Drums of War (6 page)

'Is
it, John?' questioned his brother. 'I begin to sniff betrayal here. I know I
accused him earlier but I'd exonerate Slangenberg from being in league with the
French even though he shares their Popish religion. However, I suspect one of
our allies. When our first party tried to cross the river, Villeroi was waiting
for them as if forewarned of their approach. I fancy there's a spy in the Dutch
camp.'

'The
warning could equally well have come from our camp.'

'That's
even more worrying.'

'Only
if there really was treachery,' said Marlborough, 'and I'm not persuaded of
that. I think that Marshal Villeroi guessed right this time. It was too much to
expect that we could fool him twice in a row. The only way to find out the
truth,' he went on, 'is to capture him and ask if he had an informer in our
ranks.'

'Capture
him?' said Churchill in disbelief. 'How can we hope to do that when the Dutch
will not let us get anywhere near the fellow?'

'Be
patient, Charles,' said his brother, tapping his forehead with an index finger.
'Something is stirring in my brain.'

While
his uncle was avoiding Tom Hillier, he hadn't been forgotten by Daniel Rawson. Wondering
how the lad was faring, he sought the drummer boy out in a spare moment.
Hillier was close to tears. He was staring up at a tall tree in dismay. Daniel
realised why.

'How
long has that been up there, Tom?' he asked.

Hillier
gasped in surprise. 'Oh - Captain Rawson!'

'Somebody
is enjoying a laugh at your expense, I see.'

'It's
not the first time, sir.'

'New
recruits always have to endure this kind of thing, I'm afraid. It's a rite of
passage.'

'How
can I get it
down?

Hillier
had good reason to be upset. His drum had been stolen while he was in the
latrines and wedged in the top branches of a tree. Some of the lower branches
had been deliberately snapped off so that he could not use them to climb up.
Shinning up the trunk would not be easy. It was too thick and smooth for him to
get a good purchase on it.

'What
else have they done, Tom?' said Daniel.

'They
hid my uniform, they poured water over me while I was asleep and one of them
put a dead mouse in my boot. Every day, it's something different,' said
Hillier. "They seem to like baiting me.'

'It's
all in fun, lad. They may have stolen your drum but they've taken care not to
damage it. As you can see, they've put it where it can't possibly fall.'

'But
how do I get it down again, Captain?'

'Try
using simple arithmetic.'

Hillier
was puzzled. 'Arithmetic?'

'Yes,
Tom,' said Daniel. Add six and six together for me.'

'The
answer's twelve.'

'That
means your six foot combined with mine will take you up to twelve feet, and you
can add another two for reach. I'd say that lowest branch was no more than ten
or eleven feet away. When you stand on my shoulders, you'll be able to grab it
easily.'

'You're
going to help me?' said Hillier in amazement.

'Well,
there's nobody else here to offer you a hand.'

'Thank
you, Captain Rawson. I'm so grateful.'

'Let's
retrieve that drum first,' said Daniel. 'We can worry about gratitude
afterwards. Come on, Tom.'

Facing
the tree, Daniel knelt down so that Hillier could clamber on to his shoulders.
As Daniel slowly lifted him up, the drummer boy used the trunk to steady
himself. When he pulled himself up to his full height, his head was above the
lowest branch. He took hold of it, got a firm grip then hauled himself up into
the tree, sending some leaves fluttering down through the air like snowflakes.
Daniel stood back to watch him. While he was not a natural climber, Hillier was
determined. Inching his way up through the fretwork of branches, he finally
reached his precious drum. After checking that it had not suffered any harm, he
began the slow descent. By the time he reached the bottom branch, he was able
to lower the instrument to Daniel.

Dropping
to the grass, Hillier was now beaming.

'I
got it,' he said, taking the drum and stroking it. 'I got it safely back. Thank
you, Captain. I couldn't have done it without you.'

'Don't
tell the others that, Tom. Let them think you did it all on your own. That will
impress them.'

'Yes,
sir.'

'And
don't be the victim all the time.'

'What
do you mean?'

'Do
you know which of the others took your drum?'

'I'm
fairly certain it was Hugh Dobbs.'

'Was
he the one who put the dead mouse in your boot?'

'Yes
- that was definitely his doing.'

'Then
you wait until he's asleep tonight and put a dead rat in his boot. He won't be
so keen to bait you if he knows you fight back.'

Hillier
shrugged. 'Where will I get a dead rat from, sir?'

'Quite
simple - you kill a live one. There are plenty of them about if you keep your
eyes open.'

The
drummer nodded then shifted his feet. 'Have you seen anything of my Uncle
Henry?' he asked, tentatively.

'I've
had brief glimpses of him,' said Daniel. 'Sergeants, as you've found out, are
very busy men. Their duties are onerous and they rarely get much rest.
That's
why Sergeant Welbeck has been
unable to get in touch with you.'

'No,
it's not, Captain Rawson - he hates me.'

'That's
not true.'

'Mother
warned me that he would. According to her, even as a boy, he never liked being
part of a family. He preferred to do things on his own. I remember Mother reading
out some of his letters to us. They never showed any real interest in what
we
were doing.'

'I'm
astonished to hear that he wrote at all, Tom.'

'It
was only now and then, sir.'

'Did
you get a letter after Blenheim?'

'Yes,'
said Hillier, 'and for once it was quite long. Hearing his description of the
battle made me want to join the army at once and do something worthwhile for a
change. I had this strong urge to follow in Uncle Henry's footsteps.'

'Well,
don't be too disheartened by the way he rebuffed you. Sergeant Welbeck will
soften in time. I'll make a point of telling him how nimbly you climbed that
tree.'

'Thank
you.'

