espatch his five regiments to New
York. They went by way of Norwich, Connecticut, and from there, to save
fatigue and time, were taken by water to the city. They arrived fresh
and ready for the expected struggle, but though they watched long for
the British fleet, it did not come.

Washington's third action was to defend Boston against a possible
return of the British. The "lines" at Boston and Charlestown necks were
demolished, and on the day after the evacuation Putnam and his men were
at work building on Fort Hill a redoubt to command the harbor. With this
and the Dorchester batteries the Bostonians might have been satisfied,
but within a month they began fortifying Noddle's Island against any
possible attempt by sea.

In all these precautions the Americans were hastened by the fact that
the British, though they had left the upper harbor, were still in the
lower, lying off Nantasket. "From Penn's Hill," wrote Abigail Adams to
her husband, "we have a view of the largest fleet ever seen in America.
You may count upwards of a hundred and seventy sail. They look like a
forest." Their stay greatly puzzled Washington: "what they are doing,"
he wrote, "the Lord knows." He was troubled as well. The ten regiments
of militia, which had strengthened his army since the first of February,
had promised to remain only until the first of April, and he knew that
it was "as practical to stop a torrent, as these people, when their time
is up." He therefore feared lest the British, by striking with all their
force upon his rear, might do him great injury.

This was not the first time that Washington, reasoning according to his
own nature, expected from Howe that vigorous action which the British
general was unable to perform. Howe, humiliated as he must have felt at
receiving, while his vessel passed down the harbor, a despatch from the
ministry applauding his decision not to evacuate the town, had no
thought of revenge. He blew up the fortifications at the Castle, and
prepared to destroy the lighthouse, but his purposes in remaining were
to fit his fleet for sea, and to warn those British vessels which were
bound for Boston. Nor had he the slightest intention of seizing New
York. The statements which had come to Washington's ears, that Howe's
destination was Halifax, in spite of the American's incredulity, were
correct. On the 27th of March, ten days after the evacuation, the
greater part of Howe's fleet weighed anchor, and sailed aw