Journal of Lieutenant Isaac Bangs: No. II Memorandum Continued, April 1, 1776

NOR is it doubted, if wee may Judge from the outward appearance of Persons, but that Mr. Lovell (tho in the Capacity of a Prisoner) embarqued with less reluctance than those Miscreants whose complicated offences against the Liberties of their Country denied them the Boon of continueing any longer as Freemen in this Land of Liberty; wherefore since by their Behaviour they had forfeited all right to Freedom, & were driven to the Alternitude of Slavery in this or in a foreign Land, they chose rather to imbarque and be in Servitude with other Slaves than to continue in their native Country & Suffer the just resentinent of their injured Brethren.

Many of these obnoxious animals (tho none of the most obnoxious) chose to tarry & rely upon the Mercy of their offended Countrymen than to hazard their Lives with the Fleet & Army, who were Miserably stocked with Provisions, — having nothing of Animal Food left but salt Meat, & that in so small a Quantity that their common allowance would consume it all in less than three Weeks; this account I had from a Friend of mine who tarried in Boston during the whole siege, who was well acquainted with their Scituation, & on whose veracity I think I can safely rely. In this miserable Scituation they left the Town & hauled of to Nantascet, where I shall, for the present, leave them. These Tories which remained were soon apprehended, & what fate they will receive at the hands of their injured Countrymen (for I can't call them Brethren) may be left by me undetermin'd as yet.

The Fatiegues & Hardships that were underwent by that part of the Army which were Stationed at Roxbury from the time of our first building upon the Hill, tho not eaqual to the Hardships which many of this Profession have endured, yet I think I may safely pronounce them hard. When we first arrived upon the Hills, as I before observed, we had no cover from the Weather but Apple Trees (a miserable Shelter from Storms & March Winds); for the Regulars had previously set fire to almost all the Houses & Barns on the Neck, two Barns & three small Houses only being left, & of these only the Barns were so situated as to afford shelter for the Army of 25 Hundred Men, or thereabouts, because of their Distance from the Works we were building. Therefore no particular Regiments could be stationed there, & it was absolutely necessary to keep at least that Number of Men constantly upon the Hills, & these must be drawn from those at Roxbury. This Party together with the Guards at Roxbury kept half of our Men on duty constantly, & many being taken ill about that time, some with what we termed the Hill Fever & others with real Sickness, many Men were obliged to be on Duty two Days & Nights successively. Moreover, because of the dangerous Scituation of the Causeway, we were obliged to go on to relieve the Parties on the Hills in the Night at 3 o'clock; this made it more fatiegueing, being in this manner broke of our Rest each Night.

