Chapter 12

THE OPENING OF THE WAR.

The people of Middlebury welcomed Allen and his Green Mountain Boys with enthusiasm.

They knew that their only chance of maintaining their lands--lands which they had reclaimed and made valuable--was by assisting Allen in his crusade against the pretensions of New York.

Success perched upon his banner, and not only was he able to hold the lands for the people, but he drove the New York settlers out of the district.

He had drafted a petition to the English king, asking that Vermont should be a separate colony, having its own governor and its legislature.

But before that petition reached England the revolution had broken out.

The Boston Port bill had been passed, which enacted that no kind of merchandise should any longer be shipped or landed at the wharves of Boston.

The custom house was removed to Salem, but the people of that town refused the honor conferred on them by the tyrant who ruled the destinies of England and the colonies.

The inhabitants of Marblehead offered the free use of their warehouses to the merchants of Boston. The Colonial Assembly stood by the people.

Then England passed an act of parliament annuling the charter of Massachusetts. The people were declared rebels, and the governor was ordered to send to England for trial all persons who should resist the royal officers.

A colonial congress was called to assemble at Philadelphia. Eleven colonies were represented, and it was unanimously agreed to sustain Massachusetts in her conflict with parliament.

An address was sent to King George, another to the English nation, and a third to the people of Canada.

As soon as England received the addresses an order was made by which the governor was directed to reduce the colonists by force.

So we see that England took the initiative in the war which was to deprive her of her richest colonies.

A fleet and an army of ten thousand men were sent to America to aid in the work of subjugation.

Gov. Gage seized Boston Neck and fortified it. The military stores in the arsenals of Cambridge and Charlestown were conveyed to Boston, and the general assembly was ordered to disband.

Instead of accepting their dismissal, the members resolved themselves into a provincial congress, and voted to equip an army of twelve thousand 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 to Concord, sixteen miles away.

The wrath of the governor was especially directed against Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who were looked upon as the leaders of the rebellion.

An expedition was sent against Concord, and eight hundred men marched toward 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 the expedition.

Joseph Warren--all honor to him--had dispatched Paul Revere and William Dawes to ride with all speed to Concord and Lexington and rouse the whole country to resistance.

A company of one hundred and thirty Minute Men assembled on Lexington Common and awaited the approach of the enemy, but after staying some hours they dispersed.

At five o'clock in the morning the English appeared, led by the notorious Pitcairn.

The Minute Men had gone back to their homes, tired of waiting; but seventy, led by Capt. Parker, were roused and reached the common before the enemy.

Pitcairn rode up to them and exclaimed:

"Disperse, you villains! Throw down your arms, ye rebels, and disperse!"

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 Minute Men 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 English found but little worth taking. They started to sack the town.

While they were doing this the Minute Men had rallied and began to assemble from all quarters.

A company of English guarded the bridge over Concord River. They were attacked by the Minute Men and two English soldiers were killed. The Minute Men captured the bridge, and the enemy began a retreat into the town, 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 a murderous fire into the ranks of the retreating English.

Had it not been for the arrival of reinforcements under Lord Percy, the English army would have been completely routed.

The fight continued right up to Charlestown, and only ceased because the 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, while the 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 round Boston.

New Hampshire sent its militia, with John Stark at its head; Rhode Island sent her quota under the leadership of Nathaniel Greene.

New Haven was not behind, for a regiment was dispatched from that city with Benedict Arnold as leader.

All this news was conveyed to Ethan Allen by Eben Pike, who had been dispatched on the dangerous mission to Boston to find out what the Provincials meant to do. No more trusty messenger could have been found 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 of capturing Ticonderoga, and that reward we will win."

To capture the fort with its treasures would be to strike a blow at England's supremacy which would tell more than any concerted action at Boston.

"Call the roll," ordered Allen.

Two hundred and seventy men answered the call, and Allen shouted for joy.

"Men of the Great Mountains, we are strong, because a mountain boy is worth ten men of the valleys. We shall capture Ticonderoga. I cannot offer you life; many may be killed, more wounded; but remember we have fought for our homes, we must now fight for our country. We have driven the Yorkers out of the Green Mountains, we must now drive the English out of America, or compel them to recognize our right to govern ourselves. Will you follow me?"

A tremendous shout in the affirmative went up from those brave patriots, and Ethan Allen was so overcome with emotion that for a few moments he could not speak.

Then, raising his sword above his head, he shouted:

"On to Ticonderoga! Victory and freedom, or death, for every man who hears my voice!"

And the Green Mountain Boys took up the cry:

"On to Ticonderoga! Victory or death!"