REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 



3C7 



But the Connecticut people, improperly using his plan, 

 arranged another expedition. Some of their own men 

 joined the "Green Mountain Boys." making in all about 

 140 soldiers under Col. Ethan Allen. Arnold, without 

 troops, overtook Allen at Castleton, but not being 

 allowed to command according to his commission, he 

 nevertheless went with the expedition. May 10, 1775, 

 they surprised the garrison. The startled commander, 

 Capt. Delaplace, yielded to the inevitable, surrendering 

 2 officers and 48 men, ] 82 cannon, and an abundance of 

 public stores. Col. Seth Warner, with a detachment 

 of these patriots, captured Crown Point, May 12, with 

 11 prisoners and 111 pieces of artillery. A number 

 of Col. Arnold's men naving come, he and Allen put 

 on foot, on May 14, two expeditions against St. Johns, 

 situated near the foot of Lake Chauiplain. Arnold 

 surprised the fort, took the small garrison prisoners, 

 and departed, carrying off a sloop of war manned with 

 1 6 guns, and many stores. Allen arriving a little later, 

 with his 60 men, took possession of the abandoned 

 fort. But during the ensuing night a British officer 

 having 200 men and a 6-gun battery arrived, when Col. 

 Allen with his "Green Mountain Boys" was dis- 

 lodged. 



First Naval Affair. Meanwhile, on the coast of 

 Maine, occurred an amateur naval encounter. The Mar- 

 garetta, a British armed sloop, carrying 4 six-pounders, 

 20 swivels, 2 wall-pieces, and plenty of small arms, 

 early in May convoyed two other sloops to Machias, 

 Me., for lumber. The war news from Lexington ar- 

 rived Saturday, May 9. Sunday several patriots under- 

 took to seize the captain, Moore, and his officers at 

 church. They escaped by the windows. The Mar- 

 garetta gave the town some parting shots and dropped 

 down the bay four miles. Monday, Joseph Wheaton 

 and several patriots seized one of the sloops and 

 armed with fowling-pieces, pitchforks and axes, and 

 small supplies, gave chase. The sloop, a swift sailer, 

 overtook the Margaretta after she had put to sea, en- 

 gaged her at close quarters, and after a hard but brief 

 struggle, in which Moore himself was slain, captured 

 the vessel and all on board, 40 in number. This feat 

 is called "The Lexington of the sea." 



East Boston was in 1775 Noddle's Island ; and Hog's 

 Island is to the north-east. These were used largely 

 for stock. To save the herds from capture the com- 

 mittee of safety sent, the 27th of May, a detachment 

 to escort them back into the country. Forty British 

 marines resisted, killing horses and cows and doing 

 much other damage. Seeing the situation Col. Israel 

 Putnam and Dr. Joseph Warren brought up reinforce- 

 ments, drove off the marines, and finally captured 

 their armed schooner, which Putnam dismantled and 

 burned. Putnam's rapid advance to the rank of Major- 

 General in the Continental army is attributed to this 

 fortunate skirmish. 



Bunker X Hill By the second week in June, 1775, 

 there were gathered from different States, in the out- 

 skirts of Boston, about 15,000 men. "They were sub- 

 ordinate through inclination . . . depending for sus- 

 tenance on supplies sent from their several towns." 

 Gen. Artemas Ward, the nominal senior, was at Cam- 

 bridge wjth 9000 men ; Gen. Thomas, second in com- 

 mand, with 5000 more, and 3 or 4 batteries, held the 

 right at Roxbury and Dorchester; while the left, a 

 thousand strong, principally of New Hampshire volun- 

 teers, extended to the bay. This force, pddljr armed 

 and strangely clad, were making a partial siege of 

 m. Learning that Gen. Gage intended a series 

 of operations, beginning with the taking of Dorchester 

 Heights the nignt of June 18, these patriots deter- 

 mined to anticipate his action. _ So Col. Prescott, with 

 a thousand soldiers with two pieces of artillery and in- 

 trenching tools, at 9 P. M. on the 16th marched to seize 

 and fortify Bunker's Hill ; but Breed's Hill, a little 

 nearer Boston, was first taken and intrenched ; and 

 Bunker's Hill afterwards crowned with a redoubt. 

