Latest / Life and Times of Joseph Warren / Chapter 14 - The Nineteenth of April - 1775, From the Fifth of March to The 19th of April

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Chapter 14 - The Nineteenth of April - 1775, From the Fifth of March to The 19th of April · Life and Times of Joseph Warren

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Chapter fourteen of Life and Times of Joseph Warren by Richard Frotingham. This LibriVox
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recording is in the public domain. On the nineteenth of April, the Committee
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of Safety, Warren's Letters, the Second Provincial Congress, Military Preparations, Warren's
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vigilance, Colonel Smith's expedition. Warren leaves Boston his service on the nineteenth of
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April seventeen seventy five. The fifth of March to the nineteenth of April.
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Warren, on the day after the delivery of his oration March seventh, met
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with the Committee of Safety in Cambridge, where the deliberations were uncommonly important,
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Cushing in Adams being named for the first time as having been present the proceedings
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related to the proposed army. They were of a similar character at the next
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meaning of the Committee on the u s fourteenth, when a watch was arranged
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to be kept in Charlestown, Cambridge and Roxbury, in order that the committees
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of these towns might be ready to send couriers forward to the towns where the
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magazines were placed. When sallies were made from the army by night. According
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to Paul Revere, about thirty persons chiefly mechanics, had agreed to watch the
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movements of British soldiers and the Tories. These patriots met at the Green Dragon
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tavern in Union Street. We are so careful, he says, that our
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meetings should be kept secret, that every time we met, every person swore
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upon the Bible that they would not discover any of our transactions. But to
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misters Hancock, Adams, doctors Warren, Church, and one or two more,
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they took turns to watch the soldiers two by two, by patrolling the
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streets all night. It was now a common remark that there was a trader
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in the provincial Congress. At this time diminished were assuring George the Third that
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the union of the colonies could not last. And he said, on the
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day on which Warren delivered his oration, I am convinced the line adopted in
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American affairs will be crowned with success. At this time, Warren, as
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the organ of the Committee of Donations, expressed the faith with which the patriots
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clung to unity as the anchor of their safety, and the interest with which
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they looked to the decision of Canada. Joseph Warren to the Committee of Montreal
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Boston March fifteenth, seventeen seventy five, mister James Price and Alexander Hay at
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Montreal, gentlemen, so handsome a donation as one hundred pounds four shillings,
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accompanied by such an animated letter from our brethren at Montreal, cannot fail to
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excite the warmest gratitude in the breast of everyone who wishes prosperity and freedom in
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his country. The committee to whom your letter comes directed beg leave as well
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on their account as in the name and behalf of every virtuous man in the
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town, more especially of the many thousands who are actually feeling the miseries occasioned
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by the Boston Port Bill, to offer you their most unfeigned thanks for this
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convincing proof of your sympathy for the distresses of your fellow countrymen, and for
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your firm, disinterested attachment to the rights of your country. It affords singular
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pleasure to every friend of virtue to find such enlarged and generous sentiments as dictated
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your letter, discovering themselves in places where the utmost diligence and most wicked devices
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have been made use of to distinguish them. The religion lately established in Canada
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is but too well calculated to banish every idea of freedom and to familiarize the
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mind to slavery. But your letter is an agreeable instance how tenacious men are
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of their rights when they clearly understand them. We wish most heartily that sents
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like yours may be diffused throughout your widely extended province to the utter extinction of
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every imposition, whether civil or religious. Your numbers are great, and it
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is of course important to us whether you are engaged for or against us.