Being myself unwell upon our first entering upon the Hills, I was unable to do but three Tours of Duty in this Manner, and had entered upon the fourth when I was so unwell that with much difficulty with the assistance of an able Bodied Man I got of from the Hills. I continued 2 Days in my Chamber and then walked out, but the Blody Flux raged so hard upon me & nothing suitable for my Diet being to be bought, it was thought best for me to go into the Country, whereupon I went to Concord & tarried several Days; but being unwilling to tarry any longer out of Camp than what was absolutely necessary, I returned about 3 Days before the enemy evacuated Boston. Being still unfit for Duty, nevertheless I undertook another Tour, seeing Duty had been so hard for the other Officers, — many of them by this Time being unwell & unfit for Duty. On the 24 of March, the enemy being gone down to Nantascet & it being thought best to have some steady forces upon the Hills, Col. Learneard's & Cole Cary's Regiments were both of them ordered upon the Hills. To the latter I belonged, & we moved on expecting to have found Barracks provided; but when we arrived we found that the Barracks provided for our Regt were not above half sufficient to contain them, neither were there Chimneys in any of them. Our being huddled in this manner with such accommodations upon the Hills was owing to the unfaithfullness of the Barrack Master, who had returned to the Genl. that a sufficiency of Barracks were finished to receive us. Yet in this Scituation, half killed with smoke, we found our Duty easier than when we lived at Roxbury & did Duty upon the Hills. Many of our People were sick, for whom a convenient House was provided at Roxbury; among these two only were very Dangerous, viz., Elisha Doane & Joseph Philips. Doane, after having been extreme low and weak, being several times looked upon as a dying Man, recovered so far that on my coming from Roxbury on the second of April he was able to sit up and in a likely way of recovery. But as to Philips, who was taken with a Pleurisy which afterwards turned to a Malignant Putrid Fever, God in his providence saw fit to take him to himself, as we trust, on the 30th of March. The next Day he was decently inter'd. On the 18th of March, the Enemy still keeping Possession of Castle William, I mounted the guard upon the Point near the Castle at not more than 1 of a Mile Distance; the night being very calm & my Duty calling me to visit the Centuries, I could hear them busiely employed, as I then supposed, in spiking up the Cannon & breaking of the Trunnions. This work they continued till the next day, 19th, when about 3 o'clock they began to blow up the Fortifications. This lasted till about sunset, when they set the Block House on the South Poin on Fire. Our Guard were now expecting to be relieved & were paraded to receive the relief; but the relief being detained, we were desirous to see the fire, & retired to a Hill about 10 Rods distance North from the Guard House, where we might have a full View. The Enemy, perceiving us upon the Hill within point Blank Shot of their Cannon, fired three 24 lb. Shot at us, neither of which went more than 2 yards above our Heads. The first & second would unavoidably have killed some of the men had they not have fell upon discovering the Flashes of their Guns; as it was, several of our Men by the Wind of the Balls were almost stuned. Neither of the Balls came nearer to me than 10 Yards Distance, tho I stood upon the Top of the Hill & never removed till after their fire was over. The other Men were in more danger after the first Shot; for the Enemy, knowing they would repair to the Guard House, had placed their Cannon so as to take them on their runing from the Hill. Tho horribly frightned by the whistling of the Balls, I considered this, and was the only Man that stood the Ground.

The next day, 20th, they continued demolishing the Works of the Castle, and in the Evening set all the Combustible part of it on Fire, and left it the same Night. I myself went on the next Day to see the Havock and Destruction they had made, the which surpass all discription & of which no man could have any tolerable Idea unless himself was made a Spectator; that once beautifull Fortress was now nothing more than a confused heap of Rubbish. The Enemy left the chief part of their Cannon, all of which (excepting three 18 lb. ers which were left entire) had either a Trunnion beat of or the Breechings broke of and all spiked up. We dug up several of their Boxes of powder, which were designed to blow up part of the Walls, but had not taken Fire.

The Enemies Fleet, which I left at Nantascet, remained there till Wednesday, 27 of March, when about half of their Number, consisting chiefly of Transports with a Few Convoys of Men of war, set sail & stood out to sea; the remaining Ships, excepting 4 Men of war (which they left at Nantascet), followed them the next Saturday.

The Fleet lying so long below made many People mistrustfull that their design was to reland in some part of the Harbour; therefore we kept strong Guards in every exposed part thereof. But it afterwards appeared that their long delay was occasioned by the Confusion and Hurry in which they quitted the Town, not having any time either to rig the Vessels or distribute the Provisions among the Vessels. Those which sailed first were said to contain the Families of the Tories which they shipped of for Halifax as soon as they could get them ready.

After the first part of the Fleet sailed, the other part was reinforced by several large Ships of war, but from whence they came I could never learn.

One of the Fleet having a valuable cargo of Stolen goods together with a number of Tories was cast away soon after on Cape Cod, & another whose Cargo was estimated at 35,000£ sterling was taken by Capt. Merry; what became of the others time will discover.

While the Fleet was lying at Nantascet, our People fixed several Fire Engines, which would undoubtedly have consumed some of their Fleet, but the Wind proving unfavourable detered us from putting our design in execution.

