Towards the close of February, the stock of powder having been considerably increased, and the regular army, which amounted to fourteen thousand men, being rëinforced by six thousand of the militia of Massachusetts, Washington himself was disposed to carry the war against the British into Boston; but his general officers dissenting, he reluctantly acquiesced, and turned his attention to the taking possession of Dorchester heights, by which he would be able to command the city. The announcement of this intention, diffused joy throughout the American army, and each one prepared himself to obey the summons in case his service was required. The night of the 4th of March, was selected for the enterprise, in hope that a recollection of the tragic scenes of the 5th of March, 1770, would rouse the spirit of the soldiers to a degree commensurate with the daring exploit proposed. Accordingly, on the evening of the 4th, the necessary arrangements having been made, the Americans proceeded in profound silence towards the peninsula of Dorchester. The obscurity of the night was propitious, and the wind favorable, since it could not bear to the enemy the little noise which it was impossible to avoid. The frost had rendered the roads easy. The batteries of Phipps' farm, and those of Roxbury, incessantly fulminated with a stupendous roar. Eight hundred men composed the van-guard; it was followed by carriages, filled with utensils of intrenchment, and twelve hundred pioneers led by General Thomas. In the rear-guard were three hundred carts of fascines, of gabions, and bundles of hay, destined to cover the flank of the troops, in the passage of the isthmus of Dorchester, which, being very low, was exposed to be raked on both sides by the artillery of the English vessels. "All succeeded perfectly; the Americans arrived upon the heights, not only without being molested, but even without being perceived by the enemy. [Illustration: Fortifying Dorchester heights.] "They set themselves to work with an activity so prodigious, that by ten o'clock at night, they had already constructed two forts, in condition to shelter them from small arms and grape-shot; one upon the height nearest to the city, and the other upon that which looks towards Castle island. The day appeared, but it prevented not the provincials from continuing their works, without any movement being made on the part of the garrison. When the latter discovered these deeds of the Americans, nothing could exceed their astonishment. Their only alternative, it was at once apparent, was either to dislodge the Americans, or abandon the town.