The Fort. Bernard Cornwell
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borrowed a horse from the parson and gave them a speech from the saddle.
‘The British,’ he called, ‘have invaded Massachusetts! They must despise us, because they have sent few men and few ships! They believe we are powerless to evict them, but we are going to show them that Massachusetts men will defend their land! We will embark on our fleet!’ He waved towards the masts showing above the southern rooftops. ‘And we shall fight them, we shall defeat them and we shall evict them! You will return home with laurels on your brows!’ It was not the most inspiring speech, Wadsworth thought, but he was encouraged when men cheered it. The cheer was late in starting, and it was feeble at first, but then the paraded ranks became enthusiastic.
The parson, a genial man about ten years older than Wadsworth, helped the brigadier down from the saddle. ‘I trust they will have laurels on their brows,’ the parson said, ‘but most would prefer beefsteak in their stomachs.’
‘I trust they find that as well,’ Wadsworth said.
The Reverend Jonathan Murray took the horse’s reins and led it towards his house. ‘They may not look impressive, General, but they’re good men!’
‘Who needed pressing?’ Wadsworth enquired drily.
‘Only a few,’ Murray answered. ‘They worry about their families, their crops. Get them to Majabigwaduce and they’ll serve willingly enough.’
‘The blind, the halt and the lame?’
‘Such men were good enough for our Lord,’ Murray said, evidently seriously. ‘And what if a few are half-blind? A man needs only one eye to aim a musket.’
General Lovell had quartered himself in the parson’s ample house and, that evening, he convened all the senior officers of the expedition. Murray possessed a fine round table, made of maple wood, about which he normally led studies of the scripture, but which that night served to accommodate the naval and land commanders. Those who could not find a chair stood at the edges of the room, which was lit by eight candles in pewter sticks, grouped in the table’s centre. Moths beat about the flames. General Lovell had taken the parson’s high-backed chair and he gently rapped the table for silence. ‘This is the first time,’ Lovell said, ‘that we’ve all gathered together. You probably all know each other, but permit me to make introductions.’ He went around the table, naming Wadsworth first, then Commodore Saltonstall and the three colonels of the militia regiments. Major Jeremiah Hill, the expedition’s adjutant -general, nodded solemnly as his name was pronounced, as did the two brigade majors, William Todd and Gawen Brown. The quartermaster, Colonel Tyler, sat next to Doctor Eliphalet Downer, the Surgeon General. ‘I trust we won’t require Doctor Downer’s services,’ Lovell said with a smile, then indicated the men who stood at the room’s edges. Captain John Welch of the Continental Marines glowered next to Captain Hoysteed Hacker of the Continental Navy who commanded the Providence while Captain Philip Brown commanded the brig Diligent. Six privateer captains had come to the house and Lovell named them all, then smiled at Lieutenant-Colonel Revere who stood beside the door. ‘And last, but by no means least, our commander of the artillery train, Colonel Revere.’
‘Whose services,’ Revere said, ‘I trust you will require!’
A murmur of laughter sounded in the room, though Wadsworth noticed the look of grim distaste on Todd’s bespectacled face. The major glanced once at Revere, then studiously avoided looking at his enemy.
‘I also requested the Reverend Murray to attend this council,’ Lovell went on when the small laughter had subsided, ‘and I now ask him to open our proceedings with a word of prayer.’
Men clasped their hands and bowed their heads as Murray entreated Almighty God to pour His blessings on the men and ships now assembled in Townsend. Wadsworth had his head bowed, but sneaked a sidelong look at Revere who, he noticed, had not lowered his head, but was staring balefully towards Todd. Wadsworth closed his eyes again. ‘Give these men of Thy strength, Lord,’ the Reverend Murray prayed, ‘and bring these warriors safe home, victorious, to their wives, and to their children and to their families. We ask all this in Thy holy name, O Lord. Amen.’
‘Amen,’ the assembled officers echoed.
‘Thank you, Reverend,’ Lovell said, smiling happily. He took a breath and looked about the room, then stated the reason they were gathered together. ‘The British have landed at Majabigwaduce, as you know, and our orders are to captivate, kill or destroy them. Major Todd, perhaps you will be good enough to tell us what we know of the enemy’s dispositions?’
William Todd, his spectacles reflecting the candlelight, shuffled papers. ‘We have received intelligence,’ he said in his dry voice, ‘from patriots in the Penobscot region. Notably from Colonel Buck, but from others too. We know for certain that a considerable force of the enemy has landed, that they are guarded by three sloops of war, and that they are commanded by Brigadier-General Francis McLean.’ Todd studied the earnest faces around the table. ‘McLean,’ he went on, ‘is an experienced soldier. Most of his service was in the Portuguese employment.’
‘A mercenary?’ Commodore Saltonstall asked in a voice that reeked of scorn.
‘I understand he was seconded to Portuguese service by the King of England,’ Todd said, ‘so no, not a mercenary. Of late he has been Governor of Halifax and is now entrusted with the forces at Majabigwaduce. My apprehension of him,’ Todd leaned back as if to suggest that he was speculating now, ‘is that he is an old man who was put out to pasture at Halifax and whose best days are, perhaps, behind him.’ He shrugged as if to express uncertainty. ‘He leads two regiments, neither of which has seen recent service. Indeed, his own regiment is newly raised and is therefore entirely inexperienced. The notional complement of a British regiment is one thousand men, but rarely do the real numbers exceed eight hundred, so a reasonable calculation suggests that our enemy comprises fifteen or sixteen hundred infantry with artillery support and, of course, the Royal Marines and the crews of the three ships.’ Todd unrolled a large sheet of paper on which was drawn a crude map of Majabigwaduce and, as the men craned forward to see the plan, he showed where the defences were situated. He began with the fort, marked as a square. ‘As of Wednesday,’ he said, ‘the walls were still low enough for a man to jump. The work goes slowly, we hear.’ He tapped the three sloops that formed a barrier just inside the harbour entrance. ‘Their broadsides face Penobscot Bay,’ he said, ‘and are supported by land batteries. There is one such battery here,’ he pointed to Cross Island, ‘and another on the peninsula here. Those two batteries will enfilade the harbour entrance.’
‘None on Dyce’s Head?’ Hoysteed Hacker asked.
‘Dyce’s Head?’ Lovell asked, and Hacker, who knew the coast well, pointed to the harbour’s southern side and explained that the entrance was dominated by a high bluff that bore the name Dyce’s Head. ‘If I recall rightly,’ Hacker went on, ‘that ground is the highest on the whole peninsula.’
‘We have not been informed of any batteries on Dyce’s Head,’ Todd said carefully.
‘So they’ve surrendered the high ground?’ Wadsworth asked in disbelief.
‘Our information is some days old,’ Todd warned.
‘High ground,’ Lovell said uncertainly, ‘will be a splendid place for our guns.’
‘Oh indeed,’ Wadsworth said, and Lovell looked relieved.
‘My guns will be ready,’ Revere said belligerently.
Lovell smiled at Revere. ‘Perhaps you will be good enough to tell our militia colonels what artillery support you will offer them?’
Revere straightened and William Todd stared fixedly at the table top. ‘I have six eighteen-pounder cannon,’ Revere said robustly, ‘with four hundred rounds apiece. They’re killers, gentlemen, and heavier than any guns I daresay the British have waiting for us. I have two nine-pounders with three hundred rounds apiece, and a pair of five-and-half-inch howitzers with one hundred rounds each.’ John Welch looked startled at that, then frowned. He began to say something, but checked