“Death to him who forges
Fetters, fetters for the free!”--_Eastman_.
“Did you hear that?” exclaimed the maiden, with flushed cheek and
kindling eye.
“Hear what?” asked her surprised and wondering companion, who had heard
nothing to warrant so sudden a change in the other's demeanor.
“That sound from the forest yonder,” answered Sabrey, pointing over to
the wood bordering the opening to the south. “But hush! listen! it may
be repeated. There--didn't you hear it then?”
“I heard nothing but the hooting of an old owl over there What do you
make out of that?” responded Vine, still surprised and doubtful.
“I make much out of it: but let us listen further,” answered the other.
They did so; and presently the same slow, solemn hoot of the bird just
named rose more loud and distinct than before. And scarcely had the last
sound died away in its peculiar melancholy cadence, when the solitary
report of a musket sent its echoing peal over the valley from the forest
in the opposite direction.
“There! the story is told,” exclaimed Sabrey, exultingly. “Three
hoots of the owl is the secret watchword of the Rangers. The admirable
imitation we have just heard was doubtless given by him who communicated
to me this fact, and gave me a specimen of his faculty of making the
sound as we were coming through the woods in our recent flight. It here
shows, unless I greatly err, that his regiment is passing round to the
rear of the enemy; while the gun we have just heard must proceed,
I think, from some other force going round through the woods on the
opposite side,--these sounds being a concerted interchange of signals
to apprise each other and General Stark of the progress they have
made towards the appointed station. In fifteen minutes, this camp may
discover itself surrounded and assailed on all sides by men who know
what they are fighting for. Then Vine then comes the struggle we have
been praying to witness. O, may Heaven prosper the defenders of their
homes, and enable them to triumph over their haughty foes.”
The conjectures of Miss Haviland respecting the plan of attack which the
Americans had adopted were well founded. Colonel Herrick, with his brave
and spirited regiment of Rangers, had been despatched through the woods
to the rear of the enemy, where he was to be joined by nearly an equal
force of militia, under the command of Colonel Nichols, coming through
the forest, also, in an opposite direction; while the remaining and
larger portion of the army was to advance in front, in time to commence
with the former the general attack. And, in a short time, the long, deep
roll of drums, swelling louder and louder on the breeze, announced that
Stark, with the main body, was in motion, and rapidly approaching along
the road from the east.
Quickly every part of the British camp was in lively commotion. And the
hasty mounting of field-officers, the flying of the scattered troops to
their respective standards, the furious beating of the drums to arms,
and the deep, stern words of command, mingling with the rattling of
steel, and other sounds of hostile preparation, all plainly told that
they were at length aroused to the conviction that their opponents in
front were coming down in full force upon their encampment; and that
something more might now be required to insure their safety, than
the empty vaunting, and the supposed intimidating display, of British
uniforms and brass cannon, which had thus far marked the expedition,
and constituted its only achievements. And scarcely had the different
divisions of their motley army become arrayed and fixed in their line of
battle, which consisted of the regulars within their strong field-works
on the elevated plain on the left, and the Canadians and tories behind
their more imperfect defences stretching from the former across the
meadow on the right--scarcely had this been done, before their line
of pickets, which had been placed among the trees at the eastern
termination of the field, suddenly broke from their station, and came
disorderly rushing back to the encampment. Presently a dark body of men
in motion began to be perceptible through the openings of the wood
along the line of the winding road; and, in a moment more, Stark's noble
little brigade of sturdy and resolute peasant warriors came pouring into
the field.
Wheeling in beautiful order into battle array, they came to a halt in
the open plain near the border of the woods. Stark, then advancing,
rode slowly along the front of the line, and, at length pausing, ran his
practised eye collectedly over the firmly-standing ranks and dauntless
faces before him; when, raising his massive form to its full length, he
raised his glittering sword, and pointed to the hostile lines.
