“We’ll deal with them in the morning, Sergeant. Two more prisoners here, young girls with the gunners.”
“Lucky to have been taken prisoner and left unharmed, sir. They would have been older girls by now had it been in the Germanies.”
“We are not in the Germanies, Sergeant. Nor will we be.”
“Not how it happened at Brentford, sir.”
“The King’s men are animals. We are not.”
“No, sir.”
“How many have we lost?”
“Mr Walsh, sir. Bled out, sir. Half of Corporal Perkins’ men, what got caught by they bloody stinkpots. Didn’t expect they, sir. Grenadoes, they call them sometimes. Don’t see them much because the man who throws them is often too close when they blow. Use them aboard ship sometimes, dropped from the masthead over onto the enemy’s deck; safer that way.”
“They said this Jasper Palethorpe was a seaman. Let us hope we have taken him and can string him up by the neck for treacherously standing in arms against the lawful forces of Parliament. He has killed too many of our men and is responsible for the death of many of his.”
Micah looked about him, as much as he could see.
“Where is Mr Carew?”
“His company have taken the barn as theirs, sir. He’s with them.”
Micah found Daniel laid down on a truss of straw, swearing while a cunning-man from his company – the nearest they had to a barber-surgeon – cleaned a wound in the meat of his thigh.
“Got to wash ‘un clean, Captain. The old turpentine be best for that. Smarts a bit, you might say – you should see they old swine hop when I takes it to they. Keeps ‘un from going rotten, so it do. Most often, that is. Not so bad being on chalk soil. Was it on clay then that old lockjaw might get you, often as not, there being horses around. Them together with clay is a powerful bad mix. There you are, done now. I’ll have another look later on. If it goes rotten, I’ll take a hot blade to it, burn ‘er out, what works sometimes for a prize bull. Rest up for the night, Captain.”
Micah stood back, glad it was not him.
“How bad is it, Daniel?”
“Missed the bone and the big blood vessel – both of those are killers. While it stays clean, I shall be on horseback within three or four weeks, though I’ll not be walking too easily the whole summer. Best you take both companies and I shall talk to Major Jevons. A month back in London will be best for me.”
Morning brought a cloud-filled sky, rain in the wind.
“A few hours earlier and we would not have kept our match alight, Mr Halleck. We are lucky.”
“It was only having shot that allowed us to prevail, Captain.”
Micah agreed but saw a dozen of his men were within hearing range.
“Shot and the Hand of God, Mr Halleck. The righteous prevailed.”
Sergeant Fletcher snorted but the bulk of the men agreed, two going so far as to cry ‘amen’.
Lieutenant Halleck raised an eyebrow. Micah shook his head, almost imperceptibly.
“Later, Mr Halleck. For the while, we must bring order to this slaughterhouse. Take a few men – six will do – and search the house. There may be useful blades. There should be rations which we may add to our stock for the campaign to come. If there is money, confiscate it so that it may be sent to Parliament to pay for more soldiers.”
Halleck could do that, he was sure.
“All warlike stores, sir.”
“Just so, Mr Halleck.”
Micah turned to Sergeant Fletcher.
“Would you take a commission as an officer now, Sergeant? We need another man and best it should be one who knows the trade.”
“Nay, not me, sir. I am not the sort officers are made of. Nor Driver, I suspect, not of foot, sir. Was it to be dragoons… well, that might be different. I rode as a trooper for a few years, sir, as did Driver. I could name three of the boys in the company who have their letters and are brighter than me – or that poor lad, Walsh. If you should wish, sir, I could send the best to you.”
“Do that, if you please. We must march soon and had better have a man to do the job.”
“I’ll choose the most useful, sir – but he may not be the best bred.”
“I am a quarryman by trade – and Slater by name for my family ever being the same. I need no birth or breeding in my followers.”
Fletcher grinned, the first time he had allowed his guard to fall.
“Right you are, sir. What else, sir?”
