Captain Hall was a good captain and treated his men fairly. He was well liked by all the crew and by the ship’s owners. Robert and Hugh learned their ship’s duties rapidly. They soon became friendly with the crew and fit into the daily shipboard routine seamlessly. The voyage from Ireland to Boston was smooth sailing and passed by quickly for the brothers. Shipboard life seemed to agree with Robert and Hugh. They had taken the attitude that there was nothing they could do about their situation for the present, so they might as well enjoy it. So they did. Hugh was always a lot of fun to be around and soon became one of the crew’s favorites. He always seemed to have a funny story to tell or was playing a practical joke on another member of the crew.
No one on board the ship knew about the trouble that was brewing in the American colonies, except perhaps Captain Hall. The Tea Act of 1773 had lowered the price of legally imported Bohea tea from China below the price of smuggled Dutch tea. But there was still discontent about taxation without representation and the extent of the British Parliament’s authority over the American colonies. The Tea Act had given the East India Company a monopoly over the tea trade to the colonies. That did not sit well with a number of colonists, who feared that the tea monopoly might be extended to a monopoly on other goods as well.
It was a cold winter day when the Dartmouth arrived in Boston harbor on November 29, 1773. It was piloted by the captain to a mooring a few hundred yards off of Griffin’s Wharf. As soon as the anchor was dropped, a group of men who called themselves the Sons of Liberty assembled on the wharf to prevent the cargo of tea from being unloaded from the Dartmouth and two other ships. British law in the colonies required that the Dartmouth unload the tea and pay the duties and customs fees within twenty days or the customs officials could confiscate the cargo.
Everyone on board The Dartmouth knew about the twenty day deadline, so there was a lot of anticipation and a lot of betting about what would happen when the deadline expired. Robert and Hugh spent their time loafing on board the ship with the other sailors who didn’t have shore leave. They were not allowed shore leave because Captain Hall feared that they might run away as soon as they got to land. The captain made sure that one or more of the experienced and trusted sailors were with Robert and Hugh at all times, just to make sure that they didn’t jump ship and swim to shore. The water in Boston harbor was ice cold, so it would have been a long, cold swim anyway. It was unlikely that Robert and Hugh would attempt it in the winter, but Captain Hall was a wary sort and took appropriate precautions.
On the evening of December 16, 1773, which was the deadline for unloading the tea, at about seven o’clock in the evening, Robert and Hugh were lounging at the rail and talking. They were looking toward Griffin’s Wharf when they saw a band of almost one hundred men dressed up in Mohawk and Iroquois costumes walk out on the dock. The men were armed with tomahawks or small hatchets, pistols and clubs, and their faces were disguised with black soot or boot polish. They divided up into three groups and requisitioned boats to row out to the three ships loaded with imported tea and anchored in Boston harbor. One of the three groups rowed out to and boarded the Dartmouth. The leader of this group was a man named George Hewes. After George climbed the ship’s ladder, he asked for Captain Hall and was directed to him by one of the sailors.
“We are the Sons of Liberty and we are going to dump your cargo of tea into Boston harbor, Captain. Please give me the keys to the hatches and a dozen candles,” said George Hewes.
“I will be happy to comply with your request, but please ask your men to do no damage to the other cargo, the ship, or its rigging,” replied Captain Hall.
“If you comply with my request, I will comply with yours,” said George Hewes, after which Captain Hall handed George Hewes the keys to the hatches and gathered up a dozen candles for him.
Hewes then walked down the deck to the hatch covers and began fumbling with the cover locks. Hugh, who had observed the events and the conversation with Captain Hall, walked up to George Hewes to see what he was doing.
“Guid Sir, do ye mind if I asked ye what is it that ye are doing?” asked Hugh.
“Stand aside lad, while I figure out how to open these hatches,” said George.
“Allow me to help ye, sir,” said Hugh, as he took the keys from George and began opening the hatches for him.
