March 20th. — The main body of the army entered Boston to-day. As
they marched through the streets so long closed against them, doors and
windows were crowded with the long imprisoned people, whose faces bright-
ened with welcome as they passed. After elev^en months' siege, meaning,
as it did for them, cruelty and insult and want, how glad to their ears were
the sounds of soldiers' tread, keeping time to the music of Yankee Doodle,
and tlie shouts of American regiments, as cheer after cheer was borne upon
the air. With drums beating and colors flying, they traversed tlie town from
end to end. Universal joy prevails at the recovery of this town, which has
been contended for by both armies, and which Great Britain considers
of enough importance to spend millions of money for its possession.

March z\st. — General Washington has issued a proclamation to the people
of Boston, and the troops which are quartered there, assuring the former of
the good will of the army, and calling upon tiicm to give information of any
provisions or military stores that may have been hidden by the retreating
army. It also charges the officers to do all in tlieir power to bring peace
and good order out of the confusion that reigns at present.

Ma7xh zyi. — The town is open for all who wish to go in, and yesterday an
immense concourse of people from all the surrounding country crowded the
streets. Many went from curiosity, others to see again the friends and rela-
tives they had so long been parted from. It was- very toucliing to witness
the tearful meeting of mothers with their children, of sisters and brothers



Boston occupied.



6i



whom the terrors and sufferings of the past months have kept ignorant of
one another's condition. Washington was overwhelmed with expressions of
gratitude, and was addressed by the selectmen in the name of the people.
They said : " Next to the divine power, we ascribe to your wisdom that this
acquisition has been made with so little effusion of human blood." The
chief replied in graceful words, commending their wonderful and heroic
patriotism and endurance, and ascribing this victory more to the courage and
skill of the soldiers than to himself. There have been less than twenty men
killed in our army during all the months since Washington assumed the
command. This is remarkable : so large a victory at so small a price !

March 2jth. — Most of the British fleet, which has been lying outside the
harbor for the last ten days, has at last spread its sails and moved away.




HoLLis Hall, completed 1763.



This is what Washington has been waiting for. before ordering <:he army to
the south. To-day a brigade under General Sullivan has marched. Con-
gress, on the motion of Mr. John Adams, have " resolved that the thanks of
Congress in their own name, and in the name of the Thirteen United Colo-
nies whom they represent, be presented to his Excellency General Wash-
ington, and the officers and soldiers under his command, for their wise and
spirited conduct in the siege and acquisition of Boston, and that a medal of
gold be struck in commemoration of this great event, and presented to his
Excellency ; and that a committee of three be appointed to prepare a letter
of thanks and a proper device for the medal." Our noble Commander-in-chief
has disclaimed all merit of the victory, and transferred the praise to the men
under his command. He said : " They were, indeed, at first, a band of un-



62 Extracts from the Diary of Dorothy Dudley.

disciplined husbandmen ; but it is, under God, to their bravery and atten-
tion to duty, that I am indebted for that success which has procured me the
only reward I wish to receive — the affection and esteem of my country-
men."

March 2()th. — Another address of congratulation and commendation to
General Washington. This from the two branches of the legislature com-
bined. They say : " Go on, still go on, approved by Heaven, — revered by
all good men, and dreaded by tyrants ; may future generations, in the peace-
ful enjoyment of that freedom which your sword shall have established, raise
the most lasting monuments to the name of Washington." Yesterday he at-
tended the long-established Thursday lecture, which Boston has kept up
since the days of Winthrop and Wilson, but whicli the troubles of the last
months have interrupted. It was a season of joyful gratitude to God, who
had delivered this New England Zion from the power of its oppressor, and
had brought peace and quietness once more into its homes. Tlie good old
town they call " a tabernacle that should never l)e taken down, of which not
one of the stakes should ever be removed, nor one of the cords be broken."

April J^th. — To-day General Washington has left Cambridge and gone to
New York. All the troops, with the exception of five regiments under the
command of General Ward, have left with him. It is feared that the British
fleet may return, after putting us off our guard, and works are building rap-
idly in defense of the harbor. General Ward has stationed two regiments
in Boston, one at Dorchester Heights, one at Charlestown, and one at Bev-
erly.