“Yonder, my men,” he said, in a voice whose clear, deep, and ringing
tones, in the stillness which at the moment prevailed, distinctly
reached the attent organs of our fair listeners--“yonder, my brave
men, stand the red-coats, your own and your country's foe--their army
a mongrel crew of Hessian hirelings, fighting for eight-pence a day,
or thereabouts; of tories, who come to ravage and enslave the land that
gave them birth; and lastly, of Indians, dreaming of scalps and plunder!
Are you not better men? Have you not nobler objects? Call you not
yourselves freemen, with hearts to defend your homes and country? If so,
then let your deeds this day prove it to the world! As for myself, my
resolution is taken,--the field and foe is ours by set of sun, or Molly
Stark this night will sleep a widow.”
Three hearty cheers, bursting spontaneously from the listening ranks
before him, told the gratified leader that he had not overrated the
spirit and enthusiasm of the men to whom his brief but effective appeal
had been addressed.
The British forces, in the mean time, awaited the approach of their
opponents in silence. Baum even forebore to open upon them with his
cannon, in the delusive hope that they would prove to be one of the
large bodies of friendly inhabitants, who, he had been assured, would
rise up in arms to join his standard as he advanced into the interior.
His suspense, however, was soon ended. A scattering volley of musketry,
followed by a distant shout, rose from the woods in rear of the station
occupied by the Indians. And suddenly the whole body of the savages,
contrary to their usual custom, quitted the woods, and came rushing into
the camp of their allies with manifestations of the greatest surprise
and dismay. The next moment, Herrick, at the head of his long files of
Rangers, emerged into the open field, rapidly formed them into column,
and advanced towards the rear of the enemy's intrenchments; while, at
the same time, Nichols and his corps were seen approaching from the
forest in an opposite direction, to form the contemplated junction, and
move on with the former to the combined assault. The moment the Indians
obtained a view of both these forces, and perceived they were converging
together so as to form a continuous line of battle along the rear, they
began to manifest the greatest uneasiness and alarm. And heir innate
dread of being surrounded soon becoming too strong for the restraints
of discipline, they broke from their position, and, like a flock of wild
horses, commenced a tumultuous flight across the field towards the woods
in open space between the two approaching forces of their opponents,
who, quickly changing fronts, poured in upon them a rapid succession
of destructive volleys. A fierce shout now burst from the ranks of the
assailants; and, when the smoke rose, a line of dark, lifeless forms
marked the green field nearly to the woods; others were seen crawling,
like wounded reptiles, to the nearest coverts; while all the rest of the
savage foe had disappeared forever from the field. Herrick and Nichols
having now resumed their march, and Stark put his corps in motion, the
three divisions, with two small flanking detachments, despatched along
the woods to the right and left of the main body, all moved steadily on
to the different points of attack. They were not permitted, however,
to advance far unmolested; for suddenly every part of the royal lines
became wrapped in clouds of mingling smoke and flame; while the heavens
and earth seemed rent by the deafening crash of exploding muskets, and
the jarring concussions of cannon, which instantly followed. Unmoved,
however, by the tremendous outbreak, the American forces all moved
steadily and rapidly forward till the forms of their opponents could be
discerned beneath the lifting smoke, when they poured in a storm of fire
and lead which told with dreadful effect on the shrinking lines before
them. The general fire thus fatally delivered was speedily returned; and
the battle now commencing in fearful earnest in every part of the field,
both armies became so deeply concealed in the whirling clouds of smoke,
which enveloped them, that the opposing forces could be distinguished
only in the fierce gleams of musketry and the broader blaze of cannon
that burst incessantly along the lines, filling, with the mingled uproar
of a thousand thunders, the rocking valley and reverberating mountains
around.
