galled in flank by musketry from Charleston, a body of American riflemen having been posted in the houses; upon which by Howe's order the town was set on fire and destroyed; an act afterwards urged against the English, though surely without good reason, as a wanton and barbarous outrage. Over these painful scenes of civil strife and desolation was poured the unclouded effulgence of a mid-day and mid-summer sun. General Burgoyne, who was gazing upon them from one of the batteries at Boston, has described them in a private letter with no slight dramatic force. "And now, says he, "ensued one of the greatest scenes of war "that can be conceived. If we look to the height Howe's "corps, ascending the hill in the face of intrenchments and "in a very disadvantageous ground, was much engaged; to "the left the enemy pouring in fresh troops by thousands over the land; and in the arm of the sea our ships and "floating batteries cannonading them; straight before us a "large and noble town in one great blaze;—and the church"steeples being timber were great pyramids of fire above "the rest behind us the church-steeples and heights of our own camp covered with spectators of the rest of our "army which was engaged; the hills round the country also "covered with spectators; the enemy all in anxious sus"pense; the roar of cannon, mortars, and musketry; the "crash of churches, ships upon the stocks, and whole streets "falling together to fill the ear; the storm of the redoubts "with the objects above described to fill the eye; and the "reflection that perhaps a defeat was a final loss to the Bri"tish empire in America to fill the mind; made the whole a "picture and a complication of horror and importance "beyond anything that ever came to my lot to witness."*

66

When the English approached the summit of Breed's Hill the Americans encountered them with great coolness and determination, reserving their fire till within eighty or a

* General Burgoyne to Lord Stanley, June 25. 1775. peared in the newspapers of the day, and will be found American Archives.

This letter apreprinted in the

hundred yards and then pouring it with deadly aim. Then were blown to the winds the silly predictions of Lord Sandwich and Colonel Grant as to the alleged deficiency of courage in the Colonists; predictions which, besides being in this case utterly false and groundless, have always a manifest tendency to defeat themselves. Such predictions, it is plain, had not been forgotten by those whose honour they assailed. It is said that when one of the English regiments drew nearer than the rest many of the Americans opposite called out to its commanding officer, "Colonel Abercrombie, "are the Yankees cowards?" and most clearly they were not. On the other hand the British troops had grievous odds against them. By the unskilful direction of their chiefs they were encumbered with three days' provision, and their knapsacks on their backs. Under this heavy load and beneath a burning sun they had toiled up a rugged hill covered with long grass reaching to their knees and intersected by various fences and inclosures; and instead of being brought to attack the American force in flank, which would have been equally effectual for dislodging it, they had been led on directly in front, where the ascent was steepest and where the intrenchment was strongest. With these previous disadvantages, and now exposed to the close and well-directed fire of their enemy, they wavered, gave way, and fell back in disorder towards the landing place. Here they were quickly rallied by their officers, and a second time led up to the charge. But by another blunder of those placed in authority over them, a supply of ball for the field artillery being sent from the ordnance department at Boston was found to be of larger dimensions than fitted the calibres of the guns; and this oversight of course prevented the further use of the field artillery that day. Again did the Americans from behind their intrenchments pour upon them a destructive fire. Again were they repulsed and driven in confusion down the hill. At this critical moment General Clinton, without waiting for orders, put himself at the head of a small detachment (two battalions) which hastened over in boats from

Boston. The reinforcement though small was most seasonable, and the presence of Clinton himself proved of material service in rallying the soldiers and preparing them for another onset. To that onset, the third and last, weary as they were, they rushed up with irresistible impetuosity and carrying the enemy's redoubt at the point of the bayonet. By this time the Americans' supply of powder had begun to fail; still they fought on bravely, and even, it is said, maintained the contest with their clubbed muskets, until at last they were dislodged and put to flight. Though retreating in utter disarray there was no more than a show of pursuit against them, but they suffered severely in passing Charleston Neck from the cross fire of two floating batteries and of the Glasgow man-of-war. And thus, only changing the numbers but retaining the phrase of a gallant officer in relating another gallant exploit, we may say that, "the remnant of five and "twenty hundred unconquerable British soldiers stood "triumphant on the fatal hill!"*

Such was the battle which not quite aptly, considering the disposition of the ground, has received from the neighbouring height the name of Bunker's Hill. The loss of the British was immense considering their number engaged. Of that number wellnigh one half had fallen; above 220 killed; above 820 wounded. The Americans as having fought from behind intrenchments suffered far less severely; according to their own account their entire loss in killed and wounded was under 450. None among their slain was more lamented than their Doctor-General Warren; a man in the prime of life, of tried energy, great powers of persuasion, and highly promising abilities.