April jth, Sunday. — Dr. Appleton preached to-day from Proverbs xxii.
I : " A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor
rather than silver and gold."' A beautiful sermon, alluding tenderly and
with reverence to our beloved Commander-in-chief, who has gloriously earned
all the affection which is lavished upon him, whose name will live in New
England hearts forever, as that of our deliverer from slavery. The good
Doctor applied the text to us individually and as a nation, urging us to see
to it that history, as she sends our record to the future, writes only of truth,
godliness, and courage, untainted by covetousness, or cowardice, or deceit.

Boston, April loth. — Here I am in our much-suffering town, which is
cleared at last of its persecutors. Mrs. McHenry invited me to accompany
her husband and herself yesterday to spend a few days with her sister, and
I gladly embraced the opportunity. The eight miles' ride seemed longer
than ever in our impatience to stand oVice more in the streets consecrated
by the blood of martyrs. At the Neck we passed the British fortifications,
and looked upon the works on Dorchester Heights, which were so great a
source of terror to General Howe's troojis, and which effectually drove tliem
away from our shores. We rode througli Orange and Newbury streets ^ to

' Orange, Newbury, Marlborough streets and Cornliill formed what is now Washington Street. —
tu.



Boston after the Siege. 63

Hanover Square,^ and there our eyes were saddened by the sight of — not
the grand old Liberty Tree which has spread its limbs for more than a hun-
dred years —but onh- its stump. Of all the magnificent trees in this elm
neighborhood, this was the finest of them all, but its name and the remem-
brance of the many treasonable acts it has sanctioned in Liberty Hall,^ were
enough to enlist against it the detestation of British soldiers. Last August
it fell a victim to the ax, and provided for the comfort of its destroyers full
fourteen cords of wood. From Newbury Street we passed into Marlborough
Street, and stopped in front of the Old South Church. This has been dese-
crated by the soldiers, who used it as a riding school, covering the floors
with many hundred cart-loads of gravel, after removing the pulpit and pews,
which they used as fuel. Many of the valuable jDapers and bookis of Rev.
Thomas Prince, which were kept in the tower, were used to kindle fires for
the lawless soldiery, and the parsonage adjoining, with several noble syca-
more trees in front, were pulled down for firewood.

Turning toward our left hand, the Old Province House reared its stately
walls before us, every brick of which was made thousands of miles away in
Holland, and was brought across the rolling ocean nearly a hundred years
ago, by Mr. Peter Sargeant, whose initials, with the year of its erection,
stand forth prominently in the iron fence which surmounts the portico : —

16 P. S. 79 .

How many governors, appointed by his Majesty to rule our new rebellious
Colony, have, during the last sixty years, ascended those massive steps !
Often have they stood upon the balcony in front to address the throng of
loyal colonists in the street below, and in response to their loud huzzas,
bowed in courtly dignity. The old building remains the same as when they
held their grand levees within its fine apartments, and received homage as
viceroys of the King, but we fondly believe that the times have so far
changed that Sir William Howe will be the very last of his Majesty's repre-
sentatives whose authority will be respected in Massachusetts. Here he
held consultation with General Gage before the disastrous battle of Bunker
Hill, and from the cupola which crowns the summit, he watched the ap-
proach of our besieging army, before which, at last, he beat an ignominious
retreat. The gilded Indian which acts as weather-vane, was pointing his
arrow directly east as we passed, and over him and the mansion he faith-
fully guarded, floated our L'nion flag of thirteen stripes. Continuing our
journey through Marlborough Street t9 the State House, above which waved
the same glorious banner, we looked down King Street, where the memor-
able Massacre took place six years ago. Up Cornhill, past the shop of Paul
Revere, the intrepid patriot and skilful mechanic, into Queen Street, and
then we paused at the foot of Pemberton Hill. The hill is terraced, and

1 Hanover Square, where Essex, Washington, and Boylston streets meet. — Ed.
^ The ground around the tree was familiarly known as Liberty Hall. — Ed.