The Enemy having thus evacuated Boston & chiefly left the Harbour, the Army, excepting a few Regiments, were order'd to the Southward, as it was expected the Enemy were gone to the Southern Colonies. At least there was great danger of it; and as New York (I suppose) was thought to be the Center of the Colonies, they were ordered for that place. Many Regiments had already marched (& by accounts from them they had arrived at N. York) before the Fleet left Boston; the others, as I before mentioned, had orders to follow. Genl. Green's Brigade, consisting of 5 Regiments — Viz., Colns Varnum, Hitchcock, Little, Reed, & Bailey — had orders to March on Monday, the 1 of April, to New London by the Way of Norwich; butin the Night before their March Expresses came from Newport that the Enemy were seen of that Port, & that it was expected that they were about to land. This occasioned counter Orders for them to take Providence in their Way. I myself had to the First of April acted in the Regiment to which I belonged, Viz., in Cola Cary's Regt of Militia; but their time being expired, and having in the Evening before an Invitation to take the Place of one Lieut Shaw of Colm Baileys Regt, & having a desire to be farther instrumental in so glorious a Cause, & finding my acceptance of the office would be agreeable to the officers, I readily agreed to it, & Lieut. Col Jacobs went the next morning to Cambridge for the Generals approbation, which if I could obtain I was to follow the Regt. We found the Genl. very busie in wrighting dispatches, &c., that he could not attend to Buisness of such small Consequence; but upon Agt. Genl. Gates Promise of my having a Commission if I would follow the Army, I concluded to do it if I had the advice of Col Baily. I therefore return'd & asked Col. Baily, who advised me if I had an inclination, to go, & said he made no doubt but that I should be as well used as if Time had permitted the Genl. to have given me a Commission. I therefore concluded to follow the next Morning, & to spend the Evening in wrighting to acquaint my Friends of my New undertaking, which I accordingly did; & the next morning the 2d of April set out to overtake the Regt, which I affected that after Noon. I found Capt Allen to whose Company I belonged to be a very agreable Companion, & his Company a Civil Set of People. As I was entirely unacquainted with any Person in the Company, I had previously enquired of my Friends as to their Characters before I engaged to serve, & found that the Capt & his other officers had the character of civil & agreable Gentlemen, & upon my further acquaintance with them I found their Good Characters to surpass my expectations. 4th of April we arrived at Providence; the Roads being bad and the Rainy Weather prevented our arriving sooner. Nothing very material happened during our March. On the road I saw Mrs. Atwood and Miss R. Sears, and Breakfasted with them at Mr. Atwoods House in I found the Town of Providence very agreably scituated on each side of a River. Several very elegant Buildings; in perticular the Baptist Meeting House & the College, a little east of the Town. We tarried here but one Night, & the next Day sat out for Norwich in Connecticut.

At Providence I saw building two neat Frigates . . .

[Here a page is gone]

. . . fellow had hired to take care of his Farm, coincided very well in each other's Opinions, & I believe no part of the old Mans Estate suffered for the want of Cultivation.

SOURCE: Edward Bangs, Edited, Journal of Lieutenant Isaac Bangs, April 1 to July 29, 1776, pp. 15-21

Journal of Lieutenant Isaac Bangs, April 1, 1776

No. I. Minutes of a Journal by ISAAC BANGS; begun April 1, 1776.