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The decision of the present controversy between Britain and the colonies will give happiness or
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misery to America for years, perhaps for centuries. Unanimity and firmness form the
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only anchor on which we depend, and we have the strongest assurances that can
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be given, that the whole continents see with the same eyes and are actuated
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by one soul. To war with brethren must be shocking to every brave,
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every humane mind. But if brethren and fellow subjects will suffer themselves to be
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instruments in the hands of tyrants to stab our constitution, every tender idea must
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be forgot, and they must be repelled with that heroic spirit which open enemies
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have experienced. Our advocates are many, both in Europe and America. But
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the importance of our prosperity makes it a duty to solicit with earnestness for all
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the assistance and all the strength which the continent can give. The inhabitants of
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Montreal have done worthily. May Heaven reward them, and while life lasts,
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the memory of their kindness will never be effaced. From the bosoms of the
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Committee of Donations Joseph Warren per Order. The temper of the public mind was
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never firmer than it was in the month of March. The donations for the
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relief of the poor continued to flow into Boston as for a common cause.
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The letters accompanying them were of the most resolute character, and the evidences multiplied
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that the colonies would be one and indivisible. The tenor of the reports from
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the mother country was thoroughly warlike. It was said in letters from England printed
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in the newspapers, that the ministry were determined to presevere in the great system
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of Americans taxation, and their reliance was on force. It was the advice
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in these letters to the Americans prepare for the worst, and presevere in the
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plan adopted by Congress, for Heaven's sake, for your own sake and that
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of posterity, do not relax your vigilance. There was the natural sequence of
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general and vigorous preparation for the last resort. It was said in the press,
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in contending for liberty, the Constitution should be held in one hand and
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the sword in the other. Our union under providence is the rock of our
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salvation. Such was the lofty spirit in the bosom of the American Republic in
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the beginning of its grand historic life. On the twenty second of March,
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the Provincial Congress renewed its session. It immediately ordered a resolve to be printed
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which stated the necessity of putting the colony in a complete state of defense,
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and urged that any relaxation would be attended with the utmost danger to the liberties
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of the colony and to all America. And for several days this body was
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occupied with a consideration of the rules and regulations for a constitutional army. Still
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there was no desire for war, but the door was kept open for reconciliation.
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On the first of April, Congress voted that if writs should be issued
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in the form as the law directs for calling a general Assembly to be held
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in May. The towns ought to obey the precepts instructing the members elect to
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transact no business with the council appointed by mandamus. Thus was evinced the resolution
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in Matters of Civil Government to adhere to the advice of the Continental Congress,
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but provision was made for the election of a third Provincial Congress in case such
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writs were not issued by Governor Gage. On the second of April, a
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fresh arrival brought the decisive intelligence that Parliament had pledged life and fortune to the
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King for the subjections of America, that New England was prohibited from the fisheries,
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and that reinforcements were on the way to General Gage. On the next
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day, Warren was placed on a committee to require a full representation from the
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towns when the following proclamation appeared in the Salem Gazette. In Provincial Congress conquered
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April eighth, seventeen seventy five. Whereas several members of this Congress are now
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absent by leave of the Congress, and as the important intelligence received by the
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last vessels from Great Britain renders it necessary that every member attended his duty.
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Resolved that the absent members be directed forthwith to attend in this place, so
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that the wisdom of the province may be collected. By order of the Provincial
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Congress John Hancock, President, The soldiers now became more irritating than ever,
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and even the officers behaved more like a parcel of children than like men.
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One of the most conspicuous of the officers who disturbed the meeting at the Old
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South was a captain of the Royal Irish, who fared rather hard, for
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among those who beset him was a woman who threatened to wring his nose.
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Two days after occurred the well known case of tarring and feathering a citizen of
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bill Ricca by Colonel Nesbitt and party. On the sixteenth, the day Warren's
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oration was published, the officers made themselves merry in delivering a mock oration,
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of which a letter gives a following account. A vast number of officers assembled
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in King Street when they proceeded to the choice of seven out of their number
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to represent the selectmen, the latter of whom with the moderator, went into
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the coffeehouse balcony, where was provided a fellow apparelled in a black gown with
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a rusty gray wig and foxtail hanging to it, together with bands on,
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who delivered an oration from the balcony to a crowd of a few else besides
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gaping officers. It contained the most mischievous abuse of upon the characters of principal
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patriots, here wholly made up of the most vile, profane blackguard language as
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ever was expressed. This scirlius speech was printed. There were acts of far
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more importance occurring every day in the personal collisions occasioned by the seizures of all
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kinds of military articles that the patriots endeavored to carry out of the town.
