The Fort: A Novel of the Revolutionary War Part 27

James Fletcher was waiting with Peleg Wadsworth. Fletcher would guide McCobb's men down to Jacob Dyce's cornfield which lay a hundred or so paces up the slope from the deserted battery. There the militia would hide. It was a trap devised by Lovell, who was certain that McLean would not be able to resist the lure. Wadsworth had urged Lovell to a.s.sault the fort directly, but the general had insisted that McCobb's men required heartening. "They need a victory, Wadsworth," Lovell had declared.

"Indeed they do, sir."

"As things are," Lovell had admitted with bleak honesty, "we're not ready to a.s.sault the fort, but if the militia's confidence is restored, if their patriotic fervor is aroused, then I believe there is nothing they cannot achieve."

Peleg Wadsworth hoped that was true. A letter had arrived from Boston warning that a fleet of British warships had left New York harbor and it was presumed, no one could say for certain, that the fleet's destination was Pen.o.bscot Bay. Time was short. It was possible that the enemy fleet was sailing elsewhere, to Halifax or maybe down the coast towards the Carolinas, but Wadsworth worried that any day now he would see topsails appear above the seaward islands in the Pen.o.bscot River. Some men were already urging abandonment of the siege, but Lovell was unwilling to contemplate failure, instead he wanted his militia to win a small victory that would lead to the greater triumph.

And so this ambush had been devised. McCobb was to take his men down to the concealment of the cornfield from where he would send a small patrol to occupy the deserted battery. Those men would carry picks and spades so that they appeared to be making a new rampart to face the British, a defiance that Lovell was certain would provoke a response from Fort George. McLean would send men to drive the small patrol away and the ambush would be sprung. As the British attacked the men heightening the earthwork, so McCobb's men would erupt from the cornfield and a.s.sault the enemy's flank. "You'll give them a volley," Lovell had encouraged McCobb the night before, "then drive them away at the point of bayonets. b.a.l.l.s and bayonets! That'll do the job."

General Lovell now appeared in the dawn fog. "Good morning, Colonel!" the general cried cheerfully.

"Good morning, sir," McCobb answered.

"Good morning, good morning, good morning!" Lovell called to the a.s.sembled men who mostly ignored him. One or two returned the greeting, though none with any enthusiasm. "Your men are in good heart?" the general asked McCobb.

"Ready and raring for the day, sir," McCobb answered, though in truth his men looked ragged, sullen, and dispirited. Days of camping in the woods had left them dirty and the rain had rotted their shoe leathers, though their weapons were clean enough. McCobb had inspected the weapons, tugging at flints, drawing bayonets from sheaths or running a finger inside a barrel to make certain no powder residue clung to the metal. "They'll do us proud, sir," McCobb said.

"Let us hope the enemy plays his part!" Lovell declared. He looked upwards. "Is the fog thinning?"

"A little," Wadsworth said.

"Then you should go, Colonel," Lovell said, "but let me say a word or two to the men first?"

Lovell wanted to inspire them. He knew spirits were dangerously low, he heard daily reports of men deserting the lines or else hiding in the woods to evade their duties, and so he stood before McCobb's men and told them they were Americans, that their children and children's children would want to hear of their prowess, that they should return home with laurels on their brows. Some men nodded as he spoke, but most listened with expressionless faces as Lovell moved to his carefully prepared climax. "Let after ages say," he declared with an orator's flourish, "that there they did stand like men inspired, there did they fight, and fighting some few fell, the rest victorious, firm, inflexible!"

He stopped abruptly, as if expecting a cheer, but the men just gazed blankly at him and Lovell, discomfited, gestured that McCobb should take them down the hill. Wadsworth watched them pa.s.s. One man had tied his boot-soles to the uppers with twine. Another man limped. A few were bare-footed, some were gray-headed and others looked absurdly young. He wished Lovell had thought to ask Saltonstall for a company of marines, but the general and the commodore were barely on speaking terms now. They communicated by stiff letters, the commodore insisting that the ships could not be attacked while the fort existed, and the general certain that the fort was impregnable so long as the British ships still floated.

