by Jack Fernley
‘I need total authorisation to produce the quality of steel that we require. This man Ogden may serve as an overseer, but he lacks the necessary understanding. I can, I will, train him, but I have to have the authority. The factory must be expanded and quickly. I believe by the autumn we can be producing the type of steel required. We must act quickly and decisively.’
‘In New Jersey, we do not seize other men’s property, Mister Krapp.’
‘Krupp, sir. My name is Krupp.’
‘My apologies, sir. But, Mister Krupp, we do not seize the property of others.’
‘May I suggest we buy the business from Ogden?’ interrupted von Steuben. ‘We have the necessary funds, thanks to the New Brunswick raid. More than enough funds. Let us do the correct thing: buy this man Ogden out.’
‘I would be happy to act as the negotiator on any deal,’ said Hamilton.
Krupp looked over at von Steuben and stammered, ‘That will not be necessary. I will be able to handle the negotiations. I have a close understanding of the value of a steel- and ironworks. With respect, sir, I suspect you do not.’
Washington eyed Krupp, ‘No young Alexander does not possess your knowledge of the steel and iron trades, sir. But he is sharp enough to devour any knowledge you will pass on. He will negotiate on behalf of the Continental Army. And, should we be successful in this endeavour, you will report directly to him on the progress of your steel manufacturing. Mister Schmeisser, how soon before we have your new rifles?’
‘I have the drawings ready. We can start the manufacture of the cartridges immediately. I am afraid your brass industry is not much advanced, sir. However, I met with two gentlemen from Connecticut, the Pattison brothers.’
‘Peddlers, they are,’ sneered Krupp.
‘Perhaps, but peddlers who I believe can deliver the necessary brass cartridges. I have placed an order for five hundred on my own account, sir. As for the gunpowder, I believe that we have no alternative.’
‘The Frankford mill,’ said Hamilton.
‘Indeed, the only manufacturer of gunpowder on the continent. For now we have no choice. Perhaps, Mister Hamilton, you could also negotiate on our behalf. The mix needs to be different to what they are used to producing.’
‘It will be a privilege, Mister Schmeisser.’
‘But when will we have the rifles?’ asked Washington impatiently.
‘Next year,’ replied Schmeisser.
‘Next year is too late,’ mumbled Washington.
‘Give me control of the factory and a slave-labour force and I will do my best to have supplies to your army by the end of this year, General,’ said Krupp.
‘You would use slaves, sir, from the plantations? Their experience is agriculture.’
‘I need specialist steel-makers, engineers and designers for the parts, but I would put in place a new way of working I call an assembly line. Unskilled labourers can quickly put the pieces together. It will increase the speed of manufacture and not impact on the quality of the gun. Negroes can easily be trained.’
‘But you will not gain acceptance for slavery in mills in Pennsylvania,’ interrupted Hamilton. ‘As General Washington knows, I find the practice both barbaric and inhumane, as do most people in the northern colonies. We shall not have slavery entering into our colonies. The people will not stand for it.’
‘The people need not know,’ replied Krupp.
‘Tsch, Alfried! Listen to the man. We can just as easily find a paid labour force for your assembly line. Let us not squabble over this.’ Von Steuben’s eyes implored Krupp to back down.
‘Sir, we can begin the process of transforming the existing Brown Besses, so that the majority of the Continental Army has them by the start of the spring campaigns,’ interjected Schmeisser.
‘We can? Good, very good. Let us move quickly. Indeed, tomorrow, Mister Schmeisser, please, if you may, introduce me to this weapon. I wish to see if I can hit a cow’s arse from two hundred yards as they say.’
There was a tap on Werner Conze’s shoulder. He looked down upon a man in his forties, his mouth an open gap of decayed teeth, his breath stale. ‘Tom Paine. You’ve heard of me no doubt.’
‘I have indeed, sir. Werner Conze.’
‘Hate these things. Look about you. The seed of future ruins. Periwigged monsters suckling at the breast. This revolution will be suffocated by these types if we give ’em so much as half a chance.’
‘Your pamphlet stirred many of these men.’
