But even in the open country every stone wall and hill, every house and barn, seemed to the exhausted British troops to bristle with the guns of minute-men. The retreating army pushed wearily forward, fighting as bravely as possible, but on the verge of confusion and panic. When they reached Lexington Common, at two o'clock, they met 1,200 fresh troops under Lord Percy, whose timely arrival saved the entire force from capture. The dismayed British troops, half-dead with exhaustion, entered the square Lord Percy had formed for their protection, and fell upon the ground, "with their tongues hanging out of their mouths like those of dogs after a chase." [Illustration: THE RETREAT OF THE BRITISH FROM THE CONCORD.] After resting for an hour, the British again took up their march to Boston. The minute-men, increasing in numbers every moment, kept up the same kind of running attack that they had made upon the British between Concord and Lexington. A British officer, in speaking of the minute-men, said, "they seemed to have dropped from the clouds." The condition of the British soldiers was pitiable until, late in the day, they got under the protection of the guns of the war-vessels in Boston Harbor. The British had failed. They had been driven back, almost in a panic, to Boston, with a loss of nearly 300 men. The Americans had not lost 100. It was a great day for the patriots, for they had not only defeated the regular troops, but they had tested their own strength and given fresh inspiration to their cause. Farmers, mechanics, men in all walks of life, now flocked to the army. Within a few days the Americans, 16,000 strong, were surrounding the British in Boston. The Americans, eager to drive them out of Boston, threw up breastworks on Bunker Hill, which overlooked the town. But the next day--June 17th--after they had twice driven the redcoats down the hill--they had to retreat because their powder had given out. This was the battle of Bunker Hill, in which the British lost in killed and wounded 1,000 men; the Americans, 450. Although Paul Revere took part in no important battle, he was active in the patriot cause, and became lieutenant-colonel of a Boston regiment of artillery. After the war he returned to his old business, and established a foundry in which church-bells and bronze cannon were cast. He died in Boston in 1818, eighty-three years of age, held in high esteem by his countrymen. REVIEW OUTLINE