64 Extracts from the Diary of DorotJiy Dudley.

a long flight of steps leads to the magnificent mansion on its brow.^ The
grounds are tastefully laid out, nature and art uniting to make this one of
the finest private residences in Boston. Lord Percy, I believe, lived here
during a part of his stay in town. Then we passed on to our destination on
Beacon Hill. Mrs. McHenry's sister, Mrs. Elwyn. received us most cor-
dially. Her home is not far from Mr. Hancock's house, and overlooks the
Common, which affords pasturage for numberless cows, which make con-
tinual music with the tinkling of their bells and their contented lowing from
morning till night. These fifty acres of hills and valleys reach from the
granary graveyard on the one side, to the ebb and flow of the busy Charles
river, which washes the lower end. Grand old trees shade its walks in the
summer months, and now are beginning to awake after a winter's sleep, and
put forth delicate buds in token of life. The great elm which has watched
the growth of the town from its earliest settlement, is still as strong and
full of vigor as ever. This morning we have been sauntering through the
grounds so lately covered with the camp of the British troops. Walked up
Frog Lane to Common Street, and turned into Blott's Lane, past the house
of Sam Adams ; thence back to the enclosure, crossing whicli we found our-
selves in front of Mr. Hancock's house, which was occupied by General
Clinton and Lord Percy at different times during the siege. The house and
stables were both used for the wounded after Bunker Hill battle. The
magnificent mansion, standing, as it does, on the brow of the hill, command-
ing an extensive view of the country around, is typical of the prominence
and exalted station of its owner, who has incurred the deadly displeasure of
the royal government, by reason of his determined patriotism. After the
Lexington affair the house was pillaged by the soldiers, who broke down the
fences and did some slight damage in other ways. It has been repaired,
however, and looks now as in the good old days before British tyranny
crushed our liberties to the ground. The same massive stone walls, sup-
porting a tiled roof, from which several dormer windows look forth upon the
town and its surroundings ; the same projecting balcony over the front door ;
the same broad stone steps and paved walk leading from the street, so often
trodden by old Thomas Hancock and pranced over by the boyish feet of
President Hancock, thirty years ago. We went over the liouse, into tlie
grand drawing-room at the right, where hang portraits of the Hancock
family, back to the days of the early Puritans ; into the immense dining-
hall opening out of this, designed for large companies ; into the family draw-
ing-room at the left of the entrance, and the smaller dining-room out of it,
and tlirough the spacious halls and chami)ers elegantly furnislied and hung
with pictures of various kinds. Things are not injured nearly as much as
was feared. The furniture and pictures are in good condition. This after-
noon Mrs. Elwyn took us to drive through tlie North End. We passed

' Afterwards the residence of Gardner tlreene. — Ei>.



Boston after the Siege. 65

through Common Street ^ to School Street, and stopped at King's Chapel.
Here we found ourselves on the oldest ground probably, built upon in Bos-
ton. The British officers worshipped in the chapel during the occupation
of Boston by their troops, and when they evacuated the town, Dr. Caner,
its rector, went with them to Halifax, taking with him all the church regis-
ters, plate, and vestments. His residence is just north of the chapel. We
alighted at the old burying ground, and walked reverently among the
graves, some of them a century old ; read the inscription upon the monu-
ment to Rev. John Cotton, the first minister of the church, as well as that
of old Governor Winthrop of beloved memory. On Long Acre we rode
over the same ground where, one year ago this month, Lord Percy's brigade
formed in line of march to hasten to the assistance of the royal troops in
Lexington. Looking down School Street the old Latin School rose before
us. Here Dr. Franklin went to school for a year, and John Hancock was
taught in childhood. The appearance of Percy's troops on that memorable
April morning, stretching their glittering length past School Street, was the
signal to dismiss the awe-struck scholars who, as a school, have never met
since. We rode through Tremont Street into Gay Alley,^ and paused a mo-
ment at the handsome new church, built only four years ago. Dr. Cooper,
its pastor, a true-hearted patriot, left Boston after Lexington fight, and Gen-
eral Gage quartered a British regiment here for a while. But services
were sometimes held in Brattle Church during the siege. It did not escape
in the bombardment of the town, having been struck by a twenty-four
pound cannon ball from our batteries at Lechmere's Point. At our right
stood Faneuil Hall, the Cradle of Liberty, whose walls have echoed the
burning words of Otis, and Adams, and Warren. Turning into Middle
Street, 3 we passed the residence of Dr. Warren, where, as a skilful physi-
cian, no less than a warm and earnest patriot, he attracted to himself the
affection and esteem of his townsmen. In our ride we passed the Orange
Tree Tavern,* the houses of Paul Revere and James Otis, and the Green
Dragon Tavern, where " treasonable " meetings were held by Boston me-
chanics for the purpose of conferring as to the best methods of thwarting
the movements of the Tories and the British soldiers. These meedngs were
very secret, the subject discussed being made known to only a ^ew of the
leading patriots, like Hancock, Adams, Warren, Otis, Church. But unac-
countable as it seemed. General Gage was always informed of their move-
ments, and not till the arrest of Dr. Church did the mystery explain itself.
Then it was easy to trace the treachery.

