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 20
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 20
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 20
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General Howe, it was conceded even by his enemies, be- haved with great bravery through the whole battle. Of the notices of him in the British journals, I select the following : "General Howe, during the whole engagement on the 17th of June last, was in the most imminent danger ; and Mr. Evans, an English servant, who went over with him, could not be prevailed on to quit him till the whole of the action was over. Evans attended the whole time with wine and other neces- saries for the refreshment of the general and those about him; during which, Evans had one of the bottles in his hand dashed to pieces, and got a contusion on one of his arms at the same time, by'a ball from some of the provincials."
General Clinton's services were highly commended, and great influence was ascribed to his advice. Few details, how- ever, are mentioned of his conduct, besides his rally of the troops for the third attack, and his advice to follow up the victory by a close pursuit. The same remark may be made of General Pigot. General Gage attributed "the success of the day, in a great measure, to his firmness and gallantry."
The British commander was severely criticized. General Gage, it was said, had been urged repeatedly to take posses- sion of the heights of Charlestown, and committed a great error in delaying so important a measure. Even the ground had not been reconnoitred. The army should have landed in the rear of the Americans, and cut off their retreat; the force should have been concentrated against their left wing; the troops should have marched up in column on the first attack,
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BUNKER HILL BATTLE.
and carried the works by the bayonet; the unnecessary load they bore exhausted them before they got into action; Mystic River was neglected, for the Symmetry transport might have taken a position at high water in the rear of the Americans, and played on their flank at the rail fence; or one of the cov- ered boats, musket-proof, and carrying a heavy piece of can- non, might have been towed close in to the shore. And when the field was won, the success was less brilliant than it might have been, and ought to have been, for no pursuit was ordered after the Americans retreated. These criticisms, for the most part, were as just as they were severe. The issue of this battle destroyed the military reputation of General Gage, and occasioned his recall.
Nor did the British troops, gallantly as they behaved, escape the denunciations of party. Many allusions to their conduct on this day were made in the debates of Parliament. Thus Colonel Barre, February 20, 1776, said the troops, out of aver- . sion to the service, misbehaved on this day. General Bur- goyne arose with warmth, and contradicted Colonel Barre in the flattest manner. He allowed that the troops gave way a little at one time, because they were flanked by the fire out of the houses, &c., at Charlestown, but they soon rallied and advanced; and no men on earth ever behaved with more spirit, firmness, and perseverance, till they forced the enemy out of their intrenchments. This charge, in general, was certainly undeserved. At no time was British valor more needed to insure success, and at no time, General Gage remarked, was it "more conspicuous than in this action." In the general orders of June 19 was the following tribute : "The commander-in-chief returns his most grateful thanks to Major-general Howe, for the extraordinary exertion of his military abilities on the 17th inst. He returns his thanks also to Major-general Clinton and Brigadier-general Pigot, for the share they took in the success of the day ; as well as to Lieu- tenant-colonels Nesbit, Abercrombie, Gunning, and Clarke; Majors Butler, Williams, Bruce, Tupper, Spendlove, Small, and Mitchell; and the rest of the officers and soldiers, who, by remarkable efforts of courage and gallantry, overcame every disadvantage, and drove the rebels from their redoubt
201
DESTRUCTION OF CHARLESTOWN.
and strong-holds on the heights of Charlestown, and gained a complete victory." 1
The wanton destruction of Charlestown excited indignation at home, and sympathy abroad. It had been repeatedly threatened previous to the battle. Its importance, in a mil- itary point of view, added to the bold and decided part it bore in the previous ten years' controversy, seemed to mark it for sacrifice. The threat of the nineteenth of April has been stated. The British general, on the 21st of April, sent to the selectmen a message to this effect, - that if American troops were allowed to occupy the town, or throw up works on the heights, the ships would be ordered to fire on it; and subse- quently, probably when a part of the army marched into the town, General Gage sent word to the citizens that if the troops were not removed he would burn it. Consequently, a com- mittee waited upon General Ward, informed him of the threat, and stated that if the good of the cause required that the troops should remain they would not object. Comment is unnecessary on so interesting a fact, and one so honorable to the patriotism of the inhabitants of Charlestown .?
