The leader-enterprise. [volume] (Fitzgerald, Ga.) 1912-1915, 1913-05-23
friends.

Shows HIH1SeIf TO the FeOPle.
There was something about Wash
ington that quickened the pulses OF
a crowd at the same time that 1t
awed them, that drew cheers which
were sort of voice of worship. Chill
dren desired sight of him, and men
felt lifted after he had passed. 1t was
good to have such a man ride all the
open way from Philadelphia to Cam
bridge in sight of the people to as
sumo command of the peoples army.
It gave character to the thoughts
of all who saw him.
Matters had not stood still before
Boston to await commander sent by
congress.
While Washington waited for his
commission and made ready for his
journey there had been fighting done
which was to simplify his task.
General William Howe had reached
Boston with reinforcements on the
25th of May, and quite ten thousand
troops held the city, while strong
fleet of men-of-war lay watchfully in
the harbor.
The British Hesitate.
There was no hurry, it seemed.
about attacking the sixteen thousand
raw provincials, whose long lines were
drawn loosely about the town from
Charlestown Neck to Jamaica Plain.
! But commanding hills looked across
the water on either hand-in Charles
In nnrNhnCf
on the southeast-and it would be
well, Howe saw, to secure them, lest
they should be occupied by the insur-
gents.
On the morning of the 18th Of June,
however, while leisurely preparations
were a-making in Boston to occupy
the hills of Charlestown, it was dis
covered that the provincials had been
beforehand in the project. There they
were in the clear sun, working dill
gently at redoubts of their own upon
the height.
At a Fearful Cost.
Three thousand men were put
across the water to drive them off
Though they mustered only seventeen
hundred behind their unfinished
works, there were several assaults
and the loss of a thousand men was
the cost of dislodging them.
They withheld their fire till the red
coats were within fifty-nay, thirty
yards of them, and then poured out a
deadly, blazing fire which no man
could face and live. They were GUST
ed only when they failed of powder
and despaired of reinforcements.
Veteran officers who had led the as
sault declared the regulars of France
were not more formidable than these
militia-men, whom they had despised
as raw peasants
There was no desire to buy another
| American position at that price; and
Washington had time enough for the
complimentary receptions and ad-
| dresses and the elaborate parade of
escort and review that delayed his
journey to headquarters.
He reached Cambridge on the I'd OF
July, and bore himself with so
straightforward and engaging cour-
| tesy in taking command that the Off
GERS he superseded could not but ike
him: jealousy was disarmed.
Not Ideal Soldiers.
But he found neither the prepar-
ations nor the spirit of the army to
his liking. His soldierly sense of or
der was shocked by the lose discip-
line, and his instinct of command by
the free and easy insolence of that ir-
regular levy; and his authority grew
stern as he labored to bring the mot
ley host to order and effective organi-
cation.
"The people of this government
have obtained character" his conf
Dental letters declared, (which they
by no means deserved-their officers,
generally speaking, are the most in
different kind of people l ever saw. l
dare say the men would fight very
we'll (if properly oficered), although
they are an exceedingly dirty and
nasty people. j.. 1t is among the most
| difficult tasks l ever undertook in my
life to induce these people to believe
that there is, or can be, danger till the
bayonet is pushed at their breasts.
Not that it proceeds from any uncom-
mon prowess, but rather from an I'M
accountable kind of stupidity in the
lower class of these people, which, be-
lieve me, prevails but too generally
among the officers of the Massachu-
sets part of the army, who are near
| ly of the same kidney with the pri-
| Yates"
Improve on Acquaintance.
He had seen like decentralization and
slackness in the old days at Winches-
ter, on the wild frontier, but he had
expected to find better spirit and
| discipline in the New England levies,
His first disgust, however, soon
wore Off He was not slow to see how
shrewd and sturdy these uncouth, in
tractable ploughboys and farmers
could prove themselves upon occa-
sion.
Material for Good Army.