The North Church was full of interest to us as the place where the lan-
terns hung and flashed forth their warning light to the eyes of the waiting

' Common Street, Long Acre, and Tremont Street, are now Tremont Street. — Ed.

2 Gay Alley, an old name for Brattle Street. — Ed.

^ Now Hanover Street. — Ed.

* The Orange Tree Tavern stood on what is now the corner of Court and Hanover Streets. — Ed.

5



66 Extracts from the Diary of DorotJiy Dudley.

Paul Revere, on the evening of April i8, 1775.^ On the opposite Charles-
town shore he paced impatiently back and forth, casting many a look toward
the spire which for fifty years had pointed upward with steady finger. At
last the signal flamed forth through the darkness, and the midnight rider
sprang to his horse and was off on his patriotic errand. Here on Copp's
Hill were British redoubts, behind which, June 17th, our soldiers on Bunker
Hill were fired upon, and on that day so full of disaster to the royal troops,
the hill and all houses near were covered with eager spectators of the battle.
General Gage witnessed the affair from the steeple of the North Church,
they say. I must not forget the graves in -Copp's Hill Cemetery, through
which we walked. Here are buried Dr. Increase Mather and his son
Rev. Cotton Mather, and many others, who have filled places of honor
in church and state. Some of the graves are fully a hundred and fifty
years old. Major Pitcairn of Lexington fame, who was killed at Bunker
Hill by the bullet of a negro soldier, is interred under Christ Church.
They say the British major was a brave officer, just and impartial in his
treatment of his soldiers, and greatly beloved by them. He fell mortally
wounded into the arms of his son, who bore him in a boat across the
river, to a house near the ferry. General Gage, it is said, sent his own
physician to attend him, but he lived but a short time. We passed the
fine old mansion of Governor Hutchinson, which was so injured by the
mob ten years ago, during the Stamp Act troubles. Thomas Hutchinson
was held in high esteem before the tyrannical conduct of the mother country
aroused the spirit of liberty in our Colonies, and the part he played at the
beginning of the contest, made him as offensive as before he had been pop-
ular. He departed for England two years ago, leaving this grand old house
built by his father, the place of his birth and residence for nearly sixty-five
years. It is built of brick, with six Corinthian pilasters in front and the
crown of Great Britain surmounting each window. The interior is replete
with magnificence, and the grounds are extensive and tasteful. The Gov-
ernor's library, which was of great value, including many choice manuscripts,

' "Impatient to mount and tide,
Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride
On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere.
Now he patted his horse's side,
Now gazed at the landscape far and near,
Then, impetuous, stamped the earth,
And turned and tightened his saddle-girth ;
But mostly he watched with eager search
The belfry-tower of the old North Church,
As it rose above the graves on the liill,
Lonely and spectral and sombre and still.
And lo ! as he looks, in the belfry's height
A glimmer, and then a gleam of lij;ht!
He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns.
But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight
A second lamp in the belfry burns." — Long^fellciu.



Affairs in Cambridge. 6/

and the furniture which was rich and costly, were destroyed by the enraged
mob, August 26, 1765.

[letter from DOROTHY DUDLEY TO MISS ESTHER LIVINGSTONE.]

Cambridge, April iqik, 1776.

