 | CHAPTER XIII. Lionel Lincoln, or, The leaguer of Boston |  |
13. CHAPTER XIII.
“Now let it work: Mischief thou art afoot,
“Take thou what course thou wilt!”
Shakspeare.
The alarm of the inroad passed swiftly by
the low shores of the Atlantic, and was heard
echoing among the rugged mountains west of
the rivers, as if borne along on a whirlwind. The
male population, between the rolling waters of
Massachusetts-Bay and the limpid stream of the
Connecticut, rose as one man; and as the cry
of blood was sounded far inland, the hills and
valleys, the highways and footpaths, were seen covered
with bands of armed husbandmen, pressing
eagerly toward the scene of the war. Within
eight-and-forty hours after the fatal meeting at
Lexington, it was calculated that more than a
hundred thousand men were in arms; and near
one-fourth of that number was gathered before
the Peninsulas of Boston and Charlestown.
They who were precluded by distance, and a
want of military provisions to support such a
concourse, from participating in the more immediate
contest, lay by in expectation of the arrival
of that moment when their zeal might also
quietude in which the colonies had been slumbering
for a year, was suddenly and rudely broken
by the events of that day; and the patriotic among
the people rose with such a cry of indignation
on their lips, that the disaffected, who were no
insignificant class in the more southern provinces,
were compelled to silence, until the first
burst of revolutionary excitement had an opportunity
to subside, under the never-failing influence
of time and suffering.
Gage, secure in his positions, and supported
by a constantly increasing power, as well as the
presence of a formidable fleet, looked on the
gathering storm with a steady eye, and with that
calmness which distinguished the mild benevolence
of his private character. Though the attitude
and the intentions of the Americans could
no longer be mistaken, he listened with reluctant
ears to the revengeful advice of his counsellors,
and rather strove to appease the tumult, than to
attempt crushing it by a force, which, though a
month before, it had been thought equal to the
united power of the peaceful colonists, he now
prudently deemed no more than competent to
protect itself within its watery boundaries. Proclamations
were, however, fulminated against the
rebels; and such other measures as were thought
indispensable to assert the dignity and authority
of the crown, were promptly adopted. Of course,
these harmless denunciations were disregarded,
and all his exhortations to return to an allegiance
which the people still denied had ever been impaired,
were lost amid the din of arms, and the
popular cries of the time. These appeals of the
British General, as well as sundry others, made
by the royal governors who yet held their rule
throughout all the provinces, except the one in
by the people in humble, but manly petitions to
the throne for justice; and in loud remonstrances
to the Parliament, requiring to be restored to the
possession of those rights and immunities which
should be secured to all who enjoyed the protection
of their common constitution. Still the power
and prerogatives of the Prince were deeply respected,
and were alluded to, in all public documents,
with the veneration which was thought due
to the sacredness of his character and station.
But that biting, though grave sarcasm which the
colonists knew so well how to use, was freely
expended on his ministers, who were accused of
devising the measures so destructive to the peace
of the empire. In this manner passed some weeks
after the series of skirmishes which were called
the battle of Lexington, from the circumstance
of commencing at the hamlet of that name,
both parties continuing to prepare for a mightier
exhibition of their power and daring.
Lionel had by no means been an unconcerned
spectator of these preparations. The morning
after the return of the detachment, he applied
for a command, equal to his just expectations.
But while he was complimented on the spirit
and loyalty he had manifested on the late occasion,
it was intimated to the young man that
he might be of more service to the cause of his
Prince, by devoting his time to the cultivation of
his interest among those powerful colonists with
whom his family was allied by blood, or connected
by long and close intimacies. It was
even submitted to his own judgment whether it
would not be well, at some auspicious moment,
to trust his person without the defences of the
army, in the prosecution of this commendable
design. There was so much that was flattering
of the young soldier, artfully mingled with these
ambiguous proposals, that he became content
to await the course of events, having, however,
secured a promise of obtaining a suitable
military command in the case of further hostilities.
That such an event was at hand, could not
well be concealed from one much less observing
than Major Lincoln.
Gage had already abandoned his temporary
position in Charlestown, for the sake of procuring
additional security by concentrating his
force. From the hills of the Peninsula of Boston,
it was apparent that the colonists were
fast assuming the front of men who were resolved
to beleaguer the army of the King.
