USA > Massachusetts > The history of Massachusetts, the commonwealth period. 1775-1820 v. III > Part 6
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set down at 6573; and the number of troops at 13,600, including their dependants, women, and children.
1 Boston Gazette for Aug. 14, 1775; Essex Gazette for Aug. 24, 1775; Almon's Remembrancer, ii. 41, 42; Sparks's Corresp. of the Rev. i. 31; Caulkins's Hist. New London, 517 ; Frothingham's Siege, 236.
2 Boston Gazette for Aug. 14, 1775 ; Frothingham's Siege, 236.
3 Jour. Cont. Cong. i. 109, 110; Essex Gazette for June 29, 1775 ; Ramsay's Am. Rev. i. 199; Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 371, 372 ; Frothingham's Siege, 226. "This," says Thacher, Jour. 32, " is the first general or con- VOL. III. 4
tinental fast ever observed since the settlement of the colonies." See also Pemberton's Jour. in 1 M. H. Coll. ii. 55.
4 Frothingham's Siege, 228.
5 Frothingham's Siege, 230-232.
6 Essex Gazette for Aug. 13, 1775; Boston Gazette for Aug. 14, 1775; Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 369 ; Thacher's Jour. 33; Frothingham's Siege, 227. One of these companies arrived July 25, and the rest Aug. 5 to 7.
7 Frothingham's Siege, 231.
8 Impartial Hist. of the War, 215 ; Sparks's Washington, iii. 66; Froth- ingham's Siege, 231. The uniforms of the Americans, says a letter of July
50
OCCUPATION OF PLOUGHED HILL.
CHAP. II. A more important movement was the occupation of Ploughed Hill, now Mount Benedict, in front of Winter Hill, and within 1775. point blank shot of Bunker Hill. The rumor, which had been circulating for weeks, that the British intended to storm the American intrenchments, determined Washington to occupy this hill; and, as it was suspected that this step would bring on an engagement, the occasion was one of unusual interest. Aug.26. A fatigue party of twelve hundred men, and a guard of twen- ty-four hundred, under General Sullivan, were detailed for this service, and worked so diligently during the night, that in the morning the works were sufficiently strong to afford some protection against the enemy's cannon. At an early Aug.27. hour the British opened their batteries, but the fire was not returned ; and, though they continued for several days to bombard the works, they did not venture upon any open Sep. 10. attack ; and after a time their firing ceased.1
Before this date, an incident had occurred which reflected little credit on Gage or his followers. This was the felling, in Boston, of Liberty Tree, famous in the annals preceding the revolution, and which was a sacred relic in the eyes of the people. Armed with axes, the "troops and the tories " at- tacked it with fury ; and, " after a long spell of laughing and grinning, sweating, swearing, and foaming with diabolical malice," they succeeded in bringing its tufted honors to the ground - but not without the loss of one of their number, perched on the topmost limb, who was crushed by his precip- itate fall to the ground. Yet, though Liberty Tree had fallen, the " grand American tree of liberty, planted in the centre of the United Colonies of North America," remained unharmed, -
19, "are made of brown Holland and Gazette for Aug. 31, 1775; Force's Osnaburgs, something like a shirt, Am. Archives, ii. 1755; Almon's Re- membrancer, ii. 179, 180; Sparks's Washington, iii. 71, 73, 84; Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 405; Frothingham's Siege, 233, 234. double caped over the shoulder, in imitation of the Indians ; and on the breast, in capital letters, is their mot- to, ' Liberty or death.'"
