The Siege of Boston

In writing this book I have endeavored to produce a brief and readable account of the Siege of Boston, and of the events which brought it about. These were, of course, parts of a larger history, the connection with which I have carefully indicated. My main endeavor, nevertheless, has been to treat my subject as a single organic series of events. To select the more interesting and significant masses of detail, and properly to coördinate them, has not been an easy task. The minor incidents were conditioned by the scale of the book; the result, I hope, is fluency and a more evident connection between the larger events.

So far as possible, I have relied upon contemporary statements. But no writer on the Siege can fail to acknowledge his deep obligations to the "History of the Siege" by Richard Frothingham. This acknowledgment I gladly make. Since 1849, however, the date of the publication of the book, there has come to light interesting new material which I have endeavored to incorporate here. The other authorities upon which I have chiefly depended will be found by referring to the footnotes.

ALLEN FRENCH.

CONCORD, MASSACHUSETTS, January, 1911.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. BEGINNINGS AND CONDITIONS 1

II. WRITS OF ASSISTANCE AND THE STAMP ACT 21

III. CHARLES TOWNSHEND, SAM ADAMS, AND THE MASSACRE 41

IV. THE TEA-PARTY AND ITS CONSEQUENCES 71

V. THE OCCUPATION OF BOSTON 91

VI. THE POWDER ALARM AND THE WINTER OF 1774-1775 123

VII. MILITARY PREPARATIONS 161

VIII. THE NINETEENTH OF APRIL 187

IX. BOSTON BELEAGUERED 216

X. THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL 256

XI. WASHINGTON TAKES COMMAND 288

XII. EVENTS IN BOSTON FROM JUNE TO DECEMBER, 1775 331

XIII. WASHINGTON'S DIFFICULTIES 361

XIV. THE WINTER IN BOSTON 392

XV. THE EVACUATION 415

ILLUSTRATIONS

OLD STATE HOUSE Frontispiece

PAGE THE HUTCHINSON HOUSE 35

FANEUIL HALL facing 58

SAMUEL ADAMS facing 69

THE INVESTMENT OF BOSTON facing 127

REVERE'S PICTURE OF BOSTON IN 1768 175

THE OLD NORTH CHURCH facing 181

THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON facing 193

PLAN OF THE SIEGE 235

THE MINUTE MAN facing 303

THE OLD NORTH BRIDGE facing 303

WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS facing 374

DORCHESTER TOWER 407

GOLD MEDAL COMMEMORATING WASHINGTON'S VICTORY 434

THE SIEGE OF BOSTON

CHAPTER I

BEGINNINGS AND CONDITIONS

The Siege of Boston was the culmination of a series of events which will always be of importance in the history of America. From the beginning of the reign of George the Third, the people of the English colonies in the new world found themselves at variance with their monarch, and nowhere more so than in Massachusetts. Since the New England people were fitted by their temperament and history to take the lead in the struggle, at their chief town naturally took place the more important incidents. These, which were often dramatic, had nevertheless a political cause and significance which link them in a rising series that ended in a violent outbreak and the eleven months' leaguer.

As to the siege itself, it varies an old situation, for Boston was beset by its own neighbors in defence of the common rights. Previously the king's troops, though regarded as invaders, had been but half-hearted oppressors; it was the people themselves who persistently provoked difficulties. The siege proper is of striking military interest, for its hostilities begin by the repulse of an armed expedition into a community of farmers, continue with a pitched battle between regular troops and a militia, produce a general of commanding abilities, and end with a strategic move of great skill and daring. It is the first campaign of a great war, and precedes the birth of a nation. Politically, the cause of the struggle is of enduring consequence to mankind. Socially, the siege and its preliminaries bring to view people of all kinds, some weak, some base, some picturesque, some entirely admirable. The period shows the breaking up of an old society and the formation of a new. A study of the siege is therefore of value.