“Prisoners to be spoken to. Find their names and what they are. Put them into two sets, the one to be let free, the other to face their trial. Their officers and leading men of the county to go before Parliament.”
“Will do, sir.”
Major Jevons interrupted them, panting from having toiled up the hillside.
“Well done, Mr Slater! Between us, we foiled their cruel attack and defeated their whole force!”
“We did indeed, Major. Did they use stinkpots against you? I am waiting to hear how many men I lost to their wicked devices.”
Major Jevons was indignant that they had done so, had used weapons better suited to the Turk than to Christian gentlemen.
“We had the great good fortune that the abatis and tree trunks kept them at a distance and partly sheltered us from the detonations. Our shot were able to fire their volleys while they struggled through the tangle to our front. Indeed, to an extent they were, as is said, hoist by their own petard, for some of the wood caught fire and its light disclosed the evildoers to us.”
Micah had not heard the expression, but its meaning was clear enough.
“Well said, sir. Captain Carew took an injury in our fighting, a pistol ball to the upper part of the leg; he may well need be sent back to London for some weeks. We have killed many of the King’s Men here and taken more prisoner. There are some families taken as well, though I fear that some were hurt, perhaps killed, in the darkness.”
Major Jevons was saddened to hear that but hastened to assure Micah that it was none of his fault. If a foolish man put his women and children in harm’s way by going into armed insurrection, then the responsibility was wholly his.
“Captain Connor marched back from Guildford last night, bringing new orders for the Regiment. We are, on taking this place, to man it with a sufficient force and then march towards Southampton and further west as is wise, to show the countryside that Parliament is here in force and that they should tend their fields and not bring war to their homes. Best that you and Captain Carew hold this fortalice, Captain Slater. While here, you should patrol as makes good sense to pacify the locality. To that end, there are horses, I know.”
“Are the cannon to go with you, Major?”
“No. I am to dispose of them as is best – whatever that may mean.”
“Return them to Guildford, perhaps. I might prefer, sir, that you had them brought to the top here and emplaced along the wall.”
Major Jevons thought that made sense – the guns would still be in the control of the Regiment, to hand if they should be needed elsewhere in their travels.
“Hard labour to bring them up, Red Man.”
The informality showed that Micah was at liberty now to make suggestions.
“I have not counted, sir, but there are the better part of fifty nags in the barns. We can make up harnesses, rough but sturdy, and attach them to the guns and haul them up to the top, sir. Demi-culverins will not weigh a lot more than a ton and a half and should be easy enough behind a dozen pairs of horses, even on the incline here.”
“I have my groom and some of the other officers have their people from their homes, Red Man. Between them, I am sure they can solve that small problem.”
Micah was equally convinced that they could do so – it was the sort of task that the lesser country gentleman excelled at from his years of overseeing his farms. Many of them would have sold oak trees to the shipyards and would have moved trunks weighing more than a big gun over rougher ground.
The priso
ners were questioned and sorted out and Jasper Palethorpe was dragged out from among the servants and divested of the skirts and shawl he had assumed in the hope of escape. Certain of the more devout Puritans among his captors had to be dissuaded from seeking out a hangman’s noose, so outraged were they by such deviancy.
Micah stood in front of a dozen of his men who were urgent to hang Palethorpe, explaining that his action was merest trickery rather than personal pleasure.
“He thought to escape, to run to his royal master, lads, not to persuade honest men into sin. I know you will say that no true man would do such a thing – but, if he was a true man, he would not have marched for the Man of Blood. We must not be amazed at the wickedness that such fellows will commit, but we must not allow ourselves to act as perversely as they. We are the elect, the saints assembled to carry out God’s work. As such, we must be more careful than most to ensure that our hands are clean of the blood of innocents. That is commonly easily done, but what when we meet the likes of this wicked sinner? He is no innocent, but he has not yet condemned his soul to Hellfire. As such, we must not hang him, although the Earth might be a cleaner place for his absence. He must have the opportunity to repent his evil ways. We must send him to London to stand before the bar of the House of Commons and face his trial.”
