From Farm House to the White House - 912 Freedom Library

Farm House to the White House, by William M. Thayer 143
Washington found General Artemas Ward in command, who informed him that, "We have fourteen thousand
five hundred men, including the sick."
"How many troops of the king hold Boston?" Washington inquired.
"About eleven thousand of the best disciplined troops that England could send over."
"And how many inhabitants of Boston are there in the city now?"
"Seventeen thousand; and it is said that they are treated as rebels, except the Tories, who support the cause of
the Crown. General Gage is in command, and Generals Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne arrived with their last
reinforcements."
"Gage was with me twenty years ago in the expedition against Duquesne," said Washington. "Generals Howe,
Clinton, and Burgoyne are the best generals the king can send, I suppose."
"I judge so. At any rate this army is a mob compared to the royal army in Boston. Very few of them were ever
in the service before. They know nothing about order and discipline, and care as little."
"They must learn both as quickly as possible," responded Washington. "An army without discipline can be
little more than a mob. My first step will be to bring the army under rigid military discipline."
Washington, accompanied by General Lee, took immediate measures to acquaint himself with the condition of
the army, and in an incredibly short time had it distributed thus: The right wing was stationed on the heights
of Roxbury, under the command of Major-General Ward; the left wing was stationed on Winter and Prospect
Hills, in what is now the city of Somerville, under command of Major-General Lee; while the centre, under
Major-General Putnam, occupied Cambridge. The army was thus distributed over a line of some twelve miles
in length.
The army was destitute of clothing, ammunition, and nearly everything for its comfort. The mass of them
were dressed as they were clad when they left their farms and work-shops, a dirty, ragged collection of armed
men, though resolute and brave. Their cry against the king's troops in Boston was:
"Shut them up! Starve them out! Drive them into their ships, and send their ships out to sea!"
To add to the disheartening situation, Charlestown lay in ashes, having been set on fire by the enemy's shells
at the battle of Bunker Hill; there were no well-constructed works throughout the whole line of fortifications;
insubordination was popular among the troops, who called it independence; and still worse, jealousies
prevailed among the troops of different Colonies.
The larger part of the army, nearly ten thousand, belonged to Massachusetts, and they were in the worst plight
of all. Washington made the following magnanimous apology for them:
"This unhappy and devoted province has been so long in a state of anarchy, and the yoke has been laid so
heavily on it, that great allowances are to be made for troops raised under such circumstances. The deficiency
of members, discipline, and stores can only lead to this conclusion: that their spirit has exceeded their
strength."
A British officer wrote home:
"The rebel army are in so wretched a condition as to clothing and accoutrements, that I believe no nation ever
saw such a set of tatterdemalions. There are few coats among them but what are out at elbows, and in a whole