Extract of a Letter from a Gentleman at Boston

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On the 7th instant General Gage detached five thousand chosen men before the break of day, under the command of Generals Howe and Burgoyne, to attack the Provincials in their camp. They marched with the greatest expedition and silence, and being favoured by the negligence of the enemy, were close at the intrenchments before they were perceived, which they forced after a very spirited resistance; but the panick which the suddenness and unexpectedness of their attack occasioned, threw our gallant Provincials into unavoidable confusion. The King' s forces found in the camp a vast deal of ammunition, &c˙, together with six thousand stand of small-arms, thirteen field-pieces, sixteen twenty-four pounders, and twenty-four twelve pounders, besides a vast quantity of provisions, and one hundred thousand pounds in specic. The loss of the King' s Troops is computed at about four hundred, killed and wounded, and the loss of the Provincials between two and three thousand taken prisoners; the number killed is not exactly known, but must be great. General Putnam and General Lee are taken prisoners, and many more Provincial officers of note.

I would give you a fuller account, but imagine you will have received despatches before this. Nothing but consternation reigns in this devoted City, which, from plenty and affluence, is reduced to a state of poverty, misery, and destruction, — London Publick Advertiser, September 12, 1775.