 About noon the British troops under the immediate 



command of Gen. Howe moved up to the assault of 

 the works on Breed's Hill. He took the right, Gen. 

 Pigot the left, while Gen. Sir Henry Clinton brought 

 up the reserves. Thousands of spectators, on points 

 of observation, eagerly watehed the splendid pano- 

 rama. The British were twice terribly repulsed. At 

 last, about 4 P. M., Howe succeeded in gaining the 

 hill, and Col. Prescott slowly drew off his forces, via 

 Bunker's Hill, across the Neck to his camp of the pre- 

 vious day. Howe had in action between 3000 and 

 40UO men ; Prescott not to exceed 1500, after the rein- 

 forcements came to him. Howe's loss, killed and 

 wounded, was 1054 ; Prescott' s, including the missing, 

 was 449. Notwithstanding the loss of the field, this 

 battle was to the patriots in its results equivalent to a 

 victory. 



The Evacuation of Boston. Washington having 

 been made general-in-chief, arrived and took command 

 July 3, 1775. Discovering the enemy's disciplined 

 force to be 11,500 strong, and his own mostly raw 

 levies not to exceed 14,000, he saw that more men 

 were needed for the siege. He asked for a force of 

 22,000. Soon recruits flowed in ; but there were on 

 hand less than 10,000 Ibs. of powder. "The Continen- 

 tal army " was now organized. Two brigades, Thomas' 

 and Spencer's, made the First division under Maj.-Gen. 

 Ward Sullivan's and Greene's the Second division under 

 Mai. -Gen. Lee, and there was a reserve of six regiments 

 under Map. -Gen. Putnam. Gradually, awakening a 

 few skirmishes and bombardments from the British 

 redoubts and war vessels, Washington closed in, till 

 land-egress from Boston was cut offT American cruis- 

 ers, authorized by Congress, began to worry the Brit- 

 ish squadron. They captured supply vessels en route 

 to Boston. On Oct. 10. 1775, Gen. Gage gave up the 

 city to Gen. Howe and sailed for England. Washing- 

 ton for good reasons threatened but constantly post- 

 poned a general attack ; but by night enterprises he 

 seized important heights that commanded the city. In 

 rebuttal, Gen. Howe made ready to assault Dorchester 

 Heights the night of March 5, 1776, and Washington, 

 knowing his intention, planned to enter Boston from 

 the opposite quarter. Providentially a terrific storm 

 prevented the movement, and, in view of growing 

 want and harassment, however humiliating, the proud 

 British general decided to evacuate Boston. By a 

 tacit understanding Washington was not to fire upon 

 the retiring army if the city were spared. So, on 

 March 17, Howe's forces embarked and put to sea, 

 escorted by the naval squadron, except a small fleet 

 under Commodore Banks left to keep possession of 

 the harbor entrance. After enduring for some time 

 this annoyance. Gen. Lincoln with 1200 troops, includ- 

 ing artillery and a mortar equipment, was sent to dis- 

 lodge the fleet. From Long Island and some other 

 convenient points he at last brought his guns to bear 

 upon the shipping ; so soon as the commodore's flag- 

 snip was reached by the shot, he gave the signal of 

 departure. The fleet left June 18. The spreading 

 news caused great rejoicing to the patriots and 

 unstinted praise to Washington and his coadjutors. _ 



Expedition against Canada. The early enterprise 

 of Allen and Arnold, near Lake Champlain, caused 

 other northern expeditions. Sir Guy Carleton, governor 

 of Canada, inaugurated movements to recover nis cap- 

 tured forts. Gen. Schuyler, stationed by Washington 

 at Albany, and later at Ticonderop and Fort Edwards, 

 as a sort of department commander, was watching Car- 

 leton's operations, effected largely by "Tory" levies 

 and hired Indians. In June, 1775, he was sent to 

 | command in an offensive expedition. He led an army 

 | of some 2000 men to go by the way of Vermont and 

 j Lake Champlain ; but becoming suddenly ill, was 

 replaced by Gen. Montgomery. The latter captured 

 Fort Chambly, St. Johns (which Allen had lost), and 

 Montreal, and then pushed on down the St. Lawrence 

 to the vicinity of Quebec. Gen. Arnold, with fuller 

 instructions directly from Gen. Washington, made au 