In consequence of these threats, the belief in town was very general that its destruction would follow any military oper- ations within the peninsula. Hence the inhabitants, with the
1 On the 28th of September the acknowledgments of the crown were expressed in nearly similar terms.
2 Among the Mss. of Richard Devens, of Charlestown, is the following : "This town was given up. Upon the appearance of some American troops on B. Hill, Gen. G. (Gage) sent over from B. (Boston) and threatened the town that if (the) men were not removed from the hill he would burn the town. A committee from the T. (town) waited on the C. in chief, G. W., (commander-in-chief, General Ward,) informed him of the threat they had received from G. G., (General Gage,) and at the same time informed him that if it was for (the) good of the whole they would not object."
An article in the London Chronicle, 1777, by one conversant with the ground and the battle, says : "So long before (the 17th) as the 21st of April, a message had been sent to the selectmen of Charlestown, that if they suffered the rebels to take possession of their town, or to throw up any works to annoy the ships, the ships would fire upon them."
Gordon says : "General Gage had for some time resolved upon burning the town, when once any works were raised by the Americans upon the hills belonging to it."
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exception of about two hundred, had removed into the coun- try, - some residing with friends, the poor supported by the towns. Many carried with them their most valuable effects. Others had secreted their goods in various places, as in dried wells, in cellars, and holes dug in the ground. Committees were appointed to superintend the supply of provisions to those who remained. None could pass the Neck, however, without a permit from a person stationed at the "Sun Tav- ern," at this place. The owners of the pastures went in to mow the fields, and on the day previous to the battle the grass was cut in the neighborhood of the rail fence. The town, there- fore, on the day of the battle, was nearly deserted.
A few of the citizens, however, remained up to the hour of the engagement. While the British were embarking, Rev. John Martin, who fought bravely in the action,1 and was with the troops all night, left Brccd's Hill, went to Charlestown Ferry, and with a spy-glass - Dr. Stiles writes - " viewed the shipping, and observed their preparations of floating bat- teries, and boats filling with soldiers. There were now in Charlestown a considerable number of people-one hundred or two hundred, or more, men and women - not yet removed, though the body of the people and effects were gone. While he called in at a house for a drink of water, a cannon ball from the slipping passed through the house. He persuaded the inhabitants to depart, but they seemed reluctant. He assured them that it would be warm work that day." He returned to the hill, but soon, about noon, went down again. " Mr. Cary and son," he says, -" still at their own house, - urged liim to take some refreshment and rest, as he had been fatigued all night. He lay down at Mr. Cary's about ten minutes, when a ball came through the house. He rose and 1 The following paragraph, dated New-Port, July 3, 1775, appeared in a newspaper :
" Last Friday evening the Rev. Mr. John Martin, who fought gallantly at Bunker's Hill, and is since appointed to a post in the Rhode Island regiment, preached an animating sermon in this town, from Nehemiah iv., and part of the 14th verse : ' Be not afraid of them : Remember the Lord which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons and daughters, your wives and your daughters.' The next morning he preached another sermon, at five o'clock, and then set out for the camp."
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DESTRUCTION OF CHARLESTOWN.
returned, and then the town evacuated with all haste." Ad- vertisements in the journals indicate that furniture was carried out on this day.
General Burgoyne's letter supplies the most authentic de- scription of the burning of the town. He writes of the British columns as they were moving to the attack : "They were also exceedingly hurt by musketry from Charlestown, though Clinton and I did not perceive it till Howe sent us word by a boat, and desired us to set fire to the town, which was imme- diately done; we threw a parcel of shells, and the whole was immediately in flames." The town was burning on the sec- ond attack. The smoke was seen a great distance. "Terrible indeed was that scene," - a letter from Salem reads, - "even at our distance. The western horizon in the day-time was one huge body of smoke, and in the evening a continued blaze; and the perpetual sound of cannon and volleys of mus- ketry worked up our imaginations to a high degree of fright." The houses within the peninsula, with the exception of a few in the neighborhood of Mill-street, were entirely consumed. The number of buildings was estimated at about four hun- dred; and the loss of property at £117,982 5s. 2d.1 Some of the property secreted was found by the British, while much of it was recovered by the owners on the evacuation of the town. Many from Boston had deposited goods in this town for safe keeping, and these were consumed. Dr. Mather lost his library. The inhabitants made several applications to the General Court and to Congress for indemnification for their loss, but without effect.