'As
for these tricks they keep playing on you,' promised Daniel, 'they won't go on
much longer. We'll be on the march again very soon. It's just as well you have
that drum back, Tom,' he added, touching the instrument. 'You could well be
beating it in battle.'

Given
the unpromising circumstances, most commanders would have abandoned the idea of
pursuing further success in Flanders but Marlborough was too tenacious to give
up. Feeling that something positive could still be snatched out of a largely
unsatisfactory year, he produced a new plan, reminding his reluctant allies
that they did, after all, still hold the initiative. As a first step, he
collected five days' ration of bread for the army and summoned a convoy from
Liege with six days' biscuit. This made him independent from the supply depots
and from the camp bakeries that normally worked every four days. At the same
time, he ordered a siege train to Meldert, large enough to inflict damage but
small enough to be moved easily. He now had operational flexibility.

Marlborough's
intention was to march rapidly to the source of the River Dyle in an attempt to
lure the French into battle before their reinforcements could arrive from the
Upper Rhine. The advance began on 15 August with Overkirk's army to the left of
Marlborough's columns. Their combined force numbered 100 battalions and 160
squadrons. By dint of pressing on hard, they reached Corbaix and Sombreffe by
nightfall. The development caused great unease in the enemy camp because they
had no idea where the Allied armies would strike. Marlborough had positioned
himself so that he could threaten Hal, Brussels, Louvain, Mons, Charleroi and
even Dendermonde. As he had anticipated, his strategy sewed confusion in the
French camp. In a panic, Villeroi dispersed his troops to strengthen every
sector, thereby weakening his field force until it comprised only 70 battalions
and 120 squadrons. They were outnumbered.

The
Allies crossed the river at Genappes in blazing heat and swung north as if to
attack Brussels. Villeroi immediately ordered General Grimaldi to block the
high road running through Waterloo. The French commander-in-chief, meanwhile,
concentrated his army behind the River Yssche. To his intense alarm, the Allies
suddenly turned away from the high road and headed directly for the main French
position, making it impossible for Villeroi to evade a major battle. All that
he could do was to order his men to make frantic efforts to throw up earthworks
along the line of the river. For the second time that summer, Marlborough had
contrived to put the French army exactly where he wanted it.

There
was another element to the plan. While enemy attention was concentrated on
Marlborough and Overkirk, General Churchill took up a position in the Forest of
Soignies. With 20 battalions and the same number of squadrons, he was poised to
attack the French flank and rear from his hiding place among the trees.
Everything pointed to an Allied victory. After consultation with General
Overkirk, Marlborough secured full agreement to an immediate battle. All that
they had to do was to wait for the artillery to arrive and hostilities could
commence in earnest. Marlborough sent orders that the British train of
artillery should come as quickly as possible. Then he waited.

Unfortunately,
the delay was much longer than expected. When the artillery reached a narrow
defile, they were stopped from entering it by General Slangenberg who wanted
preference given to his baggage train. Frustrated artillery officers had to
stand there for hours while the wagons rolled slowly past. Vital time had been
wasted and the enemy had been able to bolster their numbers and strengthen
their defences. It was noon when the British artillery was finally in place.
Marlborough was at last ready to signal the start of what could prove to be a
crucial battle.

Before
he could do that, however, doubts were raised.

'Hell
and damnation!' cried Marlborough, bringing both hands to his head in a gesture
of despair. "The Dutch are running scared yet again.'

'This
is General Slangenberg's work,' said Daniel.

'He's
the ringleader, I agree, but it's the subordinate generals who are pressing for
further reconnaissance. They want to inspect the proposed crossing points on
the river. All it will mean is more and more delay.'

'That
will only favour the enemy, Your Grace.'

'It's
unforgivable to dither like this.'

'I
thought that General Overkirk recognised the wisdom of your plan,' said Daniel.
'You completely outwitted the French.'

'If
only the other Dutch generals realised that!' Marlborough took a deep breath.
'I'm sorry, Daniel. I shouldn't rant on like this in front of you. I'll be much
calmer when the council of war begins. I want you here as my interpreter. When
they mutter away to each other in Dutch, I always feel at a disadvantage. I
need you as an extra pair of ears.'

'I
feel privileged to be able to help, Your Grace.'

Daniel
Rawson had no time to say anything else because the tent was suddenly filled
with officers. He sat beside Adam Cardonnel and in a good position to watch the
Dutch generals. By studying their expressions, he feared that they had already
made up their minds not to sanction an attack. Their spokesman, as usual, was
Slangenberg.

'We
need more time,' he insisted.

'We
do not
have
time,' declared Marlborough. 'We've already delayed
far too long.'

'We
must be circumspect, Your Grace.'

'Circumspection
does not decide the outcome of a battle.'

'Perhaps
not,' said Slangenberg, sternly, 'but it can reduce the number of potential
casualties. Taking an army into battle without careful reconnaissance
beforehand is both rash and dangerous.'

All
the necessary steps have been taken, General.'

'I
need to be absolutely certain of that.'

'Would
you throw away the one chance we have of bringing Marshal Villeroi to battle?
That's perverse.'

'We're
pursuing a sensible course of action.'

'You're
imperilling the whole strategy, General,' said Overkirk, irritably. 'His Grace
devised a plan that bewildered the French and put them at our mercy. Had we
attacked hours ago, we would surely have gained the upper hand by now.'

'That's
idle speculation,' returned Slangenberg.

Daniel
sat in silence while the argument continued and the minutes ticked by. Overkirk
supported Marlborough but most of the Dutch generals and their field deputies
were behind Slangenberg. Marlborough was compelled for once to abandon his
normally diplomatic tone. He appealed to them with real passion.