The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-06-18
GRAVES OF HEROES OF '76
Continued from First paeol

Hampshire, Connecticut and Rhode
 Island could be called an army, was
 at Cambridge. General Artemus Ward
 was in command. but there was little
 organization or sense of unity. On
 June b, by a great master stroke of
 statesmanship, Washington was chosen
 commander in chief. He would be in
 Cambridge July ?. There would be lit-
 tie order and discipline until he had
 come.
 But the work of making Boston un-
 tenable for General Gage and his ten
 thousand regulars must be pressed. On
 the evening of Friday, June 16, the men
 who were to possess, fortify and if pos
 sible keep the Charlestown heights
 were assembled at Cambridge. With 0
 prayer from the minister of the town
 they went to their work, reaching their
 place about midnight All night they
 worked with spade and mattock on the
 rude but well designed redoubt, while
 from the British ships the cry 'All's
 we'll came to their ears. When the
 morning broke the English officers Were astonished to see the earthworks and a
 great company of men busy upon them,
 The firing from the fleet through the
 forenoon did not have much effect.
 General Gage was in command in Bos-
 ton, but distinguished generals, Howe, Clinton, Burgoyne, were there also. Much of the day was spent by the Eng fish officers in determining what to do. The simple and effective way had been to use the fleet in securing CharlestoWn neck, cut off the small force of Ameri- cans from Cambridge and capture them. It had taken more time, but it
 was an effective course of action. But contempt for the American troops pre-
 vented such a movement. It was be-
 lieved that these raw recruits, unused
 to discipline, these poor peasants,
 would never stand before regular
 troops, but would flee out of the re-
 doubt and from the fences hastily rais-
 ed-as soon as attacked.
 ''So it was determined to move upon the earthworks directly. The English
 generals questioned whether the Amer jeans would stay and fight at all when they saw three thousand regular troops advance.
 Tt was o'clock when the attack was made. Rarely, as MT. Webster
 said, has battle been fought so open ly before the world, every movement | observed by crowds looking across from Boston. The spectators, far outnum-
 bering both armies, thronged and
 crowded on every height and point which afforded a view of the scene.
 The troops of the two armies seemed like so many combatants in an amphi- theater.'
 ''The English regulars came on in fxyn e
 the redoubt, where Colonel Prescott was in command, and General Howe against the rail fence, where Colonel Stark was posted to prevent a flank movement. The Americans reserved l their fire until the British were within
 one hundred and fifty yards when they
 poured it in with such deadly effect that, as MT. Fiske has expressed it. the whole front rank of the British | was moved as if by the sudden sweep Of a scythe'
 "The British line gave way and there was a disorderly retreat down the hill The Americans were hardly restrained from following Again, while Charles town. with it's four hundred houses burned, second attack was made The Americans waited this time until the British troops were but thirty yards away. and again the British re- coiled and retreated down the hill. The fire of these 'peasants,' who had the training of the frontier and the French wars, could not be withstood.
 "It seemed doubtful whether the British would make a third attack But the Anglo-SaXon spirit was arous- ed and there was no lack of courage or determination on the part of the Brit ish officers or men. And now the bat tie was lost to the Americans for their ammunition was exhausted. There were fresh troops and supplies at Cam | bridge, a few miles away, but there was no efficient direction and no one tc send forward the endorsements ant ammunition which would have saved the day. When the third attack was made there was nothing for the Amer jeans to do but to retreat It was not g. hasty and disordered flight, but 6 withdrawal to new positions toward | Cambridge and the British dared not or could not pursue. One of the nob- 1 lest men of his day, General Warren 1 lost his life because of his bravery l A major general-he fought as a vol unteer under Colonel Prescott, anC | his death seemed to the colonies anG l irreparable loss.
 General Gage had captured the pool earthworks on CharlestOWn heights and news of great victory over the rebels could be sent home. But 1T l England the tremendous cost of the victory and it's meaning were never felt 'In his vivid narrative MT. Fiskt ] writes that not more than an houl was spent in actual fighting, but that I the British loss in killed and wounded was 1,045 more than one third of the number engaged, with a. very large proportion of officers, while the Aneri can loss was 449, about one fourth o1 their whole force Considering the numbers engaged and the short dura. 1 tion of the fight, the destruction of life was enormous. Of all the hardes fought fields of modern times, there have been very few indeed in which the number of killed and wounded ha! exceeded one fourth of the whole force engaged In it's bloodiness and in tht physical conditions of the struggle the battle of Bunker Hill resembles in min. iature the tremendous battles of Fred. ericksburg and Cold HarbOr. Had the Americans been properly sup piled with powder Howe could no more have taken Bunker Hill by storm thar Burnside could take the heights O | Fredericksburg'