Read The Hero of Ticonderoga; or, Ethan Allen and His Green Mountain Boys Page 12
CHAPTER XII.
THE OPENING OF THE WAR.
The people of Middlebury welcomed Allen and his Green Mountain Boyswith enthusiasm.
They knew that their only chance of maintaining their lands--landswhich they had reclaimed and made valuable--was by assisting Allen inhis crusade against the pretensions of New York.
Success perched upon his banner, and not only was he able to hold thelands for the people, but he drove the New York settlers out of thedistrict.
He had drafted a petition to the English king, asking that Vermontshould be a separate colony, having its own governor and itslegislature.
But before that petition reached England the revolution had broken out.
The Boston Port bill had been passed, which enacted that no kind ofmerchandise should any longer be shipped or landed at the wharves ofBoston.
The custom house was removed to Salem, but the people of that townrefused the honor conferred on them by the tyrant who ruled thedestinies of England and the colonies.
The inhabitants of Marblehead offered the free use of their warehousesto the merchants of Boston. The Colonial Assembly stood by the people.
Then England passed an act of parliament annuling the charter ofMassachusetts. The people were declared rebels, and the governor wasordered to send to England for trial all persons who should resist theroyal officers.
A colonial congress was called to assemble at Philadelphia. Elevencolonies were represented, and it was unanimously agreed to sustainMassachusetts in her conflict with parliament.
An address was sent to King George, another to the English nation, anda third to the people of Canada.
As soon as England received the addresses an order was made by whichthe governor was directed to reduce the colonists by force.
So we see that England took the initiative in the war which was todeprive her of her richest colonies.
A fleet and an army of ten thousand men were sent to America to aid inthe work of subjugation.
Gov. Gage seized Boston Neck and fortified it. The military stores inthe arsenals of Cambridge and Charlestown were conveyed to Boston, andthe general assembly was ordered to disband.
Instead of accepting their dismissal, the members resolved themselvesinto a provincial congress, and voted to equip an army of twelvethousand men to defend the colony.
As soon as the people of Boston learned the intentions of the governor,they concealed their ammunition in carts of rubbish and conveyed it toConcord, sixteen miles away.
The wrath of the governor was especially directed against Samuel Adamsand John Hancock, who were looked upon as the leaders of the rebellion.
An expedition was sent against Concord, and eight hundred men marchedtoward the town.
But the people of Boston were not to be taken by surprise.
Bells were rung and cannon fired, and the citizens were informed of theexpedition.
Joseph Warren--all honor to him--had dispatched Paul Revere and WilliamDawes to ride with all speed to Concord and Lexington and rouse thewhole country to resistance.
A company of one hundred and thirty Minute Men assembled on LexingtonCommon and awaited the approach of the enemy, but after staying somehours they dispersed.
At five o'clock in the morning the English appeared, led by thenotorious Pitcairn.
The Minute Men had gone back to their homes, tired of waiting; butseventy, led by Capt. Parker, were roused and reached the common beforethe enemy.
Pitcairn rode up to them and exclaimed:
"Disperse, you villains! Throw down your arms, ye rebels, anddisperse!"
The Minute Men stood defiant and still.
Pitcairn discharged his pistol at them and shouted to his men:
"Fire!"
The first volley whistled through the air, and sixteen of the MinuteMen fell, dead or wounded.
The rest fired a few random shots and dispersed.
The English pressed on to Concord.
The people had quietly removed most of the ammunition, and the Englishfound but little worth taking. They started to sack the town.
While they were doing this the Minute Men had rallied and began toassemble from all quarters.
A company of English guarded the bridge over Concord River. They wereattacked by the Minute Men and two English soldiers were killed. TheMinute Men captured the bridge, and the enemy began a retreat into thetown, and then on the road to Lexington.
On every side the patriots assembled. For six miles the battle waged.
Every tree, every house and barn sheltered the patriots, who poured amurderous fire into the ranks of the retreating English.
Had it not been for the arrival of reinforcements under Lord Percy, theEnglish army would have been completely routed.
The fight continued right up to Charlestown, and only ceased becausethe people feared the fleet would burn the city.
The first battle had been fought.
The English had suffered a loss of two hundred and seventy-three, whilethe patriots lost only eighty-three in dead and wounded.
The battle of Lexington fired the country.
Within a few days an army of twenty thousand men had gathered roundBoston.
New Hampshire sent its militia, with John Stark at its head; RhodeIsland sent her quota under the leadership of Nathaniel Greene.
New Haven was not behind, for a regiment was dispatched from that citywith Benedict Arnold as leader.
All this news was conveyed to Ethan Allen by Eben Pike, who had beendispatched on the dangerous mission to Boston to find out what theProvincials meant to do. No more trusty messenger could have beenfound than the young scout of the Green Mountains.
"What shall we do?" asked Baker.
"Fight!" was Allen's curt reply.
"Shall we join the patriots at Boston?"
"No; Connecticut has offered a thousand dollars toward the expenses ofcapturing Ticonderoga, and that reward we will win."
To capture the fort with its treasures would be to strike a blow atEngland's supremacy which would tell more than any concerted action atBoston.
"Call the roll," ordered Allen.
Two hundred and seventy men answered the call, and Allen shouted forjoy.
"Men of the Great Mountains, we are strong, because a mountain boy isworth ten men of the valleys. We shall capture Ticonderoga. I cannotoffer you life; many may be killed, more wounded; but remember we havefought for our homes, we must now fight for our country. We havedriven the Yorkers out of the Green Mountains, we must now drive theEnglish out of America, or compel them to recognize our right to governourselves. Will you follow me?"
A tremendous shout in the affirmative went up from those bravepatriots, and Ethan Allen was so overcome with emotion that for a fewmoments he could not speak.
Then, raising his sword above his head, he shouted:
"On to Ticonderoga! Victory and freedom, or death, for every man whohears my voice!"