The Siege of Boston: Halifax and Washington

They were reminded that it was the 5th of March, and were called upon to avenge the death of their countrymen killed on that day. The many eminences in and near Boston which overlooked the ground on which it was expected that the contending parties would engage were crowded with numerous spectators. But General Howe did not intend to attack till the next day. In order to be ready for it, the transports went down in the evening towards the castle. In the night a most violent storm, and towards morning a heavy flood of rain, came on. A carnage was thus providentially prevented that would probably have equalled, if not exceeded, the fatal 17th of June at Bunker's Hill. In this situation it was agreed by the British, in a council of war, to evacuate the town as soon as possible.

Their enforced delay had permitted Washington so to strengthen his works as to render an assault on them too dangerous to be attempted.

In a few days after a flag came out of Boston, with a paper signed by four selectmen, informing, "that they had applied to General Robertson, who, on an application to General Howe, was authorized to assure them that he had no intention of burning the town, unless the troops under his command were molested during their embarkation, or at their departure, by the armed force without." When this paper was presented to General Washington, he replied, "that as it was an unauthenticated paper, and without an address, and not obligatory on General Howe, he could take no notice of it;" but at the same time intimated his good wishes for the security of the town.

A proclamation was issued by General Howe, ordering all woollen and linen goods to be delivered to Crean Brush, Esq. Shops were opened and stripped of their goods. A licentious plundering took place. Much was carried off, and more was wantonly destroyed. These irregularities were forbidden in orders, and the guilty threatened with death; but nevertheless every mischief which disappointed malice could suggest was committed.

The British, amounting to more than seven thousand men, evacuated Boston, leaving their barracks standing, and also a number of cannon spiked, four large iron seamortars, and stores to the value of thirty thousand pounds. They demolished the castle, and knocked off the trunnions of the cannon. Various incidents caused a delay of nine days after the evacuation, before they left Nantasket road.

This embarkation was attended with many circumstances of distress and embarrassment. On the departure of the royal army from Boston, a great number of the inhabitants attached to their sovereign, and afraid of public resentment, chose to abandon their country. From the great multitude about to depart, there was no possibility of procuring purchasers for their furniture, neither was there a sufficiency of vessels for its convenient transportation. Mutual jealousy subsisted between the army and navy, each charging the other as the cause of some part of their common distress. The army was full of discontent. Reinforcements, though long promised, had not arrived. Both officers and soldiers thought themselves neglected. Five months had elapsed since they had received any advice of their destination. Wants and inconveniences increased their ill humor. Their intended voyage to Halifax subjected them to great dangers. The coast, at all times hazardous, was eminently so at that tempestuous equinoctial season. They had reason to fear they would be blown off to the West Indies, and without a sufficient stock of provisions. They were also going to a barren country. To add to their difficulties, this dangerous voyage, when completed, was directly so much out of their way. Their business lay to the southward, and they were going northward. Under all these difficulties, and with all these gloomy prospects, the fleet steered for Halifax. Contrary to appearances, the voyage thither was both short and prosperous. They remained there for some time, waiting for reinforcements and instructions from England.

When the royal fleet and army departed from Boston, several ships were left behind for the protection of vessels coming from England, but the American privateers were so alert that they nevertheless made many prizes. Some of the vessels which they captured were laden with arms and warlike stores. Some transports, with troops on board, were also taken. These had run into the harbor, not knowing that the place was evacuated.

The boats employed in the embarkation of the British troops had scarcely completed their business when General Washington, with his army, marched into Boston. He was received with marks of approbation more flattering than the pomps of a triumph. The inhabitants, released from the severities of a garrison life, and from the various indignities to which they were subjected, hailed him as their deliverer. Reciprocal congratulations between those who had been confined within the British lines, and those who were excluded from entering them, were exchanged with an ardor which cannot be described. General Washington was honored by Congress with a vote of thanks. They also ordered a medal to be struck, with suitable devices, to perpetuate the remembrance of the great event. The Massachusetts council and house of representatives complimented him in a joint address, in which they expressed their good wishes in the following words: "May you still go on approved by Heaven, revered by all good men, and dreaded by those tyrants who claim their fellowmen as their property."