st ounce of powder had been burned what
would be our plight?

I was not the only one who speculated upon these terrible things. Every
man in the redoubt knew that we had not of powder and ball sufficient to
repulse the next assault however desperately we might strive. There were
many who did not have a single charge for their muskets, and Colonel
Prescott gave orders that we should divide, those having considerable
sharing with those who had none, until, when this was done, I had mayhap
four charges, while those around me could boast of no more.

Some among us gathered up rocks to be used as missiles; others ventured
out, even though the enemy was pouring from Copp's hill and the ships of
war, volleys of grape and solid shot upon the hillside where the
red-coated dead lay in such numbers, and strove to add to their store,
more than one losing his life in the attempt to get that which he needed
in the hope of saving it.

And now lest it be asked why powder and ball were not sent to us from
every American post nearby, I desire to set down that which I afterward
read concerning the condition of the forces at Cambridge and elsewhere,
and at the same time it must be understood that the Britishers were
sweeping that narrow stretch of land which we called Charlestown Neck,
with such a heavy fire that it was almost the same as death for any one
to venture across. This is what I have seen elsewhere:

"During this gallant work on Breed's hill all was confusion elsewhere.
General Ward was at Cambridge without sufficient staff officers to carry
his orders. Late in the afternoon the commanding general despatched his
own with Patterson's and Gardner's regiments, to the field of action;
but to the raw recruits the aspect of the narrow Neck was terrifying,
swept as it was by British fire.

"Colonel Gardner succeeded in leading three hundred men to Bunker hill,
and was advancing boldly at their head when he was wounded mortally. His
men were thrown into confusion, and very few of them engaged in the
combat until the retreat commenced. Other regiments failed to reach the
lines. Putnam in the meantime was using his utmost exertion to form the
confused troops on Bunker hill and get fresh men with bayonets across
the Neck."

Now it is easy to understand why we, so sorely pressed and lacking the
wherewithal to hold our own, were left on Breed's hill to meet this
third assault, which would be made by fresh men, as we understood when
we