ns. Military stores were collected. The
patriots were determined to face death rather than submit longer to
British oppression.

Meanwhile, the British General Gage, stationed in Boston with four
thousand British soldiers, decided to surprise and take, by night, the
supplies of the militia in Concord, twenty miles away. Dr. Joseph
Warren, one of the patriots, heard of it and secretly sent Paul Revere
galloping out of Boston on a fast horse to awaken the people along the
way and carry the alarm to Concord. When the British reached Lexington
(about nine miles from Boston), they found seventy or eighty citizens
armed and waiting for them in the darkness!

Early in the morning of the 19th of April, 1775, the first battle of the
great American Revolution was fought (the Battle of Lexington). The
trained soldiers of England soon scattered the handful of patriots at
Lexington and Concord, but, as the day wore on, they were joined by
other patriots, and by the night of April 20th, General Gage found
himself besieged in Boston by a rustic army of 16,000 men. The news of
the battle spread rapidly and spurred the colonies to instant and bitter
war. Washington said that the once happy America must be drenched in
blood, or inhabited by slaves, and that no true man could hesitate to
choose death for himself rather than slavery for his country. He was at
Mount Vernon when the sad news came, getting ready to attend the second
Congress.

[Illustration: Israel Putnam]

CHAPTER III

BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION--WASHINGTON MADE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF
THE CONTINENTAL ARMY--BRITISH FORCED TO LEAVE BOSTON--1775-1776

[Illustration: A Ragged Continental]

At the second Continental Congress, held May 10, 1775, Washington was
made chairman of committees for getting ammunition, supplies and money
for the war. His military knowledge and experience enabled him to make
rules and regulations for an army, and he advised what forts should be
garrisoned. (Troops placed in a fort for defense.) It was necessary for
Congress to take care of the army of 16,000 patriots that had hastily
gathered in the neighborhood of Boston, and to appoint a
Commander-in-Chief of all the forces of the colonies. They had to decide
as to who in all the country, could best be trusted with this important
and responsible position. All eyes turned to Washington. When his name
was first mentioned for this place, he, with his usual modesty, slipped
out of