The troops were special, because each of the one hundred riflemen carried a brand new breech loading Ferguson rifle. Each rifle had a crown etched on the flintlock or firelock, identifying the weapon as the property of the British Army. Any colonist captured by the British while carrying a British Army weapon was immediately hanged. For that reason, the colonists who acquired British weapons during or after a battle immediately filed the crown off the flintlock or barrel.
The green-clad riflemen were specially trained by Captain Ferguson in both the operation and maintenance of their Ferguson rifles, as well as in the fine art of marksmanship, of which Captain Ferguson was an expert. This was a very deadly group of soldiers, and their presence on the battlefield could drastically change the course of the American Revolutionary War, which was now in full swing.
“Men, we will be boarding a ship to sail to America within the next two weeks. We will be assigned to General Howe’s command in the colonies. Our job will be to supplement the regular infantry forces and provide them with the additional firepower that we will bring to bear on the rebel army. Our presence on the battlefield may be the decisive factor in any engagements that we may participate in,” said the captain in a raised voice so that every man could hear him.
“I want every man to give his best and make this unit proud. I want every man to act bravely and follow the orders of his superiors so that we may be victorious in battle!”
At the end of his speech, the men shouted, “Hurrah, Hurrah, and Hurrah!”
* * * *
Alex
“Captain Mackenzie, can you please take a look at this, Sir?” asked the young Maryland Ranger.
Alex, who was now clad completely in buckskins, walked over to the ranger to inspect the horse’s hoof that the trooper was kneeling over and bending up so that Alex could look at it. Alex had been a Maryland Ranger for almost four years. Ellison McCoy had retired from the Rangers at the end of 1773 to move back to his original home in Baltimore so that he could be near his extended family. He had named Alex to be the unit’s commander upon his retirement. Even though Alex was the youngest commander that the Maryland Rangers had ever promoted into that position, he had developed into a very effective and respected leader. It was now near the end of 1776.
“You need to have this horseshoe taken off by the blacksmith and have him put a new one on that fits better. If you don’t, this mare is going to come up lame for sure,” said Alex to the ranger, his hand resting on the ranger’s shoulder.
“Okay, will do. I understand that you are leaving us, sir,” said the ranger, changing the subject.
“That’s true. I intend to enlist in the Continental Army to fight the British. I hear that they are recruiting riflemen from Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia to serve one-year enlistments,” replied Alex.
“I wish you the best of luck, sir. When do you leave?”
“I have a few things to do here and in Williamsport first. I should be packing up and leaving Fort Cumberland by the end of the week,” replied Alex.
“Good luck, sir.”
“Thank you, Ranger, and good luck to you, too,” replied Alex.
Alex was as good as his word. He saddled up his pony and packed up his belongings. He loaded them on a pack horse and rode east, starting the sixty mile journey on the trail along the banks of the Potomac River to Williamsport. He’d been over this trail many times over the last few years, but this would probably be the last time he rode it. Alex did not tarry, covering forty miles the first day. A little after noon of the second day on the trail, he rode into the outskirts of Williamsport along the main road into town.
Williamsport had grown since the first time he had seen it from the deck of the ferry that he jumped onto with the Longhunter, narrowly escaping the Iroquois warriors that were chasing them. There were now a few buildings on the west bank of the Potomac River, where there had been none before. The dry goods store where Martha worked for her uncle and aunt had expanded and was stocked with more supplies than ever before. She, her uncle Sean, and her aunt, were very busy these days as the number of customers multiplied. The town’s population had exploded to service a constant stream of settlers traveling The Great Wagon Road and using the Watkins Ferry.
Alex rode up the main trail through town and reined up at the hitching rail in front of the dry goods store. Looking out the front store window, Martha saw him ride up to the store and dismount. At once, she was out the door, down the steps, and into his arms before he could complete tying his horse reins to the rail.
“Alex, I didn’t expect you,” said Martha, as she kissed him passionately right out in front of everyone on the main road.
“Hello Martha. Did you miss me?” stammered Alex between kisses.
“You know better than that,” said Martha standing back to take a closer look at Alex while holding him at arm’s length.
“What are you doing in Williamsport?”
“I wanted to see you,” replied Alex.
“I know you wanted to see me. What else brings you to town?”
“Do I have to have a reason other than to see you?”
“I know you, Alexander Mackenzie, and I can tell that there’s probably something else that brings you to town.”
“Well, you’re right. I may not be seeing you for a while.”
“Why not?” asked Martha with a frown.
“I have resigned from the Maryland Rangers and decided to join the Continental Army to fight the British.”
“I see,” said Martha, as she looked down at her feet.
“Are you sure that’s what you want to do?” asked Martha, looking up into Alex’s eyes.
“I’ve thought about it a lot and if we don’t get ourselves free of British rule, this place is going to turn into something like Scotland or England. I’ve been there and seen what it’s like. This war is all about the freedom to choose and the ability to make our own decisions.”
“I see you have thought about it and feel strongly about it.”
“Well, I have and there’s no stopping me, but there are two things I need to do before I leave,” said Alex.