‘Nah, my pamphlet stirred many a man, but few of these. Chancers, most of ’em, looking out to feather their beds with whoever comes out on top. Said this to George, but he’s too cautious. You don’t want to have to clear the pigs from the stalls; you have to stop ’em breeding first. Too late once they have smeared their shit everywhere, you never get rid of it. Anyway, we owe you Germans a debt of gratitude. We thought we were down and out and then you turned up.’
‘I’m not so sure. I believe your forces would have prevailed.’
‘Well, Old George thinks you were the difference. We wouldn’t be sitting here now, patting ourselves on the back; he’d be sat on his arse on the other side of the Delaware and the rest of us would be hiding out in Baltimore scared shitless. So I should raise a glass of this not-so-bad wine in your honour. So what’s your game, eh?’
‘My game? I don’t understand. My game?’
‘What yer playing at, boy? Why are yer really here?’
‘To win this war. To create a new nation. Like you. Like you, I find Europe full of tyranny, exhausted, not ready for the future. Here, here we can create something that will change mankind for ever.’
‘Aye to that.’ He clinked glasses. ‘These may be the times that try men’s souls, but they may also be the greatest of times. The word they use to insult us is “utopia”. “You want to create a utopia!” Too bloody right I do. A land where every man, every woman, regardless of colour or race is free. We can do that. Here, Mister Conze, we can achieve that.’
Conze paused. ‘Do you really think that’s practical?’
‘Oh yes, oh yes, of course it’s practical. It’s going to happen. Well, it will if we keep these pigs out of the trough. All men equal!’
‘You really think that’s true, Mister Paine, that all men are equal?’
‘No, they’re not, but from birth everyone should have the same rights, the same opportunity to succeed, to be happy. That is what I mean by equality.’
‘But why? People are not equal. The sick are not equal to the healthy. The idiot is not equal to the intellectual. The weak is not equal to the strong.’
‘Then we do our best to create a society which makes the sick healthy, the idiot clever, the weak stronger. Not discard them on the rubbish heap or exploit them.’
‘But is that not human nature? To exploit. To exploit the land, the animals, each other? Exploitation is natural to the human. Look at your friend Washington. He is leading a charge for freedom, yet his estate is farmed by slaves.’
‘Slavery is a stain on this nation, I agree. George agrees. This is where his natural caution betrays him. He says he cannot raise the issue now, because the southern colonies will fall away. But I fear, I fear for a nation born with this at its heart. It will leave a residue, for decades, for centuries, if the Negro is not afforded the same rights as the white man. And the same for the native Indians. We must find a way to live in peace with them.’
‘But you are wrong.’
‘I am?’
‘You are. Just as the human is superior to the monkey, so different races are superior to others. The Negro, the Indian, in Europe, the Slav, the Jew, all inferior people to the Anglo-Saxon. Their culture, their industry, their science, they lack all that the civilised Anglo-Saxons have brought. It is not their fault, it is their genetic inheritance, that has left them inferior.’
‘Their genetic, what was that?’
Conze stepped back. ‘It is some recent scientific work in Germany. A new branch of the
natural sciences. Genetics. Characteristics that are passed down from one generation to the next.’
‘I’ve never heard of this and I like to think I know what’s happening in the sciences.’ Paine pulled out a tattered notebook, a stub of pencil tied to it. He licked the stub. ‘How you be spelling that?’
‘G-E-N-E-T-I-C-S. Genetics. A new word for a new science. It has a simple premise that we pass down traits through the generations, traits that are impossible to overcome. So, the Negro is inherently lazy. The Jew untrustworthy.’
‘I know very few Jews, but I can’t say I’ve ever found any of ’em untrustworthy.’
‘You must hold that the civilisation of the West is superior to that of the east or the southern nations?’
‘Well, I suppose I might, never given it much thought. I’m more concerned about the problems we face with Western civilisation. It hardly seems proper we should think ourselves superior when we make such a sow’s ear of it, wouldn’t you say?’
