis as long as possible, unless forced into it by themselves, which may happen." But as it was resolved "to stem the
15
BOSTON NECK FORTIFIED.
torrent, not yield to it," he frankly told the minister "that a very respectable force should take the field."
This was the period of transition from moral suasion to physical force. General Gage saw no hope of procuring obe- dience but by the power of arms ; and the patriot party saw no safety in anything short of military preparation. Resist- ance to the acts continued to be manifested in every form. On the ninth of September the memorable Suffolk resolves were adopted, going to the same length with those of Middle- sex ; and these were succeeded by others in other counties equally bold and spirited. These resolves were approved by the Continental Congress, then in session. Everywhere the people either compelled the unconstitutional officers to resign, or opposed every attempt to exercise authority, whether by the governor or by a constable.1 They also made every effort to transport ammunition and stores to places of security. Can- non and muskets were carried secretly out of Boston.2 The guns were taken from an old battery at Charlestown, where the navy yard is. This was difficult to accomplish, for any unusual noise in the battery might be heard on board of a ship of war which lay opposite to it. But a party of patriots, mostly of Charlestown, removed the guns silently at night, secreted them in the town for a few days, and eluding a strict search made for them by British officers, carried them into the country.
General Gage immediately began to fortify Boston Neck.
1 A letter from Boston states : The distress occasioned to the town by that indiscriminating act which, by shutting up the port of Boston, involves the innocent equally with the guilty, seems to be entirely absorbed by what is thought a greater evil, the act for regulating, or rather altering, the consti- tution and government of the province, regardless of their long-enjoyed char- ter privileges. As this affects the whole province, and deprives them of what they hold most dear, the temper of the people is raised to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, and their behavior borders upon distraction.
2 Newell writes, September 15 : Last night all the cannon in the North Battery were spiked up. It is said to be done by about one hundred men, who came in boats, from the men of war in the harbor. September 17 : Last night the town's people took four cannon from the gun-house very near the common. September 20 : Some cannon removed by the men-of-war's men from the mill-pond.
2
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COLONIAL POLITICS.
This added intensity to the excitement. The inhabitants became alarmed at so ominous a movement ; and, on the 5th of September, the selectmen waited on the general, represented the public feeling, and requested him to explain his object. The governor stated in reply, that his object was to protect his majesty's troops and his majesty's subjects ; and that he had no intention to stop up the avenue, or to obstruct the free passage over it, or to do anything hostile against the inhab- itants. He went on with the works, and soon mounted on them two twenty-four pounders and eight nine pounders. Again, on the 9th, the selectmen called on him, and repre- sented the growing apprehension of the inhabitants. The fortress at the entrance of the town, they said, indicated a design to reduce the metropolis to the state of a garrison. In a written reply, General Gage repeated his former assurances, and characteristically remarked, that as it was his duty, so it should be his endeavor, to preserve the peace and promote the happiness of every individual, and recommended the inhab- itants to cultivate the same spirit. On the next day a com- mittee from the Suffolk convention waited on him. They represented that the prevailing ferment was caused by his seizing the powder at Charlestown, by his withholding the stock in the Boston magazine from its legal proprietors, by his new fortification, and by the insults of his troops to the people. General Gage's reply is dated September 12. He admits instances of disorder in the troops, but appeals to their general good behavior, and concludes : "I would ask what occasion there is for such numbers going armed in and out of town, and through the country in a hostile manner ? Or why were the guns removed privately in the night from the battery at Charlestown ? The refusing submission to the late acts of Parliament I find general throughout the province, and I shall lay the same before his majesty." The patriots were never at a loss for words ; and on receiving this, they promptly pre- sented an address to the governor, recapitulating his hostile acts, and requesting him, in his purposed representation, to assure his majesty, "That no wish of independency, no adverse sentiments or designs towards his majesty or his troops now here, actuate his good subjects in this colony ; but
17
BOSTON IN 1774.
that their sole intention is to preserve pure and inviolate those rights to which, as men, and English Americans, they are justly entitled, and which have been guaranteed to thiem by his majesty's royal predecessors." Dr. Warren, in presenting to General Gage this address, remarked, "That no person had, so far as he had been informed, taken any steps that indicated any hostile intention, until the seizing and carrying off the powder from the magazine in the County of Middlesex." 1
All eyes now centred on Boston. It was filled with the spirit of the olden time, - the spirit of the indomitable men, pure in life and strong in faith, who founded it, and who reared it for the abode of civil independence as well as for religious liberty. In every period of its history it had been jealous of its rights. It had grown up in the habitual exer- cise of them, and had been quick to discern their infringe- ment. It had dared to depose Andros for his tyranny, and it was early and decided in its opposition to the claim of par- liamentary supremacy. For years it had been alive with the kindling politics of the age, and stood boldly prominent as the advocate of the patriot cause. It was regarded by the Whigs as the great representative of liberty. It was regarded by the Tories as the grand focus of rebellion.2 Hence the British administration made it feel the full weight of British power, and expected by crushing the spirit of Boston to crush the spirit of disobedience in the colonies.
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