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Occasionally large detachments of the army were marched into the country. On the thirtieth
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of March, the ever vigiling Committee of Correspondence summoned the Little Senate the committees
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of the neighboring towns to meet in their chamber in Vaniel Hall at ten o'clock
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a m On the next day to determine on measures of safety, saying in
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the summons, the wisdom of the joint committees has been very conspicuous. The
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fullest exertion of the same wisdom is necessary at this excited time. While engaged
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in this varied service, Warren wrote the following letter, which contains one of
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those brilliant sentences which has been much quoted to show the spirit of the time.
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Bancroft places the words italicized in his text. The March of Earl Percy
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referred to in the letter occasioned the meeting of the Committee of Correspondence, Boston,
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April eighth, seventeen seventy five. Dear Sir, your favor of the
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twenty first of December came opportunely to hand, as it enabled me to give
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the Provincial Congress, now sitting at Conquered a just view of the measures pursued
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by the tools of the administration, and effectually to guard them against that state
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of security into which many have endeavored to lull them. If we ever obtain
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a redress of grievances from Great Britain, it must be by the influence of
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these illustrious personages, whose virtue now keeps them out of power. The King
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never will bring them into power until the ignorance and frenzy of the present administration
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make the throne on which he sits shake under him. If America is an
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humble instrument of the salvation of Britain, it will give us the sincerest joy.
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But if Britain must lose her liberty, she must lose it alone.
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America must and will be free. The contest may be severe, the end
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will be glorious. We would not boast, but we think. United and
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prepared as we are, we have no reason to doubt of success if we
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should be compelled to the last appeal. But we mean not to make that
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appeal until we can be justified in doing it in the sight of God and
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man. Happy shall we be if the mother country will allow us the free
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enjoyment of our rights and indulge us in the pleasing employment of aggrandizing her.
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The members for the Continental Congress are almost all chosen by the several colonies.
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Indeed, if any colony should neglect to choose members, it would be ruinous
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to it. All intercourse would immediately cease between that colony and the whole continent.
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The first brigade of the Army marched about four miles out of town three
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days ago, under the command of a brigadier General, Earl Percy, but
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as they marched without baggage or artillery, they did not occasion so great an
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alarm as they otherwise would. Nevertheless, great numbers completely armed collected in the
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neighboring towns, and it is the opinion of many that had they marched eight
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or ten miles and attempted to destroy any magazines or abuse the people, not
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a man of them would have returned to Boston. The Congress immediately took proper
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measures for restraining any unnecessary effusion of blood, and also passed proper resolves respecting
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the army if they should attempt to come out of town with baggage and artillery.
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I beg leave to recommend to your notice, mister Dana, the bearer
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hereof a gentleman of the law, a man of sense and probity, a
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true friend to his country, of a respectable family and fortune. May Heaven
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bless you and reward your labours with success. I am, sir, with
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great respect, your most obedient, humble servant, Joseph Warren to Arthur Lee,
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Esquire, London. At this time Francis Dana, a lawyer and a
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patriot, sailed for London and carried letters addressed to Franklin, describing the colony
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since the resignation of the Mandamous counselors to have been as quiet and peaceable as
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any colony on the continent, but in a state of most anxious suspense,
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preparing for the worst. Much art and pains, doctor Cooper wrote, have
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been employed to dismay us or provoke us to some rash action. But hitherto
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the people have behaved with astonishing calmness and resolution. The union and firmness of
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this and the other colonies have rather grown than diminished, and they seem prepared
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for all events. Sent by mister Dana a copy of his oration to Franklin
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with the following letter. Joseph Warren to Benjamin Franklin, Boston, April eighth,
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seventeen seventy five, Sir, although I have not the pleasure either of
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a personal or epistolary acquaintance with you, I have taken the liberty of sending
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you, by mister Dana a pamphlet which I wish was more deserving of your
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notice. The ability and firmness with which you have defended the rights of mankind
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and the liberties of this country in particular, have rendered you dear to all
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America. May you soon see your enemies deprived of the power injuring you and
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your friends in a situation to discover the grateful sense they have of your exertions
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in the cause of freedom. I am, sir, with the greatest esteem
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and respect, your most obedient, humble servant, Joseph Warren, doctor Franklin.