“When I get these hatches open for ye, what is it that ye and these men plan on doing?” Hugh continued.
“We plan on throwing the cargo overboard.”
“Ach, nae, yer not planning on throwing all that Irish whiskey into the harbor, are ye?” asked Hugh, somewhat aghast.
“Nae lad, just the tea goes into the water.”
“Thank the Almighty. I was going to suggest that we drink the whiskey rather than throw it in the briny,” said Hugh with a smile.
Hugh finished opening the hatches and led George and his men down into the hold, where Hugh pointed out where the tea was stowed. They lit the candles and began placing them where they illuminated the hold so that the men could see to work.
“Why do ye want to throw the tea into the harbor?” asked Hugh.
“It’s a long story, lad. Let’s just say that we need to send a message to King George and the Parliament in England,” said George Hewes.
“Me brither Robber and I can help ye throw the tea into the briny. We got a head start and already threw some of it into the harbor back in Larne,” said Hugh to the puzzled look on George’s face.
George had no idea what Hugh was talking about, but continued to light the candles and size up the job.
“Well, lads, let’s get to it!” shouted George to his men.
The men spent the next three hours hoisting the tea chests to the main deck using the ship’s block and tackle gear. On the deck, they broke open the tea chests with hatchets and clubs, and dumped them, along with their contents, into Boston harbor. When they were nearing the end of their task, Robert pulled Hugh aside.
“Hugh, come with me,” whispered Robert.
Hugh followed Robert as he led the way down into the ship’s galley. Robert grabbed a handful of cold ashes from the cook’s fire and mixed them with some water. He took the dark paste that was formed by the mixture and smeared it on his face and on Hugh’s face so that they would look like the Sons of Liberty in Mohawk costumes who had boarded the Dartmouth. Robert then tore up some rags and tied them around his and Hugh’s head and around their sleeves to further disguise their appearance. The brothers then took the ship’s blankets from their cots and wrapped them around their shoulders. They climbed up to the main deck, where they joined the men who had just thrown the last of the tea chests into the harbor.
As the patriots began climbing down the ship’s ladder to their boats, Robert and Hugh mingled with them. They got in the line at the ladder to depart the ship as if they had been members of the party. Just as they were about to descend the ship’s ladder to the boats waiting below, Captain Hall caught sight of them. He ran up and stopped them from going down the ladder.
“Good luck to you lads. I have no hard feelings, and I’m not going to try to stop you,” he said as he held out his hand to shake hands with the two brothers.
“You two would have made good sailors, but I understand why you want to leave the ship. Your debt for the tea you threw overboard in Larne is erased as far as I am concerned. That tea would have gone overboard here in Boston harbor anyway. Farewell to you both,” said the captain.
“Good luck to you and the Dartmouth,” said Robert as they descended the ladder and took up rowing positions in the patriots’ boat.
It was about nine o’clock at night and after a few strokes of the oars, Robert climbed up the dock ladder onto Griffin’s Wharf and looked around at the city of Boston, cloaked in its cold December night colors.
“Weel Robber, what do we do now?” asked Hugh after he had climbed onto the wharf behind Robert.
Of course, Robert said nothing, but led off walking toward the lights of B
oston, and Hugh fell in walking with him.
* * * *
Alex
The months passed quickly for Alex at Fort Cumberland and on the frontier in general. There was plenty to do, whether at the fort or when the Rangers were on a mission or out on patrol. It was only a little over a sixty mile ride along the banks of the Potomac River from Fort Cumberland to Williamsport, so had Alex spent all the time he could with Martha. They had become very close, and Alex courted her whenever he could take some leave from his job with the Rangers. Martha’s Uncle Sean and his wife liked Alex and approved of him. Alex thought that they would like to see him and Martha married as soon as possible. But there was no place for a wife at Fort Cumberland, and Alex thought that the frontier environment was much too rough and dangerous for a woman.
