The Fort: A Novel of the Revolutionary War - xaviantvision
The Fort: A Novel of the Revolutionary War - xaviantvision The Fort: A Novel of the Revolutionary War - xaviantvision
sloops without any more delay. The letter had been couched in the politest terms, but no amount of courtesy could hide that the petition was a bittercriticism of Saltonstall's leadership. Nearly all of the men who had signed that letter were in the cabin, but Saltonstall pointedly ignored them."I assume, gentlemen, we are agreed that we must make our assault soon?" Lovell asked.Voices murmured their assent. "Tonight, go tonight," George Little, first lieutenant of the Hazard, suggested forcibly."Wait too long," Colonel Jonathan Mitchell, commander of the Cumberland County militia, said, "and they'll have their damned fort finished. The soonerwe attack, the sooner we go home.""Wait too long," George Little warned, "and you'll see British reinforcements coming upriver." He pointed out of the cabin's wide stern windows. Theebbing tide had turned the Warren on her anchor cable and the windows now looked towards the southwest. The sun was setting there, glossing thewaters of Penobscot Bay into slithering patterns of red and gold."Let us not anticipate such things," Lovell said.Wadsworth thought such things were worth anticipating, especially if they lent haste to the job at hand. "I would suggest, sir," he said warmly, "that wemake our assault tonight.""Tonight!" Lovell stared at his deputy."We have a full moon," Wadsworth said, "and with some small luck the enemy will be inattentive. Yes, sir, tonight." A growl of approval sounded aroundthe cabin."And how many men could you commit to such an attack?" A sharp voice asked and Wadsworth saw that it was Lieutenant-Colonel Revere who hadposed the question.Wadsworth felt the question was impertinent. It was not Revere's business to know how many infantry could be landed, but Solomon Lovell seemedunworried by the brusque demand. "We can land eight hundred men," the general said and Revere nodded as though satisfied with the answer."And how many men can the artillery train take ashore?" Wadsworth demanded.Revere flinched, as though the question offended him. "Eighty men, exclusive of officers," he said resentfully."And I trust," Wadsworth rather surprised himself by the defiance in his voice, "that this time the ammunition will match the guns?"Revere looked as if he had been slapped. He stared at Wadsworth, his mouth opened and closed, then he drew himself up as if about to launch avicious response, but Colonel Mitchell intervened. "More to the matter at hand," Mitchell said, "how many men can the enemy muster?"William Todd who had also bridled at Revere's intervention was about to give his usual high estimate, but Peleg Wadsworth silenced him with agesture. "I've talked long and hard with young Fletcher," Wadsworth said, "and his information is not guesswork, it is not an estimate, but derives directlyfrom the enemy paymaster." He paused, looking about the table. "I am persuaded that the enemy regiments can muster no more than seven hundredinfantry."Someone gave a low whistle of surprise. Others looked dubious. "You have confidence in that number?" Major Todd asked skeptically."Complete confidence," Wadsworth said firmly."They possess artillerymen too," Lovell warned."And they have Royal Marines," a ship's captain spoke from the edge of the cabin."We have better marines," Captain Welch insisted.Commodore Saltonstall stirred himself, his gaze moving disinterestedly about the table as though he was faintly surprised to discover himself in suchcompany. "We shall loan two hundred and twenty-seven marines to the militia," he said."This is splendid," Lovell said, trying to rouse the fervor of the Council, "truly splendid!" He leaned back in his chair, planted his fists wide apart on thetable, and beamed at the company. "So, gentlemen, we have a motion! And the motion is that we attack this night with all our land forces. Permit me to puta proposition to the Council's vote, and may I suggest we attempt a resolution by acclamation? So, gentlemen, the motion is, do you think the force wepossess sufficient to attack the enemy?"No one responded. They were all too astonished. Even Saltonstall, who had appeared entirely disengaged from the discussion in his cabin, now gazedwide-eyed at Lovell. For a moment Wadsworth was tempted to think the general was venturing a clumsy joke, but it was apparent from Lovell's expressionthat he was serious. He really expected every officer present to vote on the motion as though this was a meeting of the General Assembly. The silencestretched, broken only by the footsteps of the watch-keepers on the deck above."In favor, aye," Wadsworth managed to say, and his words broke the surprise in the cabin so that a chorus of voices approved the motion."And is anyone opposed?" Lovell asked. "None? Good! The ayes have it." He looked at his secretary, John