Elsie Yachting with the Raymonds

by Martha Finley

  CHAPTER XIV.

  The evening proved a rainy one and cool for the season; but the"Dolphin's" cabin was found an agreeable resort. All gathered there,and at once there was an urgent request from the young people that theinterrupted story of the battle of Bunker Hill might be resumed.

  "You know, Papa, we left off just where Prescott's men were digging andmaking a redoubt," said Lulu. "The night before the battle, wasn't it?"

  "Yes," he replied. "The British were greatly astonished when daylightrevealed the work that had been going on during the hours of darkness;for it was done so quietly that their suspicions had not been aroused.

  "No shout disturbed the night Before that fearful fight; There was no boasting high, No marshalling of men Who ne'er might meet again; No cup was filled and quaffed to victory! No plumes were there, No banners fair, No trumpets breathed around; Nor the drum's startling sound Broke on the midnight air."

  "What nice verses, Papa!" said Gracie. "Did you make them yourself?"

  "No, daughter," he replied, "it was merely a quotation from John Neal,one of our own American poets.

  "But to go on with my story. As soon as the British discovered theredoubt our men had constructed on Breed's Hill, the captain of the'Lively' put springs on his cables and opened a fire upon it withoutwaiting for orders.

  "The noise of the cannon aroused the sleeping people of Boston, and bythe time the sun was up every eminence and roof in the city swarmedwith them, all gazing with astonished eyes upon the strange apparitionon Breed's Hill. The 'Lively's' shots did no harm, and the Americanswent on as before with their work. They were behind their intrenchmentsbusied in strengthening them, and toiled on till pick and shovel had tobe laid aside for guns to defend them with.

  "The firing presently ceased for a little, by order of Admiral Graves,the British naval commander-in-chief, but was soon resumed by theshipping, while a battery of six guns on Copp's Hill in the city joinedin with them.

  "Early that morning the British general, Gage, called a council of war,and it was decided to drive the Americans out of their works, and thatthe attack should be made in front.

  "Boston was full of excitement, drums were beating, dragoonsgalloping about the streets, regulars and royalists marching andcounter-marching, artillery trains rumbling and church-bells ringing."

  "Ah, how the hearts of wives and mothers, brothers and sisters, musthave been torn at thought of the terrible struggle just at hand!"sighed Grandma Elsie, as the Captain paused for a moment in hisnarrative.

  "Yes," he replied, "then and still more when from the roofs, steeples,and every sort of elevation, they watched with streaming eyes theprogress of the fight after it had actually begun."

  "Oh," exclaimed Gracie, "how glad and thankful I am that God let uslive in these later days when there is no war in our dear country!

  "Yes, dear child, we should thank God for peace," her father responded,softly smoothing her hair and pressing his lips to her cheek for aninstant as she stood by his side, her head resting lovingly on hisshoulder.

  "The Americans worked faithfully on their intrenchments all themorning," he continued, "Prescott doing all he could to encouragethem by his voice and example, even walking leisurely around upon theparapet in full view of the British officers who were still in Boston.

  "It is said that Gage was looking at the American works through afield-glass, and saw Prescott, who was a tall man of commandingappearance, going his rounds, and that he inquired of CounsellorWillard, a brother-in-law of Prescott, who was standing near, who itwas.

  "'That is Colonel Prescott,' was the reply.

  "'Will he fight?' asked Gage.

  "'Yes, sir,' answered Willard, 'he is an old soldier, and will fight aslong as a drop of blood remains in his veins.'

  "'The works must be carried immediately,' was Gage's rejoinder, and heat once proceeded to give the order for the attack.

  "He sent between two and three thousand picked men under the commandof Generals Howe and Pigot. They crossed the water in twenty-eightbarges, and landed at Morton's Point beyond the eastern foot of Breed'sHill, covered by the guns of the 'Falcon' and other vessels. There theywaited for reinforcements, which were sent Howe about two o'clock.

  "While the troops of Howe and Pigot were waiting, they dined; but thepoor Americans behind their intrenchments, at which they had beenworking all the morning as well as from twelve o'clock of the previousnight, had little or nothing to eat or drink, and were suffering withhunger, thirst, and the extreme heat of the weather as well as fatigue,for the day was one of the hottest of the season.

