A brisk cannonade was opened from the war-ships upon the weary, toiling
men in the entrenchment; but they still worked on, incited to their
utmost by the gallant Prescott, who himself is said to have lent a hand
with pick and shovel. General Putnam's predictions as to their coolness
under fire were more than verified, and had he been there then he would
have been surprised at their indifference to the cannonading now going
on so furiously. One man only was killed in this preliminary firing, and
he had strayed outside the breastwork.
"Man killed, what shall we do with him?" asked a subaltern of Prescott.
"Bury him," was the laconic answer; and buried he was, in the ditch,
while the work on the redoubt went on.
General Putnam was not on the hill when the cannon-fire began, having
gone back to camp to change his tired horse for a fresher one; for his
gait, says the historian, was always fast and furious. At the first
report, however, he pricked up his ears and sent to Commander Ward for
another horse; but before his orderly returned, he had procured still
another and was already on his way to Charlestown.
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