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CH. XIII.]

DEATH OF WARREN.

361

found impression throughout America, for no man of his age was more highly respected and beloved than Joseph Warren, "the brave, blooming, gen

Hill." 99% ory !†

Perpetual honor to his mem

most veteran soldiery; for, according to their own returns, their killed and wounded, out of a detachment of two thousand men, amounted to one thousand and fifty-four, and a large propor-erous, self-devoted martyr of Bunker's tion of them officers. The loss of the Americans did not exceed four hundred and fifty. To the latter, this defeat, if defeat it might be called, had the effect of a triumph. It gave them confidence in themselves, and consequence in the eyes of their enemies. enemies. They had They had proved to themselves and to others, that they could measure weapons with the disciplined soldiers of Europe, and inflict the most harm in the conflict.'

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Beside several officers of distinction, the greatest loss which the Americans met with, was in the death of General Warren. He had only a few days before been commissioned as major-general, and was at the time president of the Massachusetts Congress, and chairman of the Committee of Safety. Leaving his post as presiding officer in the Congress, so soon as he heard of the meditated attack upon the Americans on Bunker's Hill, he hurried to the scene of action. When he entered the redoubt, the brave and able Colonel Prescott offered him the command, but he declined taking it, saying, "I am come to learn war under an experienced soldier, not to take any command." When his countrymen were compelled to retreat, he was the last to leave the redoubt, and immediately after, a ball struck him in the head, and he fell dead on the spot. His loss was esteemed a public calamity, and produced a pro

* Irving's "Life of Washington," vol. i., p. 482. VOL. I.-48

Immediately on taking command of the army, Washington made it a primary duty to ascertain its actual strength and position. He found that 1775.

there were excellent materials
for an army, but that they sadly lacked
arms, ammunition, and military stores
of every kind. He found them ani-
mated with great zeal, and prepared to
follow him in the most desperate un-
dertakings: but he soon perceived that
they were unacquainted with subordi-
nation, and strangers to military dis-
cipline. The spirit of liberty which
had brought them together, showed it-
self in all their actions. In the prov-
ince of Massachusetts, the officers had

* See Everett's "Life of Joseph Warren," p. 53.

Warren was, as has been truly said, "the martyr of that day's glory. His death was felt as a calamity to the cause and to the nation. He was in the prime of life, being only thirty-five years of age, with a

spirit as bold and dauntless as ever was blazoned in legends, or recorded in history. He was a prudent, cautious, but fearless statesman; made to govern men, and to breathe into them a portion of his own heroic soul. His eloquence was of a high order; his voice was fine, and of great compass, and he modu

lated it at will. His appearance had the air of a soldier,-graceful and commanding, united to the manners of a finished gentleman. The British thought that his life was of the utmost importance to the American army; of so much importance, that they would no longer hold together after his fall. They sadly mistook the men they had to deal with. His blood was not shed in vain; it cried from the ground for vengeance; and his name became a watchword in the hour of peril and glory." Brave old Putnam was also in the thickest of the fight, but was spared for further service to his country.

been chosen by the votes of the soldiers, and felt themselves hardly at all superior to them. The congressional and colonial authorities likewise interfered with each other, and the appointment of officers by Congress caused much jealousy and dissatisfaction. Nearly all their operations were retarded by the want of engineers. But the commander-in-chief spared no efforts to remedy these, and the like defects. He formed the soldiers into brigades, and accustomed them to obedience: he requested Congress to nominate a commissary-general and paymaster-general, which officers they had neglected to appoint. A number of the most active men were constantly employed in learning to manage the artillery; and such was the success of his diligent exertions, that in a short time the army was organized, and in great measure fit for service.

