The Minute Boys of York Town

"I'm thinking, Abel Hunt," Pierre replied softly, "that the Britishers have got as much on their heads as can well be attended to just now, without troubling their minds regarding you. Don't expect a squad of red-coats to come here on your behalf very soon, and, in fact, I would advise you to give over thinking of such a thing, for there is every indication my Lord Cornwallis will be too deeply occupied with the American army to give heed to Tories, however important they may believe their business to be."

Abel continued to threaten, declaring he would send us to the gallows before many days had passed, if we failed to release him, and he went on in such strain until even Pierre lost his temper, and roughly told him that unless he made ready for eating he would get no food until next morning, whereupon the fellow opened his mouth obediently, much like a calf.

Mine was the disagreeable task to feed him, and it may be I thrust the pudding into his mouth with unnecessary force; but certain it is I was in no wise tender with the scoundrel, for I knew to a certainty that if the tables were turned, and we in his power, we might hold ourselves fortunate indeed if we were given the slightest morsel to eat.

That night we lads took turns standing guard in the loft, each remaining on duty two hours, although as Saul said, if we had been willing to cause Horry Sims suffering, all of us might, by gagging him, have taken the rest which we needed. I am not sorry that we failed of following my cousin's suggestion, for since that day I have come to know from painful experience how much suffering may be caused by a gag firmly fixed between one's jaws.

There is no good reason why I should strive to set down all the doings of each day while it seemed to me much as if our people were making slow progress in this work of capturing my Lord Cornwallis.

Having been so successful in our first attempt at foraging, we went almost boldly around the village when our store of provisions ran low, begging at this house or at that without questioning whether the occupants might be for the king or for the colony, receiving sometimes with a generous hand, and then again in niggardly manner, at least enough of food to keep us alive, although I am free to confess that never once from the day the Jerseyman left us until I was home again on the plantation, did I feel as though my stomach was well filled.

Instead of striving to tell what we lads did, which is of little consequence compared with what was going on around us, I had best hold this poor apology for a story to the movements of those brave fellows who had come down from the North to rid our colony of Virginia from red-coated invaders.

During all the while, whether by day or by night, one of us three lads remained in the loft doing guard duty, while the other two, if by any fortunate chance we had a small store of provisions on hand, were at liberty to watch our people. It can well be understood how greedily we gazed out upon that army which we counted friendly, watching for the least change of position, and even questioning with impatience how long it would be before the end came.

It was as if the Britishers gave no heed whatsoever to anything save their own defense, and I question whether we lads might not have boldly presented ourselves to the quartermaster begging for food and receiving it, instead of striving as we did to keep ourselves from their particular notice.

We could see day after day our people bringing up heavy guns, digging ditches which Pierre called parallels, meaning embankments thrown up to protect the advance of a besieging army, and otherwise seemingly making preparations to fall upon the enemy in overwhelming force.

I remember well on going out early one morning, after it seemed to me that we had been shut up in this town of York weeks and weeks instead of only a few days, and seeing much to my surprise a parallel, or embankment, not more than five or six hundred yards from the outermost of the British works, which had been completed during the hours of darkness. With a great joy in my heart I ran into the cabin to make known the welcome news, for surely did it seem as if the American army had taken their first step toward entering the village.

We expected each moment to hear sounds of conflict; those who were not on duty in the loft remained out of doors watching the soldiers in the distance, and greatly disappointed were we when night came and nothing decisive, so far as we could see, had been done.

Next day Pierre pointed out to me as he and I stood overlooking the American lines, that two or three redoubts were being thrown up, and batteries placed in position. Then came that for which we had been hoping and praying – the sounds of conflict.

It was in the afternoon that our people opened fire upon the enemy with great vigor, and until the end came the earth trembled continuously beneath the heavy detonations, while the smoke of the burning powder hung over us until our throats were parched and smarting.

It is impossible for me to set down of my own knowledge all that was done during this seemingly long time by the Britishers, for I saw only a portion of the movements. Often the clouds of smoke prevented me from seeing friend or foe, and again, when came this change of position, or that counter-marching, I failed to understand the meaning, therefore it is that again shall I make my story more plain by setting down the words of another, which I have seen on a printed sheet:

"The evening of the sixth was very dark and stormy, and under cover of the gloom, the first parallel was commenced within six hundred yards of Cornwallis's works. (Parallel is a technical term applied to trenches and embankments dug and thrown up as a protection to besiegers against the guns of a fort. In this way the assailants may approach a fortification, and construct batteries within short gun-shot of the works of the beleaguered, and be well protected in their labors.)

"General Lincoln commanded the troops detailed for this service. So silently and so earnestly did they labor that they were not discerned by the British sentinels, and before daylight the trenches were sufficiently complete to shield the laborers from the guns of the enemy. On the afternoon of the ninth several batteries and redoubts were completed, and a general discharge of twenty-four and eighteen-pounders was commenced by the Americans on the right.

