By the end of February Washington had British cannon, brought with heavy labor from Ticonderoga, and then he lost no time.

On the morning of March 5, 1776, Howe awoke to find that, under cover of a heavy bombardment, American troops had occupied Dorchester Heights and that if he would dislodge them he must make another attack similar to that at Bunker Hill.

The alternative of stiff fighting was the evacuation of Boston.

Howe, though dilatory, was a good fighting soldier.

His defects as a general in America sprang in part from his belief that the war was unjust and that delay might bring counsels making for peace and save bloodshed.