"I think that went very well," Lovell said to Wadsworth, "don't you?"

"Your speech, sir? It was rousing."

"Just a reminder of their duty and our destiny," Lovell said. He watched the last of the militia disappear into the fog. "When the day clears," he went on, "you might look to those new batteries?"

"Yes, sir," Wadsworth said unenthusiastically. Lovell wanted him to establish new gun batteries that could bombard the British ships. Those new batteries, Lovell now insisted, were the key to the army's success, but the idea made little sense to Wadsworth. Building more batteries would take guns from their primary job of cannonading the fort and, besides, the gunners had already warned Lovell that they were running short of ammunition. The twelve-pounder shot was almost entirely expended, and the eighteen-pounders had fewer than two hundred rounds between them. Colonel Revere was being blamed for that shortage of powder and shot, but in all fairness everyone had expected the British to be defeated within a week of the fleet's arrival, and now the army had been encamped before Fort George for almost three weeks. There was even a lack of musket cartridges because the spare ammunition had not been properly protected from the rain. General McLean, Wadsworth thought bitterly, would never have allowed his cartridges to deteriorate. He had been unsettled by his meeting with the Scotsman. It was strange to feel such a liking for an enemy and McLean's air of easy confidence had gnawed at Wadsworth's hopes.

Lovell had heard the lack of enthusiasm in Wadsworth's voice. "We must rid ourselves of those ships," he said energetically. The topmasts of the four British ships were visible above the fog now, and Wadsworth instinctively glanced southwards to where he feared to see enemy reinforcements arriving, but the Pen.o.bscot's long sea-reach was entirely shrouded by the fog. "If we can establish those new batteries," Lovell went on, still sounding as though he addressed an election meeting rather than confiding in his deputy, "then we can so damage the enemy that the commodore will feel it safe to enter the harbor."

Wadsworth suddenly wanted to commit murder. The responsibility for capturing the fort was not Saltonstall's, but Lovell's, and Lovell was doing anything except fulfill that obligation.

The violent sensation was so strange to Peleg Wadsworth that, for a moment, he said nothing. "Sir," he finally said, mastering the urge to be bitter, "the ships are incapable'"

"The ships are the key!" Lovell contradicted Wadsworth before the objection was even articulated. "How can I throw my men forward if the ships exist on their flank?" Easily, Wadsworth thought, but knew he would get nowhere by saying so. "And if the commodore won't rid me of the ships," Lovell went on, "then we shall have to do the business ourselves. More batteries, Wadsworth, more batteries." He pushed a finger at his deputy. "That's your task today, General, to make me cannon emplacements."

It was clear to Wadsworth that Lovell would do anything rather than a.s.sault the fort. He would nibble about the edges, but never bite the center. The older man feared failure in the great endeavor and so sought for smaller successes, and in doing so he risked defeat if British reinforcements arrived before any American troops came. Yet Lovell would not be persuaded to boldness and so Wadsworth waited for the fog to clear, then went down to the beach where he discovered Marine Captain Carnes standing beside two large crates. The guns on the heights had started firing and Wadsworth could hear the more distant sound of the British guns returning the fire. "Twelve-pounder ammunition," Carnes greeted Wadsworth cheerfully, pointing at the two crates, "courtesy of the Warren Warren."

"We need it," Wadsworth said, "and thank you."

Carnes nodded towards his beached longboat. "My fellows are carrying the first boxes up to the batteries, and I'm guarding the rest to make sure no rascally privateer steals them." He kicked at the shingle. "I hear your militiamen are planning to surprise the enemy?"

"I hope the enemy haven't heard that," Wadsworth said.

"The enemy's probably content to do nothing," Carnes said, "while we twiddle our fingers."