Many of the opposite heights were already
crowned with hastily-formed works of earth, and
a formidable body of these unpractised warriors
had set themselves boldly down before the entrance
to the isthmus, cutting off all communication
with the adjacent country, and occupying
the little village of Roxbury, directly before the
muzzles of the British guns, with a hardiness that
would not have disgraced men much longer tried
in the field, and more inured to its dangers.
The surprise created in the army by these appearances
of skill and spirit among the hitherto
despised Americans, in some measure ceased
when the rumour spread itself in their camp, that
many gentlemen of the Provinces, who had served
with credit in the forces of the crown, at former
periods, were mingled with the people in stations
of responsibility and command. Among
others, Lionel heard the names of Ward and
Thomas; men of liberal attainments, and of some
experience in arms. Both were regularly commissioned
by the Congress of the colony as
leaders of their forces; and under their orders
all the necessary qualifications of soldiers,
excepting the two indispensible requisites
of discipline and arms. Lionel heard the name
of Warren mentioned oftener than any other
in the circles of Province-house, and with
that sort of bitterness, which, even while it
bespoke their animosity, betrayed the respect of
his enemies. This gentleman, who, until the last
moment had braved the presence of the royal
troops, and fearlessly advocated his principles,
while encircled with their bayonets, was now
known to have suddenly disappeared from
among them, abandoning home, property, and a
lucrative profession; and by sharing in the
closing scenes of the day of Lexington, to have
fairly cast his fortunes on the struggle. But
the name which in secret possessed the greatest
charm for the ear of the young British soldier,
was that of Putnam, a yeoman of the neighbouring
colony of Connecticut, who, as the uproar
of the alarm whirled by him, literally deserted
his plough, and mounting a beast from its team,
made an early halt, after a forced march of a
hundred miles, in the foremost ranks of his countrymen.
While the name of this sturdy American
was passing in whispers among the veterans who
crowded the levees of Gage, a flood of melancholy
and tender recollections flashed through
the brain of the young man. He remembered
the frequent and interesting communications
which in his boyhood, he had held with his own
father, before the dark shade had passed across
the reason of Sir Lionel, and, in every tale of
murderous combats with the savage tenants of
the wilds, in each scene of danger and of daring
that had distinguished the romantic warfare
of the wilderness, and even in strange and fearful
of this man was blended with a species of chivalrous
fame that is seldom obtained in an enlightened
age, and never undeservedly. The great
wealth of the family of Lincoln, and the high
expectations of its heir, had obtained for the latter
a military rank which at that period was rarely
enjoyed by any but such as had bought the distinction
by long and arduous services. Consequently,
many of his equals had shared in those
trials of his father, in which the `Lion heart' of
America had been so conspicuous for his deeds.
By these grave veterans, who should know him
best, the name of Putnam was always mentioned
with strong and romantic affection; and when the
notable scheme of detaching him, by the promise
of office and wealth, from the cause of the
colonists was proposed by the cringing counsellors
who surrounded the commander-in-chief,
it was listened to with a contemptuous incredulity
by the former associates of the old partisan,
that the result of the plan fully justified.
Similar inducements were offered to others among
the Americans, whose talents were thought worthy
of purchase; but so deep root had the principles
of the day taken, that not a man of any note
was found to listen to the proposition.
While these subtle experiments were adopted
in the room of more energetic measures, troops
continued to arrive from England, and, before
the end of May, many leaders of renown appeared
in the councils of Gage, who now possessed
a disposable force of not less than eight
thousand bayonets. With the appearance of these
reinforcements, the fallen pride of the army began
to revive, and the spirits of the haughty
young men who had so recently left the gay
parades of their boasted island, were chafed by
within the narrow limits of the peninsula
by a band of half-armed husbandmen, destitute
alike of the knowledge of war and of most of
its munitions. This feeling was increased by
the taunts of the Americans themselves, who
now turned the tables on their adversaries, applying,
among other sneers, the term of “elbowroom”
freely to Burgoyne, one of those chieftains
of the royal army, who had boasted unwittingly
of the intention of himself and his
compeers, to widen the limits of the army immediately
on their arrival at the scene of the
contest. The aspect of things within the Briish
camp began to indicate, however, that their
leaders were serious in the intention to extend
their possessions, and all eyes were again turned
to the heights of Charlestown, the spot most likely
to be first occupied.