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The Provincial Congress remained twelve days in session after the peremptory summons of the
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Act. Absent members and Warren a part of the time at least attended the
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meetings. On the seventh he was placed on the Committee on the State of
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the Province. On the recommendation of this committee, a resolve was passed providing
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for delegations to repair forthwith to Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire,
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asking their cooperation and quotas in raising an army for the effectual security of New
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England and the continent. The same committee prepared for their delegates instructions which dealt
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on the importance of cementing and continuing that union which had so happily taken place
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on this continent. Congress sent a circular to the committees of the towns round
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Boston earnestly recommending that the militia and minutemen be put in the best posture for
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defense, but said that the plans laid for the general good obliged them to
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request that, whatever patience and forbearance it might require for the present, the
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Committee should act on the defense of only until the further discretion of the U.
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S. Congress. They could not advise any measures that the enemies of
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the cause might plausibly interpret as a commencement of hostilities. Having fixed on the
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eleventh of May for a day of fasting in prayer, and provided for reassembling
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on any pressing exigency, Congress on the fifteenth of April adjourned. It was
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said in the British papers that by the tenth of April an army of thirteen
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thousand with rendezvous in Boston, and that three major generals were to be sent
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over to command it. This report was copied into the Boston Journals. According
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to a statement drawn up by Colonel William Heath and dated the twentieth of March,
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there were at this time about two thousand, eight hundred and fifty troops
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at Boston, who were distributed in the following localities. Eighty in King Street,
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three hundred and forty on the Neck, four hundred at Fort Hill,
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seventeen hundred on the Common, and three hundred thirty at Castle William. The
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fortifications on the Neck are said to have been skied, bekuilfully designed and thoroughly
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executed. Reinforcements from England and other places were expected soon. There was the
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feeling among the officers that the mere presence of the King's troops in the field
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would produce submission to the Regulating Act, and that there would be no fighting.
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In connection with this feeling was the allegation of cowardice. Warren met this
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charge in the following, clear and temporately worded note printed in his oration.
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It is written in the repose of a heroic spirit who is deeply moved at
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the insults that were heaped on his countrymen, the patients with which this people
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have borne, the injuries which have been heaped upon them, and their unwillingness
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to take any sanguinary measures, has very injudiciously been ascribed to cowardice by persons
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both here and in Great Britain. I most heartily wish that an opinion so
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erroneous in itself and so fatal in its consequences, might be utterly removed before
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it is too late. And I think nothing further net necessary to convince every
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intelligent man that the conduct of this people is owing to the tender regard which
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they have for their fellow men and an utter abhorrence to the shedding of human
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blood, than a little attention to their general temper and disposition discovered when they
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cannot be supposed to be under any apprehension of danger to themselves. I will
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only mention the universal detestation which they show to every act of cruelty by whom
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and upon whomsoever committed, the mild spirit of their laws, the very few
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crimes to which capital penalties are annexed, and the very great backwardness which both
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courts and juries discover in condemning persons charged with capital crimes. But if any
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should think this observation not to the purpose, I readily appeal to those gentlemen
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in the army who have been in the camp or in the field with the
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Americans. It was now expected that General Gage would order arrests of the popular
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leaders. It was said that Parliament would pass bills of attainder against the Bostonians,
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and the aspect of affairs became so serious that a number of families moved
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into the country and carried with them their valuable effects. Samuel Adams and John
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Hancock were persuaded to retire to the residence of Reverend Jonas Clark, a patriotic
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clergyman in Lexington. It is one of the doubtful stories of the time that
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the officers formed a scheme to seize Adams, Hancock and Warren, which an
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accident frustrated Warren's friends felt apprehensions for his safety. As one of his students,