1 Heath's Mems. 26, 27; Essex
51
CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN WASHINGTON AND GAGE.
and " flourished with unrivalled, increasing beauty, bidding CHAP. fair, in a short time, to afford under its wide-spreading II. branches a safe and happy retreat for all the Sons of Liberty, 1775. however numerous and dispersed." 1
The only other incident of importance which occurred at this time was a correspondence between Washington and Gage relative to the treatment of American prisoners. A number had been taken at the battle of Bunker Hill; and officers and soldiers, without distinction, had been thrust into the common jail, and treated as felons. Washington. protest- ed against the injustice of this course, and hinted that, if it Aug.11. was · persisted in, he should be compelled to retaliate ; but- Gage, in reply, with his accustomed insolence, declared that Aug.13. " Britons, ever preeminent in mercy, had outgone common examples, and overlooked the criminal in the captive." " Upon these principles," he added, "your prisoners, whose lives, by the laws of the land, are destined to the cord, have hitherto been treated with care and kindness, and more com- fortably lodged than the king's troops in the hospitals - indis- criminately, it is true, for I acknowledge no rank that is not derived from the king." To this haughty message Washing- ton returned a dignified reply, asserting that he could conceive of no more honorable source of rank "than that which flows from the uncorrupted choice of a brave and free people- the purest source and original fountain of all power ; " and that, so far from making this " a plea for cruelty, a mind of true magnanimity and enlarged ideas would comprehend and re- spect it." But the mind of Gage was too obtuse to be affected by such reasoning ; and the correspondence with Sir William Howe, a few days later, led to a suspension of that intercourse Aug.22. between the camps which had been hitherto permitted.2
1 Essex Gazette for Aug. 31 and Sept. 7, 1775; Bradford, ii. 62; Frothingham's Siege, 237, 238.
2 Essex Gazette for Oct. 12, 1775; Sparks's Washington, iii. 59, 65-68,
500, 501 ; Almon's Remembrancer, i. 179, ii. 60 ; Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 404 ; Niles's Principles and Acts of the Rev. 266, 267 ; Bradford, ii. 54-59; Froth- ingham's Siege, 240-242.
n e
52
OCCURRENCES IN SEPTEMBER.
CHAP. II. The month of September passed quietly, upon the whole. Slight skirmishes, indeed, occurred between the American rifle- 1775. men and the British regulars ; additional works were thrown Sep. 10. up in Roxbury ; and a detachment of a thousand men, under Colonel Benedict Arnold, was sent to Quebec, to cooperate with General Schuyler in following up, or rendering availa- ble, the capture of Ticonderoga, which occurred earlier in Sep. 11. the season.1 A council of war was likewise held relative to the expediency of an attack upon Boston by land and by water, in cooperation with an attempt upon their lines at Rox- bury ; but it was decided to be inexpedient.2 Yet, reluctant to relinquish the project, and convinced that, should the British army be considerably strengthened, the "consequences to America would be dreadful," the secretary of Washington, Joseph Recd, who may be supposed to have expressed the views of his superior, wrote that the army and navy must, at all events, be "destroyed this winter ;" and Washington him- Sep. 21. self, in an elaborate letter to the General Congress, described his situation as "inexpressibly distressing," since the time for which the troops had been enlisted was rapidly expiring, the military chest was totally exhausted, and many of the soldiers were in a "state not far from mutiny, upon the deduction from their stated allowance." 3
The situation of the British troops had somewhat improved ; and a " snow," from Cork, laden with claret, pork, and butter, which arrived, bringing advices of " great armaments fitting out in England," which might be expected in the course of the next month, revived the drooping spirits of the army. Before the month closed, too, fuel was more abundant ; "provisions for man and beast " were daily coming in ; and, instead of
1 Heath's Memoirs, 27; Sparks's H. Coll. ii. 227-247; Frothingham's Washington, iii. 63, 85, 86-91, 102, Siege, 243. 128; Sparks's Life of Gouverneur Morris, i. 53-61 ; Ramsay's Am. Rev. i. 226 et seq. ; Bradford, ii. 72, 73; Maine Hist. Colls. i. 341-416 ; 2 M.
2 Sparks's Washington, iii. 80, 82, note ; Marshall's Washington, ii. 251. 3 Sparks's Washington, iii. 99, 104; Frothingham's Siege, 244, 245.