In the mean while, our heroine and her companion, who, at the first
shock of this terrible onset, had shrunk back in consternation from view
of the scene, sat listening on their humble couch to the fearful din
that assailed their recoiling senses in every direction around them
from without, with feelings which can be far more easily imagined than
described. For more than an hour, while the battle continued to rage
with increasing violence, and showers of bullets were heard every moment
striking and burying themselves in the logs composing the walls of their
seemingly devoted shelter, the amazed and trembling girls remained in
the same position, dreading to look out upon the field, lest their eyes
should be greeted with the sight of the death and carnage which they
full well knew must there be going on to a fearful extent among both
friends and foes. But Sabrey's increasing anxiety for the result, at
length, mastering all other considerations, she arose, and, against the
remonstrances of her companion, advanced towards the window.
“How awful!” she exclaimed, as she glanced out on the terrific conflict.
“Too awful to witness, unless there were some use in so doing,”
responded Vine. “If we were permitted to mingle in the fight with our
friends, I, for one, would be willing to brave all the horrors of the
battle for the good I might do; but, as this cannot be, why should we
expose ourselves to danger so uselessly? Now, I do entreat you, Sabrey,
to venture no farther,” she continued, as the former, reaching the
window, leaned forward for a full view of the scene. “Step back from
that dangerous spot; don't you hear the bullets rattling, like hail,
round the building?”
“Yes, but there is no danger where I stand, I presume, but if there
were, I could no longer forbear watching the issue of a contest in which
my own fate, as well as that of friends, is so deeply involved,” replied
Sabrey, with desperate calmness, as she continued to rivet her gaze on
the field below.
“If you will look, then,” said the other, “tell me what you see going
on.”
“I will,” answered the former, “as far as I can distinguish any
movements. But, at present, both sides are so completely concealed in
the smoke that enshrouds them, that I can only discern dark forms in
active motion along the lines, as the blaze of their fire-arms reveals
portions of their ranks. The struggle, however, is evidently a dreadful
one! In that continued, deafening crash which you hear, flames and
smoke seem to be vomited forth from the earth, as if from the mouth of a
volcano.”
“There seems to be less firing now,” observed Vine, after listening in
silence a few minutes. “Can you perceive any new movements afoot? Can't
you distinguish any of the words of command, or any thing that is said
among that uproar of voices, which, between the booming of the cannon,
once in a while, plainly reaches my ears?”
“Ay,” returned the other, intently bending her ear towards the scene of
action--“ay, I think I can, now. Hark! I hear one voice in particular,
rising loud over all others; but it is the voice of one in prayer,
invoking the God of battles to strike with the free and aid in bringing
down quick destruction on their foes. How mightily he cries to Heaven
for succor and success!”
“Where is he? among the rest in the fight?”
“No, not directly in the battle, I should think, but a little aloof, in
the rear of this end of the American lines. There! I can now distinguish
his form coming obliquely out of the smoke in this direction.”
“Who is he?”
“I know not; but he seems a venerable old man, and his long, white locks
are streaming in the wind, as, with a grasped musket in his hands, and
the cry of _The sword of the Lord and Gideon_ on his lips, he rushes
towards the foe.”
“What! to encounter them alone?”
“Yes, alone, and in advance of all others. Now he takes his stand in
front of a group of tories partially concealed by the bushes on the bank
of the stream. There! he raises his gun, and crying, God have mercy on
your soul, fires, and his victim pitches headlong to the ground. They
return his fire, but harm him not; and he again raises his gun, and,
with the same prayer for mercy on the soul of the foeman he has singled
out, fires, and another tory falls heavily to the earth. Mercy! they are
now rushing forward to slay the old man! But now they are met by a party
of the Americans, running forward with shouts, _For the rescue of Father
Herriot_! Both sides fire; and again all are enveloped in the cloud of
smoke that rolls over them.”
“Father Herriot--Father Herriot,” said Vine, musingly. “I have heard a
great deal said about one they call Father Herriot, lately; but can he
be here fighting?”
“Why, who and what is he, that he should not be here?” asked the other.
“A sort of preacher, I believe,” answered Vine, “but rich enough to have
bought several large tory estates; though where he came from, or how he
got so much hard money as he seems to have, nobody can tell.”
