Throughout May, in response to orders from Gage requesting support, the British received reinforcements, until they reached a strength of about 6,000 men.
On June 13, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress was notified, by express messenger from the Committee of Safety in Exeter, New Hampshire, that a New Hampshire gentleman "of undoubted veracity" had, while visiting Boston, overheard the British commanders making plans to capture Dorchester and Charlestown [REF].