They were persuaded and accepted that he was not the most outrageous of villains. The due process of law must be applied.
Lieutenant Halleck was impressed by Micah’s oratory.
“I say, sir, do they actually take them to the House of Commons itself for their trial?”
Micah smiled, shamefacedly.
“I do not know, but they will at least be tried by a court appointed by Parliament. It was necessary to sound stern and full of authority. I could not see the man hanged out of hand. Besides that, he looks so very foolish, stood there in his underdrawers with his skirts taken away. He may be a wicked man, or he may be deluded, but at the moment he looks like a man caught with his trousers down!”
Halleck laughed as well.
“Take him away, Mr Halleck. Put him with the others overnight. Tomorrow they can go to the gaol in Guildford and be dealt with how the people there think best. Prisoners are a nuisance to us. What did you find in the house?”
“Three dry cellars, sir, full of provender, including some barrels of wine. Little by way of powder but some dozens of blades and pikeheads ready to be mounted. For some reason, some dozens of pairs of boots. A score of dragoon pistols in their holsters, put away next to the saddles and tack for the horses. In the library, we found two big, oaken strongboxes secured by iron bands and locks. They are being brought out now, sir, the boxes, almost too heavy to move. The rest is inside in the dry.”
“Good. I shall ask Sergeant Fletcher to exercise his ingenuity with the strongboxes. I much suspect that man opened more than one of such in his days in the Germanies.”
Sergeant Fletcher reported with his list of prisoners and with the pair of young girls who had been at the gun during the night.
“These two misses, sir, be wishful of speaking with thee.”
“In a minute, Sergeant. What did you find among the prisoners?”
“We took no more than a score of men up here, Captain. How many were picked up at the bottom by Major Jevons, I know not. We have the better part of eighty corpses up here, not all of them men.”
“How?”
“In the dark, sir, a running figure can easily seem to be an armed man. Safer often to kill first and ask afterward. Five women and a pair of boys what picked up swords, for thinking to act like men; they lie with the dead.”
“How many females among the prisoners?”
“These two, sir.” Fletcher waved at the two girls. “Besides that, eight of womenfolk and a score of children among them – none of them taken any harm at the hands of the men, sir. Wouldn’t have been that way in the Germanies, I can tell thee, sir.”
“And I will tell you again, Sergeant Fletcher – we are not and will not be in the Germanies while I stand as your commander.”
“As you order, sir. From the men, we took some thirty of pistols and swords and a fair collection of purses and rings and gold pins and such.”
“Put the valuables into a kitty, Sergeant. When possible, we will sell them off and split the proceeds by fair shares. The purses can be distributed today.”
“Only be a few shillings to the men, sir, but welcome. Will you take your share as officer, sir?”
“Not a penny to me. These to the men as a reward for behaving well. There was no sack and they deserve something for their forbearance when they had the right, or so some would say.”
“I shall tell them, sir. Right to do so, sir.”
Fletcher marched off and Micah turned to the girls. He quickly assessed them in daylight, found them to be much of an age, grown up but only barely marriageable. They were more than children but not yet adult enough to get out of the way of a battle. They had probably been excited.
“I am sorry to put you to one side, but military matters must come first. Now, who are you and what do you want of me?”
“Beg pardon, sir.”
They curtsied in apology.
“I am Mary Palethorpe, sir.”
“And I am Jessica Philipps, sir.”
“Captain Micah Slater, of Colonel Jevons’ Regiment of Foot.”
He bowed, briefly.
“I am granddaughter to Jasper Palethorpe, the squire, sir. Jessica is his ward, being a cousin of mine and, like me, orphaned young.”