On the 24th of July, Joseph Trumbull was appointed commissary-general of the continental army. Joseph Reed, a member of the Philadelphia bar, became secretary to the commander-inchief; subsequently, Robert H. Harrison was selected by Washington for this post of honor and trust, a post which he occupied for several years. A number of rifle companies, fourteen hundred men in all, soon after reached the camp. They came from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. Daniel Morgan, a native of New Jersey, was in command of one of these companies. He became afterwards famous in partisan warfare. These stalwart frontiermen were a seasonable addition to the

main army.

Gen

The actual force of the American army was about fourteen thousand men. They were posted on the heights around Boston, forming a line which extended from Roxbury on the right, to the River Mystic on the left, a distance of twelve miles. The British forces occupied Bunker's and Breed's Hill, and Boston Neck. This disposition of the troops greatly distressed the British, who were confined to Boston, and often obliged to risk their lives to obtain the means of sustenance. eral Gage had about eleven thousand men in Boston, admirably furnished with every thing except provisions, and so closely was he hemmed in, that he dared not undertake offensive operations with any prospect of success. Washington, despite all difficulties, determined to maintain the position at present occupied by the continental troops, being confident that ere long the British must risk a battle, or evacuate the city.

Congress, meanwhile, was busily occupied with measures relating to the public good. Towards the close of June, it was voted to issue $3,000,000 in bills of credit, for the pay of the army, and early in July, Congress adopted a "Declaration, setting forth the causes and necessity of the colonies taking up arms." The dignity, propriety, and force of this document, are worthy the reader's especial attention. He will find it in full in the Appendix to this chapter. On the subject of again petitioning the king, there was a

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* See Appendix I., at the end of the present chap. ter.

CH. XIII.]

PAPERS OF THE SECOND CONGRESS.

difference of opinion; the opponents of the measure yielded, and 1775. on July 8th, the petition was

adopted. No further attempt was ever made towards a reconciliation.* Another Address to the Inhabitants of Great Britain was prepared, and they were besought as "friends, countrymen, and brethren," not to sanction the tyrannous course of government towards America. Repudiating the charge that they were aiming at independence, they recounted in forcible language the injuries they had received, and the necessity they were under of defending themselves. "We are accused," they say, "of aiming at independence; but how is this accusation supported? By the allegations of your ministers, not by our actions. Abused, insulted, and contemned, what steps have we pursued to obtain redress? We have carried our dutiful petitions to the throne. We have applied to your justice for relief. What has been the success of our endeavors ? The clemency of our sovereign is unhappily diverted; our petitions are treated with indignity; our prayers answered by insults. Our application to you remains unnoticed, and leaves us the melancholy apprehension of your wanting either the will, or the power to assist us. Even under these circumstances, what measures have we taken that betray a desire of independence? Have we called in the aid of those foreign powers, who are the rivals of your grandeur? When your troops were few and de

* See Appendix II., at the end of the present chapter.

363

fenceless, did we take advantage of their distress, and expel them our towns? Or have we permitted them to fortify, to receive new aid, and to acquire additional strength?" Two other papers were drawn up; an Address to the People of Ireland, and a Letter to the Assembly of Jamaica, both documents of force and pungency, which might have helped to convince the English ministry, that the colonists knew how to use the pen as well as the sword.

Congress, aware of the importance of securing the aid, or at least neutrality of the Indians, appointed three boards for Indian affairs, and a good deal of attention was bestowed upon the red men and their peculiarities. During this session of Congress, also, the first line of posts for the communication of intelligence through the United States, was established. Benjamin Franklin was appointed, by an unanimous vote, postmaster-general, with power to appoint as many deputies as he might deem proper and necessary, for the conveyance of the mail from Falmouth, in New England, to Savannah, in Georgia.

Dr. Benjamin Church was put at the head of an army hospital; but a few months afterwards, as Holmes, in his Annals, notes, Dr. Church was detected in a traitorous correspondence with the British in Boston. He was tried, and convicted, and Congress ordered him to be closely confined. Some time subsequently, being allowed to depart with his family for the West Indies, the vessel foundered at sea, and all were lost.

In consideration of "the present

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