Though the victory in the attack at Bunker's Hill was justly claimed by the royalists, it was not gained with out considerable loss on their part. The flower of the English troops in America were engaged, and their kill ed and wounded amounted to 1054 ; while those of the provincials were not above the half of that number. But while the colonists suffered a defeat in this encounter, they were elated in no ordinary degree at the intrepidity which their forces had displayed ; and they entertained the hope that patriotism and an ardent love of freedom would enable them to withstand the assaults of the Brit ish, till experience should render them equal to them in discipline and military skill.
They erected fortifications on the heights in the neighbourhood of Charlestown, and reduced the king's troops in Boston to very great distress, for want of pro visions. Far from entertaining any thought of submis sion, they redoubled their exertions, and increased their vigilance. In the mean time, the congress, which had again been assembled acted with all the decision which was expected from them : they drew up articles of per petual union ; they published a declaration, in which they justified the measures which had been adopted at Bun ker's Hill ; they resolve d to establish an army, and to is sue a large quantity of paper money in order to support it. They held a solemn conference with the Indians, by whom they were surrounded ; telling them that the English had begun the war with a view to enslave them, as well as their own countrymen in America ; and by this, in conjunction with other arguments, they induced many of the savage tribes either to assist them, or to remain neuter during a great part of the contest which followed.
The provincials now wanted nothing but a leader to enable them to take effectual measures against the Bri tish ; and they soon found, in the person of George Washington, a man qualified in every respect to occupy that high and important station. He was the third son of Augustine Washington, a settler in Virginia. His education was limited to what could be obtained from books written in the English language ; but he derived from nature, a mind of extraordinary capacity ; and was endowed with prudence, courage, and perseverance, be yond the degree which is allotted to common men. At the age of nineteen, he held the rank of major in the provincial troops of Virginia. He afterwards distin guished himself against the French, in their attempts to unite their possessions in Canada with those in Louisi ana ; and had the command of a regiment about the same time. At the conclusion of the war, which terminated
in the surrender of Canada to the British, he retired to his estate of Mount Vernon, and devoted himself to agri cultural employments ; till the troubles in which the Americans were involved led him to take an active part in their defence against the attempts of the English ca binet, to tax them without their consent. He was chosen a member of the first grand Congress at Philadelphia, where his example and influence produced very consider able effects ; and now that the situation of the provincials called for a man of tried firmness, and approved judg ment, he was unanimously elected, " general and com mander in chief of the army of the United Colonies." When his appointment was intimated to him by the pre sident of the congress, he modestly observed, that he was not equal to the duties of the station to which their par tiality had raised him ; but he declared at the same time, that he was ready to exert whatever talents he might have, in the service of his country, and willing to enter immediately on the performance of his duty.
On arriving at Cambridge, the head-quarters of the American army, general Washington inspected and re viewed the troops. He found them animated with great zeal, and prepared to follow him to the most des perate undertakings ; but it was not lung before he per ceived, that they were unacquainted with subordination, and strangers to military discipline. The spirit of liberty, which had brought them together, showed itself in all their actions. In the province of Massachusetts, the officers had been chosen by the votes of the soldiers, and felt themselves in no degree superior to them. The congressional and colonial authorities likewise interfered with one another. The troops were scantily supplied with arms and ammunition ; and all their operations were retarded by the want of engineers. These diffi culties, however, were overcome by the talents and per severance of Washington ; he formed the soldiers into brigades, and accustomed them to obedience ; he re quested the congress to nominate a commissary-general, a quarter-master-general, and a paymaster-general, all of which officers they had neglected to appoint ; a num ber of the most active men were constantly employed in learning to manage the artillery ; and such were the ef forts of the commander in chief, that in no very long time, the army was completely organized and fit for ser vice.