Before the morning dawned a very formidable fortress frowned along the heights. Howe gazed, appalled, upon the spectacle. He saw, at a glance, that the Americans must be dislodged, or his doom was sealed. He exclaimed, in his astonishment: “The rebels have done more in one night, than my whole army would have done in one month.” Another British officer wrote, “This morning, at daybreak, we discovered two redoubts on Dorchester Point, and two smaller ones on their flanks. They were all raised, during the last night, with an expedition equal to that of the genii belonging to Aladdin’s wonderful lamp. From these hills they command the whole town, so that we must drive them from their place or desert the post.” Washington was watching, with intense anxiety, the effect which the discovery of the operation would have upon the British. The commotion, in the city, was very visible. Instantly the shipping in the harbor, and every battery which could be brought to bear upon the works, commenced the fiercest bombardment. All the hills around were covered with spectators, witnessing the sublime and appalling spectacle. The patriot soldiers were now familiar with cannon-shot, and paid little heed to balls and shells, as they stood behind their ramparts, every hour adding to their strength. Washington was in the midst of his troops, encouraging them; and he was greeted with loud cheers as he moved from point to point. Howe kept up the unavailing bombardment through the day, preparing to make a desperate night-attack upon the works, with a strong detachment of infantry and grenadiers. In the evening twenty-five hundred men were embarked in transports. But God did not favor the heavy battalions. A violent easterly storm arose, rolling such surges upon the shore that the boats could not land. It was necessary to postpone the attack until the next day. But still the storm continued to rage, with floods of rain. It was the best ally the Americans could have. It held the British in abeyance until the Americans had time to render their works impregnable. The fleet and the town were at the mercy of Washington. Howe, intensely humiliated, called a council of war. It was decided that Boston must immediately be evacuated. Howe conferred with the “select men” of Boston, and offered to leave, without inflicting any harm upon the place, if permitted to do so unmolested. Otherwise the town would be committed to the flames, and the troops would escape as best they could. The reply of Washington was, in brief: “If you will evacuate the city without plundering, or doing any harm, I will not open fire upon you. But if you make any attempt to plunder, or if the torch is applied to a single building, I will open upon you the most deadly bombardment.”