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and rear by minutemen and farmers collected hastily from the surrounding country, who fired from behind trees, rocks, and fences. Colonel Smith's troops suffered greatly and would probably have been forced to surrender, had they not been met at Lexington by a strong force under Lord Percy, who had been sent to their relief. In spite of the fact that Percy had now 1800 men under his command, the Americans continued the attack until nightfall, when the British reached

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Charlestown. The Americans had lost about ninety men and the British three times as many.

Battle of

The news of the fight at Lexington and Concord spread rapidly and in a short time the British army in Boston found itself besieged by an unorganized body of 20,000 patriots. Volunteers from the surround- Bunker Hill, ing colonies soon joined them: New Hampshire June 17, men under John Stark, Connecticut men under Israel Putnam, and Rhode Island men under Nathanael Greene. There was not much discipline in this mass, but General Artemas Ward of Massachusetts was finally given the chief command. On June 17 was fought the battle of

1775

Bunker Hill. As the town of Boston was commanded by the hilltops of Dorchester and Charlestown, General Gage determined as soon as the reënforcements under Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne arrived to take possession of these points.

The patriots, however, forestalled him by sending a force under Colonel Prescott to seize Bunker Hill and Charlestown on the evening of June 16. The next morning the British ships in the harbor began cannonading the Americans, but the latter had so far intrenched themselves as to render an

attack by land necessary. The British regulars regarded the provincials with contempt and charged directly up the hill, but were twice repulsed. The third charge was successful only because the powder of the Americans gave out. The latter retreated to the mainland by Charlestown neck.

The second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, May 10, 1775. In the election of delegates to this Congress the Tories took little part, so the delegates were all men of pronounced patriotic views. This Congress was distinctly a revolutionary body. It was without any authority to raise an

The second Continental Congress, May 10, 1775

army or navy, to provide a revenue or to pass laws of any kind, but it proceeded to do all these things. The action of this Congress was by no means unanimous. John Adams tells us that "every important step was opposed, and carried by bare majorities." John Dickinson of Pennsylvania, a Quaker by birth, was the leader of the conservatives. He had stood out boldly against oppression, but he hesitated to approve revolutionary measures. Peyton Randolph, president of the former Congress, was chosen to preside over this one also, but he was soon elected speaker of the Virginia Assembly and returned home to direct affairs in that colony. John Hancock of Massachusetts succeeded him as president.

Capture of
Ticonderoga
and Crown
Point, May,

1775

On the very day that the Continental Congress met, Ethan Allen, of Connecticut, with a party of "Green Mountain Boys," surprised the garrison at Ticonderoga and called upon them to surrender "in the name of the great Jehovah and the Continental Congress." Benedict Arnold had started with a party from Massachusetts on the same mission, but when he overtook Allen he volunteered to serve under him. At the same time another Vermonter, Seth Warner, captured Crown Point. These forts not only commanded the approaches from Canada to the Hudson River, but they contained large stores of ammunition of which the Americans were in great need.

po

Washington

assumes command of the army before Bos

1775

The Continental Congress, having assumed responsibility for the army before Boston, proceeded on June 15 to appoint a commander-in-chief. At the suggestion of John Adams, Colonel George Washington, a member of Congress, was appointed to this sition. There were two reasons which dictated this choice. In the first place, the selection of a ton, July 3, Virginian would help to bind the South to New England's fortunes, and, in the second place, Washington had acquired a military reputation which no other American possessed. It was well known that John Hancock coveted the honor, while Charles Lee and Horatio Gates, former British army officers who had acquired estates in Virginia, were both candidates for the position. The four major generals appointed at this time were Ward of Massachusetts, Charles Lee, Schuyler of New York, and Putnam of Connecticut. Of the eight brigadier generals appointed at this time, six were from New England and two from New York. Gates was appointed adjutant general with the rank of brigadier.

The reason for appointing so many New Englanders to high position was that the army before Boston was made up

of men from that section. Washington accepted his commission from the Congress in a modest but dignified speech in which he said that he would not accept any pay, but would keep an account of his expenses, for which Congress might

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reimburse him later if they should see fit. On July 3 he arrived at Cambridge and took formal command of the army. Congress also made provision for raising troops in the other colonies. During the summer riflemen from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia joined the army before Boston, the

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first to arrive being a company from the valley of Virginia commanded by Captain Daniel Morgan.

In November General Montgomery of New York led about fifteen hundred men by way of Lake Champlain against

Unsuccessful invasion of Canada, December, 1775

Canada and occupied Montreal, while Benedict Arnold led a force through the forests of Maine to join him in an attack on Quebec. The assault took place during a severe snowstorm, December 31, 1775; Montgomery was killed and the main attack abandoned. Arnold led the other attacking column and was severely wounded, but Morgan, who succeeded to the command, fought his way into the heart of the city only to be captured through the failure of the main attack. This disastrous expedition was badly planned and not supported by a sufficient force.

On the night of March 4, 1776, Washington seized and fortified Dorchester Heights, rendering the position of the British in Boston untenable. In less than two weeks Gen

eral Howe evacuated the city and embarked his troops for Halifax.

The ten years' discussion preceding the outbreak of hostilities had led to the formation of opposing parties of Whigs and Tories. The crown officers were the back- Harsh treatbone of the Tory party, but there was a large ment of Loyalists number of people in every colony who were conservatives by nature and remained loyal to the British government. It is impossible to determine the number of loyalists in any colony, but New York and Pennsylvania were almost evenly divided and there were many loyalists in Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, South Carolina, and Georgia. John Adams estimated that about one third of the population of the colonies was at first opposed to the Revolution. New York alone furnished about fifteen thousand men to the British army and navy who were regularly enlisted, and about eight thousand militia.

The feeling between the loyalists and the patriots was exceedingly bitter, and many of the former were compelled to seek refuge in the British lines or to flee from their native land altogether. In the early days the Tories were left to the mercies of irresponsible mobs, but later on laws of a discriminatory character were directed against them. They were deprived of the right to vote, hold office, or serve on juries and, in some States, of the right to sue their debtors, or have recourse to law for any injury. As a final measure their property was confiscated and used in support of the Revolution. In a few cases they were tried for treason, but Washington and the other prominent leaders were opposed to this and most of those arrested were treated merely as prisoners of war. The number of executions was very small.

The people of the several colonies were meanwhile taking steps to organize State and local governments. When the

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