BRITAIN. 



641 



: con- 



S peti- 



asion of 

 ada. 



the provincials did not exceed 90. Within a few 

 days after the first blood had been drawn at Lex- 

 ington, the provincial congress of Massachussets voted 

 a large army to be raised ; and so great a military 

 force was immediately collected in the neighbourhood 

 of Boston, as to form a complete blockade of that 

 important town. 



Such was the inauspicious commencement of the 

 civil war. In the month of May, the American Con- 

 gress, now joined by the colonies of New York and 

 North Carolina, unanimously rejected Lord North's 

 conciliatory proposition : it laid a basis too narrow, 

 indeed, for a solid reconciliation, and its reception 

 might have been foreseen. At the latter end of the 

 same month, the British Generals Howe, Burgoyne, 

 and Clinton, arrived at Boston with a large reinforce- 

 ment of troops, so that the force now assembled in 

 that place, or its vicinity, amounted to no less than 

 10,000 men. Martial law was proclaimed ; but a 

 shew of conciliation was still held out by the offer 

 of General Gage, in the king's name, to grant a ge- 

 neral amnesty to such as should lay down their arms, 

 excepting only two distinguished Americans, Samuel 

 Adams and John Hancock. The congress took no 

 other notice of this proclamation, than to elect Mr 

 Hancock the president of their assembly.-)- They 

 chose, at the same time, George Washington the 

 commander in chief of their army. 



The British generals, weary of their confined si- 

 tuation, and affected by the disgrace of being block- 

 aded, had determined to get possession of the heights 

 of Dorchester, near the town of Boston, when they 

 were surprised to see entrenchments thrown up by 

 the Americans in an opposite quarter, on an emi- 

 nence called Bunker's Hill. This post General 

 Howe attacked in person with 3000 chosen troops, 

 and, at last, drove the Provincials from their en- 

 trenchments ; but this was a slight advantage, and 

 dearly purchased, by the loss of 1100 of the British, 

 who fell in storming the works; while the Ameri- 

 cans retreated across an isthmus, to a new pesition, 

 with inconsiderable damage, and still continued the 

 blockade of Boston. Elated and exasperated as the 

 provincials were by this fresh bloodshed, and by a 

 battle which, though nominally a defeat on their 

 side, yet gave a signal proof of their abilities in war, 

 the congress sent a second petition to the king for 

 peace, and accommodation and reunion with Britain. 

 Mr IVnn, who delivered the petition, was informed, 

 that no answer would be given to it. 



Nor was the spirit of the Americans confined to 

 defensive operation?. As it was known that Canada 

 had determined to be neutral, and that her militia had 

 refused to obey General Carleton's orders to march 

 beyond their own limits, they determined to carry 

 the war into that province. General Montgomery, 



with 3000 men, proceeded along the lake Champlain ; 

 and having, with great gallantry, carried the forts of 

 St John and Chamblee, pressed forward to Mont- 

 real. Meanwhile an irregular band of the green - 

 mountain men, under Oolonel Allen, soi/ed Ticon- 

 derago ; and General Arnold, by a march of incre- 

 dible hardihood and activity, reached the southern 

 bank of St Lawrence, where he awaited Montgo- 

 mery. The latter joined him on the 1st of Decem- 

 ber, and commenced the siege of Quebec, which 

 contained a garrison of 1600 men. By a novelty in 

 military science, arising from the drcadfid rigour of 

 the climate, Montgomery's batteries were composed 

 of snow and water, which soon consolidated into ice. 

 But his artillery making only a slight impression, he 

 determined on attempting the place by assault, and 

 attacked the town in different quarters. Montgo- 

 mery fell in this bold assault, witiiin 50 yards of the 

 walls of Quebec. The attempt completely failed, 

 and a whole division of the Americans were made 

 prisoners. It reflected, however, no small credit on 

 the surviving General Arnold, that, wounded and 

 repulsed as he was, he still continued the blockade of 

 the place, and reduced it to great distress. 



In Virginia, after many disputes with the people, 

 the governor, Lord Dunmore, at last took refuge 

 on board a ship of war which lay off York town. 

 He proclaimed martial law, and invited the negroes 

 to arrest their owners, and join the royal standard ; 

 a measure which produced but few opportunities of 

 emancipation to the slaves, and much more irritation 

 than damage to the enemy. A more serious blow 

 was inflicted on the town of Norfolk, which, for re- 

 fusing to supply the shipping in the Chesapeak with 

 provisions, was cannonaded, and laid in ashes in the 

 space of a few hours. Governor Eden, with admir- 

 able moderation, for some time averted the la?t ex- 

 tremities of the contending parties in Maryland : he 

 retired from his government with universal esteem. 

 In the Carolinas, Lord W. Campbell and Governor 

 Martin, adopting the policy of Lord Dunmore, fled, 

 like him, to the ships in their harbours. In Pennsyl- 

 vania a military association was formed, and the 

 whole chain of colonies was now in arms. 



Application was made by the British government, 

 to obtain the alliance of the native Indians against 

 the colonists. Some of these rude tribes, with an 

 affecting and simple eloquence, which might have 

 taught wisdom to those who boasted of more hu- 

 manity, exhorted the brethren of the old and new 

 world, to bring their unnatural quarrel to an end. 

 But others of them, bordering on the great lakes and 

 rivers, were prevailed upon by the presents and soli- 

 citations of Colonel Johnson, to take up the hatchet ; 

 and, at a great war feast, they were invited by that 

 officer, in their own dreadful phraseology, to banquet 



Britain. 



Rlnnr.rUI 



ITT.;. 



Siege '. 

 Quebec. 



Proceed- 

 ings in the 

 provinces. 



TheBriii ,. 

 govern- 

 ment call 

 in the aid 

 of the In- 

 dians. 



f- By the ;u t of confederation passed in the assembly lliia year, the province') are denominated, " The Colonies of Ameri- 

 ca United" for their common defence, for the .security ol' their liberties and property, and for their mutual and genera! 

 safety and welfare. The act ascertained t'.e power of congress, and pre.VTilicd their mode of action ; the confederation 

 was declared to be established until the terms of reconciliation proposed in th |>tition of congress to the king should he 

 ! to; the ol : reparations for the inlini' ,-s done to Huston and CharUsUn.n (a suburb of Boston. 



burn! un.uLt the Crst hostilities); and till the British troo|>s should he withdrawn from An, erica. On the.-e events takin- 

 place, the colonies were to return to their former connections and friendship with Great Britain j but, in failure of tlui 

 <-onfe<Ieration was to be perpetual. 



VOL. IV. PART 11. 4- M 



