Читать книгу The Handy Boston Answer Book - Samuel Willard Crompton - Страница 28

What was the weather like on April 19, 1775?

The third week of April 1775 had notably mild weather, lending buoyancy to the spirits of many of the locals. General Gage put the finishing touches to his plans that week, and by mid-afternoon of April 18, Bostonians could see that something was up. Paul Revere, who had become the number-one dispatch rider for the Sons of Liberty, rowed across the Charles River at sunset. He had an arrangement with the sexton of the Old North Church. If the British marched out of Boston via The Neck, he was to hang one lamp in the belfry: two if they went by boat, across the Charles. Revere did not use the precise words “one if by land, two if by sea”: these are the invention of the poet Longfellow, who wrote about Paul Revere’s ride eighty-five years after the fact (see below).

When did the British make their move?

By 11 P.M. over one thousand British soldiers were moving off Boston Common and into boats: they soon landed at Phips Farm in Cambridge. Paul Revere, seeing the signal lamps from the Old North Church, got on his horse and began to ride. Contrary to popular belief, he did not shout “The British are coming!” but rather “The regulars are out!”

Revere could not be sure of the British destination, but their landing at Cambridge suggested they were on the way to Lexington. He galloped in that direction, warning everyone he could. The British, meanwhile, lined up in ranks and began the long night march that brought them to Lexington Green by 7 A.M.

Why does Revere always get the lion’s share of the credit?

He really does deserve it. His ride brought out hundreds of men, who, by alerting their fellows, turned out thousands of others in the next twenty-four hours. But it is true that Revere is always more hailed than William Dawes, who went by way of The Neck, and Dr. Samuel Prescott, who continued on to Concord.

Another reason has to do with the power of poetry. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882), inspired and influenced by the events of the Revolutionary War, wrote poems about the Battle of Lexington and other major events. Some of his best-known words are the ones that open his poem about Paul Revere (perhaps he had a harder time finding rhymes for Prescott or Dawes). “Paul Revere’s Ride,” first published in 1860 in The Atlantic Monthly, begins:

This circa 1937 engraving depicts Paul Revere’s famous ride to warn the colonists about the invading British.

Listen my children and you shall hear

Of the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere,

On the eighteenth of April in Seventy-five; Hardly a man is now alive

Who remembers that famous day and year.

How did the British do on their march?

Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Smith led the nine-hundred-odd British from Phips Farm. All night the British marched, and dawn found them on the eastern edge of Lexington. Proceeding to the town green, Smith and his men found about seventy American militiamen drawn up, ready to defend the area. Tradition has it that Captain John Parker told his men, “Don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.”

As they approached the green, the British split into two groups. One group marched past the patriot defenders, while the other headed straight to confront them. Major John Pitcairn, commander of the marines, rode out in front of the British lines to shout, “Lay down your arms! Disperse, ye rebels, disperse I tell you!”

How did the fighting commence?

No one knows who fired that first shot, or even from which direction it came. All we know is that one musket was fired, and that the British and Americans immediately let loose a blaze of gunfire. A solid two minutes later, as the smoke cleared, it became evident that the British had won this, the first skirmish of the Revolutionary War. Eight Americans lay dead or dying, and several others were wounded. Captain Parker and his surviving men had escaped the green. The British had two men wounded.

Major Pitcairn and Colonel Smith conferred, and agreed it was time to move on to Concord. After shouting several cheers, the British moved out, heading west.

So that was it? This was the Battle of Lexington?

It was a very small affair in the annals of military history, but in terms of national identity and eventual independence, Lexington was hugely important. The battle is reenacted on Patriots Day, a legal holiday in Massachusetts.

Were there any Bostonians in the battles at Lexington and Concord?

Very few. The people of Boston were living under what amounted to martial law. It was nearly impossible to pass The Neck without permission. Bostonians were primarily observers of the events of April 19, 1775.

When did the British get to Concord?

The British arrived in Concord by 10 A.M. on April 19, 1775. The weather was fine, and both Colonel Smith and Major Pitcairn felt pleased with how things had developed. They confiscated a good amount of gunpowder at Concord, but found that a second part of their mission, which was to arrest Sam Adams and John Hancock, was not possible. Both men had already escaped the area. Tradition has it that Adams, hearing the guns at Lexington from a distance, turned to Hancock to observe that it was a beautiful day. Hancock replied that it was. Adams pressed his point, saying it was a great day in the history of America.

What the British did not realize was how many American militiamen were now converging on them. Thousands of men had been alerted, and, true to their nickname as “Minutemen,” they were hastening to Concord. By 11 A.M., there were more than one thousand militiamen on the west side of the narrow bridge that spanned the Concord River. Seeing a pall of smoke, and fearing the British had set fire to the town, these men began to move on that bridge.

Could the British have held the North Bridge?

