r wounded along the road. By that
time yeomanry from twenty-three townships had joined in the pursuit. The
alarm spread like wildfire through New England, and fresh bands of
militia arrived every hour. Within three days Israel Putnam and Benedict
Arnold had come from Connecticut and John Stark from New Hampshire, a
cordon of 16,000 men was drawn around Boston, and the siege of that town
was begun.

[Sidenote: Capture of Ticonderoga, May 10, 1775.]

[Sidenote: Washington appointed to command the army, June 15, 1775.]

[Sidenote: Charles Lee.]

The belligerent feeling in New England had now grown so strong as to
show itself in an act of offensive warfare. On the 10th of May, just
three weeks after Lexington, the fortresses at Ticonderoga and Crown
Point, controlling the line of communication between New York and
Canada, were surprised and captured by men from the Green Mountains and
Connecticut valley under Ethan Allen and Seth Warner. The Congress,
which met on that same day at Philadelphia, showed some reluctance in
sanctioning an act so purely offensive; but in its choice of a president
the spirit of defiance toward Great Britain was plainly shown. John
Hancock, whom the British commander-in-chief was under stringent orders
to arrest and send over to England to be tried for treason, was chosen
to that eminent position on the 24th of May. This showed that the
preponderance of sentiment in the country was in favour of supporting
the New England colonies in the armed struggle into which they had
drifted. This was still further shown two days later, when Congress in
the name of the "United Colonies of America" assumed the direction of
the rustic army of New England men engaged in the siege of Boston. As
Congress was absolutely penniless and had no power to lay taxes, it
proceeded to borrow L6000 for the purchase of gunpowder. It called for
ten companies of riflemen from Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, to
reinforce what was henceforth known as the Continental army; and on the
15th of June it appointed George Washington commander-in-chief. The
choice of Washington was partly due to the general confidence in his
ability and in his lofty character. In the French War he had won a
military reputation higher than that of any other American, and he was
already commander-in-chief of the forces of Virginia. But the choice was
also partly due to sound political reasons. The Massachusetts leaders,
especially Samu