Marston. "Record in the minutes that themotion proposing that we possess sufficient force to make the assault was passed unanimously by acclamation." He beamed at the assembled officers,then looked inquiringly at Saltonstall. "Commodore? You will support our assault with a naval action?"Saltonstall looked at Lovell with an expressionless face which nevertheless managed to suggest that the commodore thought the general was a witlessfool. "On the one hand," Saltonstall finally broke the embarrassing silence, "you wish my marines to take part in your assault, and on the other you wish meto attack the enemy shipping without my marines?""I, well'" Lovell began awkwardly."Well?" Saltonstall interrupted harshly. "Do you want the marines or not?""I would appreciate their assistance," Lovell said weakly."Then we shall engage the enemy with gunfire," Saltonstall announced loftily. There was a murmur of protest from the officers who had signed the lettercondemning the commodore, but the murmur died under Saltonstall's scornful gaze.All that was left now was to decide where and when to attack, and no one demurred from Wadsworth's proposal to assail the bluff again, but this time toattack by moonlight. "We shall attack at midnight," Wadsworth said, "and assault the bluff directly." To Wadsworth's exasperation Lovell insisted onoffering both the time and place as motions for the Council's vote, but no one voted against either, though Colonel Mitchell diffidently observed thatmidnight left little time to make the necessary preparations."No time like the present," Wadsworth said."You expect me to attack their shipping by night?" Saltonstall reentered the discussion. "You want my ships grounded in the dark?""You can attack in the dawn, perhaps?" Lovell suggested and was rewarded with a curt nod.The council ended and men went back to their ships as the bright moon climbed among the stars. The rebels had voted unanimously to make theirattack, to bring the enemy to battle, and, with God's good help, to make a great victory.The fog came slowly on the morning of Wednesday, July 28th, 1779. At first it was a mist that thickened imperceptibly to shroud the cloud-haunted moonwith a glowing ring. The tide rippled along the anchored ships. Midnight had come and gone, and there was still no attack. The Hunter and Sky Rocket,the two privateers that would cannonade the heights of the bluff as the rebels landed, had to be rowed upriver before anchoring close to shore and bothships arrived late. Some transport ships had too many lighters or longboats, and others too few, and the confusion had to be disentangled. Time passedand Peleg Wadsworth fretted. This was the attack that must succeed, the attack to capture the bluff and surge on to assault the fort. This was why the fleethad come to Penobscot Bay, yet one o'clock came and passed, then two o'clock, then three o'clock, and still the troops were not ready. A militia captainsuggested the attack should be abandoned because the creeping fog would dampen the powder in the musket pans, a notion Wadsworth rejected withan anger that surprised him. "If you can't shoot them, Captain," he snapped, "then beat them to death with your musket butts." The captain looked at himwith an aggrieved face. "That's what you came here for, isn't it?" Wadsworth asked. "To kill the enemy?"James Fletcher, at Wadsworth's side, grinned, His only uniform was a white crossbelt from which hung a cartridge pouch, but most of the militia weresimilarly dressed. Only the marines and some militia officers wore recognizable uniforms. James's heart was throbbing palpably. He was nervous. His jobwas to show the attackers where paths climbed the bluff, but right now that bluff was just a moon-shadowed cliff in the mist. No light showed there.Longboats bumped and jostled alongside the transport ships, waiting to take the soldiers ashore, while on deck men sharpened knives and bayonets andobsessively checked that the flints in their musket locks were firmly embedded in the dogheads. Wadsworth and Fletcher were on board the sloopCenturion from which they would embark with Welch's marines. Those marines in their dark green jackets waited patiently in the Centurion's waist andamong them was a boy whom Wadsworth remembered from Townsend. The boy grinned at the general who tried desperately to remember the lad'sname. "It's Israel, isn't it?" Wadsworth said, the name suddenly coming to him"Marine Fifer Trask now, sir," the boy said in his unbroken voice."You joined the marines!" Wadsworth said, smiling. The lad had been provided with a uniform, the dark green coat cut down to his diminutive size, whileat his waist hung a sword-bayonet. He lacked the marine's distinctive leather collar and instead had a black scarf wound tight round his scrawny neck."We kidnapped the little bastard, General," a marine spoke from the dark."Then make sure you look after him," Wadsworth said, "and play well, Israel Trask."