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doctor Eustace, returned home one evening, he passed a party of officers
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who appeared to be on the watch, and he advised Warren not to visit
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his patients that evening. But Warren, putting his pistols in his pocket,
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replied, I have a visit to make to missus in Cornhill this evening,
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and I will go at once. Come with me. It was about this
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time when he was moved by the taunts which the officers were uttering, that
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he said to Eustace, these fellows say we won't fight. By heavens,
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I hope I shall die up to my knees in blood. One day he
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was passing the place at the neck where the gallows stood, and met three
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officers, one of whom insultingly said, go on, Warren, you will
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soon come to the gallows. Warren turned, walked up to the officers and
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calmly asked who it was that uttered those words, but received no reply.
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Warren did not attend the meetings of the Committee of Safety in April they held
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their sessions at Conquered. The absence, doubtless was for weighty reasons. He
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had resolved to abandon his profession and enter the army, and as the crisis
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approached, he devoted some time each day to a regular practice of the manual
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exercise. His letters showed that he watched narrowly the motions of the army,
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as he knew their numbers, knew also the preparations for self defense that had
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been matured by the patriots. He was confident that in the case offensive operations
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were attempted, the militia would appear in the field in sufficient numbers to defeat
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them. The organization of a watch and of couriers to alarm the country by
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the Committee of Safety have been already stated General Gage sent two officers disguised as
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farmers into the interior to ascertain the places where the provincials had gathered, stores,
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sites for encampments, and the state of the country. They, though
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narrowly watched by the patriots, succeeded in their object, and, besides an
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interesting narrative showing the spirit of the people, they presented to General Gauge a
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rudely sketched map of the roads as far as conquered. In Worcester. It
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was now April fourth, said in the journals that a considerable number of army
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wagons were ready for use, that blacksmiths were employed in making crow's feet,
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and the army seemed to be preparing for a march. A week later,
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it was suggested that Worcester would be the point to which the army would march,
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with the view to protect the courts under the Regulating Act. A New
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York letter, in remarking on the probability that the troops would take the field,
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said to the Massachusetts patriots, for Heaven's sake, be watchful and firm,
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as all under God depends on your conduct. At this time, the
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policy of disarming the people had been acted on, though it had not been
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followed up very energetically. The indications now were that this policy would be carried
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out in earnest On Friday, the fourteenth of April, the Somerset Frigate was
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moored in Charles River between Boston and Charlestown, and on the next day the
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grenadiers and light infantry were taken off duty on the pretext of learning a new
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exercise, and the transports were hauled near the sterns of the men of war.
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These movements appeared so suspicious that on the following day, Sunday, Warren
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sent Paul Revere to Lexington with intelligence of these changes for the guidance of Hancock
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and Adams. On the next day, preparations were made for a removal of
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the portion of the stores that conquered little to attract the special attention of the
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vigilant patriots occurred on Monday. Though they were expecting something serious to be transacted,
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it happened that on the day fifteenth, on which the movements in Boston
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attracted attention, Lord Dartmouth wrote to General Gage that all the cannon, small
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arms, and military stores that might be either in any magazine or secreted by
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the patriots ought to be seized, and all who, in the opinion of
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His Majesty's Attorney and Solicitor General, had committed acts of treason ought to be
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arrested. On Tuesday evening the eighteenth, it was observed that troops were marching
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towards the bottom of the Common, and a vigilant patriot informed Warren of the
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fact, who immediately sent will Wlliam Dawes by way of Roxbury to Lexington to
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inform Hancock and Adams. About ten o'clock, Warren sent an earnest message for
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Paul Revere, who went to the patriot's house. Revere says Warren begged that
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I would immediately set off for Lexington to mister Hancock and Adams and acquaint them
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of the movement, and that it was thought that they were the objects.
