safely passed before the winter set in.

There was not much for the army to do when once the barracks were built
and new quarters taken. The work of fortifying Lechmere's Point went on
slowly, on account of the frost; it was not until the end of February
that the redoubt was completed, and its guns mounted. But the troops
were drilled, and were kept busy in perfecting the fortifications.
Washington seized every chance to improve his defences, as we see him
when planning new redoubts to guard against the possibility of a sortie
from the Neck.[139]

The news of the burning of Falmouth reached Washington on the 24th of
October, and greatly roused his indignation. As it was expected that the
British fleet might next descend upon Portsmouth, he sent General
Sullivan thither, with orders to put the harbor in a state of defence,
and at all events to save the small store of powder which had been
brought into that place. This was a capture by the little navy.
Mowatt's fleet, however, made no attempt upon Portsmouth, and presently
returned to Boston. Feeling temporarily secure against further
depredations upon the coast, Washington put his whole energy into the
reorganization of his army.

The period from the end of November until the early part of February was
one of the hardest in Washington's career. His difficulties were those
which we have seen already, want of powder and want of arms, but to them
was added the great fear of a lack of men. As to powder, its supply
still fluctuated, small quantities coming in irregularly, and being
steadily used in equally niggardly amounts, or slowly spoiling in the
soldiers' pouches. Muskets were still scanty, and Washington saw no hope
except in buying those of his soldiers whose terms were about to expire,
or in sending agents through the neighboring towns to secure what they
could find. There was a corresponding lack of cannon, bayonets, flints,
and small appurtenances.

But weaknesses of this kind were nothing as compared with the
threatened weakness in men. Washington was deeply disappointed at his
failure to recruit his newly planned army. Although the delegates of the
provinces had promised him full regiments, the new recruiting system
seemed to fail almost entirely. The general presently perceived several
distinct factors that were working against its success.

In the first place, the new plan provided for fewer officers in the new
army. Many of the provincial regiments, especi