No military positions could be more happily
situated, as respects locality, to support each
other, and to extend and weaken the lines of
their enemies, than the two opposite peninsulas
so often mentioned. The distance between them
was but six hundred yards, and the deep and
navigable waters by which they were nearly
surrounded, rendered it easy for the royal general
to command, at any time, the assistance of
the heaviest vessels of the fleet, in defending
either place. With these advantages before them,
the army gladly heard those orders issued,
which, it was well understood, indicated an approaching
movement to the opposite shores.
It was now eight weeks since the commencement
of hostilities, and the war had been confined
to the preparations detailed, with the exception
of one or two sharp skirmishes on the islands of
the harbour, between the foragers of the army,
the latter well maintained their newly acquired
reputation for spirit.
With the arrival of the regiments from England,
gaiety had once more visited the town,
though such of the inhabitants as were compelled
to remain against their inclinations, continued
to maintain that cold reserve, in their
deportment, which effectually repelled all the
efforts of the officers to include them in the wanton
festivities of the time. There were a few,
however, among the colonists, who had been
bribed, by offices and emoluments, to desert the
good cause of the land; and as some of these had
already been rewarded by offices which gave
them access to the ear of the royal governor,
who was thought to be unduly and unhappily influenced
by the pernicious councils with which
they poisoned his mind and prepared him for
acts of injustice and harshness, that both his
unbiassed feelings and ordinary opinions would
have condemned. A few days succeeding the
affair of Lexington, a meeting of the inhabitants
had been convened, and a solemn compact was
made between them and the governor, that such
as chose to deliver up their arms, might leave
the place, while the remainder were promised a
suitable protection in their own dwellings. The
arms were delivered, but that part of the conditions
which related to the removal of the inhabitants
was violated, under slight and insufficient
pretexts. This, and various other causes incidental
to military rule, imbittered the feelings of the
people, and furnished new causes of complaint;
while, on the other hand, hatred was rapidly
usurping the place of contempt, in the breasts
of those who had been compelled to change
their sentiments with respect to a people that
and distrust existed, with all the violence
of personality, within the place itself,
affording an additional reason to the troops for
wishing to extend their limits. Notwithstanding
these inauspicious omens of the character
of the contest, the native kindness of Gage, and
perhaps a desire to rescue a few of his own
men from the hands of the colonists, induced
him to consent to an exchange of the prisoners
made in the inroad; thus establishing, in the
onset, a precedent to distinguish the controversy
from an ordinary rebellion against the loyal authority
of the sovereign. A meeting was held,
for this purpose, in the village of Charlestown, at
that time unoccupied by either army. At the
head of the American deputation appeared
Warren, and the old partisan of the wilderness,
already mentioned, who, by a happy, though not
uncommon constitution of temperament, was as
forward in deeds of charity as in those of daring.
At this interview, several of the veterans of the
royal army were present, having passed the
strait to hold a last, friendly converse with their
ancient comrade, who received them with the
frankness of a soldier, while he rejected their subtle
endeavours to entice him from the banners
under which he had enlisted, with a sturdiness
as unpretending as it was inflexible.
While these events were occurring at the great
scene of the contest, the hum of preparation was
to be heard throughout the whole of the wide extent
of the colonies. In various places slight acts
of hostility were committed, the Americans no
longer waiting for the British to be the aggressors,
and everywhere such military stores as
could be reached, were seized, peaceably or by
violence, as the case required. The concentration
of most of the troops in Boston, had, however,
achieve, though, while they still rested, nominally,
under the dominion of the crown, they neglected
no means within their power to assert
their rights in the last extremity.
At Philadelphia “the Congress of the Delegates
from the United Colonies,” the body that controlled
the great movements of a people who now first
began to act as a distinct nation, issued their manifestos,
supporting, in a masterly manner, their
principles, and proceeded to organize an army
that should be as competent to maintain them as
circumstances would allow. Gentlemen who had
been trained to arms in the service of the king,
were invited to resort to their banners, and the remainder
of the vacancies were filled by the names
of the youthful, the bold, and adventurous, who
were willing to risk their lives in a cause where
even success promised so little personal advantage.
At the head of this list of untrained warriors, the
Congress placed one of their own body, a man
already distinguished for his services in the field,
and who has since bequeathed to his country the
glory of an untarnished name.
| CHAPTER XIII. Lionel Lincoln, or, The leaguer of Boston | |