  "Besides, the reinforcements sent to their assistance were so few andfeeble that a dreadful suspicion arose in their minds that they werethe victims of treachery.

  "Still they could not doubt the patriotism of their principal officers;and before the battle began, the arrival of their beloved Dr. Warrenand General Pomeroy entirely relieved their doubts.

  "Dr. Warren was suffering from sickness and exhaustion; and Putnam,who was at Cambridge forwarding reinforcements and provisions toCharlestown, tried to persuade him not to take part in the comingfight. But his heart was in the cause, and he was not to be inducedto give up doing all he could to help in the approaching struggle forfreedom.

  "He mounted a horse, sped across the neck, and just as Howe gave ordersto advance, entered the redoubt amid the loud cheers of the men who soloved and trusted him."

  "Such a lovely man, and ardent patriot as he was!" exclaimed Violet."Oh, it makes my heart ache to think that he was killed in that battle."

  "It was a very great loss to the American cause," responded herhusband, taking a book from a table near at hand as he spoke. "This,"he said, "is Bancroft's History, which I bought this afternoon that Imight have his help in going over the story of the battle of BunkerHill and other interesting events of the Revolution. This is what hesays of Joseph Warren:--

  "In him were combined swiftness of thought and resolve, courage, endurance, and manners which won universal love. He opposed the British government not from interested motives nor from resentment. Guileless and intrepid, he was in truth a patriot. As the moment for the appeal to arms approached, he watched with joy the revival of the generous spirit of New England's ancestors; and wherever the peril was greatest he was present animating not by words alone, but ever by his example.

  "His integrity, the soundness of his judgment, his ability to write readily and well, his fervid eloquence, his exact acquaintance with American rights and the infringements of them, gave authority to his advice in private and in the provincial congress. Had he lived, the future seemed burdened with his honors; he cheerfully sacrificed all for the freedom of his country and the rights of man."

  "He left some children, if I remember right?" remarked Violet in a toneof inquiry, as her husband paused in his reading.

  "Yes, four of them," answered the Captain; "and his wife having diedabout two years before, they were now left orphans, in straitenedcircumstances.

  "And that reminds me of a good deed done by Gen. Benedict Arnold. Hewas a warm friend of Warren, and for that reason came to their relief,himself contributing five hundred dollars for their education, andobtaining from Congress the amount of a major-general's half pay, to beapplied to their support from the time of their father's death untilthe youngest child should be of age.

  "But to go on with the account of the battle. Warren had been entreatednot thus to expose his life. His answer was, 'It is sweet and becomingto die for one's country.' He saw all the difficulties in the way ofhis countrymen, and desired to give all the help in his power.

  "Putnam expressed himself as ready to receive his orders; but Warrendeclined to take the command from him, and passed on to the redoubtwhich seemed likely to be the chief point of attack by the enemy.

  "Prescott there offered the command to him, as Putnam had just done;but Warren again declined, saying, 'I come as a volunteer, to learnfrom a soldier of experience.' Thi
s though three days before he hadbeen elected a provincial major-general.

  "After the British had landed and before the battle began, Col. JohnStark arrived with his New Hampshire troops. Except Prescott he broughtthe largest number into the field. He was a very brave man, and socool and collected that he marched leisurely across the isthmus, rakedby the cannon of the enemy; and when one of his captains advised aquickstep, he replied, 'One fresh man in action is worth ten fatiguedones.'

  "There was not time for him to consult with Prescott. They foughtindependently,--Prescott at his redoubt, Stark and Knowlton, and Reed'sregiment to protect its flank.

  "Months before that,--two days after the battle of Concord,--Gage hadthreatened to burn Charlestown in case the Americans should occupythe heights. So an order was now given to set it on fire, and it wasdone by shells from Copp's Hill; the houses being mostly of wood, twohundred of them were soon in flames.

  "The British thought to be protected in their advance by the smoke ofthe burning houses, but a gentle breeze, the first that had been feltthat day, arose and wafted it aside, so that they were not hidden fromthe eyes of the Americans.

