Welcome to Call to Decision 

 American Minute with Bill Federer

 February 20

 A Revolutionary War Colonel, he built the fortifications at Breed's
 Hill and commanded the militia at the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775.

 He fought in the battles of Long Island in 1776 and Saratoga in 1777.


 His name was William Prescott, born FEBRUARY 20, 1726.

 After the Boston Tea Party, where colonists threw 342 chests of
 British East India tea overboard, Parliament passed the Boston Port
 Bill, blockading the harbor and starving the inhabitants.

 The Committee of Correspondence sent word to the other Colonies, who
 called a Day of Fasting and Prayer, June 1, 1774, "to seek divine
 direction and aid."

 In August 1774, William Prescott led the men of Pepperell,
 Massachusetts, to deliver many loads of rye, telling Boston's
 inhabitants:

 "We heartily sympathize with you, and are always ready to do all in
 our power for your support, comfort and relief, knowing that
 Providence has placed you where you must stand the first shock.

 We consider that we are all embarked in (the same boat) and must sink
 or swim together."

 Prescott continued:

 "Let us all be of one heart, and stand fast in the liberty wherewith
 Christ has made us free.

 And may He, of His infinite mercy, grant us deliverance of all our
 troubles."