‘No, I would not. Surely our role as intellectuals must be to help the agents of civilisation prosper? This is our chance now to ensure the survival of the fittest, of the best. We have one chance with America. We can populate it with the best, or we can open the sewers of Europe and let all the scum and filth come here. We build this nation only with the best Aryan brains, create a race of superhumans.’
Thomas Paine looked upon the young German and scratched his head. It had been a long day. The road from Baltimore had been difficult. The wine was fogging his mind. The earnestness of this young man was something, but he was quite mad, Paine thought. A race of superhumans? What was this nonsense.
‘I am afraid it is time I retired. Will you accept my apologies, Mister Conze?’
‘I will, but we shall meet again. I promise you that, and we shall debate this issue again. Many times I believe.’
Paine shook his head and walked away. Mad men. Wherever you moved in this world. Mad men.
Hand had been waiting patiently in the anteroom for close to an hour. He was anxious, playing with his fists as he often did when his mind was distracted.
The door to Washington’s room opened and out came Charles Thomson, John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, the most important members of Congress, newly arrived from Baltimore.
Jefferson spotted Hand sitting on a chair and reached out to him.
‘Colonel Hand, my congratulations to you and your men. Gentlemen, may I introduce to you one of the finest leaders in the Continental Army, Colonel Edward Hand of the Pennsylvanian Riflemen. It was my pleasure to be introduced to the colonel last summer. And, as General Washington just informed us, Colonel Hand was the architect, along with the Hessians, of the successful seizing of the British winter supplies.’
Thomson, Hancock and Adams introduced themselves, with florid congratulations, much to Hand’s embarrassment. He was never comfortable receiving the acclaim of others.
‘Thank you, gentlemen. I shall relay the good wishes of our Congressional leaders to my men. It is they who deserve the acclaim, for their efforts not just at New Brunswick, but also at Trenton.’
‘The most marvellous times,’ said Hancock. ‘We have outfoxed Cornwallis. I can almost smell victory in the air. I expect we shall be rid of the king’s men before another year is out.’
‘I think you are perhaps a little presumptuous there, John,’ replied the sober Adams. ‘This war has some time to run yet. We shall have victory, but I suspect there will be a few defeats along the way yet.’
‘If Congress is behind us and can produce a ready supply of troops, fully clothed and armed, then, yes, we shall achieve that victory,’ said Hand.
‘Congress will do its best, but it is not a bottomless pit of money. Thankfully, your efforts in New Brunswick have secured a ready source of funding, which may stay a potential bankruptcy.’
Alexander Hamilton appeared at the door, ‘Colonel Hand, General Washington is ready for you now.’
‘Well, we shall leave you for now, Colonel,’ said Jefferson. ‘No doubt we shall find cause to meet with you in the future. I sense, sir, the tide has turned. The tide has turned.’
‘I hope so, sir. I look forward to our next encounter,’ replied Hand, taking his leave and entering Washington’s office.
There was a roaring fire in the hearth and Washington stood before it, his hands clasped behind his back and his jaw making the peculiar gurning motion, which betrayed the pain of his gums.
‘Colonel Hand, sir,’ said Hamilton, closing the door behind him.
Washington turned immediately and threw out his hand to Hand.
‘Edward. How much happier the circumstances of this meeting than the occasion of our encounter in Buckingham.’
‘That seems to have been many months ago,’ replied Hand.
‘And yet, it was less than two weeks. I have come to regret the rashness of that moment. If it had not been for the good counsel of my chiefs of staff, I may have proved so reckless as to have lost one of my finest leaders.’
‘Sir, please, it does not trouble me. I had behaved badly. Besides which, if you had not sent me out to scout Trenton, well, perhaps we would not have met Baron von Steuben and his men and by now our struggle might have been at an end.’
‘Perhaps. Nevertheless, I demonstrated a singular lack of patience and judgement that if it had been another, I would have most viciously attacked him. But the baron, well, he has certainly lifted our hopes. He, that formidable Frau Reitsch and that fellow Conze. These Stormtroopers have formed something of a close alliance with your Riflemen, I see. I was most impressed by their fortitude and spirit on the withdrawal back to the bridge at Trenton.’