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At half past ten o'clock that night, Lieutenant Colonel Smith, with about eight
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hundred grenadiers and light infantry, embarked in longboats at the foot of the Commons
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and moved over Charles River in the direction of Phipps Farm or Leechmere's Point,
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on a secret expedition to destroy the stores collected at Conquered and it was reported
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to seize Hancock and Adams. General Gage this evening, Steedman says, told
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Lord Percy that he intended to send a detachment to seize the stores at Conquered
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and to give the command to Colonel Smith, who knew he was to go,
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but not where. He meant it to be a secret expedition, and
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begged of Lord Percy to keep it a profound secret. As this nobleman was
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passing from the General's quarters home to his own, perceiving eight or ten men
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conversing together on the common, he made up to them when one of the
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men said, the British troops have marched, but will miss their aim.
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What aim, said Lord Percy? Why? The man replied, the canon
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had conquered. Lord Percy immediately returned on his steps and acquainted General Gage,
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not without marks of surprise and disapprobation with what he had just heard. The
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General said that his confidence had been betrayed, for that he had communicated his
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design to one person only besides his lordship. Gordon says, when the corps
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was nearly ready to proceed upon the expedition, Doctor Warren, by a mere
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accident, had notice of it just in time. To send messengers over the
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neck and across the ferry on to Lexington, before the orders for preventing every
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person's quitting the town were executed. The lights of the watchfires, the sounds
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of the bells, and the signal guns proclaimed the faithfulness with which Warren's messengers
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did their work. I need not follow Colonel Smith's progress into the country on
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this memorable night until at half past four on the morning of the nineteenth of
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April. His advance fired on the company of provincials who paraded at Lexington under
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Captain Parker, and then passed on to Conquered, which the detachment reached about
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seven Nor need I relate the remarkable rapidity with which the agencies which the Committee
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of Safety had organized did the work of alarming the militia, or the prompt
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response to the summons which occasioned the roads leading to Conquered in Lexington to swarm
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with the minutemen. It is only necessary to relate Warren's connection with the events
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of this extraordinary day. A special messenger early in the morning brought to Warren
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the intelligence of the events that occurred in the morning at Lexington. His soul
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beat to arms, Doctor Elliot says, as soon as he learned the intention
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of the British troops, and he now called in mister Eustace, his student,
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directed him to take care of his patients, mounted his horse and departed
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for the scene of action. He rode to the Charlestown Ferry. The last
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person to whom he spoke as he entered the boat was the grandfather of the
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late John r Aiden of Boston, and Warren said as they parted, keep
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up a brave heart. They have begun it that either party can do,
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and will end it that only one can do. On the way through Charlestown
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he met doctor Welch, a resident who says eight o'clock in the morning saw
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doctor Joseph Warren just come out of Boston horseback. I said, well,
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they are gone out, yes, he said, and we will be up
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with them before night. Jacob Rogers, another resident of Charlestown, says,
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we were alarmed with various reports concerning the King's troops, which put everybody in
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confusion. About ten in the morning I met doctor Warren riding hastily out of
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town and asked him if the news was true of the men being killed at
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Lexington. He assured me it was. He rode on. Between nine and
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ten o'clock, Lord Percy began his march by the way of Roxbury to reinforce
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Colonel Smith. His column passed through Cambridge, and, according to doctor Welch,
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who appears to have accompanied Warren a short time, they were near this
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force, two soldiers, doctor Welch says, going to Lexington, tried to
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steal Watson's horse at Watson's Corner, the old man with his cat and hat
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pulling one way and the soldiers the other. Doctor Warren rode up and helped
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drive them off. Tried to pass Percy's column, stopped by bayonets. Two
29:55
British officers rode up to Doctor Warren in the rear of the British, inquiring
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where are the troops. The doctor did not know. They were greatly alarmed.