53
PREPARATIONS FOR QUARTERING THE TROOPS.
being a "starved and deserted town," as had been gloomily CHAP. anticipated, " Boston," it was said, "will be this winter the II.
emporium of America for plenty and pleasure." The arrange- 1775. ments for " pleasure," indeed, seem to have been dwelt upon with peculiar satisfaction ; and, exclaiming with the poet, -
" What need of piping for the songs and sherry, When our own miseries can make us merry,"
it was exultingly announced in the papers that " hivernal con- certs " would be given, and that the " playhouse " in Faneuil Hall would "shew away with the tragedy of Zara, on Tues- day, the 17th of October, and continue to perform on those days weekly." 1
Preparations for quartering the troops in the houses of the inhabitants were now diligently prosecuted ; and for this pur- pose a number of buildings near the Hay Market, at the south end, were pulled down, and the furniture was removed from other buildings.2 In the midst of these movements, Gage was recalled, and General Howe was appointed to succeed him. The reverses of the seventeenth of June, attributed in England to the mismanagement of the former, though not openly alleged as the reason, were doubtless the cause of his recall; and though fulsome addresses were presented to his excellency, upon his departure, by the Council and the tories, the address of the inhabitants was remarkably guarded, and the rejoicing among the Americans was hearty and general.3
1 Thacher's Jour. 39; Draper's Ga- zette for Sept. 21 and 28, 1775 ; Es- sex Gazette for Sept. 28, 1775 ; Froth- ingham's Siege, 239.
2 Essex Gazette for Sept. 21, 1775 ; Frothingham's Siege, 247, 252.
3 Almon's Remembrancer, ii. 56- 59; Essex Gazette for Oct. 5, 1775 ; Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 411; Thacher's Jour. 34; Sparks's Washington, iii. 511, 512; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. vi. 67; N. A. Rev. for Oct. 1838, 368;
Frothingham's Siege, 247-249. "It was the bane of England," says Lord Mahon, Hist. Eng. vi. 53, " not mere- ly on this occasion, but throughout the whole early part of this war, to have for chiefs men brave, indeed, and honorable, skilled in the details of the service, and zealous for Old England and King George, but in genius fitted only for a second place, not gifted by nature with that energy and firmness essential for a chief command."
Oct. 6 to 10.
54
ARRIVAL OF HOWE.
CHAP.
II. The appointment of General Howe was welcomed by the British with great enthusiasm. "Even the blunders of Bunker 1775. Hill were forgotten, so happy were most people at the change." 1 But, though superior in abilities to Gage, and much more beloved by his troops, the new commander-in-chief entered upon his duties at a critical juncture ; and the reverses which the British arms had sustained impressed him with greater respect for the prowess of the provincials, who were no longer branded as a "despicable rabble," but who were feared for their resolute and unflinching bravery. Hence, in his early Oct. 9. despatches to England, the general very frankly confessed to Lord Dartmouth that " the opening of the campaign from this quarter would be attended with great hazard, as well from the strength of the country as from the intrenched position the rebels had taken." The prospect of success, indeed, was, in his view, quite doubtful ; and, under this impression, he did not hesitate to recommend an entire evacuation of Boston. At the south, a different spirit prevailed. There the tories were more numerous ; the burden of oppressive legislation had been less seriously felt ; and the enthusiasm of the people had not reached so high as to induce an entire renunciation of alle- giance to England.2
So long, however, as he was required to remain in Massa- chusetts, General Howe devoted himself zealously to the im- provement of his defences and the quartering of his army. The principal works in progress at this time were the fort on Bunker Hill, where Clinton was posted, and the fortifications on Boston Neck ; 3 and as a reenforcement of five battalions, of two thousand men, was expected from Ireland, with these he proposed to " distress the rebels by incursions along the
1 Frothingham's Siege, 251.
2 Sparks's Washington, iii. 114, note, 127, note ; Frothingham's Siege, 250. " Why," asks Paine, in Crisis, No. 1,-" why is it that the enemy hath left the New England provinces,
and made these middle ones the seat of war ? The answer is easy : New England is not infested with tories, and we are."
