USA > Massachusetts > The history of Massachusetts, the commonwealth period. 1775-1820 v. III > Part 3
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But with whatever cloquence these measures were advo-
1 Jour. Prov. Cong. 302.
2 J. Adams's Diary, in Works, ii. 407. The army at Cambridge was adopted by the General Congress, or-
ganized into a continental army, and received into the pay of the United Colonies. Jour. Cont. Cong. i. 111 et seq.
17
PROPOSITIONS OF JOHN ADAMS.
cated, there were not wanting many who hesitated to approve CHAP. them. Especially the Quakers of Pennsylvania, who had I. hitherto acquiesced in the action of the colonies, or, at least, 1775. who had made no professed opposition, so soon as independ- ence was named, " started back."1 The delegates from South Carolina likewise hesitated, nor could any persuasion remove their scruples.2 At length, committees were appointed to June 3. draught a petition to the king, and addresses to the inhabit- ants of Great Britain, of Ireland, and of Jamaica, and to. bring in an estimate of the moneys to be raised for the pros- ecution of the war.3 The action of Massachusetts, in refusing obedience to General Gage, was also approved ; 4 and it was June 9. recommended to the towns and districts in that colony, and in all others, to collect the materials requisite for the manu- facture of gunpowder, and to "transmit the same with all possible despatch to the Provincial Convention at New York." 5 Ten companies of riflemen were likewise ordered Jun. 14. to be raised in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, to " march and join the army near Boston, to be there employed as light infantry under the command of the chief officers of the army." 6
The next step was of still greater importance, and was the corner stone, indeed, of the new structure to be raised. This related to the selection of a commander-in-chief. John Han- cock, of Massachusetts, the president of the Congress, who was " extremely popular throughout the United Colonies, and was called ' King Hancock ' all over Europe," is said to have " himself had an ambition to be appointed " to this office ; but
1 J. Adams's Diary, in Works, ii. 407-409.
2 J. Adams's Diary, in Works, ii. 408.
3 Jour. Cont. Cong. i. 106; Lee's Lee, i. 141 et seq.
4 Jour. Cont. Cong. i. 108.
Jour. Cont. Cong. i. 108, 109.
6 Jour. Cont. Cong. i. 110; Gor- don's Am. Rev. i. 347, 368 ; Sparks's VOL. III. 2
Washington, iii. 7, 100, note ; Ram- say's Am. Rev. i. 219; Austin's Life of Gerry, i. 83, 88. Twelve compa- nies in all were ordered to be raised ; and the men to the number of 1430 " were procured and forwarded with great expedition." This estimate in- cludes the two additional companies ordered to be raised June 22.
18
WASHINGTON CHOSEN COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF.
CHAP. although he had " some pretensions to the compliment on I. account of his exertions, sacrifices, and general merits in the 1775. cause of his country," the "delicacy of his health, and his entire want of experience in actual service," were pleaded as objections against his appointment. Nor would it have been politic on the part of his friends to have insisted upon his choice ; for, even at this early period, jealousies existed be- tween the north and the south ; and the south, it is said, refused to enlist in the common cause, if compelled to serve under an officer from New England.1 No alternative was left, there- fore, but concession ; and, fortunately for the country, no diffi- culty was experienced in selecting for the responsible trust one whose abilities were of the highest order, whose courage was unquestioned, and whose gentlemanly deportment had won for him universal affection and esteem. None need be told that reference is here made to the illustrious Wash- Jun. 15. ington ; and when the question of his appointment came up, " the voices were generally so clearly in his favor, that the dissentient members were persuaded to withdraw their oppo- sition," and he was unanimously elected.2
1 J. Adams's Diary, in Works, ii. 415-418, and Letter to Lloyd, April 14, 1815, in Works, ix. 163, 164. Washington, also, Writings, iii. 4, 6, speaks of a " political motive," in ad- dition to the " partiality of Congress," which led to his appointment ; and al- though he does not specify this mo- tive, it may have been, as suggested by Ramsay, Am. Rev. i. 216, " to bind the uninvaded provinees more elosely to the common eause." See also Gor- don's Am. Rev. i. 349, 350, and Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. vi. 49. Mr. Cur- tis, however, Hist. Const. U. S. i. 41- 48, doubts the eorreetness of the state- ment of Mr. Adams, and thinks that " Washington was ehosen command- er-in-chief for his unquestionable mer- its, and not as a compromise between sectional interests and loeal jealous- ies." Yet, at the same time, he ad- mits that " serious doubts were enter-
tained by some of the members of Congress as to the poliey of appoint- ing a southern general to the eom- mand " of the army about to be adopt- ed by Congress.
