ve, heading up and over Bunker's Hill and on to the Neck and Cambridge. In the meantime, General Issac Putnam had ridden out to confer with Col. Prescott soon after the Lively opened fire. Soon he rode back to Cambridge in search of General Ward to urge the reinforcement of Prescott. Ward was concerned that reinforcing Prescott would weaken his forces elsewhere and felt he had to wait to learn for certain where the British would attack. By 11 o'clock, two British gondolas approached the Neck as close as possible and began firing at anything that moved along the neck. What actual affect this effort had remains unclear, though there were some casualties. By noon the British were in the boats and Howe with about 1,500 men embarked at one. Whether Ward had issued reinforcement orders or not before the British made their move, he did so now, sending orders to nine Massachusetts regiments, John Stark's and James Reed's New Hampshire regiments, and several artillery companies. All was confusion, with each regiment moving as it thought best and all the time men and officers dropping off and melting into the woodwork. The scene at the neck was chaotic. Several Massachusetts regiments blocked the entrance fearful of crossing under direct cannon fire. Colonel's Stark and Reed of the New Hampshire troops got the order to advance at two in the afternoon. Hastily assembling their men, they discovered that many were short of powder and shot. When the men were issued shot, time was lost as the men beat the shot into the proper caliber for the weapon each carried. When the New Hampshire troops arrived at the entrance to the Neck and found the Massachusetts troops blocking the way, Major Andrew McClary pushed his way to the frond and asked, "If Massachusetts didn't happen to need the road just then, would they mind moving over to let New Hampshire through?" The Massachusetts men moved smartly into the ditches as Stark and Reed calmly marched their men ac...
