The Story of American History Part 12

=158. The Minute-Men; the Work they did, and how they did it.=--The minute-men were bands of enrolled patriots pledged to start at a minute's notice to a call for their services. They had few good weapons, mostly shotguns for hunting birds and squirrels. They were short of powder and ball. In many of the families the women melted or pounded up their pewter spoons and dishes into bullets and slugs.

The minute-men were numerous in every town, and when the alarm was given, they would leave plow or shop, hurry home, take down the gun from its hooks over the fireplace, bid good-by to wife and children, and be off to help their country in its peril.

Israel Putnam, in leather frock and ap.r.o.n, was at work in a field on his farm in Connecticut when he heard of Lexington. Leaving the plow in the furrow, he jumped on his horse and rode the hundred or more miles to Cambridge in eighteen hours. John Stark was at work in his sawmill in New Hamps.h.i.+re when the news of Lexington came. He stopped the mill, hurried home, took down his rifle, and rode on horseback to Cambridge.

In his haste he even forgot to put on his coat!

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE FIGHT AT CONCORD BRIDGE.]

Every town had a company or two of minute-men and of militia soldiers, who regularly met and drilled. The soldiers and the officers of these companies were usually the best citizens of the towns. Thirty-one towns were represented among the patriots who hastened to the fight on the nineteenth of April.

=159. Tablets now shown along this Historic Road.=--If some day we should take a ride over this very road, we should notice along the way numerous landmarks of that famous contest--carved monuments, houses with bullet holes carefully preserved, bronze tablets on houses, marking some spot of special interest. At Fiske's Hill, in Lexington, an inscription records that at a well near by two soldiers met to drink. The British grenadier raised his gun and said to James Hayward, "You are a dead man!" "And so are you!" replied the minute-man. Both fired; one was instantly killed, and the other mortally wounded.

On Lexington Common we should see a stately monument with a long inscription reciting the event.

At Concord Bridge would be seen a n.o.ble statue of the Minute-Man, beneath which on the pedestal are Emerson's famous verses:--

Here once the embattled farmers stood, And fired the shot heard round the world.

CHAPTER XII.

THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL.

=160. More Regulars sent to Boston.=--The battle of Lexington, fought as we have read, on the nineteenth of April, 1775, was a most momentous event, since it showed for the first time the resolute purpose of the Americans to draw the sword and defend themselves from British oppression. The news reached England near the end of May. Those Lexington muskets said plainer than words that the colonies would not submit to unjust taxation.

Fully aware that the situation was becoming serious, the British government sent a large number of fresh troops to reinforce the garrison in Boston. These came under the command of Generals Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne, and made in all an army of about ten thousand men.

=161. A Patriot Army is gathered around Boston.=--The patriots, too, were gathering in large numbers around Boston. They came by hundreds from all directions. Quite a large body was from Connecticut under Colonel (afterwards General) Israel Putnam. General Ward was commander of these forces until Was.h.i.+ngton arrived at Cambridge on July 3, 1775, and first took command of the American army under the old elm.

On the twelfth of June, General Gage issued a proclamation declaring all those in arms to be rebels and traitors, but offering pardon to all who would lay down their weapons and obey the British governor. Two, John Hanc.o.c.k and Samuel Adams, were excepted. Their patriotism had been too intense and outspoken to be forgiven.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WAs.h.i.+NGTON TAKING COMMAND OF THE PATRIOT ARMY.]

The American army, now nearly twenty thousand strong, formed a line of encampments in a great semicircle of sixteen miles, halfway around the city from Roxbury Neck to the Mystic River. They soon learned that Gage intended to break through the American lines into the country for a supply of provisions.

=162. Plans to checkmate the British.=--General Ward, having discovered that the British were planning to sally forth through Charlestown, determined to strike first and so defeat their project. It was decided to seize and fortify some suitable hill in Charlestown. Colonel William Prescott, a well-tried soldier of the French-Indian wars, and grandfather of Prescott, the famous historian, was ordered, on the sixteenth of June, to march that night with nearly a thousand men to Bunker Hill and throw up breastworks.

Soon after sunset the soldiers were formed in a hollow square on Cambridge Common, and President Langdon of Harvard College offered prayer. The good man then gave them his blessing and bade them "G.o.dspeed." At nine o'clock they started on their silent march. At Charlestown Neck they met General Putnam with more soldiers and wagon-loads of picks and shovels.

=163. Entrenched on Bunker Hill.=--Prescott led them to the top of Bunker Hill. After consultation with his officers, he moved on through the darkness to Breed's Hill, which had a better command of the city and the s.h.i.+pping. The lines were soon staked out, and at midnight the farmer soldiers began their entrenchments. So rapidly did they work that the dim morning twilight disclosed a large square of fresh trenches crowning the hill, with long wings stretching right and left. They had made a fort in a single night.

How surprised the British were at the sight, as the sun rose on a beautiful summer morning! They could scarcely believe their eyes. It seemed like a work of magic. A thousand men had shoveled as they never shoveled before, and not a British sentry had heard the click of their spades. They saw at once that the Americans, if they only had time enough to plant a battery of cannon there, could very soon drive them out of Boston. So the only thing for them to do was to drive the Americans from that hill, and that too without delay. Accordingly, the British men-of-war, Lively and Falcon, and then the forts on Copp's Hill in Boston immediately opened fire.