2 Jour. Cont. Cong. i. 111, 112; Irving's Life of Washington, vol. i. ; Sparks's Washington, iii. App. I. ; N. A. Rev. for Oet. 1838, 366; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. vi. 42. " I should heartily rejoiee," wrote Elbridge Ger- ry to the Massachusetts delegates in Congress, June 4, 1775, " to see this way the beloved Colonel Washington, and do not doubt the New England delegates would acquiesee in showing to our sister eolony, Virginia, the re- speet which she had before experi- eneed from the eontinent, in making him generalissimo." Austin's Life of Gerry, i. 79. See also Haneoek's Letter to Gerry, June 18, 1775, in ibid. i. 83, and J. Adams's Letter of
19
PROCLAMATION OF GAGE.
The appointment of a second officer was likewise attended CHAP. with difficulties. General Lee, a native of Wales, and a cor- I. respondent of Burke and Charlemont, was first nominated ; 1775. and it was declared that, considering his rank, his character, and his experience, he was entitled to the place - that he must be aut secundus aut nullus. But the services of General Ward could not be overlooked ; and, as the chief command had been given to an officer from the south, it was no more than just that the next highest compliment should be paid to the north. Hence General Ward was elected as the second officer, and Jun. 19. General Lee as the third.1
Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, important events were occur- ring, and the hour of conflict was rapidly approaching. The situation of Gage, cooped up in Boston, and "panting for an airing," of which he was " debarred by his denounced rebels," was peculiarly mortifying ; and his anger against the patriots, which had for some time been rising, now overflowed in a . memorable proclamation declaring martial law to be in force, Jun. 12. and offering pardon to all who would forthwith lay down their arms, "excepting only from the benefit of such pardon . Samuel Adams and John Hancock, whose offences are of too flagitious a nature to admit of any other consideration than that of condign punishment."2 This manifesto, the " climax of
the same date, p. 88. The charge of Botta, Am. Rev., that " the members of Congress from Massachusetts, and particularly Samuel Adams, had never been able to brook that the supreme command of all the armies should have been conferred on a Virginian, to the exclusion of the generals of their province," is fully examined and an- swered by Austin in his Life of Gerry, i. 233 et seq., and is, indeed, suffi- ciently refuted by the extracts above. 1 Jour. Cont. Cong. i. 114, 115; Sparks's Washington, iii. 6; Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 350; J. Adams's Diary, in Works, ii. 418, and Lett. to Lloyd, in Works, ix. 164; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. vi. 52. It would appear
from the letter of Adams that Lee aspired to the chief command, and was " extremely assiduous in his visits to all the members of Congress at their lodgings, and universally represented in America as a classical and univer- sal scholar, as a scientific soldier, and as one of the greatest generals in the world, who had seen service with Bur- goyne in Portugal and in Poland, &c., and who was covered over with wounds he had received in battles." Of the other officers appointed by Congress, Gates was an Englishman and a god- son of Horace Walpole, and Mont- gomery was a native of the north of Ireland.
2 Jour. Prov. Cong. 330, 331 ; Im-
20
COUNTER PROCLAMATION PROPOSED.
CHAP. all possible folly," and a theme on which the poetry of Trum- I. bull was successfully exerted to amuse, was brought before the
Jun. 13.
1775. Provincial Congress ; a committee was appointed for its con- sideration, and a counter proclamation was prepared, declar- ing pardon to all offenders against the rights and liberties of the country, " excepting only from the benefit of such pardon Thomas Gage and Samuel Graves, with the mandamus coun- sellors Sewall, Paxton, and Hallowell, who had not resigned their office, and all the natives of America, not belonging to the navy or army, who went out with the regular troops on the nineteenth of April last, and were countenancing, aiding, and assisting them in the robberies and murders then commit- ted ; " but the operations of the field prevented its issue.1
These operations had long been maturing ; for Gage had been advised to seize and hold the heights in Charlestown and at Dorchester, both of which were of the greatest impor- May 25. tance for his security. The recruits for his army had already arrived, with Generals Clinton, Burgoyne, and Howe; so that he had under his command nearly, if not quite, ten thousand men, all in high spirits, accustomed to hard service, and flushed with the idea of an easy conquest.2 Had he, at an earlier
partial Hist. of the War, 207; Sted- man's Am. War, i. 124; Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 343; Austin's Life of Gerry, i. 70, 71; Ramsay's Am. Rev. i. 200; Bissett's Hist. Eng. i. 428; Thacher's Jour. 22; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. vi. 54; Frothingham's Siege, 113.
their settlements, and described their conduct to have been such as their principles required. It also sketched the policy of Britain in former times and in the present-the beneficial consequences which accrued to both parties from the one, and the baneful effects from the other; repeated the grievances before stated ; and added new subjects of complaint, in the re- dress and hearing refused, and in the measures for subjugation adopted. After detailing those acts and coun- sels as being, together with antecedent proceedings, the causes of the war, and appealing to God and man for its justice, they specified the resources by which they should be able to carry it on with force and effect."