A fresh and general outbreak between the opposing lines here interrupted
the conversation, and turned Sabrey's attention again to the field. And
for nearly another fearful hour did she keep her stand at the window,
heedless of the danger from the bullets which were whistling round her
head, and unable, in the agonizing anxiety she felt for the result, to
withdraw her eyes from that dread field, where the continued thunders
of the artillery and musketry, shaking the solid earth along the line of
conflict proclaimed the battle to be still raging with unabated fury.
At length, a brisk breeze sprang up in the north-west, and the battle
cloud rolled heavily away before it from the field, disclosing, not only
the relative positions of the opposing forces, but the awful picture of
carnage that every where strewed the blackened earth. Mutually anxious
to avail themselves of this opportunity to ascertain each other's
situation, both parties at once suspended operations, for the purpose
of obtaining observations which should enable them to resume the battle
with more deadly effect. The deafening roar of musketry which, for
nearly two hours, had shaken the embattled plain like one continued
peal of thunder, was now heard rolling away, in dying echoes, among the
far-off hills, leaving only the monotonous din of the martial music,
kept up to drown the cries of the wounded, and the heavy booming of
Baum's artillery, that still maintained its regular fire on the hill,
though only to send--as it now became evident it had done from the
first--its iron missiles high and harmlessly over the heads of the
Americans, into the tops of the crashing forest beyond.
“Is the battle over?” asked Vine, as the noise of fire-arms thus
subsided.
“No--that is, I conclude not,” hesitatingly answered the other, still
more closely rivetting her anxious gaze on the unfolding scene
before her. “No, I think not--I trust not; for the British yet remain
unconquered.”
“Can you see them now?”
“Yes; the wind is driving away the smoke, and both armies are now fast
becoming visible.”
“Do our men maintain their ground?”
“Ay, and more. They have advanced almost to the hostile intrenchments;
and there they stand face to face with their foes; and with ranks less
thinned, thank Heaven, than I should think possible after withstanding
so long the dreadful fire to which they have been exposed; though I can
distinguish the forms of many poor fellows stretched upon the earth.”
“And have not the ranks of the enemy suffered also?”
“Severely, it is evident. The ground along their lines as far as I can
see, and especially that part opposite to the station occupied by the
Rangers, whom I can distinguish by their green uniform, is thickly
strown with the bodies of the slain. And if our men could see the
destruction they have caused behind those intrenchments to encourage
them! But stay! what means that commotion? Can it be? Heaven forbid!
But it is so. They fly!”
“Who fly?” eagerly demanded Vine.
“The Americans--Stark's division--and all is lost, when one more effort
might have given them the victory! If my feeble voice could but reach
them, I would rush out and raise it, though I perished in the attempt!”
rapidly exclaimed the heroic girl, agonized at the thought that her
countrymen were actually retreating from a field she believed so nearly
won. “Ay, and who knows but I might be heard, or, at least, understood?”
she added, glancing hurriedly through the window to the grounds round
the house, to see what might be there to prevent her from trying to put
her half-formed resolution into execution.
In looking out, with this object, her eye fell on the rude portico
running along that side of the house, the narrow, flat roof of which
rose to within a few feet of her window. And, suddenly changing her
purpose, she hastily tore out the fastenings of the window, removed the
sashes, and leaped down upon the roof of the portico, and stood in open
view of the greater partion of both armies. But still regardless of her
exposure, she advanced to the verge of the roof, and, turning towards
the Americans, waved high her kerchief, and essayed to lift her voice
over the tumult in words which, she hoped, would catch their attention
and arrest their supposed flight. But the Americans, who had only fallen
back a short distance to avoid the now unobstructed aim of the enemy,
and prepare for a fresh onset, had already come to a stand, but were at
first too busily engaged in loading their guns, and watching the motions
of their foes, to observe her. The tories, however, whose forces were
posted in the more immediate vicinity, instantly noted her appearance,
and pointed her out to their officers, who, at once, appeared to read
her intentions. And the next moment Colonel Peters, now for the first
time presenting himself to her sight since her recapture, rode up; and,
with a countenance flushed with suppressed passion, commanded her to
retire within the house. A look of ineffable scorn was the only reply
the maiden vouchsafed to give him, while she redoubled her exertions to
attract the attention of his opponents. Stung by this public exhibition
of her disdain, and defiance of his commands, the tory chief hastily
raised a pistol towards her, and, in a fierce and menacing tone,
demanded an immediate compliance with his orders.