Only if their entire force had been present. Most British soldiers were in the town of Concord, however, and not on hand to fight for the bridge. A sharp skirmish ensued with about equal casualties on the two sides, but it was the British that gave way. By noon, the Americans had the bridge, and Colonel Smith decided it best to turn his men for home. He had already sent word to Boston, asking for reinforcements.

What was the retreat like?

The British, naturally, did not describe it as a retreat. To them it was an orderly withdrawal, conducted after having achieved virtually all their goals. What they did not realize is they had stirred up a hornets’ nest. On their way back to Boston, the British were attacked, time and again, by groups of Americans who fought in a very disorganized fashion. The British were accustomed to opponents who fired and moved in orderly ranks, and who played by the “rules” of civilized warfare. The American militia, by contrast, fought in ways similar to the American Indians, from whom they had learned much over the previous century.

Around the time they reached Lexington, the British were met by Hugh, Lord Percy, and nearly 1,200 British soldiers. These reinforcements came in the nick of time: lacking them, Smith’s detachment might have been wiped out. And even with Lord Percy, the British still had a devil of a time on their way back: the Americans kept coming. Just as the sun went down, the British reached the Charlestown peninsula, where they found safety under the guns from the fleet. By then they had suffered 273 men killed, wounded, or missing. American losses were about one-third of that number.

Is it safe to say that Lexington and Concord were American victories?

Lexington was a minor loss, but it led to the victory at the North Bridge. By the time the sun rose on April 20, 1775, there was little doubt that the Americans had done extremely well. Thanks to Paul Revere and other riders, the Americans had been warned. Thanks to the alacrity of their response, the Americans prevailed over the British on the first day of the Revolutionary War.

When did the Siege of Boston begin?

As early as April 20, 1775, there were thousands of Americans in a ring around Boston, but it took a week or so before they were organized into regiments and companies that took up their respective tasks. By about the first of May, the siege began in earnest.

Roughly twenty thousand American militiamen, most of them from within one hundred miles of Boston, arrived to take up the siege, but it was by no means certain how many of them would remain. In the early days of the siege, there was not even a general commander. Most of the New England men voted their own lieutenant and captains, and good discipline did not prevail. About the only thing the men agreed on was that General Artemas Ward of Shrewsbury, who was a veteran of the French and Indian War, would be the commanding general.

How did the Bostonians themselves respond to the situation?

Some Bostonians liked being under the protection of British rule, but many did not. Hundreds of them promptly asked permission to depart, and General Gage made a bargain, under which people who turned in all their weapons (for which they received an official receipt) were allowed to leave. More than one thousand muskets, hundreds of blunderbusses, pistols, and bayonets were surrendered by those that were eager to get out of town.

What kind of shape were the British in, at this early stage of the siege?

They were truly shocked by the American performance on April 19, 1775, but with each week that passed, the British became more confident that it was a one-time affair: that the Americans would not be as successful in the future. General Thomas Gage was still in overall command, but he knew three major-generals were on their way to act as his closest subordinates. Anyone that met General Gage in May 1775 was impressed with how resigned he was to the situation. Gage had never been keen about shedding American blood; he now worried that it was British blood that would flow. During May, Gage remained on the defensive, allowing the Americans to take up positions in Cambridge, Watertown, and Roxbury. All that remained to the British was the peninsula itself, the place the Indians had once called Shawmut.

The same cannot be said of the British naval commander, Admiral Thomas Graves. Almost immediately following the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the admiral asked General Gage to allow him to bombard Charlestown and the surrounding area, to be certain the Americans could not take up position on the heights to the north of Boston. General Gage refused, but Admiral Graves remained the most aggressive of the British leaders, eager to attack the Americans.

Why were whaleboats so important in the Siege of Boston?

Whaleboats were already one of the most innovative American contributions to the maritime world. The first ones were built late in the seventeenth century, and by 1775, the state of building was so advanced that the Americans, using whaleboats, outsailed their British opponents in Boston Harbor. It was the use of whaleboats that allowed the patriots to (twice!) attack Boston Light, on Little Brewster Island.

This illustration shows American soldiers, led by Henry Knox, transporting artillery to Cambridge, where it will be used in the final segment of the Siege of Boston.

What was the build-up to the Battle of Bunker Hill?

In the early days of June 1775, both the British and Americans cast their eyes on the Charlestown peninsula. If the Americans could take and hold it, they could bombard Boston. Likewise, if the British could take the heights, they could control all the northern approaches to Boston. But neither side wished to tip its hand, and the action waited till the third week of the month.

In the meantime, HMS Cerberus arrived, carrying three major-generals to Boston. General Sir William Howe was senior of the three; General Sir Henry Clinton the middle; and General John Burgoyne was the junior of the three. All three men thought themselves superior to General Gage in terms of ambition and aggressive spirit, but he remained their commanding officer for the next three months. Burgoyne was especially loud among the three, declaring that they had arrived in time to carve out more “elbow room.”