Alex had been quickly promoted from his cooking job and before long had become a full-fledged Ranger scout. He participated in almost all the missions and patrols against the Iroquois and eventually came to be respected by the other Rangers for his marksmanship, bravery, and leadership. He maintained his continuing friendship with the Longhunter and met him a number of times at Fort Cumberland and out in the wilderness.
At the end of 1773, about the same time that the patriots, including Robert and Hugh, were dumping tea into Boston harbor, Ellison McCoy retired and named Alex his replacement as commander of the Maryland Rangers. Alex was the youngest commander that the Maryland Rangers had ever promoted into that position.
* * * *
Kings Pinnacle Part 4
Robert and Hugh
”Robber, do ye think we’ll ever find Alex in America?” asked Hugh as he stood next to Robert in the militia formation on Lexington Green in the village of Lexington, Massachusetts.
“We’ve been in America for well over a year now, and there’s been no sign of him,” Hugh continued.
Robert looked puzzled, but he did not answer the question or nod. The truth was that he didn’t know. They had been looking for Alex since they had arrived in America, as much as they could anyway and stay alive themselves. When they arrived in Boston, they had no money and no possessions, so they were forced to find work as quickly as possible to keep from starving to death or freezing to death. After spending a few nights sleeping on the freezing ground in the Boston Common, wrapped up in the ship’s blankets that they had used as disguises to escape from the Dartmouth, they finally were able to find jobs at a gunpowder mill located near Charlestown, beyond the Neck, on the Charles River.
After a few months of working at the mill, Robert was able to take a leave of absence from his job. Leaving Hugh behind, Robert had traveled to Philadelphia to see if he could find any trace of Alex. The trip proved to be fruitless since there was no sign of Alex in Philadelphia or the surrounding area. After a week of searching, Robert gave up and traveled back to Boston to resume his job at the gunpowder mill. They still asked every traveler if they knew anything of Alex or had heard of him, but none of them proved to be of any value or have any knowledge of him at all.
The British government had restricted the manufacture of gunpowder and controlled its importation by the colonies. With the increase in tension between England and the colonies, the British government further restricted the amount of gunpowder that the colonists could manufacture themselves to the bare minimum that the British thought was required for survival.
The gunpowder mill on the Charles River had been in operation since the early 1700s. In the 1730s, stamp mills were replaced by edge-runner mills, which used limestone runners that were carved into large upright wheels. A stone bed made of limestone or marble provided a table for the wheels to run on, in order to grind the ingredients for making gunpowder. The gunpowder that the Charles River mill manufactured was sold to colonists throughout Massachusetts and beyond. The excess gunpowder was not stored on site because of the explosion risk. Once a week, Hugh drove a wagon with the excess barrels of gunpowder to several sites that were used as powder magazines in a circuit around the Charles mill. One of these magazine sites was located at Concord, Massachusetts.
By weight measure, black powder or gunpowder was made of seventy-five parts saltpeter finely ground, fifteen parts charcoal, and ten parts sulfur. These three ingredients had to be ground separately and then mixed together in an incorporating mill to become the explosive mixture, gunpowder. Sulfur was usually obtained by importing it from the natural sulfur deposits of Sicily; however, saltpeter and charcoal could be easily obtained locally. Saltpeter was usually leached from manure. In colonial America, the manure contained in barnyards, outhouses, and bat-cave guano deposits was considered the property of the British government. Charcoal was manufactured from the low-oxygen burning of willows or cottonwood trees.
Robert and Hugh were standing in a military formation of the Massachusetts militia commanded by Captain John Parker at the Lexington Green just at sunrise on the morning of April 19, 1775. They had joined the Colonial militia, as had most of the young men in the area, out of a feeling of patriotism for their new country and because they hated the British. The militia had been alerted several hours previously by Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott. These men had triggered throughout the countryside an alarm and muster system that had been carefully planned for months in advance. The alarm system had been in operation since the so-called Powder Alarm, during which British troops had confiscated a large supply of gunpowder from the Powder House magazine north of Boston. This time, the midnight riders had alerted them that the redcoats were coming to confiscate unauthorized supplies of gunpowder and arms that were stored in an armory and magazine at Concord. The British were also going to arrest patriots Samuel Adams and John Hancock.