1 Jour. Prov. Cong. 344-347 ; Jour. Cont. Cong. i. 134-139. The answer of the General Congress to the mani- festo of Gage is characterized by Bis- sett, Hist. Eng. i. 431, as " a very mas- terly paper, and in point of ability equal to any public declaration re- corded in diplomatie history." " It enumerated," he adds, " with clear- ness and plausibility the alleged causes of the war, deduced the history of the American colonies from their first es- 2 Impartial Ilist. of the War, 204; tablishment, marked the principles of Stedman's Am. War, i. 124; Bissett's
21
POSITION OF THE AMERICAN ARMY.
date, availed himself of the advantages of the positions to CHAP. which his attention was turned, and erected upon them works I. of sufficient strength to command the town, a different aspect 1775. might, perhaps, have been given to the war. But he had delayed too long to make the attempt with impunity ; for the Americans, acquainted with his designs, planned to counteract them by previously possessing themselves of the posts in question.
Some time before, a committee had been appointed by the May 12. Provincial Congress to reconnoitre, especially at Charlestown, with a view to the erection of suitable fortifications ; and in their report they recommended the construction of a breast- work near the present site of the M'Lean Asylum, and another on Prospect Hill, with redoubts on Winter and Bunker Hills, provided with cannon to annoy the enemy. This report was referred to the council of war, and so far approved as to authorize the construction of a part of the works ; but, as a difference of opinion prevailed relative to the redoubt on Bunker Hill, no steps were immediately taken towards forti- fying that post.1 Now, however, that the intentions of Gage to occupy Dorchester Heights were definitely known, the com- mittee of safety deprecated longer delay, and voted that pos- Jun. 15. session should be taken of "Bunker's Hill, in Charlestown," and of " some one hill or hills on Dorchester Neck." 2
The position of the American army is said to have been as follows : its right wing, under General Thomas, was stationed at Roxbury, and consisted of about four thousand Massachu- setts troops, with the forces from Rhode Island, under General Greene, who were at Jamaica Plains, and the greater part of the regiment of General Spencer, from Connecticut. In this
Hist. Eng. i. 428; Ramsay's Am. Putnam, 200-203; Frothingham's Rev. i. 200 ; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. Siege, 115, note. vi. 53; Swett, in Life of Putnam, 198; Frothingham's Siege, 114.
1 Jour. Prov. 543; Worcester Magazine, ii. 126; Swett, in Life of
2 Jour. Prov. Cong. 569; Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 350 ; Bissett's Hist. Eng. i. 429; Frothingham's Siege, 117.
22
TOPOGRAPHY OF CHARLESTOWN.
CHAP. wing there were three or four artillery companies, provided I. with field pieces and a few heavy cannon. The head quarters 1775. of General Ward, the principal officer from Massachusetts, were at Cambridge, where the centre of the army was sta- tioned, consisting of fifteen regiments from Massachusetts, the half-organized battalion of artillery under Colonel Gridley, and the regiment of General Putnam, with the other Connecti- cut troops. In this division there were four artillery compa- nies with field pieces. The left wing comprised three com- panies of Gerrish's regiment, stationed at Chelsea ; Stark's regiment, at Medford ; and Reed's regiment, at Charlestown Neck.1
The topographical features of this region are too well known to render it necessary to describe them minutely. It may suffice to state that the peninsula of Charlestown, of an oval form, about a mile in length, and half a mile in breadth in its widest part, lies opposite the northerly part of Boston, and is included between the Charles and Mystic Rivers. The Neck, at the western end of this peninsula, was an artificial causeway connecting the town with the main land, and was then so low as to be often overflowed. Near this Neck was a large green, known as the Common, by which ran two roads - one in a westerly direction to Cambridge Common, and the other in a northerly direction to Medford. Bunker Hill, which begins at the isthmus, rises gradually for about three hundred yards, forming a round, smooth hill, one hundred and ten feet high, sloping on two sides towards the water, and connected by a ridge on the south with Breed's Hill, which is sixty-two feet high. The easterly and westerly sides of this height were steep, the settled part of the town being at the base of the latter side; and at the base of the former were brick kilns, clay pits, and an impassable slough. A highway,
1 Sparks's Washington, iii. 488; note; Swett, in Life of Putnam, 179, Frothingham's Siege, 117, 118, and 181, 191, 192.
23
ORDERS TO INTRENCH ON BUNKER HILL.
