appointment was made after Massachusetts delegate, Dr. Benjamin Church, pleaded with Congress to accept responsibility for the militia around Cambridge, which have been characterized as a mob without uniforms, living in crude huts and fed by local farmers.
Many in Congress feel that a commander from Virginia will pull the southern colonies into what John and Samuel Adams, two outspoken delegates from Massachusetts, have declared an enviable war with England. They campaigned for Washington’s appointment. General Washington belongs to a southern landed gentry of plantation owners, crippled financially by recent acts of Parliament.
Washington led several Virginia expeditions against the French in the Ohio Valley. He and Horatio Gates served under British General Braddock in the unsuccessful campaign at Fort Duquesne. Washington took command when Braddock was killed in an ambush.
He is credited with leading Braddock’s army safely back to Richmond, where at the age of 23 he was awarded the rank of full colonel and given command of all Virginia militia.
In other news, the Pennsylvania Assembly relinquished to the Continental Congress the ground floor of their magnificent State House, considered by many to be the finest building in the colonies. After seating themselves, the delegates elected John Hancock, a 38-year-old merchant from Boston, as President. Hancock is considered an outlaw by British authorities.
BRITISH ATTACK MAINLAND!
CHARLESTOWN BURNS!
Militia Offer Stubborn Resistance, Inflict Heavy Losses
The Battle of Breed’s Hill
The General’s (Gage) returns will give you the particulars of what I call this unhappy day. I freely confess to you, when I look to the consequence of it, in the loss of so many brave officers, I do it with horror. The success of it is too dearly bought.
General Howe
To the British Adjutant General
June 24, 1775
Boston, Massachusetts: June 17, 1775. Hundreds of Loyalist sympathizers cheered from Boston rooftops as 2,500 British troops invaded the colonial mainland early this afternoon. Supported by heavy artillery fire from British ships and barges, General Gage’s light infantry and grenadiers, under the command of Major General William Howe, launched an attack shortly after 3 o’clock in the afternoon. Gage ordered the attack when British headquarters woke this morning to discover that Colonel William Prescott’s Massachusetts militia erected earthen breastworks on Breed’s Hill during the night. The hill, which Gage evacuated after his men retreated from Concord, holds a commanding position over Boston. Rebel artillery could now reach the city, posing the first serious threat to the British occupying Boston.
Howe’s light infantry made several costly frontal assaults on Prescott’s fortifications before gaining the advantage.
In an attempt to flank Prescott and capture Bunker Hill to the north, Howe advanced on Prescott’s left, held by the New Hampshire militia under Colonel John Stark. These men were dug in behind a wooden fence that stretched southeast from the Mystic River to a field of high grass where the Connecticut militia under Lt. Colonel Thomas Knowlton took cover.
The surprisingly well disciplined militia waited until British infantry were within forty yards of their lines before mounting several barrages of withering fire that cut down 90 percent of the British columns. Howe’s devastated troops were forced to fall back and regroup four times before General Clinton’s reinforcements arrived to help drive the rebels from their positions. The two-hour battle ended when the rebels ran out of ammunition and retreated across the Charlestown neck.
Gage ordered his artillery to fire on Charlestown when he learned rebel sharpshooters inside the village were firing on his men. Every building went up in flames. Only the charred steeple of its church remains standing.
Preliminary estimates put British losses at over 1,000 men, including 19 officers killed and 70 wounded. General Howe’s entire staff was cut down by rebel fire. Prominent among British casualties was Major John Pitcarin, who ordered the attack at Lexington. Pitcarin was reportedly killed by Peter Salem, a black member of the Framingham militia.
Total rebel casualties were estimated at 400. Dr. Joseph Warren, close friend of Samuel Adams and prominent member of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, was killed when British infantry overran disorganized rebel troops defending Bunker’s Hill.
Dr. Warren was instrumental in organizing the colonial militia and creating the rebel intelligence network that thwarted British General Gage’s night raid on Concord. Dr, Warren was appointed Major General of the Massachusetts militia a few days before he was killed. British Commander Gage commented that Dr. Warren’s death was worth 500 men to him. Colonel Prescott’s son was also killed in the action at Breed’s Hill.
Gage ordered a halt to the British advance at Bunker’s Hill over the objections of Major General Clinton, who felt his fresh troops could overtake the rebels and drive them from their headquarters at Cambridge. Apparently, General Gage felt the British incurred too many losses in securing the hills of Breed and Bunker and was unwilling to risk Clinton’s troops in any further action this day.
After retreating from Breed’s Hill, a very angry Colonel Prescott rode into Cambridge and demanded to know why his requests for ammunition and reinforcements were ignored. Prescott contended he could have held off Howe’s infantries and secured the hills if General Ward had provided the men and powder. Neither Ward nor his staff, who held back 5,000 men in reserves, had any comments.
A CONVERSATION WITH GENERAL WASHINGTON
Washington
Cambridge, Massachusetts: July 4, 1775. George Washington is a tall, broad shouldered gentleman who carries himself very straight, in an aloof, almost aristocratic manor. His arms and legs are a little long for his body. His blue-grey eyes are set wide on his face, below a heavy brow. His hair is dark brown and he wears it in a cue or pigtail, when not hidden under a wig. His mouth is wide and seldom open, but rather deliberately closed over a pair of what seem to be wooden dentures.
General Washington assumed command of the militia surrounding Cambridge in a short, formal ceremony held at Harvard College on the 2nd of this month. We met at the home of Harvard College president Samuel Langdon where General Washington has taken temporary residence.
General Washington, congratulations on your appointment.
Thank you, but congratulations should be made after we accomplish our goals.
And what are your goals, sir?
Our first priority is to establish a well trained, well equipped army.
In that light, it’s been said that General Gage might’ve eliminated your entire army if he let General Clinton press his attack beyond Bunker’s Hill.
King George