HAVING been in the Service of the united Colonies as a Lieut in Capt. Benjamin Godfrey's Company in Colⁿ Carys Regiment of Militia for about 2 months, in which many glorious Achievements were performed and great Glory added to the Arms of the Americans by the Expulsion of the Ministerial Army from their Strong Holds in Boston, in which, according to my Station, I did my proportion of the fatigueing Duty which was requisite to perform the Manœuver which has brought an eternal shame and Disgrace upon the British Arms, I was fired with an ardent Zeal to be farther instrumental in the glorious Cause in which America is now engaged. With this View I entered Colⁿ John Bailey's Regiment as a Lieut to Capt Jacob Allen. In some future Time it may perhaps afford Pleasure to recollect past Toils; and being sensible of the Treachery of my Memory in recollecting past Events, I think it advisable to keep a few Minutes to assist a bad Memory (made worse by the Combustion of an Army) in bringing to Mind past Events. But before I enter upon this I must give a short detail of the Inducements that first brought me to the Army, & of some of the material Events and Circumstances which happened during my continuance in Colⁿ Cary's Regiment. The Ministerial Army had for a long time (Viz., ever since the Battle of Lexington, on the 19th of April, 1775) been invested by the American Army, which kept them closely confined to their Quarters in Boston, during which Time many and Various Manœuvers were practised on both sides to annoy their Enemies, the Circumstances of which it is not my Design to relate.

In the begins of January, 1775, it was thought best, if possible, to drive them from their Fortresses; & as the Lines of our Army were from necessity of a vast extent, & as it was of infinite Importance that each part should be well maintained, General Washington thought the American Army not sufficient to maintain the Lines, and at the same time to act offensively upon the Enemy. He applied to the Colonies of New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Massachusetts Bay for a part of the Militia of each Province. The Proportion required & voted by the Assembly of this Province was 4,368 Men. Among these I inlisted about 30 of Jan.; and according to the Inlisting Orders we proceeded to chuse our Officers, and proceeded to Head Quarters. The Men which constituted our Company were chiefly from the Town of Chatham, — a very civil Set of People, with whom I lived very Quietly. On our arrival at Roxbury we found (by the Negligence of the Barrack Master) that no Barracks were provided for the Melitia. Our Company turned in at Roxbury Street for about 4 days, in old Houses & Cellars; but as we could no longer stand it thus Barracked, & finding no Confidence could be put in their Promises for better Barracks, we made complaint to our Colonels, and were by the Quarter Master provided for in Houses in Dorchester, about 4 Miles Distance, where we continued 9 Days; during which Time great Preparations were making for some new Enterprize, such as Fashienes, Gaboreenes, Barracks ready Framed, & boards cut. All immagined that Dorchester Hill was the Object of our Attention. This Hill is Situate South from Boston about a Mile & an Half, and by Nature seemed formed for the Command of Boston; & not only so, but it commanded a place called Nook Point, about Half way from that place to Boston, — a most convenient place for either Bombarding or Cannonading the Town of Boston. Our Enemies had been long determined to take possession of these Places, as they not only prevent our taking them, but would also be an advantageous Scituation for a Part of their Army. The deep Frost prevented our proceeding till the Evening of the 4 of March, when about 21 Hundred men from Genls Spencer's & Thomas Brigades (which were both stationed at Roxbury), all things being prepared & previously conveyed to the Causeway that leads to the Neck on which the Hill stands, proceeded at about 8 o'clock in the Evening to work upon the Hills, and were relieved at 3 the next Morning by the rest part of our two Brigades, consisting of about 25 Hundred, besides 500 Rifle Men from Cambridge & Roxbury. But here I must not leave unnoticed a grand piece of Generalship which preceded our going upon the Hills. On the Evening of the 2 of March the General (knowing all things were nearly prepared for the Work) gave Orders for begining a Cannonading & Bombardment of the Town, in order to divert the Enemy that they need not be mistrustfull of our Scheeme, as they would possibly if they had notice of our proceedings either annoy us while working with their Cannon or perhaps might come out with their Army before the Work was finished. The Cannonading & Bombarding began from Prospect Hill about 12 o'clock in the Night of the 2 of March, as also from Leechmore's Point, from the Fortress on Cobble Hill, & from the Lines at Roxbury; the enemy Returned the Compliment to the Former Places, but as they had previously removed their Cannon (as we afterwards immagin'd) from their Lines on the Neck, they were not so Complaisant to us at Roxbury. I must also here observe that the day before this the General ordered all the Forces that for conveniency were stationed back to be removed down to the Lines as nigh as possible, and that in consequence of this our Company was that day removed and Barracked in one of the Out Houses of what is called the Hutchinson House, near the Line that separateth Roxbury from Dorchester. A Room was provided for the Officers near by, and we thaught ourselves happy in being so well provided for in such a Croud of both officers and men. In the Eveng of the 3d the rout began again, and we at Roxbury found that they were not so neglectfull of us as on the night before.