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Went home, and doctor Welch, who returned to Charlestown, relates nothing
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further that transpired that day until the afternoon. A meeting of the Committee of
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Safety was notified to be held at mister Weatherby's at the Black Horse in Monotony,
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or West Cambridge, and Watson's Corner was on the route to this place.
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There is no record of the proceedings of the Committee on this day,
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but the fact is stated that the committee met General Heath, a member who
30:33
was present at this meeting, and on leaving it in the morning went by
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a cross road over to Watertown, and the British being in possession of the
30:41
Lexington Road. Warren undoubtedly was present at this meeting of the Committee. I
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am unable to locate him for several hours, or until in the afternoon,
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about the time Lord Percy's column rescued Colonel Smith's party from entire destruction, which
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was at two o'clock. The Provincial Congress had clothed the members of the Committee
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of Safety with the power, in case of offensive operations, to summon the
31:06
militia into the field, and they therefore were the center of authority. Warren,
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in the relations of the day, is spoken of as the chairman of
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the committee. In Boston, Hancock was the chairman of the whole committee,
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and Samuel Adams met twice with them. Now, the Provincial Congress, anxious
31:25
to conform to the recommendations of the Continental Congress, had cautioned the committees of
31:30
the towns to exercise the utmost forbearance in the great matter of commencing hostilities,
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and this had been impressed on the towns by the Committee of Safety. This
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fact has a bearing on what took place at half past four on the morning
31:44
of this day at Lexington, and again at between nine and ten at Conquered
31:49
Bridge. It was considered of great consequence to be able to establish the fact
31:55
that the British fired first, thus to make it clear to the tribunal of
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the world that they were the immediate aggressors, and to save the Colony of
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Massachusetts from the judgment of having acted inconsiderately. Nothing could have been easier than
32:08
for the militia, who had assembled in large numbers and conquered after the firing
32:14
at Conquered Bridge, to have destroyed a British party of about one hundred men
32:17
who were at a great distance from the main body. But they were allowed
32:22
to return over the bridge where the firing took place. From four o'clock in
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the morning, couriers were flying in every direction from Lexington, and it is
32:30
not improbable that the military officers before twelve o'clock had the advice of the Committee
32:37
of Safety. Adams and Hancock were on the ground and could have given immediate
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directions. They were persuaded to retire to what was then known as the Second
32:46
Precinct of Wooburn now Burlington, about two miles from Reverend Jonas Clark's house.
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I am not able to say whether Adams and Warren met on this memorable day,
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but they surely were not far apart. It is a fine day,
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Adams remarked, as he was walking in the field after the day had dawned.
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Very pleasant, answered one of his companions, supposing him to be contemplating
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the beauties of the sky. I mean, he replied, this day is
33:15
a glorious day for America. So fearless was he of consequences, Doctor Eliot
33:20
says, so intrepid in the midst of danger, so eager to look forward
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to the luster of events that would succeed the gloom which then involved the minds
33:29
of the people. Warren. About the time Lord Percy met Colonel Smith rejoined
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General Heath as the latter was taking a crossroad leading from Watertown to Lexington on
33:39
his way to assume the command of the militia, and the two kept together
33:44
during the afternoon. There had been no hesitation on the part of the minutemen
33:47
after the British troops about twelve o'clock set out on their return from conquered.
