"The citizens petitioned the General for permission to leave the town, and he promised, on surrendering their arms..."

"...Despairing of driving the Colonists to resistance by any other means than actual hostility, a detachment of the army at Boston marched into the country in all the array of war; and, unprovoked, fired upon, and killed several of the inhabitants. The neighbouring farmers suddenly assembled, and repelled the attack. From this, all communication between the town and country was intercepted. The citizens petitioned the General for permission to leave the town, and he promised, on surrendering their arms, to permit them to depart with their other effects. They accordingly surrendered their arms, and the General violated his faith. Under various pretences, passports were delayed and denied; and many thousands of the inhabitants are, at this day, confined in the town, in the utmost wretchedness and want. The lame, the blind, and the sick, have indeed, been turned out into the neighbouring fields; and some, eluding the vigilance of the centries, have escaped from the town, by swimming to the adjacent shores....By order of the Congress, John Hancock President, Philadelphia, July 28, 1775."

[The Address to the People of Ireland, Pennsylvania Packet, 7 August, 1775. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. FRIDAY, JULY 28, 1775]