in the epidemic, since it would prevent Washington
from attacking.

Gradually a feeling of security came over the besieged town. Admiral
Graves had been recalled, and Shuldham took his place. The lighthouse
was rebuilt and guarded. Howe felt strong enough to detach a squadron
from the fleet in order to carry Clinton with a body of troops to the
southward. This was the expedition that made the unsuccessful attack
upon Charleston. Howe sent other vessels to the northern provinces and
the West Indies, which brought in supplies. The store-ships from England
continued to come in, and though Howe was vexed and at times alarmed by
the loss of the valuable stores that fell into Washington's hands, on
the whole he felt very strong. So much fuel arrived that in January the
destruction of houses and wharves was stopped, and the men who had been
on duty for the purpose were commanded to make themselves presentable.
Neatness was a hobby with Howe, and he enforced it on his men, though at
times the untidiness of his troops seems to have been remarkable.[148]

There are two expressions which show the confidence entertained at this
period, not only by the garrison at large, but by the British general.
One Crean Brush had made himself a place in the service, not in a
military capacity, but as a useful hanger on. In January, anticipating
the result of the spring campaign, he offered to raise a body of
volunteers, not less than three hundred, with which he proposed, after
the "subduction of the main body of the rebel force," to keep order
along the Connecticut, and to maintain communication westward with Lake
Champlain. There is no record that Howe took him at his word, but he
well might have done so, so completely did he misjudge the situation.
For about the same time he wrote to Lord Dartmouth that he was not
apprehending any attempt by Washington, "by surprise or otherwise."[149]

But the surprise came. On the night of the second of March the American
batteries, so long silent, began to play. From Cobble Hill, Lechmere
Point, and Lamb's Dam in Roxbury, the three redoubts nearest to Boston,
the Americans bombarded the town, and Howe's gunners instantly
responded. The American fire was ineffective. "Our people," wrote David
How, "splet _the Congress_ the Third Time that they fired it." Other
heavy mortars were likewise burst, doubtless owing to the inexperience
of the gunners. But Washington's purpose, to "divert the attention" of
the