"This cannonade was kept up without intermission during the night, and early next morning the French opened their batteries upon the enemy. For nearly eight hours there was an incessant roar of cannon and mortars, and hundreds of bombs and round shot were poured upon the British works. So tremendous was the bombardment that the besieged soon withdrew their cannon from the embrasures, and fired very few shots in return. At evening red-hot cannon balls were hurled from the French battery on the extreme left, at the Guadaloupe and Charon.

"The Guadaloupe was driven from her post, while the Charon and three large transports were burned.

"The night was starry and mild, and invited to repose; but the besiegers rested not, and York Town presented a scene of terrible grandeur such as is seldom witnessed by the eye of man.

"From the bank of the river I had a fine view of the splendid conflagration. The ships were enwrapped in a torrent of fire which spread with vivid brightness among the combustible rigging, and ran with amazing rapidity to the tops of the several masts, while all around was thunder and lightning from our numerous cannon and mortars, and in the darkness presented one of the most sublime and magnificent spectacles that can be imagined.

"Some of our shells, over-reaching the town, were seen to fall in the river, and, bursting, threw up a column of water like the spouting of a monster of the deep. All night long the allies kept up a cannonade, and early the next morning another British transport was set in flames by a fiery ball, and consumed.

"During the night of the eleventh the besiegers commenced a second parallel, between two and three hundred yards from the British works. The three succeeding days were devoted to the completion of this line of trenches, during which time the enemy opened new embrasures in positions from which their fire was far more effective than at first.

"Two redoubts on the left of the besieged, and advanced three hundred yards in front of the British works, flanked the second parallel and greatly annoyed the men in the trenches. Preparations were made on the fourteenth to carry them both by storm.

"To excite a spirit of emulation the reduction of one was committed to the American light infantry under Lafayette; the other to a detachment of French grenadiers and chasseurs commanded by the Baron de Viomenil, a brave and experienced officer.

"Toward evening the two detachments marched to the assault. Colonel Alexander Hamilton, who had commanded a battery of light artillery during this campaign, led the advance corps of the Americans, assisted by Colonel Gimat, Lafayette's aide; while Colonel Laurens, with eighty men, turned the redoubt, in order to intercept the retreat of the garrison.

"At a given signal the troops rushed furiously to the charge without firing a gun, the van being led by Captain Aaron Ogden. Over the abattis and palisades they leaped, and with such vehemence and rapidity assaulted and entered the works, that their loss was inconsiderable. One sergeant and eight privates were killed; seven officers and twenty-five non-commissioned officers and privates were wounded. Major Campbell, who commanded the redoubt, and some inferior officers, with seventeen privates, were made prisoners. Eight privates of the garrison were killed in the assault, but not one was injured after the surrender.

"The redoubt stormed by the French was garrisoned by a greater force, and was not so easily overcome. It was defended by a lieutenant-colonel, and one hundred and fifty men. After a combat of nearly half an hour, the redoubt was surrendered. Eighteen of the garrison were killed, and forty-two were made prisoners. The French lost in killed and wounded about one hundred men.

"During the night of the fourteenth these redoubts were included in the second parallel, and by five o'clock the next afternoon some howitzers, which had been placed in them, were opened upon the British works.

"The situation of Cornwallis was now becoming dangerous. Beleaguered on all sides by a superior force, his strongest defenses crumbling or passing into the possession of the besiegers, and no tidings from General Clinton to encourage him, the British commander was filled with the gloomiest apprehensions.

"Knowing that the town would be untenable when the second parallel should be completed, he sent out a detachment under Lieutenant-Colonel Abercrombie, to make a sortie against the two almost completed batteries guarded by French troops. They made a furious assault at about four o'clock in the morning and were successful; but the guards at the trenches soon drove the assailants back, and their enterprise was fruitless of advantage.

"Cornwallis, confident that he could not maintain his position, determined to make a desperate effort at flight. His plan was to leave the sick and his baggage behind; cross over to Gloucester, and, with his detachment there, disperse the French troops; mount his infantry on horses taken from the duke's legion, and others that might be seized in the neighborhood; by rapid marches gain the forks of the Rappahannock and the Potomac, and, forcing his way through Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, form a junction with the army in New York.

"This was a most hazardous undertaking, but his only alternative was flight or capture. Boats were accordingly prepared, and at ten o'clock on the evening of the sixteenth a portion of his troops were conveyed across to Gloucester. So secretly was the whole movement performed that the patriots did not perceive it, and had not a power mightier than man interposed an obstacle, Cornwallis's desperate plan might have been successfully accomplished.