A rowboat banged against the Centurion's side and a harried militia lieutenant scrambled over the gunwale with a message from Colonel McCobb."Sorry, sir, it'll be a while yet, the Colonel says he's sorry, sir.""God damn it!" Wadsworth could not help exclaiming."There still aren't enough boats, sir," the lieutenant explained."Use what boats you have," Wadsworth said, "and send them back for the rest of the men. Send me word when you're ready!""Yes, sir." The lieutenant, abashed, backed away to his boat."They call them minutemen?" Captain Welch appeared beside Wadsworth and asked with a hint of amusement.Wadsworth was taken aback that the dour marine captain had even spoken. Welch was such a grim presence, so baleful, that his customary silencewas welcome, yet he had sounded friendly enough in the darkness. "Your men have food?" Wadsworth asked. It was an unnecessary question, but the tallmarine made him nervous."They have their morsel," Welch said, still sounding amused. General Lovell had sent a message that every man must take "a morsel ashore toalleviate hunger," and Wadsworth had dutifully passed the order on, though he suspected hunger would be the least of their problems. "Have you everbeen to England, General?" Welch suddenly asked."No, no. Never.""Pretty place, some of it.""You visited it?"Welch nodded. "Didn't plan on it. Our ship was captured and I was taken there as a prisoner.""You were exchanged?"Welch grinned, his teeth very white in the dark. "Hell, no. I strolled out of the prison and walked all the damn way to Bristol. I signed as a deckhand on amerchantman sailing for New York. Got home.""And no one suspected you?""Not a soul. I begged and stole food. Met a widow who fed me." He smiled at the memory. "Glad I seen the place, but I won't ever go back.""I'd like to see Oxford one day," Wadsworth said wistfully, "and maybe London.""We'll build London and Oxford here," Welch said.Wadsworth wondered if the usually laconic Welch was talkative because he was nervous, and then, with a start, he realized that the marine was talkingbecause Welch had divined Wadsworth's own nervousness. The general stared at the dark bluff, which, in the thickening mist, was being limned by a dulllightening of the eastern sky, just a hint of gray in the black. "Dawn's coming," Wadsworth said.And then, suddenly, there were no more delays. Colonel McCobb and the Lincoln County militia were ready, and so the men clambered down into theboats and Wadsworth took his place in a longboat's stern. The marines were gray-faced in the wan light, but to Wadsworth they looked reassuringlyresolute, determined, and frightening. Their bayonets were fixed. The Centurion's sailors gave a low cheer as the boats pulled away from the transport.A louder cheer sounded from the Sky Rocket, and then Wadsworth plainly heard Captain William Burke shout at his crew, "For God and for America!Fire!"The Sky Rocket split the dawn with its eight-gun broadside. Flame leaped and curled, smoke spread on the water and the first missiles crashedashore.The rebels were coming.
- Page 2 and 3: THEFORTA Novel of the Revolutionary
- Page 5 and 6: A voice in the darkness, a knock at
- Page 7 and 8: A Note on Names and TermsIn 1779 th
- Page 9: Chapter OneThere was not much wind
- Page 12 and 13: ecome a base for Britain's Royal Na
- Page 14 and 15: "I bloody hope so," Moore said with
- Page 16 and 17: Chapter TwoLieutenant-Colonel Paul
- Page 18 and 19: magazines that would keep the ammun
- Page 20 and 21: "So you will take the oath?" McLean
- Page 22 and 23: Excerpts of a letter from the Selec
- Page 25 and 26: inflate a company into a battalion
- Page 28 and 29: "The world would be better without
- Page 30 and 31: So now one less man would sail east
- Page 32 and 33: Chapter FourThe fleet sailed eastwa
- Page 34: "We were maltreated in Boston," Cal
- Page 37 and 38: Tyrannicide had also confirmed that
- Page 39 and 40: From the Oath demanded by Brigadier
- Page 41 and 42: "Plug it!" Little shouted at the ma
- Page 43 and 44: "You promoted me to general yesterd
- Page 45 and 46: "Long as it takes."They had to wait
- Page 47 and 48: Chapter SixThe daylight was fading.
