The flank companies of the TENTH were among the troops which distinguished themselves, and every officer was wounded. Their loss was two serjeants and five rank and file killed; Captains Parsons, Fitzgerald, Lieutenants Pittigrew, Verner, Hamilton, Kelly, one drummer, and thirty-nine rank and file wounded. The valour of the British soldiers in North America excited the admiration of their sovereign and country; yet, the circumstances in which they were placed rendered it impossible for their prowess to be exercised with the prospect of ultimate success. The great superiority of the numbers of the enemy more than counter-balanced the advantages of superior skill and discipline, and the troops in Boston remained in a state of blockade; live cattle, vegetables, and even fuel, were sent for their use from England; many of the vessels were, however, wrecked, and others captured by the Americans, and great distress, sickness, and loss of life occurred. [Sidenote: 1776] No advantage being likely to result from the possession of Boston under the circumstances in which the troops were placed, it was evacuated in the middle of March, 1776, and the TENTH were moved to Nova Scotia. They were stationed at Halifax until June, when they sailed with the expedition to Staten Island, to take part in an extensive plan of operations. The regiment landed on Staten Island in the early part of July; reinforcements arrived from England, also a body of Hessians, and the TENTH, thirty-seventh, thirty-eighth, and fifty-second regiments, formed the third brigade of the army, under Major-General Jones, in the division commanded by Lieut.-General Earl Percy. On the 22nd of August, a descent was made on the south-west end of _Long Island_, and on the night of the 26th, the TENTH advanced, in support of the leading division, to seize on a pass in the mountains. This pass was occupied without opposition; the troops crossed the hills, and directed their march towards the enemy's lines at _Brooklyn_. Arriving at Bedford, an attack was commenced on the American battalions which were quitting the woody heights to return to their lines, and the enthusiastic ardour of the royal forces overcame all opposition. Encouraged by their success, and inspired with lively anticipations of victory, the soldiers urged their way towards the lines to storm the works; but they were ordered to desist, to spare the unnecessary effusion of blood which an attack by storm would have occasioned. The conduct of the British troops on this occasion was highly commended in General Sir William Howe's despatch. The Americans abandoned their lines, and retreated across the East River to New York. The TENTH having thus had the honour of taking part in the reduction of _Long Island_, crossed the river to New York Island, and were engaged in the movements by which the American army was driven from the city of _New York_.