"We do more than that," Wadsworth said, bridling at the implied criticism which, if he were honest, he would agree with.

"We should be attacking the fort," Carnes said.

"We should indeed."

Carnes gave the taller man a shrewd glance. "You reckon the militia can do it, sir?"

"If they're told the quickest way home is through the fort, yes. But I'd like some marines to lead the way."

Carnes smiled at that. "And I'd like your artillery to concentrate their fire."

Wadsworth remembered his close-up look at Fort George's western wall and knew the marine was right. Worse, Carnes had been a Continental Army artillery officer, so knew what he was talking about. "Have you talked to Colonel Revere about that?" he asked.

"You can't talk to Colonel Revere, sir," Carnes said bitterly.

"Maybe we should both talk to him," Wadsworth said, much as he dreaded such a conversation. Lieutenant-Colonel Revere reacted to criticism with belligerence, yet if the remaining ammunition was to be used wisely then the guns had to be laid skillfully. Wadsworth felt a pang of guilt at his part in appointing Revere to the expedition, then suppressed the rueful thoughts. There was already far too much blame being spread through the expedition. The army was blaming the navy, the navy was scornful of the army, and almost everyone was complaining about the artillery.

"We can talk to him," Carnes said, "but with respect, sir, you'd be better off just replacing him."

"Oh, surely not," Wadsworth said, trying to head off the disparagement he knew was coming.

"He watches the fire a hundred paces away from his guns," Carnes said, "and he reckons a shot is good if it merely hits the fort. I haven't seen him correct the aim once! I told him he should be hammering the same length of wall with every d.a.m.n gun he's got, but he just told me to stop my impertinence."

"He can be p.r.i.c.kly," Wadsworth said sympathetically.

"He's given up hope," Carnes said bleakly.

"I doubt that," Wadsworth said loyally. "He detests the British."

"Then he should d.a.m.n well kill them," Carnes said vengefully, "but I hear he votes to abandon the siege in your councils of war?"

"So does your brother," Wadsworth said with a smile.

Carnes grinned. "John stands to lose his ship, General! He's not making money at anchor in this river. He wants the Hector Hector out at sea, snapping up British cargoes. What does Colonel Revere have to lose by staying?" He did not wait for an answer, but nodded out to the anchorage where the white-painted Castle Island barge had just left the out at sea, snapping up British cargoes. What does Colonel Revere have to lose by staying?" He did not wait for an answer, but nodded out to the anchorage where the white-painted Castle Island barge had just left the Samuel Samuel. "And talk of the devil," he said grimly. Lieutenant-Colonel Revere might have obeyed the order to sleep ash.o.r.e, but he was still visiting the Samuel Samuel two or three times a day and now he was evidently being rowed ash.o.r.e after one such visit. "He goes to the two or three times a day and now he was evidently being rowed ash.o.r.e after one such visit. "He goes to the Samuel Samuel for his breakfast," Carnes said. for his breakfast," Carnes said.

Wadsworth stayed quiet.

"Then again for his dinner," Carnes continued relentlessly.

Wadsworth still said nothing.

"And usually for his supper too," Carnes said.

"I need a boat," Wadsworth said abruptly, trying to avert yet more carping, "and I'm sure the colonel will oblige me." There were usually a half dozen longboats on the shingle, their crews dozing above the high-tide line, but the only boat now on the beach was the one that had brought Carnes and the ammunition, and its oarsmen were carrying that ammunition up the bluff and so Wadsworth walked to where Revere's barge would come ash.o.r.e. "Good morning, Colonel!" he called as Revere approached. "You have fresh twelve-pounder ammunition!"

"Has McCobb gone?" was Revere's response.

"He has indeed, an hour and a half since."

"We should have sent a four-pounder with him," Revere said. His barge grounded on the shingle and he stepped forward over the rowers' benches.

