A Year With George Washington
On March 17, 1776, succumbing to the siege and potential destruction at the hands of Washington’s Army, British Forces evacuated Boston and set sail for Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The British occupiers of Boston rose from their beds on the morning of March 5, 1776, to find that General Washington and his army had fortified the important promontory of Dorchester Heights.
Colonel Rufus Putnam, cousin of General Israel Putnam, had convinced Washington that it was possible to fortify the heights despite the frozen ground, which made digging impossible. His plan entailed constructing the defenses above ground using chandeliers (heavy timbers, roughly 10 feet long, with vertical members for holding various materials and serving as structural framing) and fascines (bundles of rough brushwood designed to hold rocks or other earthen material).
Under the cover of night, and employing a force of 2500 men under the command of General John Thomas, the men stacked hay bales along the path upward to the Heights such that they blocked the view from the city and harbor below and muffled the sound of the work being carried out.
With Washington mingling among his men, offering encouragement and reminding them that this was the 6th anniversary of the Boston Massacre, the soldiers installed a pre-fabricated and formidable breastwork and then aimed the whole of Henry Knox’s newly arrived artillery at the city below.
The British were caught entirely unawares and had been so oblivious to the flurry of activity taking place that some were busy planning a masquerade ball, even as the Knox’s cannon were being trained on them.
When the British command awoke to the threatening display, they were dumbfounded, contemplating how such an astonishing feat could have been achieved in one evening. British General William Howe could not hide his admiration when he said, “The rebels have done more in one night than my whole army would have done in a month.”
Howe ordered an artillery barrage on the Heights, to no avail. The steep angle of fire was too much for his cannon, even when they burrowed holes in the ground to pitch the cannon higher. His plan to assault the Heights with troops was also thwarted when Providence once again asserted itself. A huge snowstorm, accompanied by gale-force winds, descended on Boston, making it impossible to dislodge the Americans from the Heights.
Remembering the terrible cost he had paid when assaulting Bunker Hill the previous summer, and low on food, Howe decided to vacate the town and live to fight another day. After sending word to Washington that if he and his army were allowed to leave unmolested, he would not burn down the town. Washington agreed, and on March 17th, the British left Boston for Halifax, never to return.
But not all had left, or so it seemed. American General Sullivan, spying British troops on Bunker Hill, went to confront them, only to find dummy soldiers made of paper and wire with officer gorges around their necks made of horseshoes.
Continental soldiers, having been hard at work for months trying to liberate the town, taunted the exiting British soldiers with a saucy doggerel –
“The Tories, with their brats and wives, have fled to save their wretched lives.”