3 Frothingham's Siege, 251.
-
55
PROCLAMATIONS OF HOWE.
coast." 1 Beyond this, he was satisfied, but little could be CHAP. accomplished. His men would " shortly have full employment II. in preparing quarters for the winter ;" and, as they had 1775. already sufficiently felt the weight of the American arms, they had no ambition to provoke a further trial of their strength. The quartering of the troops was accordingly hastened ; the Oct. 27. Old South Church was cleared out for a riding school ; an opening was made across the Neck from water to water ; works were erected to check incursions from Roxbury; and redoubts were thrown up on the eminences on the Common.2 With a view, also, to intimidate the patriots of Boston, who were struggling to escape to their brethren in the country, three proclamations were issued - the first of which threat- Oct. 28, ened with military execution, and the seizure of their goods and effects as traitors, any who were detected in attempting to leave the town without a written permission ; the second pro- hibited, under the penalty of imprisonment and the forfeiture of the sum discovered, those to whom passes were given from carrying away more than five pounds in specie ; and the third recommended an association of the loyalists into regular com- panies, to be employed within the precincts of the town "to preserve order and good government." 3
1 Sparks's Washington, iii. 134 ; Frothingham's Siege, 250. " The enemy," says Washington, " expect a considerable reënforcement this win- ter, and, from all accounts, are garri- soning Gibraltar and other places with foreign troops, in order to .bring the former garrison to America."
2 Newell's Jour. in 4 M. H. Coll. i. 269; Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 413; Frothingham's Siege, 252. On the occupancy of the Old South Gordon observes, "It is said, and believed, that an offer was made of building a complete riding school for less money than it would cost to remove the pews and the side galleries, and to make a proper flooring for the horses. In
clearing every thing away, a beautiful, carved pew, with rich furniture, for- merly belonging to a deceased gentle- man in high estimation, was taken down, and carried to Mr. John Amo- ry's house, by the order of an officer, who applied the carved work to the erection of a hogsty. Had the meet- ing house and its contents been hon- ored with episcopal consecration, these proceedings would be deemed by mul- titudes profane and sacrilegious."
3 Boston Gazette for Nov. 6, 1775 Almon's Remembrancer, ii. 191; Sparks's Washington, iii. 140, and note ; Thacher's Jour. 35 ; Frothing- ham's Siege, 252, 253.
56
POSITION OF THE BRITISH SHIPS.
CHAP. II. The British ships of war anchored in the harbor consisted of the Boyne, of sixty-four guns, which lay near the western 1775. end of Spectacle Island ; the Preston, of fifty guns, which was Oct. 28. moored for the winter at the eastern end of the town, between Long Wharf and Hancock's Wharf ; the Scarborough, of twenty guns, and a sloop, of sixteen guns, moored a short dis- tance southward of the Preston ; and the Mercury, which was stationed upon Charles River, at the north-western side of the Oct. 4. town.1 A small fleet, under Captain Mowatt, had previously sailed to the eastward, and was afterwards engaged in the Oct. 16. destruction of Falmouth, now Portland, a seaboard town in Maine.2 The troops under Clinton, at Bunker Hill, consisted of about one thousand men ; and these, with the troops quar- tered in Boston, and the marines and sailors, made in all an army of some ten thousand men - the whole force of the British now in Massachusetts.3 The intrenchments on Bunker Hill, as well as those in Boston, were of considerable strength -- so much so that even Washington was constrained to say it would be "almost impossible to force their lines." " With- out great slaughter on our side," he adds, " or cowardice on theirs, it is absolutely so. We therefore can do no more than keep them besieged, which they are, to all intents and pur- poses, as closely as any troops upon earth can be who have an
1 Frothingham's Siege, 255, note.
2 Trumbull's MS. Letter Book B, 208; Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 412; Al- mon's Remembrancer, ii. 124, 125 ; Sparks's Washington, iii. 129, 130 ; Marshall's Washington, ii. 256 ; Brad- ford, ii. 63; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. vi. 74; Willis's Hist. Portland, Part II. 153; Williamson's Maine, ii. 422- 434 ; Frothingham's Siege, 253.
