OCR Text |
Show 'Don't Fire Till' j Some day, some time, somebody will establish with certainty who ac-tually ac-tually gave "this famous order. That it was issued at Bunker Hiil on June 17, 1775, to the Continentals who were, about to be attacked by the British regulars under the command com-mand of William Howe is agreed, as is also the circumstance that the Minutemen were short of ammunition ammuni-tion and heavily outnumbered. Traditionally, credit for the line goes to Col. William Prescott, who. knowing that his men would be tempted by the crimson coats and white breeches of the king's grenadiers grena-diers and cognizant of his troops' lack of sufficient equipment, had them hold their fire till the enemy was almost upon them. Others to whom the words have been attributed are Corporals Israel Putnam, Warren and Stark, the last of whom is said to have adjured his men: "Don't fire till you see the whites of their eyes, or Mollie Stark's a widow!" |