In the Evening of the 4th, as I before mentioned, our Men went upon the Hill to work, upon which a more Furious Fire was began than ever, and returned by the Enemy with eaqual Vigour, chiefly upon Roxbury, not mistrusting our People upon the Hill, though it was a very Light Moonshine Evening. 23 Men from our Company went this Evening, and I had a warrant to parrade at 3 in the Morning to go with the Relief. Being anxious to see the Proceedings on both sides, I went to a small Battery of ours a little out of the Direction of their Shot and Bombs, where I tarried about two Hours, & thaught myself Safe; for as the aforesaid Battery was made no use of by us they took no Notice of it, but it being something nigh the Range of our Right Hand Fort, their Shot which were aimed at that fort passed about 200 yards to the Westward of me, here I could see 4 & sometimes 5 of their Boms flying in the Air at a Time, aimed at the Right Hand Fort that they fell about 1/8 of a Mile distance. At Length a Shot which fell near the Fort by its fall took a different direction and came immediately where I was standing; it hopped after its first Falling about 4 times, & if it had hoped again before it broke, as its Velocity was diminishing, it would have come, as near as I can judge, to the very Spot where I was; it broke about 25 Yard Distance, and one of the Pieces came with great rapidity about 2 Yards above my Head. The Fire still continued; but at about 3, when the Relieves of every Regiment to parade, God so ordered it that their Fire was a little abated, or in all probability they must have killed more of us, — one Lieut. Mayo being the only Man hurt; he had his thigh Shot off, of which he died the next Day. Upon our arrival upon the Hills (for we took possession of 2 by building Forts), I was prodigiously surprised to find the Vast works that had been carried on in so little Time. We relieved them, and they got off without being discovered by the Enemy, which was no small Favour both in our coming on & their going off, as the Causeway over which we had to pass was greatly exposed to their Fire from their Works on the Neck. When the Enemy discovered us in ye Morning they ceased firing upon Roxbury, and must be much shagriened to find they had fired so intently upon Roxbury when the Men were as they thought mostly on the Hills.

We expected a Salute immediately from their Ships in the Harbour as also from their Works, and they must have greatly annoyed us had they fired when our Forts were thus weak, being then little besides Fashiens about 6 Feet thick. However this was not their disign. They fired a few Shot upon us as we were seting the Fatigue Partys, and brok 6 or 8 small arms in our Rigiment; but as their Balls struck chiefly before they reached us, we could avoid them. The Enemy Imbarqued on Board Transports about 11 o'clock, and were to have landed (as we after found) upon the Point under cover of the Shiping & of the Castle the next Night; why they had not done it that Day, if ever they intended it, God only knows. For my part, I should have been willing to have receiv^d them either by night or Day, as we had a tolerable cover from Musquetry, and as to their Field Pieces they could not have brought them to bear because of the Sciatuation of the ground. Had they been so rash they would in all probability have found the 5th of March, 1776, more Bloody on their Side than Preston made the same Day in 1770¹ on ours. In fine, I cant think it was ever their design more than to make a Parade. But they have a good excuse, for about 11 at night the most violent Storm of Wind & Rain mixed with Snow & Hail arose that ever I was exposed to. Having nothing to cover us excepting Apple Trees, wee stood it out till about 5 in the Morning, when wee were reliev^d. What I suffered this night I shall ever bear in mind, therefore need not here mention it. Had the enemy have been so foolish as to have attacked us upon the Hills, our People to the amount of about 5,000 Men stood by their Boats at Cambridge and were to have made a descent upon Boston, which they must have easily carried, as I since learn that Genl How at the Head of the Remainder of his Troops was to have made an attack upon our Lines at Roxbury. Had this been the Case, what a woefull Scituation must he have been in, even if he had forced the Lines with our Forces on each Side!

