The Minute Boys of York Town

"But surely, Uncle 'Rasmus, after the engagement at Green Spring, you can't believe it would be possible for the French general to do him any harm?" Saul cried, surprised by the old negro's words, which seemed much like a prophecy.

"I ain' sayin', chile, dat de French gin'ral is gwine for to hurt de Britishers so berry much; but it kind'er 'pears to me dis erway: You see dey's come down yere to de jumpin'-off place, an' dere ain' much chance for 'em to get away 'cept dey goes by water. Now I'se done hear dat dere's a power ob French vessels hangin' 'roun' off de Capes, des like as if dey was waitin' to swaller up de red-coated gen'men."

"If he can't get away by water he'll go back by land," Saul suggested, and Uncle 'Rasmus shook his head mournfully, as if it pained him to believe that my Lord Cornwallis had come into a veritable trap.

"What 'bout dat yere Virginia gen'man dey's got up Norf – what 'bout Gin'ral Washington? Do you count, chillun, de's gwine for ter lay stock still when he's got de chance ob nabbin' all dis yere stuff what dey 'lows b'longs to de king? Ef it was some ob yere po' wuffless Northern trash what was runnin' dis yere war for de people ob America, den it might be dat Lord Cornwallis was gwine to turn 'roun' slap when he done got ready. But mark you, chillun, it's one ob our Virginia gen'men dats lookin' after tings. He knows de lan' 'roun' erbout; kase why? Kase he's bin here, chillun; he's bin right on dis yere plantation, an' he knows dat when you strikes de town ob York you'se got to be sumfin like a flea, able to hop a mighty big hop."

"Even suppose my Lord Cornwallis does beat back the Americans who are led by one of my countrymen; he might find it very difficult to break through their ranks, if he wanted to go back toward Richmond by the same way he came," Pierre said with a wave of the hand which I never hope to fully describe, for there was ever much of feeling in his gestures.

We remained there in the stable yard until the sun was low in the western sky, discussing the situation with Uncle 'Rasmus as our oracle. It is true we lads could not speak intelligently upon military matters, and as I look back now upon that day, I realize how much of folly there was in our words; but our hearts were nigh to bursting with the desire to do something toward ridding our colony of Virginia of those swaggering, insolent, red-coated men, all of whom we believed to be quite as brutal as Colonel Tarleton and his followers.

The result of that afternoon's conversation with Uncle 'Rasmus, if such it can be called, was that we three lads decided to go over to York Town, and see for ourselves how the Britishers were disposed there, and what they had done in the way of throwing up fortifications, for word had come through the negroes that not only the town of York, but Gloucester also, was being fortified thoroughly well.

It is not above eight miles from our plantation to the town of York, and we counted to ride there and back before the next noon, until Uncle 'Rasmus, as if terrified by such a proposition, insisted that we ought never even think of trusting the horses so near the British encampment. He told us what we very speedily came to know was true, that these servants of the king would not hesitate to despoil us Virginians who might be accused of what they were pleased to term disloyalty, even to the extent of taking from us our lives.

I could not then believe the old negro was talking other than veriest nonsense; but before another week had passed I came to understand all too well that we of Virginia who were called rebels, had no rights which these red-coated gentry were bound to respect.

It seemed fortunate that Uncle 'Rasmus succeeded in convincing us it would be in the highest degree dangerous to ride good saddle horses, and there were none other on the Hamilton plantation, within the British lines at York Town, and finally we agreed among ourselves, so eager had we grown to know what was being done by my Lord Cornwallis, to walk there and back. It would not be a severe journey, for we might count on going and returning between sunrise and sunset, and yet not exert ourselves overly much.

It is not necessary I should set down anything concerning our movements from the time we parted with Uncle 'Rasmus, until next morning, an hour after sunrise, when we were come within view of York Town, having walked at a rapid pace, for even though it was yet early in September, there was a bit of frost in the air which induced one to move rapidly lest he become chilled.

It was when we were come so near the end of our journey, that we saw ahead of us, less than a quarter of a mile away, Horry Sims, who lived on the old Livingston plantation, three miles above my home, and he appeared to be talking earnestly with a mounted officer who was in command of mayhap a dozen men.

