vent their falling into the hands of the "rebels." He wished first to take Bunker Hill, and for this purpose on June 17 sent an expedition of three thousand men under General Howe. This force found the eminence occupied by about twelve hundred patriots under Generals Putnam and War

In this curious old picture can be seen the Old North Church and the English camp and batteries in Boston; the bombardment and burning of Charlestown; some English troops in boats moving to the assault, and others on the slope of the hill firing upon the American lines at the crest

ren and Colonel Prescott, who had hastily thrown up earthworks during the night.

Throughout the fighting which followed, the British ships steadily cannonaded the American redoubt. The people of Boston excitedly watched the battle from their windows and housetops, and some of them from the church steeples.1 Twice did Howe gallantly lead his regulars up the steep slope, only to be repulsed. The undisciplined minutemen coolly waited behind their breastworks until the

1 In Holmes's vivid poem, Grandmother's Story of Bunker Hill Battle, the narrator is supposed to have seen the fight from the belfry of a Boston steeple.

soldiers, who outnumbered them two to one, were in close range, and then poured murderous volleys into the solid red ranks. The regulars advanced a third time, and drove the Americans from their breastworks, but only after a sharp hand-to-hand fight, the colonial forces having exhausted their ammunition. Each side lost about a third of its force. Among the Americans who fell was the brave Warren himself, who had been an inspiring leader in the battle.1

The volunteers had lost the hill; but their splendid fighting qualities caused the colonists everywhere to rejoice. Washington heard the news while he was hurrying north from his home in Virginia, to take charge of the Continental army, and declared, with more enthusiasm than he commonly showed, "The liberties of the country are now safe!" A wise king would have felt that such brave Englishmen were worth better treatment than they were receiving.

163. Washington takes command. Washington finally arrived at Cambridge, in the outskirts of Boston, and on July 3, 1775, took command of the assembled volunteers. 2 But the "Continentals," as the men of his army were now called, had had little military practice, their supplies were meagre, and cannon and powder were scarce. Not until these glaring defects were remedied could Washington begin active operations against the enemy in Boston.3

164. The British evacuate Boston. Early in March, 1776,

1 A tall stone monument stands on Bunker Hill as a memorial of the fight. Its corner-stone was laid on June 17, 1825, the fiftieth anniversary of the battle, by General Lafayette, who was then revisiting the United States. On that occasion Daniel Webster delivered one of his most famous addresses.

2 The elm tree under which he stood during the ceremony is still standing. 3 While Washington was improving his army he sent two small parties to Canada, hoping that the French in the Province of Quebec might join in the protest against the King: (a) General Montgomery went by way of Lakes George and Champlain, and having captured Montreal proceeded to Quebec. (b) Colonel Benedict Arnold marched to Quebec over one of the portage trails connecting Maine and Canada. For six weeks his detachment suffered from exposure and starvation in the forests of Maine, and lost many men from desertion.

On December 31, 1775, the combined American forces stormed Quebec, but failed to take it, Montgomery being killed and Arnold badly wounded. The Americans then retreated from Canada, which remained friendly to Great Britain.

after a busy winter of drilling, Washington felt that at last his small army was sufficiently trained and equipped for action.1 While feigning to attack Boston from his Cambridge camp, he took advantage of the confusion to slip quietly around to the rear, with two thousand picked men, and occupy Dorchester Heights, of which the British had

HEREAS many of Our Subjects in divers Parts of Our Colonies and Plantations in North America, mifled by dangerous and ill-defigning Men, and forgetting the Allegiance which they owe to the Power that has protected and fultained them, after various diforderly Acts committed in Difturbance of the Publick Peace, to the Obftruction of lawful Commerce, and to the Oppreffion of Our loyal Subjects carrying on the fame, have at length proceeded to an open and avowed Rebellion, by arraying themfelves in hoftile Manner to withstand the Execution of the Law, and traitorously preparing, ordering, and levving War against Us And whereas, there is Reafon to enrehead that fuch Rebellion hath been much promoted and encouraged by the traitorous Correfpondence, Counfels, and Comfort of THE OPENING LINES OF THE KING'S PROCLAMATION AGAINST THE AMERICAN COLONIES, AUGUST 23, 1775

neglected to take possession. From this point he threatened to bombard the town if it were not at once evacuated.