Micah noticed that Miss Palethorpe was a pretty girl with auburn hair, paler than his own red but attractive, he thought. Hazel eyes and freckles, which she possibly liked less than he did. High cheekbones and a strong chin – good-looking rather than pretty in the ordinary sense. He smiled.
She scowled in return – not to be won over by some Parliamentary bully-boy who had brought butchery to her home.
“I would ask, sir, of what we are to do. My grandmama passed away two years since and when my grandfather is taken away, there will be no family of mine here.”
“Have you other relatives to go to?”
Both shook their heads.
“The fort here is to be taken into garrison by my company and Captain Carew’s. It would not be well for you to stay here with the soldiers. There will be little for you here. Parliament will most likely confiscate the house and lands, your grandfather being a traitor. I do not know. Wait while I discuss your fate with Captain Carew, who will perhaps stay here or may be sent to London, being wounded last night. For the while, talk to the servants here and discover who will stay in their place to work for the garrison.”
They seemed indignant to be given orders but quickly decided to be useful, in the hope that they would not simply be put out of the gate.
Micah made his way to the barn.
“Daniel, we are to stay here, our companies, in garrison. Would you be better advised to remain rather than face the hardships of a journey to London?”
“Willingly, Red Man. Two months in London and I shall have been replaced in the company and may well be sent elsewhere with no choice of my own. What is our final butcher’s bill?”
“Dead? I have no final count for the Regiment as a whole, but we have lost twenty-three dead and too much wounded to live from my company, and another eight who will probably live but may never march again. Expensive!”
“God-damned stinkpots! I did not expect them here, Red Man. My company lost fewer than yours – for being slower into the assault, carrying those clumsy pikes. I am only twelve down, dead and crippled. We need to make up our numbers. What sort of men are the prisoners?”
Micah did not understand the question.
“Are they King’s Men by conviction or local lads carried into the ranks whether they wished or no?
“I shall ask, Daniel.”
Chapter Seven
Major Jevons disclosed losses of some forty, dead and disabled.
“Fighting in the darkness, Captain Slater. Not an easy trick, you know!”
“I noticed, sir.”
“Yes… that is, of course you did! Managed it very well, I must say!”
“Thank you. Did you capture many of the malignants, sir?”
“Some escaped our hands, I fear, Captain Slater. I suspect, you know, that the action might have been less an attack than an attempt to run away. I think, well, I surmise, perhaps, that they expected to throw and roll their stinkpots downhill into our camp and vanish into the darkness while we stumbled from our sleep. Finding the abatis across their front must have disconcerted them. Discovering then that there was a whole company awake and with match lit must have completed their discomfiture. It would not have happened other than for the wisdom of my two experienced captains, and so my despatch to Parliament shall say!”
“I am flattered by your words, sir. To return to the question of prisoners, sir?”
“We took just fourteen unwounded. We picked up six that could not run for minor wounds and fifteen badly hurt, most of them like to die. For corpses, we have discovered nine. Thus, Captain Slater, we account for forty-four. You have numbered perhaps fifty and we know that there were one hundred or more. Some few remain unaccounted for and must be presumed to be running still.”
“I must discover who of my men can ride a horse, sir. We shall patrol the countryside and ask questions of the villagers. If we cannot find them, we can persuade them to run a long way.”
“Wise indeed, Captain Slater. I have decided that the seven companies shall march tomorrow. For today, we must supply you with provender and powder and ball and match sufficient for your garrison for a month or two. We must also set the guns into their places.”
Colonel Jevons’ Regiment was made up of country boys apart from the two companies drawn mostly from the Trained Bands. The joskins may have known little about musketry and have been uncertain which direction to push a pike, but they were experienced hands with horses. It took them two hours to rough fashion harness from rope and then an hour apiece to drag the demi-culverins uphill along the curving lane. By late afternoon they had all in place and stores of powder and ball tucked away in the dry inside the big house. The Palethorpe family might have been upset but their big front rooms made ideal arsenals.
Red Man Page 11