Now Horry Sims was a lad who might fairly have been called a friend of mine, because we had had no angry words together such as could not readily be wiped out; but since two or three years neither Saul nor I chummed very much with the lad. It was believed, and with good cause, that his father yet remained loyal to the king, and was not only ready to make a display of love for his majesty; but appeared so willing to show disloyalty to his neighbors that it almost amounted to eagerness.

Uncle 'Rasmus declared again and again that Master Sims had had a hand in whatsoever of mischief had been done in Virginia, and perhaps Saul and I might have believed the old negro had he not set down so much of evil to the account of Horry's father that it was impossible one man could have compassed it all.

Certain it is, however, we had come to look upon Master Sims as a rank Tory, and, fancying his son might hold the views of his father, we two lads, meaning Saul and me, had kept away from him, not in the way of enmity, but rather to avoid the lad, although we treated him fairly when he came where we were.

After all we believed we knew, it should not have seemed strange to us that Horry Sims was talking in an apparently friendly fashion with this officer in his majesty's service, yet we were surprised, for now was come the time, if he felt so disposed, when it was possible for him to do much of harm to his neighbors, and on the instant I stepped aside from the highway that I might be screened by the bushes, beckoning my companions to do the same.

We had thus hidden ourselves from view of those who were ahead of us, as I believed, before they came to know that we were in the vicinity, and Saul, thinking that now was the time when we might do Minute-Boy duty, whispered to me:

"Shall we creep among the shrubbery until we are come where it is possible to hear the conversation of those beyond?"

Before I could make reply, little Frenchie, shrugging his shoulders, whispered:

"How far think you, it would be possible to go without being overheard by some of those who wear red coats? If it was night, or if yonder men were deaf, then might you do it."

"It is certain they would hear you before you were where it could be possible to distinguish a word of the conversation," I said in reply to Saul's suggestion, and he was seemingly satisfied that such would be the case, for instead of making any attempt at an argument, he crept more closely to my side, pulling Pierre with him until we three, in order to hold in view that group of red, in the midst of which was Horry Sims, were forced to part the foliage with our hands that we might peer between the leaves.

Perhaps our suspicions of the lad prompted us to see more than really was presented; but certain it is I fancied that the officer, who was mounted, plied Horry with questions, to which the lad replied as if it gave him pleasure to impart information. I also suspected they were saying somewhat concerning our plantation, for now and again Horry pointed in the direction of my home, and the foot soldiers looked back as if fancying they might see the buildings in the distance, all of which was the more real to me because betwixt where we stood and the Hamilton plantation there was no other dwelling.

We remained there in hiding a full half hour, and then it appeared to me as if the officer and Horry Sims parted in friendly fashion, the lad to continue on toward York Town, and the officer and his men to march in our direction, as if counting to follow back on our trail.

As a matter of course there was nothing we lads could do save remain in hiding, trusting that our whereabouts would not be discovered, for, although we had been doing no harm, if a servant of his majesty should come to understand that we three lads were striving to keep out of sight, he might take it into his thick head to fancy we were bent on mischief.

In those days it was only needed that an officer in the service of the king should have a suspicion, in order to straightway plunge into difficulties that person toward whom the suspicions were directed.

We held ourselves in cover, therefore, and I confess to a sense of most profound relief when the squad continued on without giving heed to the possibility that there had been witnesses to the meeting with Horry Sims.

"Now it is only for us to know where those gentlemen with the red coats may be going," little Frenchie said, shrugging his shoulders as we came out from the bushes and turned our faces in the direction from which we had just come, whereupon Saul asked hotly:

"Are you not for York Town? Have your legs grown weary with walking three or four miles?"

"The town of York will remain where it is yet many a day, and I dare venture to say my Lord Cornwallis will not take his departure suddenly, therefore shall we have plenty of time in which to look at the British encampment," Pierre replied, retracing his steps as if he had no care whether we followed.

"But why go back?" I cried impatiently. "Of what avail for us to follow that squad, who are most likely out foraging?"