“I know what one of them is, but what’s the other one?” asked Martha with a wink.
Alex just smiled in response as he held her in his arms and whispered in her ear, “I think you will like it. I hope so anyway.”
Alex had been saving his money, so he decided to stay in Williamsport for a few weeks before he left to join the Continental Army.
* * * *
Robert and Hugh
“Robber, I thought that adder we won the battle up in Boston, and the British got on their ships and high tailed it, we had them on the run. But they beat us in New York. How exactly did that happen?” asked Hugh.
“Well Hugh, what I can say is that sometimes war is unpredictable,” replied Robert.
“I know that, but I just didn’t expect the tide to turn so soon.”
“Hugh, we lost at Bunker Hill before the British left, if you will remember,” said Robert, holding back his hair and showing Hugh the scar that the British musket ball had made across his scalp.
“Aye, Robber, I remember it. After the British left Boston, and we freed the city, General Washington thought they might try to come back and take New York. So we marched down to New York and set up our defenses. Exactly how did they beat us in New York anyway?”
“Well, Hugh, I heard that the British out-flanked us by bringing most of their troops around behind us. That’s how they had us surrounded at Brooklyn Heights. If you remember, we had the East River to our backs. Our only escape was to cross the river into Manhattan at night.”
“Yes, I know we had to be very quiet to escape. One of my jobs was to help muffle some of the wagon wheels. I remember that we were forbidden to talk during the trek and ferry ride o’er to Manhattan that night.”
“Do you also remember that the British chased us and beat us again at White Plains and also at Fort Washington after that
?”
“I do,” replied Hugh.
“Now we’re being chased across New Jersey as we retreat southwest.”
“Where do ye think we are going now?” asked Hugh.
“I heard that we’re headed for a winter camp in Pennsylvania just across the Delaware River from Trenton, New Jersey.”
“Weel, I hope it’s a nice camp with a nice warm fire. By the by, this is the longest conversation that I’ve had with ye in some time.”
Robert just nodded.
* * * *
Alex
“Can you tell me where the army headquarters is located?” asked Alex.
He had been stopped by the first sentry on the trail that he encountered as he approached the bivouac where the Continental Army was camped.
“Keep heading toward the smoke,” answered the sleepy and surly sentry, pointing toward the way Alex was already going.
Discipline obviously wasn’t too important in this army, thought Alex. There wasn’t much of a challenge, and the sentry didn’t even ask him what he wanted at the headquarters. Maybe he wanted to kill somebody. He didn’t, of course, but Alex thought that a sentry might question him a bit about what he wanted. Maybe the sentry didn’t like buckskins, which Alex had gotten used to wearing in the Maryland Rangers.
The Continental Army had driven the British out of Boston, which ended the siege and freed the city. The war had shifted from Massachusetts to New York and then to New Jersey. Alex had spent several weeks with Martha in Williamsport and had finally left to join the Continental Army, if he could find it. He traveled north asking questions of anyone he met on the trail. He finally located the army in Pennsylvania, just to the west across the river from Trenton, New Jersey. The Continental Army was now commanded by General George Washington, who had taken charge of it in Boston during the siege. The army had not been very successful against the British since they had pushed them out of Boston. The patriots had lost most of the battles that they had fought against the British in New York and New Jersey. Now they had pulled back across the Delaware River to regroup and come up with a new battle plan.
After General Sir William Howe had defeated the Continental Army at the Battle of New York City, he had pursued them across New Jersey in their retreat. Fortunately for the Continental Army, Howe ordered a halt in the pursuit. He commanded his army to retire into winter quarters, after creating a series of defensive outposts across northern New Jersey in order to keep the Continental Army bottled up across the Delaware River. Howe himself retreated to Philadelphia. A Hessian unit consisting of fifteen hundred men was garrisoned at Trenton, a small town of about one hundred houses located on the east bank of the Delaware River. The Hessians were Prussian soldiers that had been hired by King George to fight for the British against the Continental Army.
It was a cold and windy December day when Alex rode into the camp of the Continental Army on the east bank of the Delaware.
“Report to the adjutant if you want to join up,” said the militiaman.
“Where can I find him?” asked Alex.
“He’s located over in the big tent beside the grove,” said the militiaman pointing toward the tent.
Alex had ridden into the Continental Army camp and asked the first soldier he saw where he could sign up to join the army. He walked his horse over to the big tent, dismounted, pulled up the tent flap and walked inside. It was a large tent that was divided into a small outer office and a much larger inner office with a partition between them. As Alex walked into the outer office, he spied the adjutant sitting behind a desk with his head down writing in a ledger. Alex walked over to the adjutant’s desk and stood in front of it. All he could see was the top of the adjutant’s head, but the adjutant looked a little familiar to Alex. He thought he might have seen him or met him somewhere before.
“Sir, are you the adjutant?” asked Alex.
“That I am, laddie” said Samuel Ruskin, Alex’s old nemesis, looking up from his muster roll ledger to scowl at Alex.
“What would a young Caledonian laddie like you want with the adjutant?” asked Samuel in a surly tone.
