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131.Gage in Massachusetts, 1774~75.
131．蓋奇在馬薩諸塞（1774~1775年）
General Gage found he had a good deal to do before he could begin to crush the rebellion. He had to find shelter for his soldiers. He also had to find food for them. The Boston carpenters would not work for him. He had to bring carpenters from Halifax and New York to do his work. The farmers of eastern Massachusetts were as firm as the Boston carpenters. They would not sell food to General Gage. So he had to bring food from England and from Halifax. He managed to buy or seize wood to warm the soldiers and hay to feed his horses. But the boats bringing these supplies to Boston were constantly upset in a most unlooked-for way. The colonists, on their part, elected a Provincial Congress to take the place of the regular government. The militia was reorganized, and military stores gathered together.
蓋奇將軍發現在出征平定叛亂之前他有許多事情要做，他不得不為士兵解決營房問題，還要為士兵找到食物。波士頓的木匠不會為他做這些事。蓋奇將軍不得不從哈利法克斯和紐約帶些木匠來做這些事。馬薩諸塞西部的農民與波士頓的木匠一樣堅定，他們不會將食物賣給蓋奇將軍，因此，蓋奇將軍不得不從英格蘭和哈利法克斯帶食物。他設法購買或掠奪木材供給士兵取暖，設法購買或掠奪干草來喂馬。但是，將這些物資運往波士頓的船經常以最不可思議的方式翻船。而殖民地居民則選出一個省議會來代替合法政府，他們重新組織義勇軍，并將軍用物資集中儲備起來。
132.Lexington and Concord, April 19, 1775.
132. 萊克星頓和康考德（1775年4月19日）
Gage had said that with ten thousand men he could march all over Massachusetts. In April, 1775, he began to crush the rebellion by sending a strong force to Concord to destroy stores which his spies told him had been collected there. The soldiers began their march in the middle of the night. But Paul Revere and William Dawes were before them. "The regulars are coming," was the cry. At Lexington, the British found a few militiamen drawn up on the village green. Some one fired and a few Americans were killed. On the British marched to Concord. By this time the militiamen had gathered in large numbers. It was a hot day. The regulars were tired. They stopped to rest. Some of the militiamen attacked the regulars at Concord, and when the British started on their homeward march, the fighting began in earnest. Behind every wall and bit of rising ground were militiamen. One soldier after another was shot down and left behind. At Lexington the British met reinforcements, or they would all have been killed or captured.Soon they started again. Again the fighting began. It continued until the survivors reached a place of safety under the guns of the warships anchored off Charlestown. The Americans camped for the night at Cambridge and began the siege of Boston.
蓋奇將軍曾經說過，他可以帶領一萬人踏平馬薩諸塞。1775年4月蓋奇將軍開始他粉碎叛亂的行動。諜報人員告訴他在康考德有一些馬薩諸塞人聚集起來的倉庫，康考德就派出一支勁旅去摧毀這些倉庫。士兵們在半夜開始出發，但是，保羅·里維爾和威廉·道斯趕在了這些士兵的前面。"平叛者來了！"有人喊道。不列顛人發現萊克星頓的草地上有一些整隊待發的軍人。有人開槍，一些美洲人被殺死，英國人隨之奔襲康考德。此時，很多民兵已經組織起來。時值夏日，平叛者累了，他們停下來休息，有些民兵就在康考德攻擊平叛者，并且，在英國人開始返回營地時，戰斗變得激烈起來。在每一堵墻后面和每一處高地的后面都有民兵。士兵們一個個倒下死去。不列顛人的援兵趕到了萊克星頓，否則這些人都將被殺死或俘虜。他們很快再次出征，戰斗再次打響。這場戰斗一直持續到幸存者退守到查理斯頓軍艦的炮火之下的安全地帶。美洲人夜里在坎布里奇宿營，并開始圍攻波士頓。