3 Gordon's Am. Rev. ; Debates in Parl. for 1775, iii. 81 ; Sparks's Wash- ington, iii. 126. " It is proposed," says Washington, "to keep from 500 to 1000 men on Bunker's Hill all winter, who are to be relieved once a week ; the rest to be drawn into Bos-
ton." A letter published in Almon's Remembrancer, ii. 230, says, "General Howe has barely 6000 effective men in Boston ;" but another, in ibid. iii. 109, says he had " 7575 effective men, exclusive of the staff; so that, with the marines and sailors, he might be considered as 10,000 strong." Lord Barrington, however, in the House of Commons, reported the number of men in Boston on the 19th of July, exclusive of the three regiments going over to join them, as 8850; and as these three regiments had now ar- rived, the number was doubtless not far from 10,000.
57
POSITION OF THE AMERICAN FORCES.
opening to the sea." The advanced works of the two armies CHAP. were within musket shot of each other ; and a daily cannon- II. ade was kept up by the British on the American lines, to 1775. which they were compelled to submit for the want of pow- der, though occasionally retaliating by "giving them a shot now and then." 1
The position of the American forces was not very flattering ; and during this month the energies of Washington were prin- cipally directed to the reorganization of the army, which sadly needed attention, and to preparations for the winter. Rox- bury, once a prosperous and flourishing village, inhabited by an intelligent and industrious yeomanry, had suffered severely from the cannon of the enemy, and was now nearly deserted. Oct. 20. The main street, formerly crowded with people, was occupied only by a picket guard. Some houses had been burned, others had been pulled down, and many were empty, with their win- dows taken out, and the walls filled with shot holes. The fortifications, however, were in excellent condition, and ex- tended across the town in a nearly unbroken line from Dor- chester to Brookline.2 Charlestown was in ruins, and was occupied by the enemy. The head quarters at Cambridge, being sheltered, had suffered but little. The operations of the war had interrupted for the time being the progress of education at the college; the students had returned to their homes, and the college buildings were occupied by the sol- diery.3
In the fitting out of a naval armament, - a matter of the greatest interest and importance, - some progress had been made; and the few vessels chartered for service had behaved with gallantry in several engagements. So early as June, the Jun. 12.
1 Sparks's Washington, iii. 28, 122, 128 ; Frothingham's Siege, 255. " The world," wrote Franklin to Dr. Priest- ley, Jan. 27, 1777, in Works, viii. 198, " wondered that we so seldom fired a cannon. Why, we could not afford it."
2 Thacher's Jour. 34; Belknap's Lett. in Life of Belknap, 92; Lett. to the Earl of Dartmouth, in Almon's Re- membrancer, iii. 92; Frothingham's Siege, 254.
Thacher's Jour. 32.
58
A NAVAL ARMAMENT FITTED OUT.
CHAP. Rhode Island Assembly authorized two vessels to be fitted out II. at the expense of the colony, for the "protection of its trade," 1775. which were cruising before July ; 1 and, on the first day of the July 1. last-named month, a similar order was passed by the Connec- Sept. 2. ticut Assembly.2 It was in September, however, that the first commission was issued by Washington, under his general authority as commander-in-chief, to Nicholas Broughton, a cit- izen of Marblehead, who was addressed as "captain in the army of the United Colonies of North America," and directed to "take the command of a detachment of said army, and proceed on board the schooner Hannah, at Beverly." 3 In October other commissions were issued ; and, as the impor- tance of the subject had been urged upon the attention of the Assembly of Massachusetts by Newburyport and Salem, - two of the principal maritime towns, - which memorialized in Nov.13. favor of public armed vessels, a law was passed, draughted by Elbridge Gerry, which authorized the employment of priva- teers, and established a court for the trial and condemnation of prizes.4 These vessels, the first sent out under the auspices of the colonies, and the embryo of the flourishing navy of the United States, sailed under the pine tree flag, which was white,
1 Staples's Annals of Providence, 265; Sparks's Washington, iii. 77, 516; Frothingham's Siege, 260. The Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, on the 20th of June, ordered six armed vessels to be fitted out ; but nothing seems to have been imme- diately done in the matter.
