A Trial of Arms
The best men in England had appealed to the sense of justice and
fairness of the government and of Parliament without effect. The colony
of Massachusetts was placed under military rule. The order was given to
seize the military stores in the colonies and the beginning was made in
Boston. At this a cry of indignation resounded throughout the country.
It was no longer possible not to perceive that tyranny was determined to
set its foot on the necks of the American people. Patriots assembled
ready to give their lives for the preservation of their rights. The
abolition of a second armory at Concord led to a conflict. The British
were eight hundred strong, the Americans but eighty. When the British
had accomplished their purpose, they began their march back to Boston.
But this retreat proved calamitous. They were surrounded by the
Americans, who had received reinforcements and who continually attacked
them. Their loss was frightful and not one of the eight hundred would
have reached Boston had not the British general sent out a troop of one
thousand men to meet them.
The Americans had not been able to save their stores at Concord, but
this success was a great encouragement to them. They had fought against
picked and well-disciplined troops, while they were only an untrained
band of citizens and farmers, armed with any kind of weapon that came to
hand. They were good hunters and knew well how to make use of each tree
and ridge and stone wall for a shelter from behind which to fire; a mode
of fighting (sharp shooting) which later was used by all armies. The cry
“to arms” was now heard from hamlet to hamlet, from village to village,
and from town to town. Whoever had the freedom of his country at heart
and a just hatred of tyranny took his musket from the wall, girded on
his sword, and bade his dear ones farewell. These plain people, ready to
assemble at a moment’s notice, the “minute-men,” did not stop to don
uniforms, but wore a simple blouse over their clothes; the well-to-do
wore their powdered wigs. Shortly before this the British soldiers had
made fun of the blouses and wigs, but after the disastrous retreat from
Concord to Boston, all their waggery deserted them. From all sides the
Americans began their march on Boston, which was in the hands of the
enemy. The city was soon surrounded on the land side by fifteen thousand
Americans. Their first duty was to observe the enemy and not to allow
them to enter the country. The situation was hard on the citizens, who
were under the eyes of the British and could not make a move. The
British general, Gage, fearing that the inhabitants might embrace some
favorable opportunity to rise against him, promised to allow them to
join their comrades and march out of the city if they would leave their
arms behind. They delivered up their weapons, whereupon he broke his
word and detained them as hostages.
To the joy of the British and the despair of the Americans, English
ships appeared one day in the harbor. They brought reinforcements of
four thousand men under General Howe, an arrogant man, who believed that
it would be the easiest thing in the world to disperse the Americans. He
had been made commander-in-chief of the British army in the colonies.
What he now heard on landing in Boston of the retreat of the British
from Concord must have somewhat shaken his feeling of security, for he
did not, in accordance with his boastful words, proceed immediately to
attack the besieging American troops. Instead, the first move was made
by them. In a single night they had thrown up intrenchments close to the
city. To take these General Howe sent out the whole British force
against the enemy. Both sides fought desperately. The American riflemen
had twice repulsed the British and would probably have met further
attacks successfully had not their ammunition given out. Thus the brave
men were obliged to retreat after the third assault, but they retired in
good order, leaving the enemy too exhausted to think of pursuing them.
The British held the battlefield, but how brilliantly the untrained
defenders of liberty had met the well-disciplined and picked troops of
the enemy, led by their experienced generals! The loss of the Americans
was but four hundred and fifty-three, while the British had lost ten
hundred and fifty-four men. “I have never heard of such slaughter within
so short a time!” said General Howe.
This was the battle of Bunker Hill, and the Americans who fell there
richly merited the monument which was afterward erected on this spot to
their memories. Every one felt that troops inspired with such a spirit
would know how to defend the liberties of their country! When Washington
heard of the battle, he cried with profound emotion: “The freedom of the
country is assured!” The intrenchments were in the possession of the
British, but the battle had not raised the siege of Boston.