check. The slaughter was dreadful, and the enemy fled in disorder. The chagrin and mortification of the officers was extreme, and the men were rallied to another charge. They were again repulsed, cut to pieces, and put to the rout. At this crisis General Clinton arrived from Boston with a reinforcement, and, the troops being once more rallied, renewed the charge, and the carnage became dreadful. The time was a critical one. The powder of the provincials was nearly expended, and the cartridge boxes of the dead were searched, that the fire might be continued, when their wings were outflanked by the enemy, and the lines were exposed to a raking fire from the British artillery. The cannonade increased from the British ships and batteries, and the exertions of the enemy were redoubled. The troops were pressed on by the swords and bayonets in the rear, and the points of British bayonets were met by clubbed muskets, until numbers prevailed, and the Americans were compelled to retire. Nevertheless, the provincials maintained their position. with the most obstinate bravery, defending themselves with the butt-ends of their muskets after their ammunition was expended. The redoubt was attacked on three sides at once, and at length carried at the point of the bayonet. General Warren received a shot in the breast, and fell dead on the spot. The provincials, overpowered by numbers, abandoned the works, and retreated over Charlestown neck in safety, notwithstanding the shot of a man-of-war and two floating batteries, which completely commanded the isthmus.

The assailants remained masters of the field, but their loss was vastly greater than the advantage gained. One thousand and fifty-four men, or more than one third of their number, were killed or wounded, making this one of the bloodiest battles in which the British troops had yet been engaged. Pitcairn, who commanded the Lexington expedition, was among the slain, and the slaughter of the officers was out of all proportion to that of the privates. On the other hand, the effects of the battle were equal to a victory to the provincials. Their loss amounted to one

hundred and thirty-nine killed, and two hundred and fourteen wounded and missing. Though driven from their position, yet the unexpected firmness, courage, and good conduct their raw troops had exhibited, and the terrible effect of their fire upon the enemy, raised a degree of confidence among them equal to that of a positive triumph. They encamped on an eminence immediately without the peninsula of Charlestown, so that the British remained closely blockaded as before. The British troops, instructed by this severe lesson, no longer considered their antagonists as cowards. Passing from the extreme of contempt to that of respectful regard for the courage of their enemy, they made no farther endeavors to penetrate into the country; and the battle of Bunker Hill, as this action is now called, checked at once and forever the advance of the British arms in Massachusetts.

CHAPTER XXXI.

Washington appointed commander-in-chief-Siege of Boston-Perfidy of General Gage-Howe assumes the command-Siege of BostonBurning of Falmouth-Confederation of the colonies-Sufferings of the inhabitants of Boston-Bombardment of the town-The Americans occupy Dorchester Heights-Evacuation of Boston by the British -Expedition of Sir Peter Parker against South Carolina-Defeat of the British at Charleston-Declaration of Independence-British expedition to New York-Battle of Long Island-Retreat of the Americans -Capture of New York-Disasters of the Americans-Conquest of the Jerseys.

GENERAL WASHINGTON was appointed, by the congress at Philadelphia, commander-in-chief of the American armies, and immediately, on receiving his commission, he repaired to the seat of war at Boston. He fixed his head-quarters at Cambridge, three miles from Boston, and applied him

to feel the effects of the war. The royal forces in Boston continued closely blocked up by land, and, being shut out from fresh provisions and vegetables, they began to feel great distress. The provincials watched the more carefully to keep out supplies, thinking the soldiers would suffer the inhabitants to depart, for fear of a famine; or, at least, that the women and children would be suffered to remove, which was repeatedly demanded. There is some reason to imagine that Gage considered the inhabitants as necessary hostages for the security of the town and the safety of the troops. To keep women, old men and children confined as pledges for their own safety, argued that they were unwilling to fight the provincials on fair terms. It had often been asserted in England that a few regular troops would march through all America; but now, a general, with an army of the best troops in the service, was cooped up in a town, and durst not even stay in it without old men, women and children, to guard them! General Gage, at length, entered into an agreement with the town's people, that, if they would deliver up their arms, they should have liberty to go where they pleased with their property. The arms were accordingly given up; but, to their amazement and mortification, he refused to let them depart. Many, however, were suffered afterwards to quit the town at different times, but they were obliged to leave all their effects behind; so that those who had hitherto lived in affluence, were at once reduced to poverty.

General Gage returned to England, in October, 1775, and the command of the army at Boston fell to General Howe. This officer soon after issued a proclamation, by which those of the inhabitants who attempted to quit the town, without leave, were condemned to military execution. By another proclamation, such as obtained permission to leave the town, were, by severe penalties, excluded from carrying more than a small specified sum of money with them. He also required the forming of associations, by which the remaining inhabitants should offer their persons for the defence of the place. Such of them as he approved were to be armed, formed into companies, and