OPERATIONS UNDER COLONEL SIMCOE.--SENT TO MACKEY'S MILLS.--MY FRIEND'S
HOUSE SACKED.--COLONEL CARLYON TAKEN PRISONER.--RENDER HIM A SERVICE.--
TROOPS EMBARK AT NIGHT.--MY LOYALTY QUESTIONED.--MILLS BURNT.--IN
COMMAND OF RATTLESNAKE.--SAIL WITH PRIZES.--A WINTRY VOYAGE.--NEW YORK
ONCE MORE.--SERVE ON BOARD CHATHAM.--MISMANAGEMENT OF THE WAR.--REJOIN
CHARON.
I must endeavour to get on more rapidly than heretofore with my account
of public matters. On the 18th of January the British army marched from
Smithfield southward, and the squadron moved down to Newportneuse.
Among the most active of the English officers was Colonel Simcoe. On
the 16th he surprised and took prisoners an American officer of militia
and fifteen privates. From the report I heard I was much in fear that
Colonel Carlyon was the officer taken, but I had no means of
ascertaining whether or not such was the case. At all events, I hoped
that his daughter was in a place of safety.
On the 18th the army reached Mackey's Mills, and I received orders to
proceed with a detachment of boats to supply them with bread and other
provisions. I hoped now to gain the information I was so anxious to
possess. Our present expedition was very different to those in which I
had before been engaged. We now went up in daylight, with a force which
no enemy was likely to attack. Mackey's Mills were reached soon after
noon, and when I had delivered the provisions I was ordered to remain to
assist in passing the troops across the river on their way to the attack
of Portsmouth. The embarkation was not to take place till midnight, so
I had ample time to go up the river to ascertain whether the house where
Madeline had been residing had been attacked. O'Driscoll was ready
enough to accompany me, to give me, as he observed, one chance more of
doing the proper thing; but, before I went, I was anxious to ascertain
whether Colonel Carlyon had indeed fallen into our hands. I had, at the
same time, no reason to fear that he would be treated harshly or with
want of courtesy. Only, if he was a prisoner, I naturally wished to see
him, that I might offer him all the assistance in my power. Going on
shore, after some difficulty I found out Colonel Simcoe's quarters at a
farm-house a mile away from the mills. I introduced myself to him, and
told him my errand--that I was acquainted with Colonel Carlyon's family,
and that I wished to be of service to him. He replied that the officer
he had taken had refused to give his name and rank to the party who had
captured him.
"I understood that he and his men were surprised," I remarked.
"Not at all," was the answer. "He was apparently covering the retreat
of another party who appeared to have some women and other encumbrances
among them. To do the rebel gentleman justice, he fought very bravely,
and did not yield till he was completely overpowered."
I begged that I might see the prisoner, and, after some little
hesitation on the part of the colonel, he handed me the necessary order.
Thanking him for his courtesy, I set off for the cottage used as a
prison. It was situated a quarter of a mile nearer the mills. A strong
guard was posted in the neighbourhood, and a couple of sentries paced up
and down before it. I showed my order to the lieutenant in charge of
the party and was at once admitted. I looked round the chamber. Near a
casement window, seated on a rough stool, with a cask serving as a
table, I beheld Colonel Carlyon. He turned his head when I entered, and
I thought that his countenance brightened when he saw me. He rose and
held out his hand.
"I regret, sir, to see you here as a prisoner," said I. "Hearing that
an officer had been captured, I hastened, should it prove to be you, to
offer such services as I am able to render."
"The fortune of war, Mr Hurry. I may be thankful that I have escaped
wounds or death," he answered in a cheerful tone. "Believe me, I am
grateful to you for this attention, and I only wish that I had the means
of showing my gratitude."
He, of course, well knew that he might some day have the power of
showing it most effectually. My first inquiry was, of course,
respecting the safety of his daughter, and he assured me that he had
every reason to believe that she and her companions had reached the
house of some relations in the interior, and that he should have
accompanied them had he not been so hotly pursued by Colonel Simcoe's
persevering and lightly-accoutred troops. When he heard that I had made
preparations to go up to Mrs Langton's house he exclaimed--
"You may render me a great service by so doing. In the hurry of our
departure, in consequence of your warning, a small desk was left behind.
It contains not only money and jewels of considerable value, but some
papers of the greatest importance. I had but just discovered my loss
when I was taken prisoner, and the only person I could have entrusted to
go in search of it was killed in the same skirmish in which I became a
prisoner."
I naturally was much pleased with this opportunity of rendering a
service to Colonel Carlyon. I had but little time, however, left in
which to perform it. After he had explained to me in what part of the
house I was to look for the desk, I took my departure and hastened back
to the river, where I found O'Driscoll with Rockets and two other men
waiting for me. The tide was favourable, so that we had no difficulty
in getting there. The scenery wore so different an aspect by daylight
to what it had done in the dark that we could scarcely recognise the
spots we passed. We landed and approached the house. There, indeed,
was a melancholy change. The shrubberies had been cut down, the garden
trampled under foot, and the house itself plundered and set on fire--I
think by accident--I scarcely believe it could have been done wantonly.