"Too late now, I'm afraid," Wadsworth said and extended a hand to steady Revere as he climbed over the barge's bows. Revere ignored the gesture. "Are you ash.o.r.e for a while now?" Wadsworth asked.

"Of course," Revere said, "I have work here."

"Then would you be good enough to allow me the use of your boat? I need to visit Cross Island."

Revere bridled at the request. "This barge is for the artillery!" he said indignantly, "it can't be spared for other people."

Wadsworth could scarce believe what he heard. "You won't lend its use for an hour or so?"

"Not for one minute," Revere said curtly. "Good day to you."

Wadsworth watched the colonel walk away. "If this war goes on another twenty years," he said, his bitterness at last expressing itself, "I will not serve another day with that man!"

"My crew will be back soon," Captain Carnes said. He was smiling, having overheard Wadsworth's remark. "You can use my boat. Where are we going?"

"The channel south of Cross Island."

Carnes's marines rowed Wadsworth and the captain south into the channel behind Cross Island. That island was one of a necklace of rocks and islets which bounded a cove to the south of Majabigwaduce Harbor. A narrow isthmus separated the cove from the harbor itself and Wadsworth went ash.o.r.e on its strip of stony beach where he unfolded the crude map James Fletcher had drawn for him. He pointed across the placid waters of Majabigwaduce's inner harbor towards the thickly wooded eastern sh.o.r.e. "A man called Haney farms land over there," he told Carnes, "and General Lovell wants a battery there."

A battery on Haney's land would hammer the British ships from the east. Wadsworth climbed one of the steep, overgrown hillocks that studded the isthmus and, once at the summit, used Captain Carnes's powerful telescope to gaze at the enemy. At first he examined the four British ships. The closest vessel was the transport Saint Helena Saint Helena, which dwarfed the smaller sloops, yet those three smaller ships were far more heavily armed. Their east-facing gunports were closed, but Wadsworth reckoned there were no guns hidden behind those blank wooden squares. The rebels had seen British sailors taking cannon ash.o.r.e, and the verdict had been that Captain Mowat had offered his ships' portside broadsides to the fort's defense. If Wadsworth needed any confirmation of that suspicion he gained it from seeing that the sloops were very slightly keeled over to starboard. He gave the telescope to Carnes and asked him to examine the ships. "You're right, sir," the marine said, "they are listing."

"Guns on one side only?"

"That would explain the list."

So any guns on Haney's land would have no opposition, at least until Mowat managed to shift some cannon from his west-facing broadsides. Place guns on Haney's land and the rebels would be just a thousand yards from the sloops, a range at which the eighteen-pounders would be lethal. "But how do we get men and guns there?" Wadsworth wondered aloud.

"Same way we came, sir," Carnes said. "We carry the boats across this strip of land and relaunch them."

Wadsworth felt a dull anger at the sheer waste of effort. It would take a hundred men two days to make a battery on Haney's land, and what then? Even if the British ships were sunk or taken, would it make it any easier to capture the fort? True, the American ships could sail safe into the harbor and their guns could fire up at the fort, but what damage could their broadsides do to a wall so high above them?

Wadsworth trained the telescope on Fort George. At first he misaimed the tubes and was amazed that the fort looked so small, then he took his eye from the gla.s.s and saw that a new fort was being constructed and it was that second work he was seeing. The new fort, much smaller than Fort George, lay on the ridge to the east of the larger work. He trained the telescope again and saw blue-coated naval officers while the men digging the soil were not in any kind of uniform. "Sailors," he said aloud.

"Sailors?"

"They're making a new redoubt. Why?"

"They're making a refuge," Carnes said.

"A refuge?"

"If their ships are defeated the crews will go ash.o.r.e. That's where they'll go."

"Why not go to the main fort?"

"Because McLean wants an outwork," Carnes said. "Look at the fort, sir."

Wadsworth edged the telescope westwards. Trees and houses skidded past the lens, then he steadied the gla.s.s to examine Fort George. "Bless me," he said.