The destruction naturally excited great indignation in the colonies. John Langdon, in a letter dated Philadelphia, July 3, 1775, writes : " The low, mean revenge and wanton cru- elty of the ministerial sons of tyranny, in burning the pleas- ant town of Charlestown, beggars all description; this does not look like the fight of those who have so long been friends, and would hope to be friends again, but rather of a most cruel enemy, - though we shall not wonder when we reflect, that it is the infernal hand of tyranny which always has, and ever
1 This estimate was made by a large committee, chosen by the town for this purpose in March, 1776.
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will, deluge that part of the world (which it lays hold of ) in blood."
The British Annual Register of 1775 said : "The fate of Charlestown was also a matter of melancholy contemplation to the serious and unprejudiced of all parties. It was the first settlement made in the colony, and was considered as the mother of Boston, - that town owing its birth and nurture to cmigrants of the former. Charlestown was large, handsome, and well built, both in respect to its public and private edi- fices ; it contained about four hundred houses, and had the greatest trade of any port in the province, except Boston. It is said that the two ports cleared out a thousand vessels annu- ally for a foreign trade, exclusive of an infinite number of coasters. It is now buried in ruins. Such is the termination of human labor, industry, and wisdom, and such are the fatal fruits of civil dissensions."
I thus have attempted to present the chief incidents of this memorable battle. It is its connection with the cause of Ameri- can liberty that gives such an importance to this occasion, and such an interest to its minute details. In conclusion, I cannot forbear to extract the following reflections contained in an article of the October number of the North American Review of 1818. They are understood to be from the pen of Hon. Daniel Webster : -
" No national drama was ever developed in a more interest- ing and splendid first scene. The incidents and the result of the battle itself were most important, and indeed most wonder- ful. As a mere battle, few surpass it in whatever engages and interests the attention. It was fought on a conspicuous emi- nence, in the immediate neighborhood of a populous city ; and consequently in the view of thousands of spectators. The at- tacking army moved over a sheet of water to the assault. The operations and movements were of course all visible and all distinct. Those who looked on from the houses and heights of Boston had a fuller view of every important operation and event than can ordinarily be had of any battle, or than can possibly be had of such as are fought on a more extended ground, or by detachments of troops acting in different places,
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REFLECTIONS ON THE BATTLE.
and at different times, and in some measure independently of each other. When the British columns were advancing to the attack, the flames of Charlestown (fired, as is generally sup- posed, by a shell) began to ascend. The spectators, far out- numbering both armies, thronged and crowded on every height and every point which afforded a view of the scene, themselves constituted a very important part of it.
"The troops of the two armies seemed like so many com- batants in an amphitheatre. The manner in which they should acquit themselves was to be judged of, not, as in other cases of military engagements, by reports and future history, but by a vast and anxious assembly already on the spot, and waiting with unspeakable concern and emotion the progress of the day.
"In other battles the recollection of wives and children has been used as an excitement to animate the warrior's breast and nerve his arm. Here was not a mere recollection, but an actual presence of them, and other dear connections, hanging on the skirts of the battle, anxious and agitated, feeling almost as if wounded themselves by every blow of the enemy, and putting forth, as it were, their own strength, and all the energy of their own throbbing bosoms, into every gallant effort of their warring friends.