I began to fear, when I saw what had occurred, that I must give up all
hopes of finding the desk of which I was in search. O'Driscoll and I
felt very indignant when we saw the destruction which had been wrought
by our troops.
"Well, after all, war is a dirty business!" he exclaimed, after
contemplating the scene of ruin for some minutes without speaking.
"Fighting in the open field, where hard blows are given and taken, and
man meets man on equal terms, is all very well in its way. I don't
object to sacking a town which holds out when it should have given in,
but the burning down of old ladies' houses, and injuring the property of
people who could not have caused any offence, I cannot stand. I should
like now to discover the officer who was commanding here and allowed
this. I would pick a quarrel with him and call him out to a certainty."
My friend had certainly curious notions, not uncommon among his
countrymen in these days. Sad, indeed, was the scene of havoc and
destruction which met our gaze on every side, not only about the house,
but in the fields and cottages in the surrounding country--war's
melancholy consequences. We had no time to contemplate it.
"Come, O'Driscoll," said I, "we will search through the ruins for my
friend's case, but I scarcely expect to find it."
"Something like looking for a needle in a rick of hay," he answered;
"or, rather, far more hopeless, for it is very unlikely that the case
should have escaped being burnt or carried off."
O'Driscoll, Rockets and I hunted in different directions. I first
endeavoured to find the room which Colonel Carlyon had described to me.
That portion of the house had not suffered so much as the rest; most of
the flooring of the room was burnt, but the fire had been extinguished
before the whole had been consumed. I climbed up to it, not without
risk, for the burnt rafters gave way under my feet. I knew the room
from the position of the window, which looked into a little courtyard.
A portion of the furniture had escaped, though blackened and disfigured.
My hopes revived as to finding the desk. I hunted eagerly round. It
was too evident that everything considered of value had been carried
away. I was about to scramble down again by the way we had come up when
I bethought me of looking out of the window for the enjoyment of the
prospect, which was a very beautiful one. Woods, fields, the terraced
garden, distant hills, and the river rushing by were well combined to
form it. As I looked out, my eye fell on a heap of rubbish in one
corner of the courtyard, with burnt and broken pieces of furniture, and
I fancied that I saw the edge of such a case as I was in search of
sticking out from among them. I quickly descended and found my way to
the spot. I eagerly pulled out the object I had seen. It was a
peculiarly old-fashioned, unattractive-looking case, and from its
outward appearance no one would have supposed that it contained objects
of value. I felt sure that I was right, and that I had got the object I
was seeking. I sang out to O'Driscoll, who after a little time heard my
voice and was delighted at my good fortune. Calling Rockets, we then
hurried back to the boat. There was no time to be lost, for night was
coming on; we had a long pull before us, and I was anxious to deliver
the case to Colonel Carlyon without delay. After this I had to assist
in getting the boats ready for the embarkation of the troops. Away we
pulled. O'Driscoll was in high feather, laughing and joking to his
heart's content.
"You're in a fair way now, at all events, to win the lady, my boy," said
he. "Only just keep moving, and put yourself under my guidance. We
must soon knock this rebellion on the head, and then, do ye see, you can
step in and be of still greater service to the father and the family,
and claim your reward. Oh! it's beautiful. I see it all now as clear
as a pikestaff."
Certainly, we neither of us at the time thought what a different turn
affairs were to take from what he was then calculating on. Yet, I must
own, I had even then my misgivings on the subject. As soon as we
landed, I hurried as fast as my legs could carry me to the cottage where
Colonel Carlyon was kept a prisoner. His satisfaction was very great
when I delivered the case to him, and the way in which he expressed his
gratitude was manly and cordial in the extreme.
"It is useless for a prisoner to make promises, which, should your party
finally triumph, he may never be able to fulfil," he observed with a
grave look. "In the latter case, those taken with arms in their hands
may be hung, drawn and quartered as traitors, in accordance with the
time-honoured custom of our fathers. If the patriots are victorious,
the prisoners will be liberated with all the honours which can be
showered on them, and I may have the satisfaction of proving that I am
not ungrateful for what you have done for me and mine."
I found some difficulty in answering properly to these remarks. I could
not say that I wished the royal cause not to succeed, and yet I
certainly did not desire to see the Americans completely defeated and
humbled. I therefore said--
"I trust that a peace, honourable to both parties, may ere long be
established, and that the Americans may gain to the full what they
consider their just rights."
"That will never be unless victory smiles on our arms," he replied with
a faint smile. "We must conquer to obtain our rights. What has
hitherto been denied will never be otherwise granted."