WASHINGTON ENTERS BOSTON. 203 CHAPTER X. Washington enters Boston.-Disasters in Canada. P'D. I. The army 1. ALTHOUGH Britain was preparing so formidable P'T. III. a force, yet the American army was not only reduced in numbers, but at the close of the year 1775, was almost destitute of necessary supplies. The terms of enlistment of all the troops had expired in December; and although measures had been taken for recruiting and ill-apthe army, yet on the last day of December, there were but 9,650 men enlisted for the ensuing year. small pointed. 2. Gen. Washington, finding how slowly the army was recruited, proposed to congress to try the influence of a bounty; but his proposal was not acceded a bounty given. to until late in January, and it was not until the middle of February, that the regular army amounted to Militia 14,000. In addition to these, the commander-in-chief, being vested by congress with the power to call out the militia, made a requisition on the authorities of Massachusetts, for 6,000 men. called out. March 4. ter for tified. 3. Washington had continued the blockade of Boston during the winter of 1775-6, and at last resolved 1776. to bring the enemy to action, or drive them from the town. On the night of the 4th of March, a detach- Dorchesment silently reached Dorchester Heights, and there constructed, in a single night, a redoubt which me- The naced the British shipping with destruction. On the British morning of the 17th, the whole British force, with evacuate such of the loyalists as chose to follow their fortunes, Mar. 17. set sail for Halifax. As the rear of the British troops were embarking, Washington entered the town in triumph. 4. The plans of the British cabinet embraced, for the campaign of 1776, the recovery of Canada, the re CHAPTER X.-1. What was the condition of the American army at the close of '75 -2. What did Washington recommend? What was done? -3. What took place at Boston in March '76? 4. What did the British mean to do in the course of the year? Boston, British have 3 objects for the cam paign. 204 P'D. I. UNFORTUNATE RETREAT. PT. III. duction of the southern colonies, and the possession of New York. This last service was entrusted to CH. I. Admiral Howe, and his brother, General Howe; the latter of whom succeeded General Gage, in the command of the British troops. before situated. 5. Arnold had continued the siege of Quebec, and Arnold had greatly annoyed the garrison; but his army had suffered extremely from the inclemency of the season, Quebec. and from the breaking out of the small-pox. Notit badly withstanding the garrison of Montreal had been sent to reinforce him, he had scarcely 1,000 effective men. 6. General Thomas now arrived and superseded 1776. Arnold. He made several attempts to reduce Quebec, trous but the sudden appearance of the British fleet obliged retreat, him to flee with such precipitation, that he left his May 5. baggage and military stores. Many of the sick also fell into the hands of Carleton, by whom they were treated with honourable humanity. A disas Ameri cans eva 7. One after another, the posts which had been conJune quered by the Americans, fell into the hands of the British, and before the close of June, they had recuate covered all Canada. The Americans lost, in this unfortunate retreat, about 1,000 men, who were mostly taken prisoners. Canada. Sir Peter 8. The British fleet, destined to the reduction of the sails to southern colonies, sailed, under Sir Peter Parker, to Charles- attack Charleston, where they arrived early in June. ton. The marines were commanded by General Clinton. attack Sulli tified. 9. An intercepted official letter had given the alarm van's is to the Carolinians. On Sullivan's island, at the enland for- trance of Charleston harbor, they had constructed a fort of the palmetto tree, which resembles the cork. This fort was garrisoned by about 400 men, comBritish manded by Colonel Moultrie. On the morning of the are re- 28th of June, the British ships opened their several broadsides upon it, but their balls were received by the palmetto wood, and buried as in earth. Moultrie June 28. pulsed. 5. How was Arnold situated in the spring?-6. Who was his successor? What was he forced to do?-7. Mention some of the circumstances of the unfortunate close of the invasion of Canada, 8. What fleet went to attack Charleston?-9. How was Charleston defended? INDEPENDENCE PROPOSED. 205 defended the fortification with such spirit, that it has PT. III. ever since been called by his name. CH. X. the flag. 10. Once during the day, after a thundering dis- P'D. 1. charge from the British cannon, the flag of the fort 1776. was no longer seen to wave; and the Americans, who watched the battle from the opposite shore, were, every moment, expecting to see the British troops mount the parapets in triumph. But none appeared; Jasper and, in a few moments, the striped banner of America recovers was once more unfurled to their view. The staff had been carried away by a shot, and the flag had fallen upon the outside of the fort. A serjeant, by the name of Jasper, had jumped over the wall, and, amidst a shower of bullets, had recovered and fastened it in its place. At evening, the British, completely foiled, drew off their ships, with the loss of two hundred men. British sail for N. York 11. Washington had early apprehended that the enemy would endeavour to get possession of New York. He Washhad, therefore, detached General Lee from Cambridge, ington's to put Long Island and New York in a posture of de- headfense. Soon after the evacuation of Boston, the com- at New mander-in-chief followed, and, with the greater part of York. his army, fixed his head-quarters in the city of New York. quarters Indepen. 12. On the 7th of June, Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, made a motion in congress, for declaring the June 7. colonies FREE AND INDEPENDENT. While the propo- dence sition was pending, individuals, public presses, and proposed legislatures, sent from every quarter of the country to gress. Philadelphia, a voice approving such a measure. in con The 13. On the 14th of June, the legislature of Connecticut passed resolutions, instructing their delegates in June 14. congress, to propose to that body to declare the Ame- feeling of rican colonies free and independent states, absolved all expressed from all allegiance to the king of Great Britain. The by Conreasons, they state to be-the taking away their just rights the contemptuous refusal to listen to their 10. Mention serjeant Jasper's exploit. What was the British loss?-11. What did Washington apprehend? What arrangements make?-12. What proposal was made in Congress? S necticut. 206 P'D. I. THE FOURTH OF JULY. PT. III. "humble, decent, and dutiful petitions"-the endeavour to reduce them to abject submission, by war and CH. x. bloodshed, subjecting their persons to slavery, and 1776. hiring foreign mercenaries to destroy them;—so that no alternative was left, but either to submit to what must end in the extreme of wretchedness, or, appealing to God, to declare a total separation. July 4. Indepen 14. The sentiments which Connecticut had thus embodied, pervaded the whole country. Congress, dence. therefore, on the 4th of July, 1776, declared to the world, that "these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES." 13. How had the Connecticut legislature expressed the sentiments of the nation?-14. What was done on the 4th of July? |