The Americans at that period- and some of them even to the present day have claimed the battle of Bunker's Hill as a victory. Yet considering that the British were left in possession of the ground and maintained it for several months to come, and considering also that of six pieces of

*The phrase is General Napier's, in his spirit-stirring narrative of the day of Albuera. (Peninsular War, vol. iii. p. 541.)

artillery which the Americans brought into action they carried away but one, there can surely be no question that according to the rules of war they must be considered as defeated. - It may be acknowledged, however, that none of the more substantial fruits of success were on this occasion gathered by the English. The peninsula of Charleston proved but a barren acquisition to them since it was comprised in the blockade of Boston by the enemy's lines. And General Washington arriving at head quarters, about a fortnight afterwards, and assuming the chief command, immediately applied himself to strengthen and support those lines by throwing up new intrenchments, stationing new outposts, and adopting every other precaution, so far as his means allowed, to hem in the British troops and prevent them from issuing forth as invaders of the open country.

Not merely did the Americans at that period boldly claim the victory at Bunker's Hill; they also indulged in the widest latitude of statement as to the relative forces there engaged. One account, for example, published in Rhode Island, swells the British to five thousand while reducing the Americans to two thousand men,-thus nearly inverting the true numbers!

The

- But not satisfied even with this version, we find Mr. Isaac Lothrop, a member of the Massachusetts Congress, who writes two days later, descant on "our brave little army "consisting of about five hundred men at most!"* more judicious and candid American historians have since admitted their troops to have amounted to four thousand. ** But if we may rely on the official relation addressed by General Gage to the Secretary of State, the British in this battle were opposed by "above three times their own number," that is, by upwards of seven thousand men. ***

See the American Archives, vol. ii. p. 1036 and 1089. *** Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. ii. p. 214. ed. 1805. *** Despatch to the Earl of Dartmouth, June 25. London Gazettes, July 25. 1775. By the French the very lowest estimate is still admitted at least in their works of fiction. Thus we find in the Bohémienne of M. Scribe," Bunker's Hill cette redoute où j'ai vu six cents Americains, "décidés à mourir, se défendre contre toute l'armée Anglaise !"

men.

In this battle there was no charge or complaint against the British chiefs for want of spirit, but it is manifest that they showed a want of skill. On the American side however the officers did not upon the whole behave so bravely as the General Washington, on reaching the camp shortly afterwards, made a strict inquiry, and reports the result as follows in a confidential letter to the President of Congress: "Upon my arrival and since some complaints have been "preferred against officers for cowardice in the late action "on Bunker's Hill. Though there were several strong "circumstances and a very general opinion against them, "none have been condemned, except a Captain Callender "of the artillery, who was immediately cashiered. I have "been sorry to find it an uncontradicted fact that the prin"cipal failure of duty that day was in the officers, though "many of them distinguished themselves by their gallant “behaviour. The soldiers generally showed great spirit and "resolution." *

Even before the hostilities at Lexington the more fiery spirits in America had openly relinquished all idea of reconciliation with the mother country. So early as the 23d of March, Patrick Henry, addressing the Convention of Virginia, had in a celebrated speech exclaimed: "As to peace, "Sir, there is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to "be free we must fight! I repeat it, Sir, we must fight! "An appeal to arms and to the God of Hosts is all that is "left us!"** But such was not the feeling of many other of the delegates, even after Lexington, when they met in Congress. With a higher sense of duty they determined to leave open the door for a reconciliation, to forbear as long as possible from any step of aggression or attack and to confine themselves (perhaps with rather a wide interpreta

This

*Letter, July 21. 1775, American Archives, vol. ii. p. 1705. passage is altogether omitted in Mr. Sparks's compilation. Some remarks upon the manner in which that gentleman has thought himself at liberty to deal with the original MSS. will be found in the Appendix to the present volume. - Another note in that Appendix, refers to the many conflicting American authorities on the battle of Bunker's Hill. (1853.)

**Wirt's Life of Patrick Henry, p. 122.