He was gazing at the fort's eastern wall which was hidden to anyone on the high ground to the west. And that eastern curtain wall was unfinished. It was still low. Wadworth could see no cannon there, only a shallow ridge of earth that he supposed was fronted by a ditch, but the important thing, the thing that made his hopes rise and his heart beat faster, was that the wall was still low enough to be easily scaled. He lowered the gla.s.s's aim, examining the village with its cornfields, thickets, barns, and orchards. If he could reach that low ground then he reckoned he could conceal his men from both the ships and the fort. They could a.s.semble out of sight, then attack that low wall. The impudent flag above the fort might yet be pulled down.

"McLean knows he's vulnerable from the east," Carnes said, "and that new redoubt protects him. He'll put cannon there."

"Or he will when it's finished," Wadsworth said, and it was clear the new redoubt was far from completion. We should attack from the east, he thought, because that was where the British were weak.

Wadsworth aimed the telescope towards Dyce's Head, but the British ships obstructed his view and he could see nothing of the ambush, if indeed it had been sprung. No powder smoke showed in the sky above the abandoned battery. Wadsworth edged the telescope right again to stare across the low eastern tail of Majabigwaduce's peninsula. He was looking at the land north of the peninsula. He stared for a long time, then gave the gla.s.s back to Carnes. "Look there," he pointed. "There's a meadow at the waterside. You can just see a house above it. It's the only house I can see there."

Carnes trained the gla.s.s. "I can see it."

"The house belongs to a man called Westcot. General Lovell wants a battery up there too, but will its guns reach the British ships?"

"Eighteen-pounder shot will," Carnes said, "but it's too far for anything smaller. Must be a mile and a half, so you'll need your eighteens."

"General Lovell insists the ships must be defeated," Wadsworth explained, "and the only way we can do that is by sinking them with gunfire."

"Or by taking our ships in," Carnes said.

"Will that happen?"

Carnes smiled. "The commodore is so high above me, sir, that I never hear a word he says. But if you weaken the British ships? I think in the end he'll go in." He swung the gla.s.s to examine the sloops. "That sh.o.r.eward sloop? She hasn't stopped pumping her bilges from the day we arrived. She'll sink fast enough."

"Then we'll build the batteries," Wadsworth said, "and hope we can riddle them with round shot."

"And General Lovell's right about one thing, sir," Carnes said. "You do need to get rid of the ships."

"The ships will surrender if we capture the fort," Wadsworth said.

"No doubt they will," Carnes said, "but if a British relief fleet arrives, sir, then we want all our ships inside the harbor."

Because then the tables would be turned and it would be the British who would have to fight their way through cannon-fire to attack the harbor, but only if the harbor belonged to the rebels, and the only way that the Americans could capture the harbor was by storming the fort.

It was all so simple, Wadsworth thought, so very simple, and yet Lovell and the commodore were making it so complicated.

Wadsworth and Carnes were rowed back to the beach beneath Majabigwaduce's bluff. As the longboat threaded the anch.o.r.ed warships Wadsworth stared south towards the sea-reach, south to where the reinforcements, either British or American, would arrive.

And the river was empty.

"I do believe," McLean was staring south through a telescope, "that is my friend, Brigadier Wadsworth." He was gazing at two men, one in a green coat, who were on the harbor's southern sh.o.r.e. "I doubt they're taking the air. You think they're contemplating new batteries?"

"It would be sensible of them, sir," Lieutenant Moore answered.

"I'm sure Mowat's seen them, but I'll let him know." McLean lowered the gla.s.s and turned westwards. "If the rascals dare to build a battery on the harbor sh.o.r.e we'll lead them a merry dance. And what steps are those rogues doing?" He pointed down towards the abandoned Half Moon Battery where a score of rebels appeared to be digging a ditch. It was difficult to see, because Jacob Dyce's house, barn, and cornfield were partly in the way.