‘Yes, the Germans do not lack for bravery or cleverness of thinking.’
‘That they do not. Although, some of my generals are concerned that I am placing too much confidence in the baron and his men. And yet, whenever I do so, they return my faith many times over. The army, the militia, all seem inspired by them; a new confidence rides among them, according to Hamilton. My instincts, sir, I have no scientific evidence.’
‘No, I think your instincts are correct. There appears little wariness on the part of the men. They are much impressed, that much is true. They feel the tide has turned; there is real belief now that we will throw the British out. That did not exist before Christmas.’
‘And you too, surely, Hand?’
There was a pause. ‘That is why I requested this audience, sir. I am not sure how best to express this.’
‘I find the best manner to express oneself is to make a virtue out of honest opinion, forthrightly expressed. The times do not allow us the luxury to shilly-shally. What is it, Colonel, what concerns you?’
‘Have you had any correspondence or intelligence concerning the events at New Brunswick?’
‘The capture of the supply train?’
‘No, after that. From the British side. Any complaints from General Cornwallis?’
Washington looked at Hamilton. ‘Alexander, we have had no word from the British, have we?’
‘Not to my knowledge. I am not sure they even know we are here in Morris Town.’
‘That gives me some comfort, for there was an incident at New Brunswick that may bring shame on us, on all of us.
‘The Riflemen left the town with the supply train. We feared an attack from Cornwallis, so the Stormtroopers, under the command of Werner Conze, stayed behind, ready to delay them. We left the surrendered British troops and the women and children from the British baggage train behind with them. There were perhaps a hundred people there, including some children.
‘After we left the town, we were just across the river when we heard gunshots. I sent the men ahead, but returned to New Brunswick with Patrick O’Leary. There we saw the most terrible scenes.’ Hand paused and looked around him, before saying softly, ‘A massacre.’
‘Of the troops?’
‘Of all of them, the civilians as well as the soldiers. Shot, bayonetted. Se
veral women were being taken off. I fear the worst was to happen to them.’
‘At the hands of the Hessians?’
‘At the hands of the Hessians, yes.’
‘Did you attempt to stop this?’
‘The murders had already been committed, we were too late. I made efforts to stop the rape of the women, but Conze would not listen to me. He said they were fighting terror with terror. I was unable to stop him.’ He looked down at the floor. He felt ashamed. ‘I said that you were always of the opinion that we had to behave with humanity to our enemies. That did not sway him.’
‘I see. No, I was unaware of this. It is almost a week, but as yet the British have not made propaganda play of this. They will, I’m sure. We do not want our army to win a reputation for such atrocities. European wars are marked by these kinds of actions. We do not want our German friends to infect our country with them. I will discuss this with the baron and determine a course of action.
‘In the meantime, you must not allow yourself to be embarrassed by this event. War is cruel, terrible things happen, but your conscience should remain clear. We will ensure this is not repeated.’
PART 3
MORRIS TOWN, PENNSYLVANIA
4 March 1777
TWENTY-SIX
For three months, the Continental Army had been camped at Lowantica Brook. Von Steuben’s plan of a modern camp had come good. The camp had been free of all disease. While the smallpox was causing havoc in the small towns and villages of the northern colonies, there were no reported cases at Lowantica Brook. And as spring started, so the change in season was marked by a change in mood, with a growing optimism within the camp. And, for some, love had started to blossom.
They had begun taking strolls down to the banks of the Stony Brook most afternoons, once Conze had finished his duties. Sarah Hand had never felt so comfortable with a man, never enjoyed the pleasures of such a man, for Conze was a world away from the men she had lived among, the boys who had so often attempted to woo her with their simple lives and simple ideas.
Has anyone such an instinct for knowledge as Werner Conze? she often thought. He knew more than she did of the history of the colonies, of the politics of Britain, of the geography, even the botany of the Americas. As they walked through the woods, he would point out plants she had never noticed. He talked about the forests of America, about deforestation. And he talked mostly of how this was the greatest chance in the history of humankind to build a new kind of society.