"But there was a more comprehensive and vastly more important view of that day's contest than has been men- tioned, - a view, indeed, which ordinary eyes, bent intently on what was immediately before them, did not embrace, but which was perceived in its full extent and expansion by minds of a higher order. Those men who were at the head of the colonial councils, who had been engaged for years in the pre- vious stages of the quarrel with England, and who had been accustomed to look forward to the future, were well apprised of the magnitude of the events likely to hang on the business of that day. They saw in it not only a battle, but the begin- ning of a civil war of unmeasured extent and uncertain issue. All America and all England were likely to be deeply concerned in the consequences. The individuals themselves, who knew full well what agency they had had in bringing affairs to this crisis, had need of all their courage ; - not that
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disregard of personal safety, in which the vulgar suppose true courage to consist, but that high and fixed moral sentiment, that steady and decided purpose, which enables men to pur- sue a distant end, with a full view of the difficulties and dan- gers before them, and with a conviction, that, before they arrive at the proposed end, should they ever reach it, they must pass through evil report as well as good report, and be liable to obloquy as well as to defeat.
" Spirits that fear nothing else, fear disgrace; and this dan- ger is necessarily encountered by those who engage in civil war. Unsuccessful resistance is not only ruin to its authors, but is esteemed, and necessarily so, by the laws of all coun- tries, treasonable. This is the case at least till resistance becomes so general and formidable as to assume the form of regular war. But who can tell, when resistance commences, whether it will attain even to that degree of success ? Some of those persons who signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 described themselves as signing it 'as with halters about their necks.' If there were grounds for this remark in 1776, when the cause had become so much more general, how much greater was the hazard when the battle of Bunker Hill was fought !"
" These considerations constituted, to enlarged and liberal minds, the moral sublimnity of the occasion; while to the out- ward senses, the movement of armies, the roar of artillery, the brilliancy of the reflection of a summer's sun from the bur- nished armor of the British columns, and the flames of a burning town, made up a scene of extraordinary grandeur."
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SCENES IN BOSTON.
CHAPTER VIII.
The Environs of Boston fortified. The Continental Army established. Description of the American Camp.
THE extraordinary news of the battle of Bunker Hill natu- rally created astonishment and alarm ; and the day following -Sunday, June 18-was characterized around Boston by exciting rumor, intense anxiety, and painful suspense. A cir- cular of the committee of safety, stating that the British troops were moving into the country, and calling upon the militia to march forthwith to Cambridge, though soon countermanded, served to increase the excitement. The militia promptly repaired to the camp. Thousands accompanied them, to ver- ify the great reports, or to learn the fate of friends, or to aid in preventing further inroads of the enemy. The roar of the British cannon had not ceased. Mrs. Adams writes : "It began on Saturday morning about three o'clock, and has not ceased yet, and it is now three o'clock Sabbath afternoon." A shower came up during the afternoon, when there was a cessation of the cannonade. It was believed, however, that the British would move out of Boston. Mrs. Adams contin- ues : "It is expected they will come out over the Neck to-night. and a dreadful battle must ensue. Almighty God ! cover the heads of our countrymen, and be a shield to our dear friends."
In Boston, there was hardly less distress or less alarm. The remains of the gallant officers, the hundreds of as gallant privates, that were borne through the streets, together with the lamentations of the mourners, made up heart-rending scenes. They had a depressing effect upon all. It was in vain the soldiers called to mind their victory, if victory it could be called. The officers felt that it was purchased at too dear a price, and there was an air of dejection in their looks. This dejection was seen also in the men. Bitter were the reflections that were cast on the policy that had cut down the
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THE SIEGE OF BOSTON.
flower of the troops. " A disagreeable murmur now (June 25) runs through the army, which ever most disagreeably invades the general's ears." Again the officers and the royalists dreaded the vengeance of the exasperated people, and felt apprehensive that the town would be attacked, and be burnt over their heads. The Tories again established a night patrol, forty-nine each night, to relieve the troops of this duty. Two hundred volunteered in this work. General Gage issued (June 19) an ill-natured proclamation. He stated that the selectmen and others had repeatedly assured him that all the inhabitants had delivered up their fire-arms, though he had at the same time advices to the contrary ; and that he had since full proof that many had been perfidious in this respect, and had se- creted great numbers. He required those who had any "immediately to surrender them at the court-house," and he declared "that all persons in whose possession any fire-arms might hereafter be found should be deemed enemies to his majesty's government." The British general had no inten- tion of marching out of Boston. His main object was self- preservation, - to prevent a surprise, and to strengthen his defences.
