Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 7.djvu/330

 294

��Btmker Hill.

��[May,

��first attempt of the Americans to invest the city.

As early as the middle of May, the Massachusetts Committee of Safety, as well as the council, had resolved " to occupy Bunker Hill as soon as artillery and powder could be adequately fur- nished for the purpose," and a com- mittee was appointed to examine and report respecting the merits of Dor- chester Heights, as a strategic restraint upon the garrison of Boston.

On the fifteenth of June, upon reli- able information that the British had definitely resolved to seize both Heights, and had designated the eighteenth of June for the occupation of Charles- town, the same Committee of Safety voted " to take immediate possession of Bunker Bill."

Mr. Bancroft states that " the decision was so sudden that no fit preparation could be made." Under the existing conditions, it was indeed a desperate daring, expressive of grand faith and self-devotion, worthy of the cause in peril, and only limited in its immediate and assured triumph by the simple lack of powder.

Prescott, who was eager to lead the enterprise and was entrusted with its execution, and Putman, who gave it his most ardent support, were most urgent that the council should act promptly ; while Warren, who long hesitated to concur, did at last concur, and gave his life as the test of his devotion. General Ward realized fully that the hesitation of the British to emerge from Boston and attack the Americans was an index of the security of the American defences, and, therefore, deprecated the contingency of a general engagement, until ample supplies of powder could be secured.

The British garrison, which had been

��reinforced to a nominal strength of ten thousand men, had become reduced, through inadequate supplies, especially of fresh meat, to eight thousand effectives, but these men were well officered and well disciphned.

THE POSITION.

Bunker Hill had an easy slope to the isthmus, but was quite steep on either side, having, in fact, control of the isthmus, as well as commanding a full view of Boston and the surrounding country. Morton's Hill, at Moulton's Point, where the British landed, was but thirty-five feet above sea level, while Breed's Pasture (as then known) and Bunker Hill were, respectively, seventy- five and one hundred and ten feet high. The Charles and Mystic Rivers, which flanked Charlestown, were navigable, and were under the control of the British ships-of-war.

AMERICAN POLICY.

To so occupy Charlestown, in ad- vance, as to prevent a successful Brit- ish landing, required the use of the nearest available position that would make the light artillery of the Amer- icans effective. To occupy Bunker Hill, alone, would leave to the British the cover of Breed's Hill, under which to gain effective fire and a good base for approach, as well as Charlestown for quarters, without prejudice to them- selves.

When, therefore. Breed's Hill was fortified as an advanced position, it was done with the assurance that reinforce- ments would soon occupy the retired summit, and the course adopted was the best to prevent an effective British lodgment. The previous reluctance of the garrison to make any effective demonstration against the thin lines of environment strengthened the belief

�� �