Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1860-07-14


So passed away the spirit of Montgomery,
with the love of all that knew him, the grief OF
the nascent republic, and the eulogies of the
world.
Returning to Washington and his army. we
find him in the month of February, '7G, in cir
cumstances Of great Encouragement, though
his own spirit never dropped. He had only
sufficient money to meet claims prior to the last
day OF December. His want of powder was so
great as to require the most careful conceal
ment In all the materials of war he had been
LETT strangely deficient. lie had nothing to op-
/ pose to the vast numbers of mercenary troops
that were to come over in :he spring to reinforce
his enemy, but fleetng bands of undisciplined
men, i'll clad and poorly armed. In spite of his
miserable equipment, however, he never faltcred
in his purpose to break up the "nest' of the Brit
ish IN Boston, and compel them to retire from
the town. Mr.. Bancroft thus describes the
manner in which Washington succeeded in
causing
THE EVACUATION OF BOSTON.
The army in Boston consisted of nearly 5000
rank and file. beside officers and the compi-
ments OF the ships-of-war. The young men
who held commissions were full of ingenious
devices to amuse the common soldiers and to
relieve the wearsomeness of their own hours
The Old South Meeting House was turned into
a ridingschool for the light Dragons Faneuil
Hall became play house, where the officers
appeared us actors on the stage; they even at
tempted balls and planned masquerade. The
winter was mild, SO that navigation was not in
terrupted, and provisions were imported in
abundance from Ireland, and England, from
Barbados and Antigua. Thus they whiled
away their time in their comfortable quarters,
without thought of danger, awaiting early
Z en- nrnap aud l,v.K o,,,r.
to their removal 20 New York.
The possession of Dorchester Heights would
give Washington the command of Boston, and
OF large part Of the harbor. Ill supplied as
he was with powder, and having no resource for
artillery but i'll the captures made from the
enemy by privateers, and the cannon which had
been dragged overland from Lake George, he
s,lll made the necessary arrangements to occu-
py the position, in the hope to bring the enemy
Out, and force them to offer battle. TO that
end, the council of Massachusetts. at his re-
quest, called in the militia of the nearest towns
The engineer employed to devise and superin-
tend the works, was Rufus Putnam; and the
time chosen for their erection, was the eve of
the anniversary Of "the Boston massacre" To
harrass the enemy and divert attention, heavy
cannonade and bombardment of the town was
kept up during the two previous nights Soon
after candle-light on the 4th of March, the firing
was renewed with greater vehemence than be-
fore, from Cobble Hill, now Somerville, from
Lechmere's Point, now East Cambridge, and
from battety in Roxbury, and was returned
with such zeal by the British, that q continued
roar OF cannon and mortars was heard from
seven o'cocl; till daylight. As soon as it had
begun, Washington proceeded to take possess
ion of the Heights of Dorchester. All the re-
quisite dispositions, including the method of
battling an attack, had been deliberately con-
sidered and prepared with consummate skill /;
everything was ready; every man knew his
place, his specific task, and the duty of execu-
ting it with celerty and silence. party of
eight hundred went in advance as guard; one
R%. OF 'ham r taking post to on the heights
carts Win mtrencning Tools, ana by tne working
party Of twelve hundred under the command of
Thomas, all officer whose great merit on this
occasion is the more to be remembered from
the shortness of his career. The ground for
eighteen inches deep, was frozen too hard to
yield earth for the defences; but the foresight
of the chief had amply provided substitutes /;
train of more than three hundred carts, easily
drawn by oxen over the frozen marshes, brought
bundles of screwed hay to form cover for Dor
chester Neck, where it was exposed to a rakng
fire. and an amazing quantity of gabions and
iascines and chandeliers for the redoubts. The
drivers, as they goaded on their cattle, sup
pressed their voices the westerly wind carried
all sound away from the town. Washington
preceived with delight that his movement was
unobserved, and that the ceaseless noise of ar
tlllery alone attracted attention. The hours, as
/ they flew by were the most eyentful of his life;
after nine months of intolerable waiting, cri-
sis was at hand, but everything was prepared to
insure his success; and as he raised the in
/ trap apcbp,aptc of Ap,or;cor ind bo
heights of Dorchester, he had happiness of
mind till then unknown to him during the seige.
the night, though cold, was not severely so ;
/ the temperature was the fittest that could be
for outdoor work the haze that denotes a
soitening Of the air hung round the base of the
ridge; above him. the moon, which that morn
ing had become full, was shining in cloudless
lusture at his side, hundreds of men toiled in
stiffness at the frozen ground with an assiduity
that knew nothing of fatigue; the three hun
dred teams were all at the same time in motion,
going backward and forward, some three, some
four times beneath him, in the town, lay the
British General, indifferent to the incessant
noise OF cannon, never dreaming of an eject
ment from his comfortable winter quarters; the
army that checkered the quiet place with mar
tial show, reposed without special watchfuness
or fear the crowd of ships in fleet rode proud
ly in the spacious harbor, motionless except as
they turned on their moorings with the tide
unsuspicious of peril; the wretched, unarmed
inhabitants of Boston, emaciated from want OF
wholesome food, pining after freedom, as yet
little cheered by hope, trembed lest their own
houses should be struck in the tumult, which
ragged as if heaven and earth were at variance
the common people that were left in the village.
all around, chiefly women and children, driven
from their beds by the rafting of their windows
and the jar of their houses, could watch from
the hill-tops the flight of every shell that was
thrown, and waited for morning with wonder
and anxiety. In England, the Ministry trusted
implicitly the assurances of Howe, that he "was
not under the least apprehension of any attack
from the rebels; = the King expected that after
wintering in Boston, and awaiting reinforce
ments, he would, in May, or in the first week Of
June, sail for New York the courtiers were
wishing Boston and all New England sunk tc
the very bottom of the sea.
At about three in the morning the working
patty was relieved; but the toll was continued
with unremitted energy, so that in one night
strong redoubts, amply secure against grape
shot and musketry, crowned each of the two
hills an abattis, constructed of trees felled ir
the neighboring orchards, protected the foo