Charlestown presented (June 18) melancholy evidence of the complicated horrors of the battle-field. A few persons were allowed to visit it from Boston. The smoke of its dwel- ling-places still rose on the air; the dying and the dead still lay upon its hills. Among the details of the scene is the state- ment that ninety-two bodies were counted on the line of the rail fence protection.' General Howe spent the preceding night on the heights, and his troops laid on their arms. He was assigned the command of this post, which he continued to hold until General Gage was recalled. He was immedi- ately supplied with additional troops. On the night of the 17th he commenced a breastwork on the north-western decliv- ity of Bunker Hill, and stationed two regiments, the 47th and 52d, in the main street from the burying-ground to the Neck. Subsequently regular working parties, relieved every four hours, labored night and day in throwing up defences. Gen-
' The description of the scenes in Boston, Charlestown, and the neighbor- hood, is derived from diaries and letters of 1775.
SPIRIT OF THE AMERICANS. 209
eral Howe personally inspected these works, and made him- self exceedingly popular with his men by sharing their fatigue. His first general order expressed the hope that the troops, in their new encampment, would show an attention to discipline and regularity equal to the bravery they had so remarkably displayed. They were forbidden to cut down trees ; to pilfer in the deserted houses, on pain of death; to fire upon individuals from the advanced guard, unless they were fired upon. A picket guard of two hundred was posted at the Neck, another at the "rebel redoubt," a third at the hill at Moulton's Point, and one at the old ferry. Subse- quently, a guard was stationed in the old burying-ground. All the posts and rails were ordered to be gathered and piled in the redoubt; the boards were used for the floors of tents ; the loose wood-the remains of the devoted town-was collected for fuel. Every fair day the tents were struck, and when the tide permitted, sea bathing was enjoined both morn- ing and evening.1
The British commander might well feel insecure without strong defences, as he witnessed the alacrity with which the militia poured into the American camp, and the expedition with which smiling gardens and fruitful fields were turned into formidable fortifications. Besides the militia, General Ward was reinforced by regularly enlisted troops. New Hamp- shire supplied another regiment, excepting one company, under Colonel Poor ; Connecticut ordered on the remainder of Colonel Parsons' regiment, and voted (June 20) to place the whole of its troops under General Ward; Rhode Island ordered on the remainder of its troops, and voted (June 28) to place its forces under the general commander. The Massa- chusetts regiments were soon filled up and commissioned. There were now an authorized commander and a united army. War now was to be carried on in earnest, and the British general saw, not merely how little the Americans were intimidated, but how much they were encouraged, by the issue of the Bunker Hill battle. "Our troops are in high spirits," one writes, "and their resolution increases; they
1 Waller's Orderly Book; Carter's Letters.
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THE SIEGE OF BOSTON.
long to speak with them (the British) again. "This battle has been of infinite service to us," another writes; it has "made us more vigilant, watchful, and cautious." "I wish we could sell them another hill at the same price," writes General Greene. "The enterprising genius and intrepidity of these people," writes a Virginian of the New Englanders, "are amazing. They are now intent on burning Boston, in order to oust the regulars; and none are more eager for it than those who have escaped out and who have left their whole property in it."
Notwithstanding the high spirits of the army, strong appre- hensions were felt of a visit from the enemy. The Provincial Congress (June 24) made an earnest appeal to the colony of Connecticut for "an immediate augmentation" of its troops. It represented that it "had the best grounds to suppose, that as soon as the enemy had recovered a little breath from their amazing fatigues of the 17th of June," and their losses should be made up by arrivals of new troops, they would make " the utmost efforts" to force the American lines, destroy the maga- zines, and thereby " strike general terror and amazement into the hearts of the inhabitants of the whole continent." Similar appeals were made to Rhode Island and New Hampshire. It also made a representation to the General Congress, which closed with the suggestion, that if a commander-in-chief should be appointed, no part of the continent so much required his immediate presence as Massachusetts.
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