Washington having now arrived at the army, which consisted of fourteen thousand, he was determined to bring the enemy to an alternative, either to evacuate Boston, or risk an action. General Howe, the British commander, preferred the latter, and ordered three thousand men to fall down the river to the castle, to prepare for the attack, but during their preparations, they were dispersed by a storm; which so disabled them for their intended attack, that they at last resolved to evacuate the town. Washington, not wishing to embarrass the British troops in their proposed evacuation, detached part of his army to New York, to complete the fortifications there; and with the remainder, took peaceable possession of Boston, amid the hearty congratulations of the inhabitants, who hailed him as their deliverer. When the Americans took possession of Boston, they found a multitude of valuable articles, which were unavoidably left by the British army, such as artillery, ammunition, many woolens and linens, of which the American army stood in the most pressing need. Washington now directed his attention to the fortifications of Boston; and every effective man in the town volunteered his services to devote two days in every week till it was completed. By a resolve of Congress of March 25th, 1776, a vote of thanks was passed to General Washington and the officers and soldiers under his command, for their wise and spirited conduct in the siege and acquisition of Boston. Also a gold medal to General Washington, of which the following is a description:-- OCCASION.--Evacuation of Boston by the British troops. DEVICE.--The head of General Washington, in profile. LEGEND.--Georgio Washington, supremo duci exercitum adsertori libertatis comitia Americana. REVERSE.--Troops advancing towards a town which is seen at a distance. Troops marching to the river. Ships in view. General Washington in front, and mounted, with his staff, whose attention he is directing to the embarking enemy. LEGEND.--Hostibus primo Fugatis. EXERGUE.--Bostonium recuperatum 17 Martii, 1776. GEN. ANTHONY WAYNE. Anthony Wayne, of whose military career America has much to boast, the son of a respectable farmer in Chester county, Pennsylvania, was born on the 1st of January, 1745. His propensities and pursuits being repugnant to the labors of the field, his father resolved to give him an opportunity of pursuing such studies as his acquirements might suggest, and accordingly placed him under the tuition of a relative of erudition and acquirements, who was teacher of a country school. Our young hero was by no means an attentive student; his mind seemed, like the young Napoleon, bent on a military life, for instead of preparing his lessons for recitation during his leisure hours, he employed himself in ranging his playmates into regiments, besieging castles, throwing up redoubts, &c. &c.