- Page 49 and 50: "He's a patriot!" Lovell said in a
- Page 51: "What are you doing?" Revere again
- Page 55 and 56: Chapter SevenThe first shots crashe
- Page 57 and 58: sir," McClure shouted over the musk
- Page 59 and 60: Solomon Lovell's heart seemed to mi
- Page 61 and 62: From Brigadier-General Lovell's des
- Page 63 and 64: emembered the tall American in his
- Page 65 and 66: "We thought him indestructible," De
- Page 67 and 68: could conceal men from the guns of
- Page 69 and 70: Chapter Nine"Where the devil is Rev
- Page 71 and 72: "Then they will have something to f
- Page 73 and 74: They would attack the battery.In th
- Page 75 and 76: Hundreds? He wondered. Maybe two hu
- Page 77 and 78: Chapter TenThe sun had not risen wh
- Page 79 and 80: Praise the Lord, Wadsworth thought,
- Page 81 and 82: marsh. The rebels patrolled that gr
- Page 83 and 84: Letter from Brigadier-General Lovel
- Page 85 and 86: on their flank?" Easily, Wadsworth
- Page 87 and 88: Commodore Saltonstall declared he w
- Page 89 and 90: ecome mired in pessimism and it nee
- Page 91 and 92: Chapter TwelveAnd, suddenly, there
- Page 93 and 94: at their sterns. Away to port was C
- Page 95 and 96: need men willing to make that attac
- Page 97 and 98: timber splinter to drive cloth into
- Page 99 and 100: Chapter ThirteenA Royal Marine at t
- Page 101 and 102: The fifty men filed through the aba
A rowboat banged against <strong>the</strong> Centurion's side and a harried militia lieutenant scrambled over <strong>the</strong> gunwale with a message from Colonel McCobb."Sorry, sir, it'll be a while yet, <strong>the</strong> Colonel says he's sorry, sir.""God damn it!" Wadsworth could not help exclaiming."<strong>The</strong>re still aren't enough boats, sir," <strong>the</strong> lieutenant explained."Use what boats you have," Wadsworth said, "and send <strong>the</strong>m back for <strong>the</strong> rest <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> men. Send me word when you're ready!""Yes, sir." <strong>The</strong> lieutenant, abashed, backed away to his boat."<strong>The</strong>y call <strong>the</strong>m minutemen?" Captain Welch appeared beside Wadsworth and asked with a hint <strong>of</strong> amusement.Wadsworth was taken aback that <strong>the</strong> dour marine captain had even spoken. Welch was such a grim presence, so baleful, that his customary silencewas welcome, yet he had sounded friendly enough in <strong>the</strong> darkness. "Your men have food?" Wadsworth asked. It was an unnecessary question, but <strong>the</strong> tallmarine made him nervous."<strong>The</strong>y have <strong>the</strong>ir morsel," Welch said, still sounding amused. General Lovell had sent a message that every man must take "a morsel ashore toalleviate hunger," and Wadsworth had dutifully passed <strong>the</strong> order on, though he suspected hunger would be <strong>the</strong> least <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir problems. "Have you everbeen to England, General?" Welch suddenly asked."No, no. Never.""Pretty place, some <strong>of</strong> it.""You visited it?"Welch nodded. "Didn't plan on it. Our ship was captured and I was taken <strong>the</strong>re as a prisoner.""You were exchanged?"Welch grinned, his teeth very white in <strong>the</strong> dark. "Hell, no. I strolled out <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> prison and walked all <strong>the</strong> damn way to Bristol. I signed as a deckhand on amerchantman sailing for New York. Got home.""And no one suspected you?""Not a soul. I begged and stole food. Met a widow who fed me." He smiled at <strong>the</strong> memory. "Glad I seen <strong>the</strong> place, but I won't ever go back.""I'd like to see Oxford one day," Wadsworth said wistfully, "and maybe London.""We'll build London and Oxford here," Welch said.Wadsworth wondered if <strong>the</strong> usually laconic Welch was talkative because he was nervous, and <strong>the</strong>n, with a start, he realized that <strong>the</strong> marine was talkingbecause Welch had divined Wadsworth's own nervousness. <strong>The</strong> general stared at <strong>the</strong> dark bluff, which, in <strong>the</strong> thickening mist, was being limned by a dulllightening <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> eastern sky, just a hint <strong>of</strong> gray in <strong>the</strong> black. "Dawn's coming," Wadsworth said.And <strong>the</strong>n, suddenly, <strong>the</strong>re were no more delays. Colonel McCobb and <strong>the</strong> Lincoln County militia were ready, and so <strong>the</strong> men clambered down into <strong>the</strong>boats and Wadsworth took his place in a longboat's stern. <strong>The</strong> marines were gray-faced in <strong>the</strong> wan light, but to Wadsworth <strong>the</strong>y looked reassuringlyresolute, determined, and frightening. <strong>The</strong>ir bayonets were fixed. <strong>The</strong> Centurion's sailors gave a low cheer as <strong>the</strong> boats pulled away from <strong>the</strong> transport.A louder cheer sounded from <strong>the</strong> Sky Rocket, and <strong>the</strong>n Wadsworth plainly heard Captain William Burke shout at his crew, "For God and for America!Fire!"<strong>The</strong> Sky Rocket split <strong>the</strong> dawn with its eight-gun broadside. Flame leaped and curled, smoke spread on <strong>the</strong> water and <strong>the</strong> first missiles crashedashore.<strong>The</strong> rebels were coming.
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