Kings Pinnacle (34 page)

Captain Ferguson

“
Captain Ferguson, I would
like to introduce you to Sir Henry Clinton,” said General Howe. “I
have resigned the command of the British Army in the colonies and
have been ordered to return to England. General Sir Henry Clinton
will be my replacement in command of the British Army
here.”

“It is indeed an honor to
meet you, sir, and congratulations on your advancement,” said
Captain Ferguson, bowing to General Clinton.

“Captain, I understand that
you have done a fine job recovering from the devastating battle
wound that you sustained during our Chadds Ford victory that was
part of the Philadelphia campaign. But our position here in
Philadelphia has now become untenable ever since the damned French
have cast their lot with the colonists. As you know, our forces in
the colonies have been greatly depleted. Since we have been
supplying troops to the West Indies, we don’t have enough men now
to even defend Philadelphia. We do not have the naval transports
necessary to move the men to New York by sea. That is why I intend
to march the British Army back to New York overland. We must
reinforce New York to prevent a French attack there. I would like
for you to take command of my light cavalry unit and scout ahead of
the army during the journey to New York,” said General
Clinton.

“Sir, it would be an honor
to serve the crown in that capacity,” formally replied Captain
Ferguson who was very pleased with the assignment.

After extensive
preparations, the British troops evacuated Philadelphia and began
the one hundred mile march from Philadelphia, across New Jersey, to
New York. The main British Army consisted of about eleven thousand
troops including British regulars, colonial loyalists, and
Hessians. The baggage train that followed the troops extended for
almost twelve miles behind the main body of troops.

Captain Ferguson’s light
cavalry unit skirmished with the Continental Army troops beginning
at almost the first mile of the trip.

“Sir, the rebels have burned
some of the bridges on the trail ahead. My men have found some
fords to cross the river, but it will delay our progress somewhat.
We have also cleared some obstacles made from felled trees,”
reported Captain Ferguson to General Clinton.

“Very well. You have done
excellent work, Captain Ferguson. We will follow your men to the
ford and press on until we run out of daylight. Please continue to
scout ahead, as I would like to reach Monmouth, New Jersey by
midday,” said General Clinton, dismissing the captain to return to
his duties.

* * * *

Alex

It was an hour before
daybreak when the warriors attacked the sleeping camp. It was a
small group of Chickamauga warriors who carried out the raid,
firing rifles and wielding tomahawks. Clem Jackson had been on
watch when one of the Chickamauga warriors had crept up behind him
as close as he could possibly get without alerting Clem. The
warrior had fired an arrow into Clem’s back just prior to the
attack. Clem had managed to fire his pistol just before he died,
alerting the sleeping camp and saving the lives of all the others.
Since they had been traveling in Cherokee territory, they had each
been taking two hour watches during the night to prevent being
taken unawares. They did not blame Clem for the raid. The warning
shot that Clem had fired gave them enough time to escape from the
camp and save their lives. But unfortunately, Clem Jackson had
forfeited his life in the process.

Alex, who was a light
sleeper anyway, was instantly awake upon hearing Clem’s pistol
shot. Alex reached for Slayer and his powder horn and satchel and
grabbed Martha’s hand. He ran with her hand-in-hand away from the
direction of the attack to escape into the trees. He and Martha
circled around the camp in the dark and eventually met up with the
others, who had also escaped the raid. Some had fought their way
out of the camp. No one was badly wounded. There were a few scrapes
and cuts that were quickly attended to, but nothing that would slow
anyone down in a fight.

“Let’s counterattack the
camp immediately and see if we can drive them out,” said
Alex.

They formed a skirmish line
with Alex in the middle and Robert and Hugh on each side of him.
The Longhunter was on the far right flank and Jonas was on the far
left flank. Martha followed a short way behind Alex. As the
skirmish line moved back toward the camp using the leap frog
technique that Robert and Hugh had perfected earlier in the war,
they took turns firing their rifles at the warriors who now
occupied their camp and then stopping to reload. This tactic kept
up a fairly steady rate of rifle fire toward the camp site. Soon
the warriors occupying the camp came to the conclusion that it
would be prudent to flee before they were killed by the steady
musket fire. Alex and his party did not give chase as it soon
became apparent that the braves would not return. Some of their
supplies had been pilfered, but there was no permanent damage done.
By the time they got everything reorganized, the sun was well up
above the horizon.

The warriors had gotten away
with two of the horses but only a few of the supplies. The attack
occurred a few days east of Shelby’s Fort, so the loss of the
supplies and the two horses would not be a great hardship. But the
loss of Clem was keenly felt by everyone. A long trip in close
quarters created a bond among the travelers, and Clem would be
sorely missed.

Jonas took the loss of Clem
very badly. They had been partners for many years. Jonas told the
others that he would like to bury Clem by himself, without any
help. The others respected his wish and let him accomplish the task
alone.

“We might as well get back
on the trail. There’s nothing more we can do here,” said Alex,
since it was now full daylight, and Jonas had returned to the camp
from his heartbreaking task.

“Jonas, why don’t you ride
along with me this morning,” said the Longhunter, who was closer to
both Jonas and Clem than anyone else in the group.

Jonas nodded his agreement,
and they all mounted their horses to restart their journey. The
Longhunter did not seek to replace Clem or partner with Jonas, but
he did want to provide what comfort that he could to the grieving
Jonas.

* * * *

Big Mike

“
Mike, I would like for
you to take charge of our cannon crews during the upcoming battle.
We just lost our last cannon commander when his enlistment ended,”
said Captain Ellison McCoy.

“Yes, sir, but I’m not very
well trained on aiming and firing yet,” replied Big
Mike.

