162 



CHARLES CHARLESTOWN. 



to govern, In- was always ruled by his wife and his 

 ministers, among whom the prince of peace, Godoy 

 (q. v.), duke of Alcudia, from the year 171)2, had uii- 

 Ixmnded influence over him. The liatred which this 

 favourite drew on himself from the prince of Astu- 

 rias, and other grandees, brought on a revolution in 

 1808, which enabled Napoleon to dethrone the Bour- 

 bons (See Spain). Charles abdicated at Aranjucz, 

 March 19, revoked this abdication, and finally ceded, 

 at Bayomie, his right to the throne to Napoleon, who 

 settled on him tor life the palace of Compiegne and 

 a pension of thirty millions of rials, of which two 

 millions were destined for the queen's jointure. 

 Charles aftei this lived at Compiegne with the queen 

 and the prince of peace, but subsequently exchanged 

 this residence for Rome, where the climate was more 

 congenial to him. From 1815, he occupied the palace 

 Barberini, in this city. Hunting he always made his 

 principal employment. He died at Naples, Jan. 19, 

 1819, of a relapse of the gout, while on a visit to his 

 brother, the king of the Two Sicilies. His wife died 

 a short time previous, in Dec., 1818. Charles was 

 an immense eater. 



CHARLES AUGUSTUS of Weimar. See /Teuwir. 



CHARLES RIVER; a river in Massachusetts, 

 which flows into Boston harbour, dividing Boston 

 from Charlestown. The source of the principal 

 branch is a pond bordering on Hopkiiiton. It is na- 

 vigable for lighters and large boats to Watertown, 

 even miles. 



CHARLESTON ; a city and seaport of South Ca- 

 rolina, in a district of the same name ; 120 miles 

 S.S.E. Columbia, 118 N.E. Savannah, 590 S.S.W. 

 Baltimore; Ion. 79 54' W.; lat. 32 47' N.: popula- 

 tion in 1790, 16,359; in 1800, 18,712; in 1810, 

 24,711 ; 11,668 whites, and 13,043 blacks: in 1820, 

 24,780 ; 5323 free white males, 5330 free white fe- 

 males ; 12,552 slaves, 1475 free people of colour : in 

 1830, 30,289. It is situated on a tongue of land formed 

 by the confluence of the rivers Cooper and Ashley, 

 which unite just below the city, and form a spacious 

 and convenient harbour, communicating with the ocean 

 below Sullivan's island, seven miles from Charleston. 

 At the mouth of the harbour, there extends, from 

 shore to shore, a sand-bank, dangerous to vessels, 

 but having two channels, the deepest of which has 

 sixteen feet of water at low tide. The harbour is 

 defended by fort Pinkney and fort Johnson, which 

 are on islands, the former two, and the latter four 

 miles below the city ; and by fort Mouitrie on Sul- 

 livan's island. Charleston contains a city-hall, an 

 exchange, a custom-house, a guard-house, a theatre, 

 an orphan house, an hospital, an alms-house, two 

 arsenals, two markets, a college, and nineteen 

 houses of public worship, four for Episcopalians, 

 three for Presbyterians, three for Methodists, two for 

 Congregationalists, one for Lutherans, two for Roman 

 Catholics, one for French Protestants, one for Bap- 

 tists, one for Friends, and a Jews' synagogue. The 

 Charleston library contains about 13,000 volumes. 

