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back less favorable news. When Howe, Burgoyne and Clinton arrived in Boston Harbor, on the twentyfifth of May, they found the city garrisoned by five thousand men and surrounded by an army of twice that number.

Meantime a body of "Green Mountain Boys," under

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THE OLD MANSE, CONCORD, FROM WHICH THE WIFE OF THE REV. WM. EMERSON WATCHED THE BATTLE.

command of Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold (who had forced himself into the position), had, on the tenth of May (1775), captured Ticonderoga, a fort which had cost the English a vast sum. On the twelfth they had also taken Crown Point, securing a large amount of ammunitions. Arnold claimed com

THE SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 263

mand of the soldiers at Ticonderoga under authority of the Provincial Congress, which had moved to Watertown, and had not only commissioned him, but had also authorized an expedition to Quebec, which was not, however, immediately undertaken.

On the day that Ticonderoga was taken, the second Continental Congress met in the old State House in Philadelphia, and sat until the first of August, when it adjourned to the fifth of September, and sat until December 30. * On the twenty-first of July Franklin submitted a plan for a perpetual union of the States, with the name "The United States of North America," but it was not acted upon at the time. June the "Continental" army was first so called, in a resolution to borrow six thousand pounds for the purpose of buying gunpowder. On the fifteenth of June, it was voted to appoint a general, and, "at the particular

Early in

A number of the delegates were elected without limit of time, and the commissions of the others were renewed from time to time, and the body may be considered as having been in continuous session foom May 10, 1775, until after the close of the war, the formation of the Constitution, and the election of the first Congress chosen under it, in 1788.

↑ Just before this, Franklin had shown his spirit by addressing the following note to one of his old friends, a member of the British Parliament:

"PHILADELPHIA, July 5, 1775

"Mr. Strahan - You are a Member of Parliament, and one of that Majority which has doomed my Country to Destruction. You have begun to burn our Towns and murder our People. Look upon your Hands! — They are stained with the blood of your Relation! — You and I were long friends. You are now my Enemy,

"and

"I am,

"Yours,
"B. FRANKLIN."

request of the people of New England," George Washington was unanimously chosen by ballot to fill the office. The next day he modestly accepted the appointment, and on the seventeeth, the delegates resolved to "maintain and assist him, and adhere to him, the said George Washington, Esquire, with their lives and fortunes."

Washington was placed at the head of military affairs not a moment too soon, for it had been for some time evident that General Ward was not the man for the responsible post. At the moment that the election was made, the need of skilled guidance was great, for another encounter was in progress between the Americans and the British. Gage had determined to extend his lines towards Dorchester and Charlestown, with the help of Howe, Burgoyne and Clinton, and the eighteenth of June had been set for the beginning of the movement; but the plan was known to the Committee of Safety, and Ward was directed to anticipate them. Accordingly he sent a body of about a thousand men poorly equipped, to fortify Bunker Hill, under command of William Prescott. As they left Cambridge Common, President Langdon, of Harvard College, offered a fervent prayer for their safety and success.

It was after midnight before the first sod had been turned up, but the men used their spades with alacrity, and when the sun rose, it disclosed to the astonished British the fact that the Americans were behind a complete earthwork overlooking Boston.

ton.

*It was Breed's Hill that was actually fortified, it being nearer BosGridley who laid out the works, had been engineer of the colonial forces at the memorable siege of Louisburg, in 1745.

THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL.

265

A cannonading was begun by the shipping, and a battery was mounted on Copp's Hill, in Boston, but neither stopped the progress of the work that the Americans had begun, despite the severe heat of the the day. Gage saw that it was necessary to storm. the works, ordered an assault, and fired Charlestown. Twice his veterans advanced and were repulsed by the irregularly organized and poorly protected patriots, but at the third advance the Americans found themselves forced to retire on account of a lack of powder. By order of Prescott, who had the command at the redoubt, they retreated slowly to Prospect Hill, where they encamped for the night. The British had lost eightythree officers and more than a thousand men,* and the Americans had lost less than five hun

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dred. The grestest loss to the patriot cause was the life of Joseph Warren, who had been made a majorgeneral a few days before, but who acted a private on the field, though asked by both Prescott and Putnam to take the command. His presence on the ground had inspired the soldiers, as his eloquence had given life and courage to the patriots in their councils on many occasions before. He had been a leader in and

*It was reported in England that "the king's troops would not fight, but laid down their arms," and "the great carnage among the officers" was thus accounted for.. Curwen's Journal, p. 34.

president of the New England Provincial Congress. This battle had important influence on both sides. Howe is said to have exclaimed, "They may talk of their 'Mindens' and their Fontenoys,' but there was no such fire there!" Gage reported to the administration that the Americans were not the "despicable rabble" that they had been supposed to be, that they possessed a military spirit joined with uncommon zeal and enthusiasm, and that the conquest of the country would not be easy. The Americans were encouraged by the defeat. They had completely crippled Gage, and Prescott had been confident enough to offer to retake the works if he could have fifteen hundred men. Washington had his faith confirmed. that the liberty of America was to be secured, and Franklin wrote to England that the Colonies were lost forever. The battle also brought Georgia into the Union of colonies, which henceforth numbered thirteen.

Torn from a world of tyrants,

Beneath this western sky,

We formed a new dominion,

A land of liberty.

The world shall own we're masters here,

Then hasten on the day:

Huzza, huzza, huzza,

For free America!

-Joseph Warren.

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