  "It was somewhere between two and three o'clock when the British begantheir approach. They were in two columns, one led by Howe, the other byPigot, Howe no doubt expecting to get into Prescott's rear and forcehim to a surrender. But I will give another extract from Bancroft.

  "As they began to march, the battery on Copp's Hill, from which Clinton and Burgoyne were watching every movement, kept up an incessant fire, which was seconded by the 'Falcon' and the 'Lively,' the 'Somerset' and the two floating batteries; the town of Charlestown, consisting of five hundred edifices of wood, burst into a blaze; and the steeple of its only church became a pyramid of fire. All the while the masts of the British shipping and the heights of the British camp, the church towers, the house tops of a populous town, and the acclivities of the surrounding country, were crowded with spectators to watch the battle which was to take place in full sight on a conspicuous eminence."

  "Oh, Papa," pleaded Gracie, as he paused for an instant, "please tellit. I like that so much better than listening to reading."

  "Quite a compliment to me as a reader," he returned with an amused look.

  "No, sir, as a talker. I like to hear you tell things," she responded,with a sweet, engaging smile.

  "Do you, dear child? Very well, I'll try to gratify you.

  "When Prescott saw the red-coats moving toward his redoubt he ordered two separate detachments to flank the enemy, then went through his works encouraging his men, to whom this was an entirely new experience. 'The red-coats will never reach the redoubt,' he said, 'if you will but withhold your fire till I give the order; and be careful not to shoot over their heads.' Then he waited till the enemy had come within a few rods, when waving his sword over his head he gave the word, 'Fire!'

  "Every gun was instantly discharged, and nearly the whole of the front rank fell; the rest, astonished at this unexpected resistance, stood still. Then for some minutes the fire of the Americans continued, answered by the British, till at last they staggered, wavered, then fled down the hill toward their boats.

  "Howe had been treated to a like reception by Stark's and Knowlton's troops, cheered on by Putnam who, like Prescott, bade them reserve their fire till the best moment, when they poured in one as deadly and destructive as that which came from Prescott's redoubt."

  "Wasn't Prescott's order to his men to reserve their fire till theycould see the whites of the British soldier's eyes?" queried Violet.

  "Yes, so Lossing tells us; and that he added, 'Then aim at theirwaistbands; and be sure to pick off the commanders, known by theirhandsome coats.'

  "His men were filled with joy when they saw the British fly, and wantedto pursue them, some even leaping the fence; but their more prudentofficers restrained them, and in a few minutes they were all withintheir works again, and ready to receive and repulse a second attack.

  "Colonel Prescott praised and encouraged them while Putnam rode over toBunker Hill to urge on reinforcement; but 'few additional troops couldbe brought to Breed's Hill before the second attack was made.' Beforethat the British were reinforced by four hundred marines from Boston,then they moved against the redoubt in the same order as at first,their artillery doing more damage to the Americans than in the firstassault."

  "Papa," asked Gracie, "what had become of the wounded men they'd leftlying on the ground?--those the Americans shot down at their first fireover the redoubt?"

  "They were still lying there on the ground where they had fallen, poorfellows! and the others marched over them. Ah, war is a dreadful thing,and those who forced it upon the patient, long-suffering Americans wereeither very thoughtless or exceeding cruel."

  "Yes," exclaimed Rosie, "I don't know what George III. could have beenmade of to be willing to cause so much suffering even to innocentdefenceless women and children, just that he might play the tyrant andforcibly take from the Americans their own hard earnings to pay hisway."

  "He was perhaps not quite so wicked as weak," replied her mother; "youknow, I think, that he afterward lost his mind several times. Indeed hehad done so once before this,--in 1764."

  "He had been wicked and cruel enough for a guilty conscience to set himcrazy, I should think," remarked Max.

  "Please go on, again, Papa, won't you?" entreated Lulu.

  "I will," he said. "The British fired as they drew near, but withlittle effect; and the Americans, reserving their fire as before, tillthe foe was within five or six yards of the redoubt, then poured it onthem with deadly aim, as at the first attack. It told with terribleeffect; whole ranks of officers and men fell dead."

