The regular troops within the city were not above two thousand men.

The citizen militia increased the number to nearly four thousand.

For such an extent of lines as encircled the place, the adequate force should not have been less than that of the enemy.

The fortifications, when the British first landed their 'materiel', were in a dilapidated and unfinished state, and, at that time, the defenders, apart from the citizens, scarcely exceeded eight hundred men; while the small pox, making its appearance within the walls, for the first time for twenty years--an enemy much more dreaded than the British,--effectually discouraged the country militia from coming to the assistance of the citizens.

Under these circumstances, the conquest would have been easy to an active and energetic foe.