Sparks's Washington, iii. 516; Frothingham's Siege, 260.
3 Corresp. of J. Adams, in Works, x. 29-32; Austin's Life of Gerry, i. 101, 513-520 ; Sparks's Washington, iii. 517, 518; Frothingham's Siege, 260. Captain John Selman, of Mar- blehead, was commissioned at the same time; and the vessels command- ed by him and Broughton were or- dered to the River St. Lawrence, to intercept an ammunition vessel bound
to Quebec. The action of the General Congress upon the subject of a navy does not properly fall within the prov- inee of this work; but the subject is one of interest, from its bearings upon the maritime greatness of our country.
4 Boston Gazette for Nov. 13, 1775; Austin's Life of Gerry, i. 94, 505; Almon's Remembrancer, ii. 149-153; Impartial Hist. of the War, 281; Mrs. Warren's Hist. of the Rev .; Mar- shall's Life of Washington, ii. 257, 258; Sparks's Washington, iii. 124, 125, 154, 518; Frothingham's Siege, 261. Elbridge Gerry, of Marblehead, was at the bottom of this movement, and it was through his influence that the law was passed. Life of Gerry, chap. ix.
----
59
CONFERENCE IN BOSTON.
with the figure of a pine tree in the middle, and the motto CHAP. " Appeal to Heaven " inscribed on its folds.1 II.
The reorganization of the army was essentially promoted 1775. by the action of the committee appointed by the General Con- gress, which, with delegates from the New England colonies, held sessions for several days, thoroughly discussed the meas- Oct. 18 ures to be adopted, and unanimously agreed that an army of to 22. not less than twenty thousand three hundred and seventy-two men was necessary to be raised, and that, if required, Massa- chusetts could raise twenty thousand men, Connecticut eight thousand, New Hampshire three thousand, and Rhode Island fifteen hundred, by the tenth of March, 1776. The result of this conference was extremely satisfactory to Washington ; and a plan was drawn up for the enlistment of twenty-six regiments, of eight companies each, besides riflemen and artil- lery, which was substantially adopted by Congress.2 The Nov. 4. question of the independence of the colonies was likewise dis- cussed. Already had it been broached in various quarters by sagacious patriots, and favorably received ; and in the army it was so fully approved that it became "offensive to pray for the king." 3 General Greene, of Rhode Island, himself enthu- Oct. 23. siastic in the cause of liberty, advocated the step with great ability, and urged that the alternative before them was sepa- ration or subjugation. "We had as well be in earnest first as last," said he ; " for we have no alternative but to fight it out
1 Frothingham's Siege, 261, 262. For some valuable remarks on the early naval affairs of the United States, see Staples's Annals of Providence, 265-270.
Trumbull's MS. Letter Book B, 27, 210, 212-223; Essex Gazette for Oct. 19, 1775; Franklin's Works, viii. 160, 198; Jour. Cont. Cong. i. 216- 219; Force's Am. Archives, iii. ; Sparks's Corresp. of the Rev. i. 55; Sparks's Washington, iii. 123, note, 133; Ramsay's Am. Rev. i. 258 ; Bradford, ii. 50, 51; Hildreth's U. S. iii. 107; Frothingham's Siege, 256,
257. Dr. Franklin, Mr. Lynch, and Colonel Harrison were the committee appointed by Congress ; and, by their instructions, they were to confer with General Washington and the New England governments relative to the war. When their report was made, it was resolved to raise an army of 20,372 men, officers included, to be divided into 28 regiments, of 728 men each, to be enlisted to the 31st of December.
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