Hugh had helped move the gunpowder and military goods out of the armory and the magazine at Concord several days earlier when he had made his circuit stop there. Because of that, the mission by the British Army was doomed to failure before it ever began. It was rumored that General Gage’s wife, Margaret Gage had informed the colonists of the upcoming mission so that the arms and gunpowder could be moved in time.
Robert and Hugh were talking to each other and with the other men standing in the military formation while trying to stay warm in the early morning hours. All of them were snickering about the British Army marching all the way to Concord to find nothing and then having to march all the way back to Boston. As soon as the British Army marched up the Lexington common and arrived at the Lexington Green, Captain Parker called the men to attention in their formation.
"Stand your ground, don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here,” said Captain Parker, speaking to the men of Massachusetts militia.
The British Army began to deploy and formed a battle line opposite the colonists, who were still standing in formation. A British officer soon rode up on horseback to survey the situation.
“Lay down your arms, you damned rebels,” shouted the British officer across the hundred yards between the two forces.
“We will, only if ye do first!” shouted the impetuous Hugh back to the British officer.
The shouting back and forth between the two armies continued for a short time as Captain Parker and the British officer struggled to maintain order. As the shouting died down, a single shot rang out, the so-called “shot heard round the world”. The man standing next to Robert grabbed his arm after the musket ball from that shot had passed through it, leaving behind a bloody wound. No one knew who fired the shot, but Robert pushed Hugh to the ground and dove down next to him. Robert aimed his musket at the British Army soldiers, as did Hugh. Without any orders to fire, Robert and Hugh fired into the British ranks and then retreated over a stone wall to reload. Robert’s shot wounded a British corporal, who was the only British casualty of the entire skirmish.
The British Army responded by firing a devastating volley toward the militia men, killing several of them, and then charged with bayonets fixed to their muskets. At the sight of the bayonet charge, Robert and H
ugh and all the rest of the militia men that were not badly wounded ran for their lives.
* * * *
Captain Ferguson
“Captain, you may proceed with the demonstration,” said the colonel to the young British officer standing at attention in front of the reviewing stand.
The young officer bowed at the waist to the dignitaries sitting in the reviewing stand and nervously glanced at the other military officers and functionaries standing to the side of it. Then he began speaking.
“Your Royal Highness and gentlemen, thank you for coming today. This is my invention, and how it works is what I will be demonstrating to you today,” said Captain Ferguson as he held up the rifle, which to the untrained eye looked just like any other musket, including the British Army standard issue called the Brown Bess.
Captain Ferguson was standing in front of and speaking to King George of England and the chiefs of staff of the British Army, as well as a number of other interested men, at a rifle range in England. This range was normally used to train British Army marksmen and was located just to the southeast of London at the Military College at Woolwich. The rifle that the captain was holding up for everyone to see was called the Ferguson rifle by those few who knew of its existence. And those who knew of it were excited about its potential and what it was capable of doing for the British Army. The demonstration had been arranged by Captain Ferguson himself at his own expense.
The Ferguson rifle was one of the first rifles in the world that loaded from the breech rather than from the muzzle. This feature allowed it to be fired at the rate of six shots per minute. The Brown Bess, which was the standard issue British Army musket, employed the time-consuming muzzle loading ramrod system. This limited a soldier to three shots per minute and required him to load his weapon while standing upright. In contrast, the Ferguson rifle could be loaded, reloaded, and fired while standing, kneeling, sitting, or lying on the ground. The sixty-five caliber Ferguson rifle was forty-nine inches long, including a thirty-four inch barrel. It was accurate at a range of up to two hundred yards, whereas the Brown Bess was accurate to a range of only one hundred yards.
Kings Pinnacle Page 13