Читать книгу The Handy Boston Answer Book - Samuel Willard Crompton - Страница 30

When did Henry Knox become recognized for his talents?

The owner of a Boston bookstore in Cornhill Square, twenty-five-year-old Henry Knox owed all his military knowledge to the books that passed through his hands. Knox was also one of the largest and heaviest men in Washington’s army: at a time when people were smaller than now, Knox weighed roughly three hundred pounds. His cherubic face made many people underestimate him, but Washington saw the energy and strength. In November 1775, he sent Knox to upstate New York with the intention of bringing back cannon, for use in the siege.

Fort Ticonderoga, near the southern end of Lake Champlain, had been important in the French and Indian War. American forces seized it in May 1775. No one put two and two together until Knox arrived late in November, bringing men more skilled at moving and transporting heavy equipment than in actual battle. In December, Knox departed Ticonderoga with over 100 pieces of heavy artillery, including mortars.

How thin did the American lines become during the winter of 1775–1776?

At its maximum extent, the American army numbered almost twenty thousand, but by Christmastime of 1775, it was about half that many. George Washington came close to despair; the one thing that gave him some hope was the knowledge that the British had very low morale. When the Americans probed the British lines, especially at Lechmere Point, the British made no attempt to engage.

Knowing that Henry Knox was on the way with heavy artillery, Washington planned a desperate action to take Boston in one fell swoop. Knowing there would be heavy casualties, and that the town might be destroyed, Washington consulted his major generals, who gave conflicting opinions. The Americans certainly were more conscious than the British that the icing over of Boston Harbor could alter the situation.

A circa 1784 portrait of Henry Knox by artist Charles Willson Peale.

How did Knox’s arrival change the situation?

In January 1776, Knox and his men brought a “noble train of artillery,” as he expressed it, to Cambridge. The Americans were still low on gunpowder, but they at least had the means to threaten the British defenders of Boston. Late in February 1776, Washington and his senior officers formed a plan to seize and fortify Dorchester Heights, on the southern side of the town.

In retrospect it is somewhat amazing that neither side had yet made a move on Dorchester. Washington planned the action for the evening of March 4; he did so intentionally, expecting that the big battle would be fought the next day, which was the sixth anniversary of the Boston Massacre.

How did the action proceed?

Three thousand American militiamen moved into action on the evening of March 4, 1776. Having already put together combined platforms—called fascines—they moved on to Dorchester Heights, and when morning came they gave the impression of having thrown up immense earthworks.

General Howe was astounded when he first surveyed Dorchester Heights from his spyglass. His first response, however, was to mobilize his front-line troops, and observers recalled that he had previously threatened to attack, regardless of the cost. The Americans atop Dorchester Heights saw the British gathering on Long Wharf, making preparations to move to Castle Island before making the grand assault. Washington hastened to the Heights, where he shouted that this was the fifth of March, an excellent day on which to fight the British!

How big and nasty would that battle have been?

It’s possible that the battle would have been three times as bloody as that of Bunker Hill, if only because so many more men were involved. The British moved too slowly to take advantage of the early afternoon tide, however, and when they settled in for the evening, the Americans breathed a big sigh of relief. The weather had the final say. A major storm, which some people called a hurricane, blew over Boston on the night of March 5–6. Many buildings were damaged, and when morning came it was apparent that it would be too difficult to mobilize the British attack force (two medium-sized ships had been wrecked in the storm).

Two days later, a British envoy approached the American lines to declare that General Howe would not set the town afire so long as Washington’s cannons did not open fire from Dorchester Heights. Tense days followed in which neither side made a military move, and the British worked furiously to pack their belongings.

How did the Bostonians view the situation?

Our best clue comes from the journal of Timothy Newell, one of the town selectmen. He commented that

… the inhabitants in the utmost distress, through fear of the town being destroyed by the soldiers, a party of New York carpenters with axes going through the town breaking open houses &. Soldiers and sailors plundering of houses, shops, and warehouses—Sugar and salt & thrown into the river, which was greatly covered with hogsheads, barrels of flour, house furniture, carts, trucks, &c—One person suffered four thousand pounds sterling, by his shipping being cut to pieces.

MHS Proceedings, Vol. 1, 4^th series, 1852, p. 274

How difficult was it for Howe to extricate his followers?

Not only did Howe have more than ten thousand soldiers, he was also besieged by Loyalists, asking him to take them away. Howe did his best, and in the end nearly 1,500 Loyalists embarked with his troops. Tensions continued, and when the British departed, on March 17, 1775, the Americans could scarcely believe their eyes. This happened to be Saint Patrick’s Day, which had been celebrated by Boston’s Irish Protestants for almost fifty years, and in the years that followed, it came to be known as Evacuation Day.

What did Boston look like to the entering Americans?

The town was a disaster. Grass had grown on some of the streets, and many of the churches were in poor repair. The British had used the Old South Meeting House as the site of a riding academy!

How narrow was Boston’s escape?

If General Howe had assaulted Dorchester Heights, there would have been an intense, pitched battle. At the same time, however, General Washington had four thousand men near Charlestown, and they were ready to come across and attack the north side of Boston. The casualty list might have been huge, and the town of Boston might have been utterly destroyed. Some of the townspeople recognized this fact, and they composed a laudatory address to Washington, thanking him that their town was spared.

Did Washington remain in Boston in order to savor his success?

He remained for fewer than three weeks. By mid-April, Washington and a considerable percentage of the Continental Army had departed for southern Connecticut and New York City. Washington correctly anticipated that the British would ignore Boston in future campaigns, and that the struggle would be for New York and the middle colonies.

Once the Continental Army had departed, Boston had the tough task of picking up the pieces. Not only had thousands of townspeople departed, but hundreds of others had sailed with the British. Many people wished the Loyalists good riddance, but this ignored the fact that they were some of the wealthiest and most productive people in town. Years passed before Boston was able to regain what it had lost in a commercial sense.

What impression did Washington take as he left Boston in 1776?

Washington never liked the New Englanders very much, and the feeling was mutual. One of the few exceptions was Washington’s admiration for the black poetess, Phillis Wheatley. In the winter of 1776, he wrote to her, thanking her for her flattering lines of poetry, and inviting her to visit him any time she was in Cambridge.