from sixteen. to thirty feet broad, ran over Bunker Hill to CHAP. Moulton's Point, near which rose Morton's Hill, some thirty- I. five feet high ; and another road, connecting with this, wound 1775. round Breed's Hill. The easterly portions of these eminences were chiefly improved for mowing and pasturage, and the westerly portions contained fine orchards and gardens.1
On Friday, the sixteenth of June, by the advice of the coun- Jun. 16. cil of war, orders were issued by General Ward to Colonel William Prescott, and the commanding officers of Frye's and Bridge's regiments, with a fatigue party of two hundred Con- necticut troops, under Thomas Knowlton, and the artillery company of Captain Samuel Gridley, of forty-nine men and two field pieces, - in all, about twelve hundred men, supplied with a day's provisions and suitable intrenching tools, - to proceed to Charlestown, and fortify Bunker Hill, under the direction of Colonel Richard Gridley, the chief engineer.2 In accordance with these orders, the detachment paraded on Cambridge Common, and, about nine in the evening, after listening to a fervent prayer from President Langdon, of Har- vard College, commenced its march, headed by Prescott, and preceded by two sergeants carrying dark lanterns. At Charles- town Neck the troops halted, where they were joined by Major Brooks, and probably by General Putnam, and another general ; 3 and Captain Nutting, with his own company and ten of the Connecticut troops, was ordered to proceed to the lower part of the town as a guard, while the main body marched on over Bunker Hill. Here they again halted, and a consultation was held relative to the most suitable place to
1 Frothingham's Siege, 119, 120; Swett, in Life of Putnam, 203, 204.
2 Jour. Prov. Cong. 365 ; Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 350 ; Bissett's Hist. Eng. i. 429; Frothingham's Siege, 121, 122; Swett, in Life of Putnam, 208, 209. Trumbull, Letter of Aug. 31, 1779, in 1 M. H. Coll. vi. 159, says there were but 600 men sent to
Charlestown; but this must be a mis- take. Marshall, Life of Washington, ii. 214, commits a still greater mis- take in representing the number sent as 4000.
3 Comp. Frothingham's Siege, 122, 123, notes, with Swett, in Life of Put- nam, 218.
24
THE FORTIFICATIONS COMMENCED.
CHAP. be fortified. The orders of Ward were, that the works should I. be thrown up on Bunker Hill ; but, as that was too far from 1775. the enemy to annoy their army and shipping, though in other respects the most eligible and defensible position, it was de- cided to intrench on Breed's Hill, which was better adapted to the objects of the expedition, and better suited to the spirit of the officers.1
The position being decided upon, the plan of the fortifica- tions was marked out by Gridley, the tools were distributed, and about midnight the first spade entered the ground. The difficulties of the enterprise were truly formidable ; for the Boston shore, directly opposite, was belted by a chain of sen- tinels, and in the waters between were moored the British vessels of war.2 The proximity to the enemy prompted to caution ; and a detachment under Captain Maxwell was or- dered to patrol near the old ferry to watch their motions. The workmen, in the mean time, "performed prodigies of labor," to which they were stimulated by the presence of their officers, and the consciousness that every thing depended on their celerity. Twice during the night did the vigilant Pres- cott, with Major Brooks, steal to the shore to reconnoitre ; but the usual cry of " All is well," drowsily repeated from ship to ship, assured him that his movements were as yet unknown. Before the sun rose, a redoubt, eight rods square and six feet high, was thrown up on the summit of the hill, where the monument now stands, the strongest side of which, in the form of a redan, faced the town, and protected the south side of the hill. On the east was an extensive field ; and in a line with this, running down the north side of the hill towards the slough, was a breastwork, which, at its southern extremity, was separated from the redoubt by a narrow passage way, or sally port, protected in front by a blind ; and in the rear of
' Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 351 ; Froth-
2 For their positions, see Frothing- ingham's Siege, 122, 123; Swett, in ham's Siege, 124. Life of Putnam, 211.
25
AMAZEMENT OF THE BRITISH.
the redoubt was a passage, or gateway, opening towards the CHAP. slough.1 I.
