THREE GREAT FIGHTS.
In each town, at this time, men thought but of war, and how
to train for it; so that in case of need each one could spring
to arms at once. Guns were put in a safe place, and stores of
food were bought. The Brit-ish in their turn kept watch on all,
and more troops were brought in.
Our men made a plan, that when it should be known that a large
force of the Brit-ish were to move out of Bos-ton at night,
a light should be hung out of the North Church by way of a sign.
One night the watch by the Charles saw the light gleam high
on the church, and they knew some move was on hand. At once
all was stir and noise. Men rode here and there to find out
what it meant. One went in a boat, and then took a fleet horse
to seek out two of the wise and great men, and see what was
best to do. The man who took this ride, and went from house
to house with a call to those who slept, was Paul Re-vere. There
is a song this day on that ride.
You may be sure there was no more sleep in a house that night.
When he rode by--"Do not make so much noise," said one on guard.
"Noise," said Paul Re-vere, "there will be noise ere long; the
foe is on us!"
All this time the Eng-lish troops had made a swift, still march.
They thought no one had seen or known their move; but all at
once the bells in each church rang out a wild peal. In each
town the church bell sent a call to each home. So it was plain
that all was known. Paul Re-vere and the scouts had done the
work well. The Brit-ish sent back for more troops. They came,
and they were told to hold the bridge at Con-cord. But when
Ma-jor Pit-cairn, who was at the head of the Brit-ish, came
to Lex-ing-ton at dawn, he found a great crowd of men with arms.
"What do ye here?" he said, in wrath, "go to your homes! Why
don't ye lay down your arms?" But as they made no move to go,
his troops sent forth a fire on them, which they gave back with
a will. Eight of our men got their death wounds that day, and
this was the first blood shed in the war.
The Brit-ish then gave three cheers and set out on a march to
Con-cord. The people of that town made haste to move their stores
of food and arms to a safe place in the woods. Their scouts
took the North bridge, and could see that the Brit-ish were
in the streets of the town; that they had set the court house
on fire, and cut down the pole, and laid waste the stores they
found. So the men on the bridge made up their minds they would
try to drive this foe out. There were but few of them, but they
had strong hearts.
One of their head men said, "I have not a man who fears to go."
He was the first who was shot, and fell dead. Still they went
on and made a brave fire, so that the Brit-ish set out to run.
But they could not go back as they came; for by this time our
men for miles round, came in on all sides. Some were in their
shirt sleeves, they had come in such haste; but each one had
a gun in his hand, and took his place back of a tree or stone
wall, where he could get good aim. One of the Brit-ish wrote
home that the men came so fast, they would seem to drop from
the sky.
At each step the Brit-ish troops took, a shot would come from
some side, and a man would fall dead. At last such a fear came
on our foe, that they broke into a run. They did not know what
to do. They had no more shot, and could not give back the fire.
One of them wrote, "They had to lie down for rest on the ground,
and their tongues hung out of their mouths like dogs spent by the
chase." All the way to Bos-ton they felt the fire of our men,
and they were glad to get back to their great ships, the men
of war, and rest where they could be safe. They had lost three
times more men than the A-mer-i-cans.
There was a great stir in the court of the King when the news
was brought that their troops had run from a hand full of raw
men, who had no skill in the art of war. Poor Lord Per-cy, who
had been at the head of the Eng-lish, came in for hard names,
though he was a brave man. They were mad, and had to give vent
to their wrath on some one. In A-mer-i-ca it was felt that this
was the first blow struck; and Sam-u-el Ad-ams, when he heard
the news at Lex-ing-ton, said, "Oh, what a grand day this is!"
for he knew this strife would not end till all the States were
free.
There were some hills near Bos-ton, and our men knew that there
was a plan to gain them, and make a place for Eng-lish troops
on them. You see, if the foe had such high ground, they could
have a grand chance to fire down on those in the town. So our
men stole out by night and threw up earth works, and took all
the troops they could get from all parts, and put them in charge
there. In the mean while they sent their wives and young ones
out of the town, so that none but Brit-ish troop were left there.
They made no noise in their march that night; no one heard them,
and the bells in the church struck twelve ere they dug a sod.
But they were soon at work, and could hear the guard on the
man-of-war cry out each hour, "All's well."
When the day came, and the sun rose, the earth works were seen
from the ships, and at once they sent out a fire on them. So
in Bos-ton the troops woke to see the true state of things,
and were not slow to do their best. But our men went on with
their work, spite of the shots. One of the foe had a glass through
which he could see each move of our men round the works. "Will
they fight?" said he. "To the last drop of their blood," said
one who stood near.
So they made up their minds to lose no time, but to make a raid
on the works that day. It was a hot day in June. Part of our
men stood by a rail fence, on the edge of a hill, by the name
of Bun-ker Hill; part were back of the mounds which were but
half made. Then the rail fence was made to screen the men back
of it, by a lot of new mown hay, put in to fill up the gaps.
[Illustration: JO-SEPH WAR-REN.]
The Brit-ish troops went in boats, and took their stand on the
bank of the Charles. They had two men to our one, and were full
of skill in the use of arms. Our men had come in from the farm
or the shop. They did not know what a drill meant; but their
place was more safe back of the earth works, while the troops
of the foe were out in full sight in the field. It is a grand
sight; the long lines, the red coats and white pants of the
Brit-ish; the white cross belts, the beat of drums, the play
of fifes. The sky is clear and hot. Great white clouds sail
on the blue. The folks crowd on the roof of each house in the
town.
So our men laid in wait, as the troops took up a slow march
on them. The Eng-lish found the day hot, and they had their
arms and food to weigh them down. But they had no doubts, and
their march was sure. They would fire now and then, and few
shots fell on them. On they came, till they got ten rods from
the earth works. Then the word rang out on our side, "Fire!"
When the smoke was gone it was seen that the dead lay on the
ground here and there; and those who were left had set off to
run.
[Illustration: PLAN OF BUNK-ER HILL. MON-U-MENT.]
A great shout went up from the forts; a cheer came back from
those at the rail fence. They, too, had held back their fire
to the last, and then three fourths of those who had set out
to chase them fell in the ranks, and the rest ran. Gen-er-al
Put-nam was one of our great men in this fight. When the foe
came on, he had said to his men, "Aim low; wait till you can
see the whites of their eyes," and their aim was sure. When
they saw the Brit-ish troops in flight, they thought they would
give them chase; but they had no more shot, and so could not
make good what they had won. They fell back with sad hearts,
one by one, and lost more as they did so than they had done
in the fight.
This was the fight of Bunk-er Hill, and though the A-mer-i-cans
did not win the day, they made plain to all men that they had
stout hearts, and could deal a blow for their rights. In this
fight Gener-al War-ren lost his life.