With their ammunition gone, the Americans could not hope to retain their position and so began at last to retreat slowly. Putnam had gone to the rear to secure additional men and now he took command, and under him the continentals fell back to Prospect Hill. Some thought the British would pursue them, but the redcoats had had enough of the slaughter. Out of a force of three thousand they had lost more than a third, including many officers! The American loss was not near so large, but included many well-known patriots besides gallant Warren. Hand to hand in conflict with the foe, Phil and Andy and their brave young followers contested every foot of the way. Phil, in evading a sabre stroke from a British officer, dodged, slipped, fell, and rolled over and over down the hill towards the advancing group of redcoats. It was like falling into the maw of a devouring monster. Phil's comrades stood petrified with dread. Then a lithe, nimble figure cut the air like a person diving into the water or from a trapeze. It was Sachem. Just in time he seized the prostrate Phil, flung him over his shoulder, and bore him harmlessly amid a leaden hail of bullets into the midst of his comrades. One final fusillade, a great huzza of confidence and defiance from the patriot hosts, and Bunker Hill and its heroes had passed into history. CHAPTER XXXI A MESSENGER FROM CONCORD The patriots had made no mistake in bulking their bravery to teach the Tories a lesson at Bunker Hill. The effects of that event was felt all through the country, not only by the British but by the American. Bunker Hill had demonstrated a significant fact to the Tories. This was the powers of endurance of the hardy colonists and their superior marksmanship. Outside of a few regular companies in Boston, the British troops were men hastily recruited from the rural districts of England. These men had received little or no training. For years they had lived under the most rigorous game laws. The result was that some of them had never had a gun in their hands. When they were given one to fight with, they did not know how to use it. The patriots, on the contrary, were natural marksmen. They had to hunt for a great portion of their food, and had become very skilful in the use of the musket. Most of them belonged to train-bands, and the local militia were well-officered and under fairly efficient discipline. It depressed the Tories after the battle of Bunker Hill to review and analyze these potent facts. There could be no question that one colonist was a match for two redcoats. Besides this, all over the country the remarkable exploits of the New England army infused new courage in the hearts of their brethren to the south. They had held Boston as in a state of siege for many months, and there were rumors that Gen. Gage was about to be recalled, and that possibly his troops might be sent to Canada.