 The orphan asylum is a noble and well endowed in- 

 stitution, which supports and educates nearly 200 or- 

 phan children. There are several other cliaritable 

 societies richly endowed, particularly the South Caro- 

 lina society, the St Andrew's society, and the Fellow- 

 ship society, instituted for the relief of widows and 

 orphans. The city is regularly laid out in parallel 

 streets, which are intersected by others nearly at 

 right angles. The tongue of land, on which it is 

 built, was originally indented with creeks and nar- 

 row marshes, which have been filled up ; and it is 

 drier and more elevated than most parts of the low 

 country of South Carolina. Many of the houses are 

 elegant, and furnished with piazzas. It is much the 

 largest town in the state, and was formerly rfie < vt 



of government. It lias an extensive commerce. The 

 shipping owned here, in ISKi, amounted to 36 : 4?3 

 tons; in 1820. to 28,403 tons. That dreadful dis- 

 temper, the yellow fever, lias made frequent ravages in 

 Charleston; but its effects have been chiefly confined 

 to persons from more northern situations; and the 

 climnte of the city is accounted healthy to the native 

 inhabitants, more so than tliat of most oilier Atlantic 

 towns in the Southern States. Its superior salubrity 

 attracts the planters from the surrounding country, 

 and it is the favourite resort of the wealthy from the 

 West Indies. It affords much agreeable society, and 

 is reckoned one of the gayest towns in the United 

 States. See Carolina, Smith. 



CHARLESTOWN; a post-town in Middlesex 

 county, Massachusetts, one mile north of the centre 

 of Boston; population, in 1820, 6591. The prin- 

 cipal part of the town is finely situated on a penin- 

 sula, formed by Charles and Mystic rivers, which 

 here flow into Boston liarbour. Charlestown is con- 

 nected with Boston by two bridges across Charles 

 river ; with Chelsea and Maiden by two others :>rn>" 

 Mystic river, and with Cambridge by a bridge arms-, 

 a bay of Charles river. It is a pleasant and flourish- 

 ing town, the largest in the county of Middlesex, and 

 advantageously situated for trade and manufactures. 

 The principal public buildings are the state prison, 

 the Massachusetts hospital for the insane, a market- 

 house, alms-house, and five houses of public worship. 

 One of the principal navy-yards in the United States 

 occupies about sixty acres of land, in the southeast 

 part of this town. It is enclosed, on the land side, 

 by a wall of solid masonry, and contains, besides 

 other buildings, several arsenals, magazines of public 

 stores, and three immense edifices, each sufficiently 

 capacious to receive a ship of 100 guns, with all the 

 apparatus for its construction. 



Bunker hill, on which was fought one of the most 

 celebrated battles of the American revolution, is in 

 this town. (For an account of the events which 

 brought on the battle, see Massachusetts and United 

 States.) The British army in Boston had been in- 

 creased to about 10,000 men, by the arrival of rein- 

 forcements, towards the end of May, 1775, and was 

 under the command of general Gage, governor of 

 Massachusetts bay, generals Howe, Clinton, Bur- 

 goyne, &c. The American army of citizen-soldiers 

 amounted to about 15,000 men, enlisted for a few 

 months, without organization or discipline. They 

 were armed with fowling-pieces, but few of them 

 provided with bayonets. The whole was under 

 the command of general Ward, of Massachusetts, 

 whose head-quarters were at Cambridge. The right 

 wing, under brigadier-general Thomas, occupied the 

 heights of Roxbury ; the left, under colonel Stark, 

 was stationed at Medford. The city of Boston is 

 built on a small peninsula, having the town of Charles- 

 town, also built on a peninsula, and separated from 

 it by a narrow arm of the sea, about 1500 feet wide, 

 on the north. The heights of Charlestown, Breed's 

 hill (sixty-two feet high) and Bunker hill (1 10 feet 

 high, about 130 rods N.W. of the former), command 

 the city. The Americans having received information 

 of the intention of the British to occupy these heights, 

 and advance into the country, orders were issued to 

 colonel Prescott (June 16) to take possession of Bun- 

 ker hill in the evening, and erect the fortifications 

 requisite to defend it. General Putnam had the super- 

 intendence of the expedition. Finding, on their ar- 

 rival, that, though Bunker hill was the most com- 

 manding position, it was too far from the enemy to 

 annoy his shipping and army, the provincials deter- 

 mined to fortify Breed's hili, and began their labour 

 soon after midnight. Every thing had been conducted 

 I v ith so much silence, that the British were not aware 