"The first body of troops had scarcely reached Gloucester Point when a storm of wind and rain, almost as sudden and fierce as a summer tornado, made the passage of the river too hazardous to be again attempted. The storm continued with unabated violence until morning, and Cornwallis was obliged to abandon his design. The troops were brought back without much loss, and now the last ray of hope began to fade from the vision of the earl."

CHAPTER XVI

PREPARATIONS FOR FLIGHT

There is little of particular interest that can be told concerning ourselves during that time of happenings which I have just set down in the words of another, when our people were showing themselves such able soldiers.

When the fighting was hottest at least two of us lads were out of doors where we could see what was going on, and regarding not the bullets or cannon balls that came our way, in our eagerness to watch for some advantage which might be gained by the Americans.

It was for us a time of constant anxiety. We had the prisoners to guard, and had we not been forced to take Abel Hunt as we did, then might it have been a simple matter, for we could frighten Horry Sims into submission. But this hulking, dissolute fellow, as ready to fight as he was to eat, regardless of whether he faced friend or foe, was smarting under the sense of being held captive by lads, and we knew only too well that he would struggle to his utmost to set himself free that he might denounce us as spies, which he could well do after knowing what he must have known regarding the Jerseyman.

While I was on duty in the loft I stood at one of the small apertures or the other gazing out, oftentimes hearing the shrieking of a bomb as it came within what seemed to be a very short distance of the building; but ever keeping a watchful eye on Abel Hunt.

At such times as I was off duty and not obliged to go with Pierre foraging, for he was the only one of us three who could successfully conduct such expeditions, I was lounging around the outside of the building, saddened when our people slackened fire, lest they should be wavering in the attempt to overcome Cornwallis, and again exulting when the big guns boomed their notes of defiance until it was as if the very air vibrated with the detonations.

Although we were so fearsome that Hunt might succeed in making his escape, at least four times in every four and twenty hours were we forced in humanity's name to take the gag from his mouth, that he might get relief for his jaws.

The fellow begged again and again that we would relieve him from his bonds so he might walk around, promising to be as obedient to our orders as was Horry Sims; but I knew him too well to put any trust in his words.

Now and then we released his feet, and again gave him free use of one arm at a time; in other words, we did all we might to relieve the pain of his position without running too much risk on our part.

On that day when the French and the American troops attacked the redoubts on either side the village, I thought we had come to our last hour on earth, so thickly did the shots from the American redoubt directly in front of the lines which were sent to cover the assault I have already described, strike roundabout old Mary's cabin. It seemed certain we must be sent into the Beyond by those who would lend us every aid within their power.

It was when a solid shot struck the corner of the cabin near to the ridge-pole, just above where Abel Hunt lay, and plowed its way through the solid logs, tearing them aside as a child might shatter a lot of jackstraws, that I believed we were soon to meet our death. Hunt must have been of the same opinion, for he begged like a cur, when Pierre and I went up shortly afterward, for us to keep the gag from his mouth, declaring that we were striving to compass his death by leaving him in such a place.

But for Pierre Laurens I believe we would have abandoned the prisoners, and, taking Uncle Rasmus with us, fled down to the bank of the river immediately in the rear of the captured redoubt, where several of the villagers were gathered in abject terror, thinking only to shield themselves from the iron hail which came into and across the encampment with the fury of a summer tempest.

It was not possible for us to go an hundred yards in either direction from the cabin without coming upon wounded or dead, and so accustomed did we become within a very short time to such horrible scenes that they ceased to terrify us, save when, as happened more than once, a soldier was shot down within a stone's throw of our hiding place. Even then it was to us nothing so very terrible, save that it served to point out the peril in which we were placed.

We had long since ceased to depend upon the citizens of York for food; but went boldly up to the quartermaster's department when rations were being served, and only once were we turned away empty-handed.

I would not have it understood that during the siege we were living on the fat of the land; we had sufficient with which to partially allay our hunger, and took good care that the prisoners should not suffer from lack of food, even though we ourselves might be forced to fast.

Once during these times of excitement a bomb struck that portion of the cabin which had already been shattered, and on the instant the dry timbers were in a flame. Fortunately, however, we had a full bucket of water in the house, and by aid of this, with what could hurriedly be brought from the well near at hand, we succeeded in extinguishing the fire before it gained headway.

"If that had happened in the night, then had we all been burned to death," Saul said thoughtfully, and Pierre laughed him to scorn as he replied:

"If so be we lads haven't sense enough to go out of doors when the heat inside becomes too great, then of a verity do we deserve to be burnt alive. No danger which may come to us from our people can cause me to grumble, for it is all in the way of teaching the king's soldiers a lesson, and my life counts for nothing."

I believe we had all come to cheapen the value of a human life by this time, having seen so many of the red-coated soldiers shot down. Until we were come to this village of York I had shuddered at the very thought of shedding blood; but now so hardened was I become to such scenes that I gave no heed to those who fell within view of the cabin, nor did I hold my own life as of great importance even to myself.

