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I see the British going to Breed’s Hill and I wonder what is going to happen to my compatriots. I hear guns and cannons firing and I wonder what is happening and who is winning the battle.

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June 11, 1775
     Today a British General came to my shop. He wants twenty barrels by Friday next. My apprentice has run away to be a minuteman, and I have no help. What, therefore, shall I do?

June 12, 1775
     Today I fitted three barrels with hoops. Then I started using the hammer and driver to drive the hoops tight to the barrel. Next I began to make staves. I backed the staves by using my hollowing knife to make the proper curves. I used my drill to drill the bung hole in the tops of them. I finished the day by sharpening my knives with the whetstone.

June 13, 1775
    When Robert, who I know is a spy, came to my shop, I told him that a British general came in. What was he doing? he asked me. I told Robert about the twenty barrels. Robert wants eight barrels because the resistance is running out of gunpowder. But what he really wants is information about the British troops.

June 15, 1775
     Nothing happened yesterday, but my long-gone apprentice showed up earlier today from Dorchester, where he was visiting his brother who is a Massachusetts soldier. We made ten barrels by the end of the day. I told him what I am doing for the British but I reminded him that I am on our side, the colonists. I sent him outside to watch for any approaching British soldiers.

June 16, 1775
     I learned today, from my apprentice, that the British are going to go to Dorchester. He found out by overhearing British soldiers talking about leaving in the boats. I decided to tell Captain Presscott. I told the dimwitted British sentries outside my shop that I was going to get more wood. I got on my horse and I found the troops in the hills outside town. I asked where the Captain’s tent was, and a soldier led me to it. I told him what I learned. He got mad and he knew he had to get the British out of Boston so he ordered soldiers to put cannons on Breed’s Hill and Bunker Hill. I went back and got very little wood so the doltish sentries would not be suspicious.
   Later, my apprentice and I completed thirteen barrels, when I broke my compass. I hit my thumb with my hammer and my driver hit my foot. I could not make barrels for the rest of the day. It takes about three weeks to get a compass from an English ship.

June 17, 1775
    I am glad because there will be no barrel making today. I see the British going to Breed’s Hill and I wonder what is going to happen to my compatriots. I hear guns and cannons firing and I wonder what is happening and who is winning the battle.

June 18, 1775
    I heard that the British retreated twice. The third time they attacked, the colonists ran out of gunpowder. Finally, the Massachusetts men were forced to retreat. The battle ended, and the British captured Breed’s Hill and Bunker Hill. I am worried that the British will rule the colonies forever.

June 19, 1775
    People are swarming into my shop in droves. Someone wants five barrels for milk by tomorrow and someone else wants eight barrels for ale the day after tomorrow. It is difficult to help my fellow colonists, while at the same time, I must defeat enemy.

Epilogue

Christopher Harrington died in 1781. He was in a battle in Yorktown, where the French and the colonists forced the British to surrender. The British General, Cornwallis, tried to bring his troops across the York River to safety. But a storm drove them back and he surrendered the next day

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