"I have seen soldiers nearabout New Orleans, therefore do I know that when foragers go out they take with them huge wagons to bring back such as may be found. Those who have just passed are empty-handed, save for muskets, and never one of them carried his full complement of accoutrements."

"Well, suppose he doesn't?" Saul asked sulkily, but yet following little Frenchie nevertheless, for there was something about the lad which caused you to do that which pleased him whether it was to your liking or not.

"Then it must be they are out on some special duty," Pierre continued, "and I am of the mind that we shall find more amusement in watching them, than if we follow on the heels of your Tory friend who seems also to count on visiting York Town."

Whether Pierre had any suspicions of what might be afoot, I cannot say; but certain it is he pressed forward, striving to accommodate his pace with that of the soldiers, so that he might not come directly on their heels, and Saul and I, inwardly angry with ourselves for thus copying the movements of the little lad from New Orleans, kept well alongside him till we had covered a distance of mayhap a mile, when my cousin suddenly halted, saying almost angrily:

"We are showing ourselves simples in thus turning back simply because a squad of British soldiers have gone ahead!"

"Yet those same gentlemen who wear red coats are marching in the direction of the Hamilton plantation," little Frenchie said with another shrug of his shoulders and a wave of his hands, as if to intimate that there was very much more which he might say, and I, understanding somewhat of the gesture, cried out impatiently:

"Why do you say that? What have they to do on the Hamilton plantation?"

"It is that which I would learn," Pierre replied. "It is what I believe it would be better for us to see than if we wandered through the British encampment at York Town."

Until that instant I had never fancied my father's property might be in any danger from the king's men. True it is that he was known as one devoted to the cause of liberty; but thus far the war had been at such a distance from us that we had seen little of its horrors, and for the first time I began to realize there might be somewhat of mischief afoot, therefore pressed forward hotly, Pierre holding me back from time to time lest we overtake the soldiers.

The Britishers must have walked more rapidly than we fancied, for when finally we were come within view of my home, we saw riding out from the stable-yard, each man mounted and more than one with a led-horse by his side, all the company that had passed us on the road, and the animals which they rode and led were horses belonging to my father! Yea, among them Saul's mare and my own favorite colt, which I cherished as the dearest thing on earth next to my mother!

"What does it mean?" I cried, speaking with difficulty because of that seeming lump in my throat, and little Frenchie, shrugging his shoulders in a manner that set every nerve in my body aquiver, replied as if it was a matter of small moment:

"They have been to the Hamilton plantation in order to get mounts for the officers of my Lord Cornwallis's army, and from this on your colt will carry a burly Englishman bedecked with gilt lace and red cloth, instead of the lad who loves her so dearly."

CHAPTER II

SILVER HEELS

It was for a moment as if I could scarcely credit my senses. The idea that any one, even those belonging to the plantation, should bestride my own colt, my little Silver Heels, as I had named her!

She had been given to me when a baby, and no hand save mine had touched her, except when some of the negroes would rub her coat to silken glossiness in order to curry favor with me. Now she was being ridden and roughly handled by a red-faced private of Simcoe's Queen's Rangers!

When my surprise had given way to anger, which it did within a very few seconds, I would have run swiftly forward, claiming my own Silver Heels, and defying, if needs be, all that company of red-coats, for the rage in my heart was so great that I had no thought of prudence nor of my inability to cope even with a single one of those Rangers; but that Pierre, seizing me firmly by the arm, actually dragged me amid the foliage where we might be screened from view, for the men – the thieves, I should say, were by this time riding directly toward us.

"Have you lost your wits entirely?" Pierre whispered angrily, and forgetting to shrug his shoulders. "Of what avail for you to demand your Silver Heels when the king's officers would have her for their own? Do you count on being carried to the guard-house at York Town as a malcontent, or even worse, a dangerous rebel?"

"I care not where they carry me, so I take Silver Heels from yon brute that is bestride her!"

"And how will you take her?" little Frenchie whispered, this time shrugging his shoulders and waving his hands, I having so far obeyed him as to be standing by his side beneath the shelter of leaves. "Do you fancy that after Colonel Simcoe's men have seized a likely lot of horse-flesh, a lad such as you may wrest from them their spoils?"