He who has followed thus far my attempt to tell the story of what certain lads who called themselves Minute Boys of York Town did during this time of the siege, must strive to picture for himself our goings-in and comings-out while we were thus tied to old Mary's cabin. They must see in their minds' eye Pierre and I foraging, or mentally be with us when we divided our scanty store of food, giving to the helpless ones in the loft more than we took ourselves, for I cannot set all this down so that another may see it clearly, without using so many words that the most patient reader would turn aside from the pages wearied.

Therefore it is that I shall come directly to that evening so near the end of the siege when my Lord Cornwallis attempted to turn tail, leaving the sick and wounded behind him as he strove to gain a shelter in New York.

That forenoon Pierre and I had gone to the commissary's quarters when the rations were dealt out, and stood in line to receive our share, for during the past few days there had been no question as to giving us a certain amount of food. We were most likely looked upon as village lads, and by this time my Lord Cornwallis had been forced to feed the citizens of York from the army stores, he having seized from those who had an abundance everything that might serve to satisfy hunger.

Even I, thick-headed and dull of vision as I am, understood on this morning that some change was near at hand. The red-coats were moving here and there hurriedly, like bees whose hive has been disturbed. There was a great gathering of horses nearby the river bank, and among them, to my grief and anxiety, was my own colt Silver Heels; baggage wagons were being drawn down to the shore, and officers rode to and fro in hot haste, seemingly giving little heed as to what might be going on in the fortifications.

Half the buildings in the town had been taken possession of that they might be used as hospitals for the poor wretches who had been wounded, and as we passed them on our way to the commissary's quarters I noted that the surgeons were going from one to another as if having but little time to spend. The British fire had slackened although the Americans continued to pour shot and bombs into the town in a half-hearted way, and one might almost have supposed they were getting short of ammunition.

"Something of importance is going on here," I said decidedly when Pierre and I, having received what was supposed to be our proper amount of rations, had set off as if to return to the cabin. "Do you note that baggage is being carried to the river, and the horses are tethered there? Have you seen how hurriedly the surgeons were moving about, giving but scant heed to those who need their services most?"

"All that I have seen," Pierre replied gravely, "and it would seem to me that the riddle may easily be read, even by you who claim to have no knowledge of military matters."

"What do you mean?" I cried sharply. "What is it you read in this movement, except, perhaps, that Cornwallis is making ready for another sortie?"

"Would he make ready for a sortie by moving his baggage to the river? By gathering the horses there?" Pierre cried, speaking incautiously loud, and then lowering his voice to a whisper as he realized that the words might carry far even despite the roaring of the American guns. "If it was in his mind to strike a blow at our people would he be overhauling his baggage? Would not the horses be taken near to the front where they might be used?"

"What is it you mean?" I cried impatiently, not in the mood to wait until Pierre had gotten ready to repeat after his own fashion that which was in his mind.

"Do you remember that the Jerseyman said my Lord Cornwallis was making ready to run away?"

Like a flash it came upon me. I remembered all that Morgan had said, and as it came to my mind everything unusual around me had its meaning as plain as the sun at noon-time.

At last this general of the king who had boasted that he would come down and drive all the rebels out from Virginia, regardless of what that "French boy, Lafayette, might do," was making ready to run away – to run away from those American soldiers whom the Britishers did not believe could fight, although certain it is they had good proof of it at Bunker Hill in the colony of Massachusetts, and were they not getting more proof now? Was there a red-coat in all our village of York who had not come to realize, and would be willing to admit, that the so-called rebels who fought under every disadvantage and bore patiently every suffering, could stand at their guns as bravely as any who wore his majesty's uniform?

It was a moment when I was more proud than I have ever since been in my life, proud of my people, not of myself, and with the pride came a feeling of sad disappointment because I had not been able to contribute anything to this downfall of the swaggering Britishers. I had hoped we might enroll a full company of Minute Boys who despite their age would earn the right to serve as soldiers, and yet had I accomplished nothing save coming into this village in the vain hope of being able to regain possession of my horse, remaining here almost as much of a prisoner as either Abel Hunt or Horry Sims.

The news was too good to be kept to myself, and regarding not Pierre's movements I ran at full speed back to old Mary's cabin, shouting as I burst through the door:

"The Britishers are getting ready to run away! Cornwallis has grown frightened, and is giving up the fight!"

"How know you that?" Saul cried sharply, seizing me by the shoulder as if forcing me to give proof, and at the same instant I heard the prisoners in the loft stirring as if in fear, while Horry Sims asked, although knowing full well his companion could not answer a question:

"Do you believe it possible my Lord Cornwallis would really run away?"

"He is getting ready to run away!" I shouted triumphantly. "Even now the baggage is being carried to the river bank; all the spare horses are tethered there, and save for the few soldiers who are left in the works, there is no further heed being given to what our people are doing!"