  "Oh, didn't they run then, Papa?" queried Gracie with a shudder ofhorror as she seemed to see the ground strewed with the dead and dying.

  "They were thrown into confusion and retreated to the shore," theCaptain replied,--"retreated in great disorder. It seemed that theAmerican fire was even more fatal than before. In telling the storyafterward Prescott said, 'From the whole American line there was acontinuous stream of fire.'

  "The British officers exposed themselves fearlessly, and urged theirsoldiers on with persuasions, threats, and even blows; but they couldnot reach the redoubt, and presently gave way, and, as I have said,retreated in great disorder.

  "At one time Howe was left nearly alone for a few seconds, so many ofhis officers had been killed or wounded; while 'the dead,' as Starksaid in his account of the battle, 'lay as thick as sheep in a fold.'

  "Now I think my little Gracie will have to put up with some morereading," added the Captain, with a smiling glance at her; then openinghis book, read aloud,--

  "At intervals the artillery from the ships and batteries was playing, while the flames were rising over the town of Charlestown and laying waste the places of the graves of its fathers, and streets were falling together, and ships at the yards were crashing on the stocks, and the kindred of the Americans, from the fields, and hills and house-tops around, watched every gallant act of their defenders. 'The whole,' wrote Burgoyne, 'was a complication of horror and importance beyond anything it ever came to my lot to be witness to. It was a sight for a young soldier that the longest service may not furnish again."

  "If," remarked Captain Raymond, again closing the book, "it was sodreadful a sight for soldiers accustomed to the horrors of war, whatmust it not have been to the American farmers taking their first lessonin war? But not one of them shrank from duty. I think we may be veryproud of those countrymen of ours. Prescott said to his men, 'If wedrive them back once more they cannot rally again.' At that his mencheered him, and shouted. 'We are ready for the red-coats again.'

  "But alas! the officers now discovered that the supply of gunpowder wasnearly exhausted. Prescott had sent in the morning for more, but it hadnot come; and there were not fifty bayonets in his party."

  "They were wonderfully brave to stand for a third attack under suchcircumstances," remarked Evelyn.


  "They were indeed," responded the Captain. "No one of the seven hundredmen with Prescott seems to have thought of giving up the contestwithout another effort. Some gathered stones from the redoubt to useas missiles, those who had no bayonets resolved to club their guns andstrike with them when their powder should be gone; all were determinedto fight as long as a ray of hope of success could be discerned. Andthey did.

  "They waited with quiet firmness the approach of the enemy who camesteadily on with fixed bayonets, while their cannon were so trainedthat they swept the interior of the breast-work from one end to theother, obliging the Americans to crowd within their fort.

  "The Americans were presently attacked on three sides, at once; andthere were, as I have said, but seven hundred of them, some of whom hadno more than one round of ammunition, none of them more than four. Butthey did not quail, and Prescott calmly gave his directions.

  "He bade his men wait, reserving their fire till the enemy was withintwenty yards. Then they poured in a deadly volley. Every shot told.Howe was wounded in the foot, and several of his officers were killedbesides the common soldiers. But they pressed on to the now nearlysilent redoubt, for the American fire had slackened and begun to dieaway.

  "And now there was only a ridge of earth between the combatants, andthe first of the British who reached it were assailed with a showerof stones. Then some of them scaled the parapet and were shot down inthe act. One of these was Major Pitcairn, who had led the troops atLexington. As he mounted the parapet he cried out, 'Now for the gloryof the marines!' and was answered by a shot from a negro that gave hima mortal wound. His son carried him to a boat, conveyed him to Boston,and there he soon died."

  "Oh!" exclaimed Gracie, "I hope that brave Colonel Prescott didn't getkilled, Papa!"

  "No; he escaped unhurt, though his coat and waistcoat were pierced andtorn in several places by the bayonets of the British, which he parriedwith his sword.

  "It was now a hand-to-hand fight, British and Americans mingledtogether, our men walking backward and hewing their way out, dealingdeadly blows with their muskets.

  "Fortunately the British were too much exhausted to use their bayonetswith vigour; and so intermingled were they and the Americans that theuse of firearms would have been dangerous to their own men as well asto ours."