Meanwhile some hundreds of fresh soldiers arrived to help the Americans, hungry and weary with their hard night's work. The shot and sh.e.l.l from s.h.i.+ps and fort dropped around and among them, but they worked bravely on in the hot suns.h.i.+ne till nearly noon. At the left, on the northern slope of the hill, they moved some rail fences so as to build long double lines close together, and stuffed the s.p.a.ce between with new-mown hay, making an excellent breastwork.

=164. The British prepare to storm the Entrenchments.=--Things are now looking serious. The Americans can see and hear the British in Boston preparing for an attack. Prescott sends hurrying messengers to General Ward at the Cambridge headquarters for more soldiers. During the forenoon General Stark arrives with five hundred fresh New Hamps.h.i.+re troops, who were posted behind the rail fence on the extreme left. Next General Warren comes, and, laying aside his rank, takes a place of danger among the troops. The combat hastens, and every minute throbs with emotion.

Soon after one o'clock twenty-eight large boats are seen crossing over from Boston, loaded with soldiers and artillery. The Americans are now exchanging shovels for muskets and preparing for the foe. Now the red-coats are landing at the foot of the hill! See! they are forming in two columns, their bright cannon and muskets glistening in the hot sun.

It is now about three o'clock in the afternoon. They begin to march up the hill!

General Howe's column is on our left, to break through the gra.s.s wall and push his way behind our forces. Their other column, under General Pigot, is marching up the hill to attack our redoubt in front. They are coming slowly in the hot sun of a bright June afternoon. The artillery booms and crashes incessantly with a deafening roar.

General Gage has ordered that Charlestown be set on fire, and the flames and smoke of five hundred burning buildings make a terrible scene. All the surrounding heights, house-tops, and spires are crowded with thousands of anxious spectators breathlessly watching the thrilling sight.

"Here were sister, wife, and mother, looking wild upon each other, And their lips were white with terror as they said, 'THE HOUR HAS COME!'"

=165. The Battle begins.=--Behind those hasty breastworks fifteen hundred patriots lie silently awaiting the steady march of over three thousand trained British soldiers. Still on and up they toil, burdened with their heavy knapsacks, pausing to fire as they march.

"Don't fire until I give the word," said Prescott; "then fire low! Pick off the officers."

Putnam shouted to his men: "Powder is scarce, boys, don't waste it; wait till you see the whites of their eyes."

When the red-coats came within about a hundred and fifty feet of the breastworks, suddenly came Prescott's sharp order:--"Fire!" Instantly a flash of flame blazed along our entire line, and down fell the whole front of the advancing ranks. Under the ceaseless rain of bullets the British veterans gave way and retreated down the hillside in disorder.

Then burst forth from our side a strong shout, the first ringing cry on this continent for national independence. But it was a sad sight--the long rows of dead and dying soldiers, mowed down as if by a sudden sweep of a giant scythe.

"Oh, the sight our eyes discover as the blue-black smoke blows over!

The red-coats stretched in windrows as a mower rakes his hay."

Inside the breastworks some were killed and many wounded. Prescott, Putnam, and Warren were pa.s.sing up and down the line, cheering and encouraging the patriots.

=166. The British beat a Hasty Retreat to their Boats.=--The British officers rallied their troops as best they could. Death and wounds had thinned their number by hundreds, and the survivors were far from willing to make a second charge against that wall of fire. But the threats of the officers and even blows with their swords finally compelled them to it.

Up they marched again, firing as they came, their ranks moving slowly, stepping over the bodies of their fallen comrades.

"Wait, boys!" shouted Warren. "Don't fire yet! Wait."

On they came as before, nearer and nearer, until the distance was less than thirty yards to our silent but fatal line, when instantly there burst forth another long blaze of fire, even deadlier than before.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL.]

The Americans were by practice good marksmen, and the bright red coats and s.h.i.+ning belts of the enemy made excellent targets. The British returned the fire, and a brisk discharge of musketry was kept up for a few minutes. But it was useless. Hundreds of their number fell dead on the fatal slope, and in spite of their officers, the broken ranks staggered and retreated, flying in a panic to the sh.o.r.e.

=167. The British advance to the Third Attack.=--Now all was fright and confusion among the British. They were dismayed at the deadly reception our untrained soldiers had given them. General Clinton, who had been watching the battle from Copp's Hill and saw the day going against them, instantly hurried over with fresh troops. Once more the British regulars formed at the foot of the hill.

We may imagine with what mingled feelings the Americans, gazing down through the rifts of smoke from burning Charlestown, watched the movements of the reinforced foe. Putnam and Warren again went around cheering our men.

Prescott shouted, "Let's drive them back once more, and they cannot rally again."

But alas! the stock of powder was giving out! The patriots had only three or four rounds left, and as for close fighting, there were only about fifty bayonets to all their guns. Orders were pa.s.sed along to use their powder carefully, to hold fire until the enemy came within twenty yards, and to make every shot tell.

Meantime the enemy's cannon from the s.h.i.+ps had got a better range, and were pouring in a galling fire. The prospect on our side was beginning to look desperate. Short of powder; without bayonets; confronted by brave enemies always twice our number, and now with fresh troops; tired out with marching or digging all night and shoveling or fighting all day; for the most part without food and water,--our men still defiantly held the fort.

At five o'clock the British formed for the third attack, advancing now in three columns to charge us on three sides. This time their knapsacks were laid aside, and they marched in light order. Up they came as before, only slower; for they realized that they had a dangerous enemy before them. They reserved their fire. When they reached that same deadly range, once more our ramparts poured forth the deadly volleys.