When the Forts were a little finished our People began to make preparations for Nooke Point, before mentioned, by carting Fashienes, &c., in the Face of the Day as nigh the Place as the Scituation would allow (there being a Mire betweene that & the Forts). This place is about Mile distant from the Centre of the Town, and as convenient a place as could even have been wished for from which to through Bombs to the Town. The Enemy, discovring our Motions by this imprudent Step, concluded that we should be at work that Night, therefore the[y] began a most Heavy Fire from the Shipping in the Harbour, from several of the Wharves, & from several Batteries; such a Firing was never before heard in New England. They killd 4 Men with one Ball, which was all the Dammage they did us; and the next morning we picked up 700 Balls that they had fired upon us. The next night being the 17th of March, all things being in Readiness, we erected a small Breast Work on the aforesaid Point without being discoverd by the Enemy till Day Light next Morning, when they began a most severe canonading from their Works upon the Neck; but being unable to affect any thing to our Damage, they made a Most precipitate retreat, leaving the chief of the Effects of the Inhabitants unhurt, tho they Dammaged many Houses and much furniture. They left behind them three excellent Mortars, many Bombs, and about 200 Cannon, the most of which were heavy Pieces all spiked up, and about 100 of them having their Trunnions broke of. Thus was the British Army routed from a Fortress which they were sufferred peaceably to build, of the Strength of which they used to make such boastings; and also from the Bunker Hill, which cost them at least the Lives of 1,800 Men, besides the vast Labour & Expense they had bestowed to erect & defend it.

Immediately upon their Retreat we entered the Town with part of the Forces from Roxbury by Land & some considerable Force from Cambridge by Water. We found the Works upon the Neck entire, the Cannon spiked up & the Shells chiefly split, & many of the Cannon Carriages cut to pieces. These Lines upon the Neck were handsomely built & so amazingly strong that it would have been impracticable for us to have forced them. The other Works were not so well constructed as I immagined wee should have found them; especially at the Bottom of the Common & on Beacon Hill they appeared to be ill constructed & design'd for little but to frighten us. The Enemy embarqued in boats & joined the Fleet, which had chiefly quited the Harbour, & fell down to Nantascet from our first building upon the Hills, some few of the Men of War & Transports for the Tories only excepted, who remained to cover the Town. The Admiral finding we had built upon Nook Point & another small Hill, both of which were advantageously scituated to rake the Harbour, thought he could with no degree of Safety tarry any longer ; wherefore he sent to General Howe acquainting him that he was about to quit the Harbour. This, it is said, hastened the General's Retreat, or he would probably have taken his artilery with him. They left no Powder behind them, but we could plainly see where they burnt vast Quantities of that valuable article; could they have affected the Destruction of their Artilery with as much dispatch, no doubt they would have done it. Quere, Whether it would not be wisdom in the Parliament of England to offer a large Premium to the Person that shall contrive a method to annihilate Cannon, Mortars, Bombs, &c., in a Short space of Time; otherwise the Rebels will soon furnish themselves with a Stock of these articles without being put to the Trouble of making them Themselves.

The Inhabitants that were friendly to America still continued in Boston, except Mr. James Lovell, whom they carried of with their other Prisoners. He bore his Fate, & attended the Summons that called him as a Prisoner to quit his native Land & all that was dear to him with that Courage & Resignation which only attend the Virtuous, Wise, & Brave.

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¹ The Boston Massacre.

SOURCE: Edward Bangs, Edited, Journal of Lieutenant Isaac Bangs, April 1 to July 29, 1776, pp. 7-14