Howe, who now commanded the British,2 was mortified at being thus outwitted through the cleverness of one whom he called "a mere militiaman." He had, however, learned caution at Bunker Hill, and rather than have another such fight, he marched all of his soldiers on board ships and sailed

1 Some of the cannon captured at Ticonderoga were brought on ox-sleds across country to Boston.

Gage had been ordered home to England in October, 1775.

away with them to Halifax, in Nova Scotia. A thousand or more citizens who were still loyal to the King, accompanied Howe and settled on the seacoast of Canada.1 When Washington marched into Boston the following day, he found there large quantities of ammunition and cannon that Howe in his hurry had left behind. These were an important addition to the scanty stores of the Revolutionary army.2

165. Urging independence. A small party of radicals, like James Otis and Samuel Adams, had from the first urged the colonists to free themselves from the rule of the mother country. But up to the close of 1775 most people disliked the thought of independence. They were hopeful that when the King learned of the earnestness and strength of the Americans, he would ask Parliament to grant them their rights as self-governing Englishmen.3

But the stubborn King would not even look at the “Declaration of rights and grievances " sent to him by the Continental Congress. He promptly hired about sixteen thousand German soldiers to put down the "open and armed rebellion" in America. This conduct roused the colonists to immediate action.5

1 Not all of the Americans sided with the Revolutionary Party. In every colony many remained loyal to the King. They were called Tories or Royalists, but historians now generally style them Loyalists. They were at the time bitterly hated and reviled by those who wanted to be free from British rule, and they suffered abuse, loss of property, and even imprisonment. But among them were hundreds of men and women of fine education and high character, who did not deserve this persecution.

2 On June 28, 1776, the patriot garrison of Fort Sullivan, a small log stockade in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, was attacked by a British fleet which was seeking to punish the rebels in the Carolinas. The attacking party was driven back through the bravery of Colonel Moultrie, Sergeant Jasper, and others. The fort was then renamed Moultrie.

3 Washington once wrote: "When I first took command of the Continental army, I abhorred the idea of independence."

4 Called Hessians, because they were largely furnished by the princes of Hesse, who had the right, under ancient laws, to sell the military services of their subjects. These soldiers therefore could not help taking part in the American war. The German people were as a rule very indignant at this mercenary proceeding. King George was obliged so employ foreign troops because of the difficulty of raising armies in England. Before applying to the princes of Hesse, he had been refused troops by Empress Catherine of Russia. 5 One of the most effective means of stirring up the people was a pamphlet by Thomas Paine, called Common Sense, in which he eloquently demanded for

A Declaration by the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in General Congress assembled.

When in the course of human events it becomesne dissolve the political bands which have compiety them with fing

peparate and equal

one

for to people to br, and to tequiment, t) as

-sume among which the laws of nature & of nature's god entitle them, a decent respect In to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation

the powers of the earth the patent station to

THE OPENING SENTENCE OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE In the handwriting of Thomas Jefferson, showing his corrections. A few slight changes were further made when it came to be printed

166. The Declaration of Independence. Congress appointed a committee 1 to draw up a Declaration of Independence.2 The actual writing of this great document was intrusted to one of this committee, Thomas Jefferson, whose ringing phrases will always live in the memory of our people. The delegates listened to its reading with bated breath, for it meant that they were now risking their lives and property in order that they and their descendants might enjoy here, in America, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." The Declaration reads as follows:3

"In Congress, July 4, 1776. The Unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America.

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the the Americans "the rights of mankind," urged his fellow citizens at once to declare independence, and boldly wrote: "Of more worth is one honest man to society, and in the sight of God, than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived." Later, Paine published a periodical called The Crisis. The first number, beginning with the memorable sentence, "These are the times that try men's souls," was by Washington's order read aloud to the army in camp. "We fight,' said Paine, "to set a country free, and to make room upon the earth for honest men to live in.”

1 Composed of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston.

2 As early as May, 1775, a committee in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, declared that British government in America had ceased.

This is an exact copy of the words, spelling, and punctuation of the document, as finally printed.