1775. Jun. 17.
At an early hour, as the gray of the morning was dissipated by the beams of the rising sun, the veil was lifted, and the officers of the fleet beheld with amazement the Americans overlooking them from their strong intrenchments, which had sprung up as by magic while they were asleep. The cannon of the Lively were the first to fire; and, as the sound of the guns broke the stillness of the summer's morning, the alarm was spread both in the British camp at Boston and the Amer- ican camp at Cambridge.2 Gage was thunderstruck, and immediately called a council of war ; while from several of the frigates, from the floating batteries, from the decks of the Somerset, and from a mortar on Copp's Hill, a shower of balls and bombs was poured in upon the works sufficient to appall the stoutest heart. Yet steadily the Americans contin- ued their toil, strengthening their intrenchments, and throw- ing up platforms of wood and earth as a foothold to stand upon during the engagement.3 To inspire them with still greater confidence, Prescott himself mounted the parapet, and walked leisurely around, inspecting the works, issuing his orders, and addressing the soldiers with words of encourage- ment or sallies of humor.4
As the day advanced, the heat became oppressive ; and the gallant band, who had toiled so long without even water to quench their thirst, found their stock of provisions exhausted. At this juncture, the officers urged Colonel Prescott to send for relief ; but the men were too enthusiastic to ask for suc- cors, and the colonel, in reply, declared that "the enemy would
1 Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 351 ; Swett, in Life of Putnam, 211; Frothing- ham's Siege, 135, and notes.
2 Jour. Prov. Cong. 365; Heath's Mems. 18; Thacher's Jour. 26; Bis- sett's Hist. Eng. i. 429; Lord Ma- hon's Hist. Eng. vi. 55; Swett, in Life of Putnam, 213.
3 Impartial Hist. of the War, 209; Thacher's Jour. 26; Swett, in Life of Putnam, 214; Frothingham's Siege, 126.
4 Swett, in Life of Putnam, 214, 215 ; Frothingham's Siege, 126.
26
PREPARATIONS FOR AN ATTACK.
CHAP. not dare attack them, and if they did, would be defeated. The I. men who had raised the works were the best qualified to de-
Jun. 17.
1775. fend them. They had already learned to despise the face of the enemy. They had the merit of the labor, and should enjoy the honor of the victory."1 Thus encouraged, this Spartan band remained at their posts ; while Captain Nutting, with his company, and Captain Walker, with a small detach- ment, were ordered into Charlestown, near the ferry, to watch the movements of the British.2
The council of war which had been called by Gage, finding · the Americans were strongly intrenched, decided unanimously that it was necessary to dislodge them, but could not agree on the mode of attack. Clinton and Grant, officers of expe- rience, were in favor of embarking at the foot of the Com- mon in boats, and, under the protection of the batteries, land- ing in the rear of the Americans, to cut off their retreat ; and a majority of the council fell in with their views. But Gage, full of confidence in his own superior knowledge, opposed the plan as unmilitary and hazardous - placing his troops be- tween two armies, the one strongly fortified, and the other superior in numbers.3. It was therefore decided to make the attempt in front ; orders were issued for the troops to parade ; and the manœuvring of a corps of dragoons, and the rattling of artillery carriages and wagons, announced to the Ameri- cans that an attack was contemplated. Prescott was in ecsta- sies. "Now, my boys," said he, "we shall have a fight ; and we shall beat them, too."4 Yet the condition of his men was far from encouraging. No refreshments had arrived, and they were nearly exhausted by hunger and fatigue. A special messenger was accordingly sent to General Ward for a re-
1 Oral Communication of Hon. 2 Swett, in Life of Putnam, 216.
Lemuel Shaw to the Mass. Hist. Soc .; Swett, in Life of Putnam, 215, 216; Frothingham's Siege, 127.
3 Stedman's Hist. of the War, i.
12; Bissett's Hist. Eng. i. 430.
4 Swett, in Life of Putnam, 217.
P
e
27
MOVEMENTS OF WARD.
enforcement and for supplies ; and Major Brooks, afterwards CHAP. Governor Brooks, was selected for that purpose.1 I.
1775. Jun. 17.
General Ward, in the mean time, had been urged by Putnam, who had returned to the camp,2 to send reinforcements to Prescott ; but, doubtful of the expediency of the measure, he ordered only a third of Stark's regiment to Charlestown, and, on the arrival of Major Brooks, refused further to weaken his army until the intentions of the enemy were more fully re- vealed. They might, he observed, attack Cambridge first, where the scanty stores of the province were lodged ; and, as the salvation of the country depended upon these, it would be unwise and unsafe to risk their capture. As the committee of safety were then in session, however, he consented to refer the subject to them; and Richard Devens, one of the mem- bers, who was a resident of Charlestown, with an anxiety almost amounting to frenzy importuned them to comply with Prescott's request. His eloquence prevailed ; and marching orders were issued to the whole of the regiments of Stark and Reed, who were furnished with fifteen charges of loose pow- der and balls to a man, and sent on their way.3
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