My DEAREST Esther, — Your long-promised visit to our little town not
made yet ! I am impatient to show you its beauties now that spring is
peeping at us with tearful eyes while all the time her face is rippling with
laughter. You know that this is the first anniversary of the never-to-be-for-
gotten day \vhich began the dreadful war that is upon us. This year has
been one of severe trial for us all. Of course there has been reason for
great economy both in household expenses and in dress. Tea is a comfort
put from us with resolution, though its absence from our tables is cuttingly
felt by many. As far as it is possible we patronize onlj' home manufactures,
and ourselves use the spindle to diminish the necessity for foreign material.
The residence among us of so large a body of soldiers has made our life in
some sense a military one, our hands, our sympathies, and our time having
been devoted to their interests. I find, in looking over my diary, that the
entries are almost without exception relating to the doings of the army,^ and,
indeed were you with us you would not wonder at this. There have been
no interests separate from the soldiers', or I ought to say from our countrj^'s.
Your letter received by Major Heath was very welcome. I am glad you
have so warm a friendship with Mrs. Hancock. Her sister. Miss Katy
Ouincy, is expecting to go to Philadelphia in a few weeks, and I hope you
will make her acquaintance. She is somewhat older than Mrs. Hancock,
who is, I think, the youngest of the family. Mrs. Judge Sewall, you know,
is another sister. They are a charming family, and Mr. Ouincy is a devoted
father, warmly beloved by them all.

You ask for descriptions of some of the persons of note that have favored
our town with their presence. First and foremost of all I place our Com-
mander-in-chief, but I am sure you already know from other sources his
characteristics, mental and physical. I will only say he has a fine face, a
noble manner, and is the personification of truth and uprightness. General
Charles Lee you have seen, and need no words of mine to bring before you
his tall, lank figure and prominent features, marked by uniform carelessness
of the opinion of others. " Old Put " is a rough, fiery genius, ready for
hard work whenever and wherever it presents itself, spurring his men on to
great achievements, and beloved by them all, because of the good, honest
heart hidden behind the prickly burr. General Nathaniel Greene, who has
had command under General Lee at Prospect Hill, is the only general, they
say, that showed his pleasure at the appointment of Washington to the
chief command by addressing words of welcome to him for himself and sol-
diers upon his arrival at Cambridge. He was a Quaker before the war

1 Tlie Editor has already expressed his suspicion that another reason may be suggested for this.



68 Extracts from tJic Diary of DorotJiy Dudley.

called out his fighting genius and awoke his slumbering patriotism. He
took his first lessons in the military school by watching the British soldiers
exercise on Boston Common, and followed them up by vigorous study of
books and military life as he saw it around him. He learned so rapidly that
few generals stand higher in the confidence of his peers than General
Greene. He is rather a large man, with a face indicating fire and firmness,
tempered by the innate goodness which looks out of his clear, quiet eyes.
Cieneral Harry Knox is his most intimate and trusted friend. The two
were almost constantly together in days when both were studying the art of
war, and Mr. Knox kept a bookstore on Cornhill. He, like his friend, is the
soul of honor, gentle as well as brave, and possessed of a manly heart brim-
ming with benevolence. You know our veterans, Ward and Pomeroy, and
are well acquainted with that queer little man, our excellent quartermaster-
general, Thomas Miftiin, who is the right man in the right place, every one
agrees. General John Stark, who so distinguished himself in the French
war, has won commendation by the part he has played this year. At the
alarm of war he hastily formed a regiment in New Hampshire and marched
immediately for our camp ; figured bravely at Bunker Hill, and, with his im-
petuous nature l)oiling for action, he has been on tiptoe for battle ever since.
He looks much like an Indian with his high cheek-bones and prominent
nose, and tall, erect figure, and his soul is as full of courage and as impa-
tient of restraint as that of any wild son of the forest. His wife, Molly
Stark, as he familiarly calls her, followed her husband to camp, and when
our troops occupied Dorchester Heights, at his desire she mounted a horse
to watch the passage of his regiment over the river to West Boston, and
to be ready at a moment's notice to spread the alarm, if Opposition arose.
Are they not a well-mated pair ? General Sullivan is a popular officer, a
good soldier, and a pleasant gentleman. His quarters were at Winter Hill.
I might go on and enumerate officers who hold honorable places in the ser-
vices, Preble, Heath, Patterson, Arnold, Gates, and others, not as well
known ; but I fear you will tire of the list.

I thank you for your pleasant pictures of Philadelphia life and sketches of
the prominent figures there. Some of your great men belong to us. The
venerable Franklin, the two Adamses, and your excellent President of Con-