“God have mercy on your soul!” was at that instant heard issuing from
a covert near the American lines, in the well-known voice of Father
Herriot. With the exclamation came the report of a musket, and at the
same time a bullet struck and shattered in his hand the raised pistol
of the dastardly Peters, who, casting away the remnant of the weapon
to which he had been indebted only for his life, hastily wheeled and
galloped back to his post barely escaping the shower of balls that, as
he had rightly anticipated, was sent after him from the nearest of his
foes.
But although the maiden had failed at the onset to attract the attention
of the Americans by her attempt, as she had designed, yet the incident,
to which the bold step she had taken gave rise, more effectually
subserved her purpose. The firing had at once drawn all eyes to the
spot. Presently the low hum of questioning voices was heard running
through the American lines, while many an uplifted hand was seen
pointing to her conspicuous form, as, still undeterred from her purpose,
she stood waving her signal kerchief towards them. And the next moment
the loud and cheering cry, _Forward, to the rescue of the Tory's
Daughter!_ burst from the Rangers, and was speedily caught up and echoed
in lively acclamations, from detachment to detachment, through the whole
encircling lines of the assailing army, which, with one impulse, now
threw itself forward towards the foe. And, unmoved by the tremendous but
hasty and misdirected fire that every where met them on the way,
they swept onward like an avalanche to the very foot of the tory
intrenchments; when, pausing only to pour in their devouring volleys,
they mounted the works, and raising their clubbed muskets, dashed down,
with shouts of defiance, upon the recoiling ranks of the amazed and
panic-stricken foe, who, unable to withstand the force and fury of the
onset, instantly gave way and threw down their arms, or scattered and
fled in every direction.
Astonished and alarmed at beholding all his outworks so suddenly and
unexpectedly stormed and carried, Baum seemed immediately to have
resolved on a desperate effort to retrieve the fortunes of the day.
And in a few minutes he was seen at the head of a long column of his
grenadiers, issuing from his intrenchments on the hill, and bearing down
with hasty step on the assailing forces below. But the next moment,
that imposing column, with its luckless leader, disappeared before the
enfilading fire of the death-dealing Rangers, like frost-work before the
breath of a furnace; while, nearly at the same time, an upleaping cloud
of smoke and flame, followed by the shock of an exploding ammunition
wagon within the principal works, completed the only signal of
encouragement that was wanted by the already flushed assailants to
decide them on an immediate attempt for the completion of their triumph.
And before the dull roar of the explosion was lost among the echoing
hills, the deep-toned voice of the intrepid Stark, ever eagle-eyed
to see, and prompt to seize, an advantage, was heard rising over the
tumult, in ordering the final assault, which, having leaped from his
horse, and sprung forward to the head of a forming column, he was the
next moment seen, with the air of a roused lion, leading on in person.
In one minute more, all the various forces, not required to guard the
prisoners already taken, were in motion, and, with flashing eyes, and
rapid, determined tread, charging up the ascending grounds towards the
different sides of the doomed redoubt; in another, they were furiously
rushing over the embankments, and pouring their bristling columns in
resistless streams down upon the weakened and dismayed forces of
the Germans and British in the enclosure. Then succeeded the
rapid, scattering reports of pistols and musketry, the sounds of
fiercely-clashing steel, and the wild cries of those struggling hand
to hand in deadly contest, and the wilder shrieks of the wounded,
all rising in mingled uproar from the spot. Then all was hushed in a
momentary stillness; and then rose the long, loud shout of a thousand
uniting voices, pealing forth to the heavens the exulting acclamations
of victory!