As soon as Samuel looked up at him, Alex recognized him from his encounters with him back in Larne at a dockside tavern and on the Ocean Monarch while sailing to America. Alex instinctively reached for his boot knife but stopped just before he pulled it and stood back up.
Samuel Ruskin had caught a glimpse of Alex when he first pulled the tent flap back to enter his office and instantly remembered him from their previous encounters. Samuel’s Pennsylvania militia had joined the Continental Army prior to the New York campaign. Since he was already a major and a successful merchant, he was given the job of adjutant to General George Washington. He had been serving in that capacity for some time. The adjutant was the officer that handled all of General Washington’s administrative duties such as enlistments, drafting orders, filling out supply requests, processing promotions, and other such duties. Samuel Ruskin stood up, facing Alex from across the desk, and the two men glared at each other without saying a word.
At that moment, the tent flap behind Major Ruskin was parted and two men stepped out of the larger inner office located behind the adjutant. Samuel turned around to look at the men, and Alex glanced over at them at the same time. One of the men was General George Washington and the other one was Ellison McCoy, the former Captain of the Maryland Rangers who had hired Alex and then promoted him into that position when Ellison left to retire. Ellison spied Alex and walked over to intercept him, shaking his hand heartily and patting him on the back.
“Hello Alex, I’m glad to see you again. What are you doing here?”
“I came to enlist in the Continental Army.”
“Come over here with me. There is someone I would like to introduce you to.”
He then led Alex over to General George Washington, who was standing behind Samuel Ruskin, observing the conversation.
“Alex, I would like for you to meet General George Washington,” said Ellison.
“It is an honor to meet you, sir,” said Alex, extending his hand and shaking hands with General Washington.
“The pleasure is all mine,” replied the amiable general.
“I selected Alex to replace me as head of the Fort Cumberland Maryland Rangers when I retired,” said Ellison to General Washington.
“I wonder if this might be the man we’re looking for, Ellison?” asked General Washington.
“There’s no doubt that he could do the job,” answered Ellison.
Alex eyed Ellison and General Washington with a puzzled look; he had no idea what the two men were talking about. Samuel was also confused and the uncertainty served to defuse the situation between Alex and Samuel as they both put the conflict in the back of their minds. Alex scratched his head, and Samuel sat back down in his chair.
“Come back into my office, and let’s all discuss it. Please excuse us for a moment, Major Ruskin,” said General Washington as he raised the tent divider and led Ellison and Alex back into his office, closing the tent divider after they entered.
“Please have a seat, gentlemen,” said the general.
Alex looked around General Washington’s office and decided that it was fairly spartan for the leader of the Continental Army. It contained a small portable field desk positioned to one side near the rear of the tent. In the middle of the office was a large folding conference table with a dozen or so worn chairs around it. General Washington seated himself at his field desk and Alex and Ellison sat down in two of the side chairs beside the desk. Alex obviously had no idea what Ellison and the general were talking about in the adjutant’s office. But he was willing to hear them out.
“I understand that you want to join the army?” asked the general, looking at Alex.
“Yes, sir,” replied Alex.
“Captain McCoy and I have decided to start a new unit in the Continental Army. It’s going to be a light cavalry unit that consists a few men that know how to ride and shoot and a
ren’t afraid to take a risk. This unit will be used for special operations and scouting missions. It will also be used for other tasks, such as blocking the enemy’s retreat or opposing enemy resistance. Based on your experience with the Maryland Rangers and Ellison’s recommendation, are you interested in leading this group for me?” asked General Washington, speaking directly to Alex.
“I would be honored to serve in that capacity, if you will let me wear my buckskins,” said the smiling Alex.
“Excellent. Welcome to the army, and I think that the buckskins will be a fine uniform for a light cavalry unit,” said General Washington, standing up and reaching out to shake hands with Alex again.
“As your first task, I want you to search among the members of the army in this encampment and select up to ten good men who own a horse and are willing to join your unit. On your way out, tell the adjutant that you are joining the army as a lieutenant in charge of the First Continental Cavalry.”
“Yes, sir, thank you very much, sir,” replied Alex.
“I’ll walk out with you, Alex, and explain things to the adjutant, since I was just leaving anyway,” said Ellison.
Alex and Ellison stood up and both of them said goodbye to General Washington in parting. Ellison lifted the tent flap, and they walked out into the adjutant’s office. Ellison talked to Samuel Ruskin and gave him instructions about Alex’s enlistment and rank while Alex stood off to one side and stared at Samuel. Alex was extremely concerned about Samuel Ruskin, but he was in no position to do anything about it yet. So he decided to wait and see what would happen. As soon as Ellison was finished talking to Samuel about Alex, the two friends walked out of the tent and closed the tent flap behind them.
“Ellison, I have run across Samuel Ruskin before, and it wasn’t a pleasant experience,” said Alex once they were out of earshot of Samuel and the tent.
“Well, he’s been in the job for a quite a while. He joined up right after the siege of Boston when we were in New York, and he’s done a good job for General Washington so far,” replied Ellison.
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