“I understand that, but
you’ll pick it up quickly, and after the first few volleys, it
won’t matter much anyway. I need someone I can trust and someone
who won’t run at the first sign of trouble,” said
Ellison.

Big Mike had found a home in
the Continental Army and in the artillery in particular. After he
returned from his mission in Philadelphia, he had thought about
traveling south to follow Alex, Robert, and Hugh. But in the end,
he decided to stay with General Washington and the northern
Continental Army.

He began learning to swab,
load, and fire cannons, but now he had just been promoted to be in
charge of all the cannons. He was well-liked by everyone, and he
had proven to be a good leader. He and Molly had become very close
after rescuing her sister Maggie in Philadelphia. They planned on
getting married after the war was over and settling down in
Pennsylvania. The sisters had remained inseparable since the rescue
and were rarely out of each other’s sight.

The Continental Army was now
on the march, having left Valley Forge as soon as they heard about
the British move. They were now following closely behind the
British Army as it made its way from Philadelphia to New York. The
Continental Army’s battle plan was to attack the British at their
rear as they passed through Monmouth, New Jersey, hopefully
catching them unawares.

The weather was extremely
hot for June 1778 in New Jersey. It was one hundred degrees
Fahrenheit by noon, and the men and horses were sweating and
drinking gallons of water. At almost every stream they crossed,
they had to pause and replenish their water supply.

The Continental Army finally
engaged the British rear echelons near Monmouth Courthouse and the
British Army wheeled around to counterattack. The fighting became
hot and heavy during the heat of the day as the two armies squared
off against each other.

“Mike, I want you to set up
the six-pound cannons on top of Combs Hill. Provide enfilading fire
as the British attack. They may turn and try to attack your
position and if they do, load with grapeshot and rake them
royally,” instructed Ellison.

Big Mike followed orders and
led the horses pulling the caissons and cannons to a good firing
position on top of the hill. When the British appeared, he assisted
his gun crews with swabbing and loading the six-pound cannons as
they opened fire on the British Army. It was hot work and the heat
of the day combined with the heat of the cannons caused the men to
tire rapidly. Molly and Maggie had followed Big Mike all the way to
Combs Hill, where they were waiting near the rear, just down the
hill with the horses and supplies. Mike walked part of the way down
the hill and spied Molly and Maggie sitting under a tree in the
shade.

“Molly, bring me a pitcher
of water!” yelled Big Mike.

Molly stood up and waved her
hand over her head indicating that she understood the request. She
and Maggie searched for water and soon found a spring located near
the bottom of the hill. Molly pulled a water pitcher from the
supplies and baggage, filled it at the spring and then trotted up
the hill to give Big Mike a drink.

The other men saw that Big
Mike was getting a drink of water and they decided that they were
thirsty too.

“Molly, can you bring me a
pitcher of water, too?” yelled one of the men.

“I want one too,” yelled
another man.

“Molly, another pitcher
please!” shouted another man.

Molly nodded and ran down
the hill to enlist Maggie in the effort of carrying water to the
thirsty men. Maggie also found a pitcher, and both young women
started making trips up and down the hill between the spring and
the thirsty men, carrying pitchers of water. Molly and Maggie were
dressed alike that day, so it looked to some of them men as if
Molly was doing all the work. It seemed like Molly was everywhere
and inexhaustible. But it was really the two women who were working
together.

“Molly. Pitcher!” shouted
the exhausted Big Mike who was too tired to form a complete
sentence.

Molly nodded, refilled the
water pitcher and brought it to him once again. No sooner had she
finished than there was another shout from one of the other cannon
crews.

“Molly. Pitcher!” yelled the
cannoneer.

Molly and Maggie were both
working as hard as they could, bringing the soldiers water, but
Molly seemed to be getting all the credit since the men were
calling Maggie, Molly also.

The cannon firing went on
and on until late afternoon. Big Mike worked the gun so fast and
hard that finally he was exhausted and could do no more. He was
forced to lie down on the grass and rest. Molly saw him collapse on
the grass. She ran up the hill with a pitcher of water for him and
took his place swabbing and loading the cannon. Maggie also joined
another cannon crew swabbing and loading for a man who had been
killed by enemy fire.

Just as Molly was loading a
round in the cannon, a return volley of cannon fire from the
British cannons struck her dress. As the cannon ball passed between
her knees, it tore the bottom half of her skirt, leaving ragged
strips of it hanging down to the ground. She was unhurt by the
volley, so she reached down and tore the bottom half of her dress
off so that the ragged pieces would not get tangled around her legs
and ankles as she worked the gun.

“Molly, are you injured?”
asked Big Mike.

“I’m fine,” answered Molly.
“It could have been worse.”

The firing continued
throughout the afternoon. At one point in the battle, General
Washington rode up Combs Hill on his white charger, along with
Captain Ellison McCoy, to issue some new orders for Big Mike to
direct the cannon fire at new targets. He observed Molly and Maggie
swabbing and loading the cannons.

“I want these women issued
warrants as noncommissioned officers in the Continental Army,” said
General Washington to Captain McCoy.

“It will be done. I’ll take
care of it myself,” replied Captain McCoy.

Finally, late in the
afternoon, the order was passed to cease fire. The exhausted men
and women laid down on the grass to rest and recuperate. Big Mike
had finally rested enough to catch his breath, so he got up and
walked down the hill. He grabbed a pitcher, filled it at the
spring, and walked back up the hill to offer it to
Molly.

“
I think you deserve
this,” said Big Mike.

“Thanks, Mike, I appreciate
it. I only hope that the men don’t start calling me Molly Pitcher,”
said Molly with a smile. “I’ve heard that enough today.”