41. At last all preparation ends and the time for action arrives. Shot
from the new batteries drive the defenders with severe loss within
their interior defenses. The advance of the swarming enemies is met
with a feeble, scattering fire in place of the volleyed death of the
previous charges. Showers of stones and blows from clubbed muskets
greet those who first mount the ramparts; but nothing could resist the
last desperate bayonet charge of the British. The defenders of the
fort slowly and sullenly retired before the overwhelming numbers of
their adversaries. At the last moment Major Pitcairn meets his death,
and thus expiates as far as possible his bloody orders at Lexington.
At nearly the same moment General Warren, in the very rear of the
retreating troops, is shot, sealing with his life his devotion to his
country. That the retreating Americans were not annihilated was due to
the rail-fence of General Putnam, and to his skill in holding the
enemy in check while the flying fugitives found safety in the country.
45. The battle of Bunker Hill is ended. The cross of St. George flies
over Prescott's redoubt. Four hundred and fifty patriots and fifteen
hundred Britons are killed, wounded, and missing. Eighty-nine British
officers--numbers unprecedented--sleep in the dust. Patriot courage
and endurance are found to equal patriot enthusiasm.
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