33:53
Before they had left the town, the battle of the day began in Earnest
33:58
an incessant though irregular fire. A British officer writes of the British troops which
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was kept up during the whole of their march back to Lexington, in which
34:07
they were driven before the Americans like sheep. At that place they were met
34:10
by the detachment under Lord Percy with two pieces of cannon. The two detachments
34:16
rested on their arms and received some refreshment. Lord Percy now formed his detachment
34:22
into a square, in which he enclosed Colonel Smith's party, who were so
34:27
much exhausted with fatigue that they were obliged to lie down for rest on the
34:31
ground, their tongues hanging out of their mouths like those of dogs. After
34:36
a chase, Lord Percy had now about eighteen hundred troops under him. On
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renewing his retreat, he was closely pursued as he went through West Cambridge.
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The firing was very sharp in this battle. Heath says, I was several
34:53
times greatly exposed, in particular at the high Grounds at the upper end of
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Monotomy, West Cambridge, and also on the plain below the meetinghouse. On
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the latter Doctor Joseph Warren. Afterwards Major General Warren, who kept constantly near
35:10
me, and then but a few feet distant, a musket ball from the
35:14
enemy came so near his head as to strike the pin out of the hair
35:19
of his ear lock. On this plane, Doctor Olliphilet Downer, in single
35:22
combat with a British soldier, killed him on the spot by thrusting him nearly
35:28
through the body with his bayonet. Authorities agree in stating that the firing was
35:34
severe on that portion of West Cambridge known as the Plane. The reference to
35:38
Warren's service here in Boyle's eulogy, printed in seventeen eighty one, shows the
35:44
impression which his bearing made on his countrymen. Again, the conflict glows with
35:50
rage, severe and fearless ranks in combat mixed the peer victory uncertain, fierce
35:57
contention, reiins and purple rivers drench the slippery plains, calumn to collum,
36:02
host to host a pose, and rush impetuous on their adverse foes. When
36:08
lo the hero Warren from Afar sought for the battle and the field of war
36:15
from rank to rank. The daring warrior flies and bids the thunder of the
36:21
battle rise. Sudden arrangements of his troops are made, and sudden movements round
36:27
the plain displayed Columbia's genius in her polished shield gleams bright and dreadful o'er the
36:34
hostile field. Her ardent troops enraptured with the sight with shock resistless, forced
36:40
the dubious fight. Britons astonished, tremble at the sight, and all confused
36:47
precipitate their flight. The Minutemen continued to harass the retreating troops as they left
36:53
the plain. After they entered the portion of Charlestown which is now Somerville,
36:59
and were moving from Prospect Hill along the road by the bay that makes up
37:04
from Charles River. Their position was again critical for a force of several hundred
37:08
militia from Essex County were on or near Winter Hill and threatened to cut them
37:14
off. The militia, heath says, continued to hang on the rear of
37:17
the British until they reached Bunker Hill in Charlestown, and it had become so
37:23
dusk as to render the flashes of the muskets very visible. Bunker Hill is
37:28
the nearest hill to the mainland within the peninsula of Charlestown, and here the
37:32
British commander formed a line and covered by his ships, prepared to make a
37:37
stand. General Heath was now on a plot of ground known as the common,
37:43
just outside of the peninsula, and he says Warren kept near him.
37:46
Here the order was given for the militia to discontinue the pursuit and return to
37:51
Cambridge. General Heath now held the first Council of War of the Revolution at
37:57
the foot of Prospect Hill. It is said of warm by la that he
38:00
was perhaps the most active man in the field, by Knapp that the people
38:05
were delighted with his cool, collected bravery, and already considered him as a
38:09
leader whose gallantry they were to admire and in whose talents they were to confide.
38:15
By Morton that he appeared in the field under the united characters of the
38:20
general, the soldier and the physician. Here he was seen animating his countrymen
38:24
to battle and fighting by their side, And there he was found administering healing
38:30
comforts to the wounded. And by Tutor that he would be regarded as the
38:35
personal representative of those brave citizens who, with arms hastily collected sprang from their
38:42
peaceable homes to resist aggression, and on the plains of Lexington and heights of
38:46
Charlestown, cemented with their blood the foundation of American liberty. End of Chapter fourteen.