  "Oh," sighed Rosie, "I have always been so sorry that our men didn'thave plenty of gunpowder! I don't think there's a doubt that if theyhad been well supplied with it, they would have won a grand victory."

  "Yes; they did wonders considering all they had to contend with,"said the Captain. "Their courage, endurance, and skill as marksmenastonished the British, and were never forgotten by them during thelong war that followed.

  "The number engaged in the battle of Bunker Hill was small, alltaken together not more than fifteen hundred of the Americans,--lessthan seven hundred in the redoubt,--while of the British there were,according to Gage, more than two thousand; other and accurate observerssaid, 'near upon three thousand.'

  "But in spite of the smallness of the numbers engaged, the battle wasone of the severest and most determined on record. Neither side couldclaim a victory, but both displayed great courage and determination."

  "And Joseph Warren was one of the killed!" sighed Grandma Elsie, "oneof the bravest, best, and most lovable of men, as those who knew himhave testified. I remember reading that Mrs. John Adams said of himand his death, 'Not all the havoc and devastation they have made haswounded me like the death of Warren. We want him in the Senate; wewant him in his profession; we want him in the field. We mourn forthe citizen, the senator, the physician, and the warrior.' GeneralHowe said, 'His death was worth more to the British than that of fivehundred of the provincial privates.'"

  "And that was not an over-estimate, I think," said the Captain. "It wasindeed a sad loss to the cause of the colonies when he was slain."

  "But there were more of the British killed than of our men,--weren'tthere, Papa?" asked Lulu.

  "Yes, very many more. By Gage's own account the number of killed andwounded in his army was at least one thousand and fifty-four. Theoldest soldiers had never seen anything like it,--so many officerskilled and wounded. Bancroft tells us that the battle of Quebec, whichwon a continent, did not cost the lives of so many officers as thebattle of Bunker Hill, which gained nothing 'but a place of encampment.'

  "The American loss was one hundred and forty-five in killed andmissing, three hundred and four wounded. No doubt the loss would havebeen very much greater but for the brave conduct of the men at the railfence and the bank of the Mystic, who kept the enemy at bay while themen from the redoubt retreated. You may remember that they were Stark'smen from New Hampshire and Knowlton's from Connecticut."

  "I hope the result of the battle encouraged the Americans as much as itdiscouraged the British," remarked Rosie, "and I think I have read thatit did."

  "Yes," the Captain replied, "it did. In his general order, thankingthe officers and soldiers for their gallant behaviour at Charlestown,Ward said, 'We shall finally come off victorious, and triumph over theenemies of freedom and America.'"

  "Did they fight any more that night, Papa?" asked Gracie.

  "No," he said, "though Prescott went to headquarters and offered torecover his post if he might have three fresh regiments. He did notseem to think he had done anything more than his duty, and asked forneither praise nor promotion, though others gave him unstinted praisefor what he had done.

  "Putnam was absent from the field, engaged in trying to collectreinforcements, when the third attack was made, and the retreatingparty encountered him on the northern declivity of Bunker Hill. Hetried to stop and turn them about,--commanded, pleaded, and used everyexertion in his power to rally the scattered corps, swearing thatvictory should crown the American arms. 'Make a stand here; we can stopthem yet!' he exclaimed. 'In God's name, fire, and give them one shotmore!'

  "It is said that after the war was over he made a sincere confession tothe church of which he was a member; but he said, 'It was almost enoughto make an angel swear to see the cowards refuse to secure a victory sonearly won.'"

  "And couldn't he stop them, Papa?" asked Gracie.

  "He succeeded with some few," replied her father, "joined them to adetachment which had not reached the spot till the fighting was over,and with them took possession of Prospect Hill, where he encamped forthe night."

  "Oh, Papa, what did they do with all those Americans and British whohad been killed?" asked Gracie.

  "There must have been many a sad funeral," the Captain said in reply,"many a widow and fatherless child to weep over the slain. Ah, let usthank our heavenly Father for the liberty and security bought for us atso fearful a price."

  "Yes," responded Grandma Elsie; "and let us keep them for ourselves andour children by the eternal vigilance which is the price of liberty.'"