page_title: Siege of Boston
section_title: Stalemate
hierarchical_section_title: Siege of Boston / Siege / Stalemate
caption_attribution_description: "A plan of the town of Boston with the intrenchments &amp;ca. of His Majesty's forces in 1775, from the observations of Lieut. Page of His Majesty's Corps of Engineers, and from those of other gentlemen."
context_page_description: The Siege of Boston was the opening phase of the American Revolutionary War. New England militiamen prevented the movement by land of the British Army, which was garrisoned in what was then the peninsular city of Boston, Massachusetts Bay. Both sides had to deal with resource supply and personnel issues over the course of the siege. British resupply and reinforcement activities were limited to sea access. After eleven months of the siege, the British abandoned Boston by sailing to Nova Scotia.
  The siege began on April 19 after the Battles of Lexington and Concord, when the militia from surrounding Massachusetts communities blocked land access to Boston. The Continental Congress formed the Continental Army from the militia, with George Washington as its Commander in Chief. In June 1775, the British seized Bunker and Breed's Hills, from which the Continentals were preparing to bombard the city, but their casualties were heavy and their gains were insufficient to break the Continental Army's hold on land access to Boston. The Americans laid siege to the British-occupied city.
context_section_description: General George Washington arrived at Cambridge on July 2. He set up his headquarters at the Benjamin Wadsworth House at Harvard College. He took command of the newly formed Continental Army the following day. By this time forces and supplies were arriving, including companies of riflemen from as far away as Maryland and Virginia.  Washington began the work of molding the militias into something more closely resembling an army, appointing senior officers (where the militias had typically elected their leaders), and introducing more organization and disciplinary measures to the encamped militias.
  Washington required officers of different ranks to wear differentiating apparel, so that they might be distinguished from their underlings and superiors. On July 16, he moved his headquarters to the John Vassall House, also in Cambridge, that would later become well known as the home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  Toward the end of July, about 2,000 riflemen arrived in units raised in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia.  The accuracy of the rifle was previously unknown in New England, and these forces were used to harass the besieged forces.
  Washington also ordered the defenses to be improved.  Trenches were dug on the Boston Neck, and then extended toward Boston. However, these activities had little effect on the British occupation.  The working parties were fired on from time to time, as were sentries guarding the works. On July 30, in retaliation for an American attack, the British pushed back an American advanced guard, and burned a few houses in Roxbury. Four days later, on August 2, an American rifleman was killed, and his body hung up by the neck. In retaliation, other American riflemen marched to the lines and began to attack the British troops. They continued their sharpshooting all day, killing or wounding many of the British, and losing only one man.
  On August 30, the British made a surprise breakout from the Boston Neck, set fire to a tavern, and withdrew to their defenses. On the same night, 300 Americans attacked Lighthouse Island and burned the lighthouse, killing several British soldiers and capturing 23 at the loss of one life. On another August night, Washington sent 1,200 men to dig entrenchments on a hill near the Charlestown Neck. Despite a British bombardment, the Americans successfully dug the trenches.
  In early September, Washington began drawing up plans for two moves: first, to dispatch 1,000 men from Boston and invade Quebec, and second, to launch an attack on Boston. Washington felt that he could afford to send some troops to Quebec, as he had received intelligence from British deserters and American spies that the British had no intention of launching an attack from Boston until they were reinforced.  On September 11, about 1,100 troops under the command of Benedict Arnold left for Quebec.  Washington summoned a council of war, and made a case for an all out amphibious assault on Boston, by sending troops across Back Bay in flat-bottomed boats which could hold 50 men each. Washington believed it would be extremely difficult to keep the men together when winter came. In a war council, the plan was unanimously rejected, and the decision was not to attack "for the present at least."
  In early September Washington authorized the appropriation and outfitting of local fishing vessels for intelligence-gathering and interdiction of supplies to the British.  This activity was a precursor to the Continental Navy, which was established in the aftermath of the British Burning of Falmouth (present-day Portland, Maine).  The provincial assemblies of Connecticut and Rhode Island had by then also begun arming ships and authorized privateering.
  In early November, 400 British soldiers went to Lechmere's Point on a raiding expedition to acquire some livestock.  They made off with 10 head of cattle, but lost two lives in the skirmish with colonial troops sent to defend the point.  On November 29, colonial Captain John Manley, commanding the schooner Lee, captured one of the most valuable prizes of the siege, the British
caption: The British defenses in Boston, 1775
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