We, who were shut up in Boston, learned that the people of Charlestown, who formerly numbered nearly three thousand, had become so alarmed that they left their homes, believing the Americans in Cambridge could afford them better protection than might be had from the king's hirelings. So thoroughly panic stricken were the inhabitants, that it was said no more than two hundred now remained in the village. We heard now and then of this colony or of that sending troops or money to our aid, although how the news came I cannot say, and it was whispered among the people who were true to the Cause, that Rhode Island had sent as many as fifteen hundred men under Brigadier Nathaniel Greene. Connecticut voted to raise six thousand soldiers, and the Provincial Congress passed an act authorizing the enrollment of two thousand troops in addition to those who were already in the field. Nor did the Britishers content themselves with the large force already in Boston. The Cerberus man-of-war came into the harbor having on board, in addition to the troops, three generals: Howe, Clinton and Burgoyne. It was as if General Gage had until this time considered his army too small to cope with our people, but now that new troops were arrived, increasing his force to at least ten thousand men, he gathered courage to impose yet further upon us, and issued a proclamation which declared the town under martial law, stating in the document that all our people who favored the Cause were "rebels, parricides of the Constitution." He offered a free pardon to all who would swear to serve the king loyally, with the exception of Masters John Hancock and Samuel Adams. These last two he declared traitors, and offered a reward for their capture. We in Boston had had but little liberty under the British rule, and now were to be treated more like prisoners than before, for any red-coat holding the king's commission could seize us on the streets, or even take us from our homes, without form of law; but simply because of his own whim or suspicion. I had more than once, at the time when it was believed General Gage would be gentleman enough to keep his word and allow the citizens to leave the town, urged upon my mother that she seek safety near the American army, but she, dear soul, hesitated to abandon her home, and I failed to insist as strongly as I might have done, fearing lest her going would involve mine also, thus depriving me of an opportunity to serve the Cause with my company. Then came the time when the Britisher who called himself a gentleman, went back on his word, refusing to allow women or children to go out from the town, and there was no longer an opportunity for her to escape.