For Love of Country: A Story of Land and Sea in the Days of the Revolution

by Cyrus Townsend Brady

  BOOK III

  THE LION AT BAY

  CHAPTER XIX

  _The Port of Philadelphia_

  The day before Christmas, the warden of the port of Philadelphia,standing glass in hand on one of the wharves, noticed a strange vesselslowly coming up the bay. This in itself was not an unusual sight.Many vessels during the course of a year arrived at, or departed from,the chief city of the American continent. Not so many small traders orcoasting-vessels or ponderous East Indiamen, perhaps, as in the busytimes of peace before the war began; but their place was taken byprivateers and their prizes, or a ship from France, bringing largeconsignments of war material from the famous house of Rodrigo Hortalez& Co., of which the versatile and ingenuous [Transcriber's note:ingenious?] M. de Beaumarchais was the _deus ex machina_; and once in awhile one of the few ships of war of the Continental navy, or some ofthe galleys or gunboats of Commodore Hazelwood's Pennsylvania Statedefence fleet. But the approaching ship was evidently neither aprivateer nor a vessel of war, neither did she present the appearanceof a peaceful merchantman. There was something curious and noteworthyin her aspect which excited the attention of the port warden, and thenof the loungers along Front Street and the wharves, and speedilycommunicated itself to the citizens of the town, so that they began tohasten down to the river, in the cold of the late afternoon. Finally,no less a person than the military commander of the city himselfappeared, followed by one or two aids, and attended by various bewiggedand beruffled gentlemen of condition and substance; among whose finerythe black coat of a clergyman and the sober attire of many of thethrifty Quakers were conspicuous. Here and there the crowd waslightened by the uniform of a militiaman or home guard, or the fadedbuff and blue of some invalid or wounded Continental. In the doorwaysof some of the spacious residences facing the river, many of the fairdames for which Philadelphia was justly famous noted eagerly theapproaching ship. As she came slowly up against the ebb tide, it wasseen that her bulwarks had been cut away, all her boats but oneappeared to be lost, her mizzen topgallant mast was gone, several greatpatches in her sails also attracted attention; there too was afield-piece mounted and lashed on the quarter-deck as a stern-chaser.The fore royal was furled, and two flags were hanging limply from themasthead; the light breeze from time to time fluttering them a little,but not sufficiently to disclose what they were, until just oppositeHigh Street, where she dropped her only remaining anchor, when a suddengust of wind lifted the two flags before the anxious spectators, whosaw that one was a British and the other their own ensign. As soon asthe eager watchers grasped the fact that the red cross of St. Georgewas beneath the stars and stripes, they broke into spontaneous cheersof rejoicing. Immediately after, the field-gun on the quarterdeck wasfired, and the report reverberated over the water and across the islandon the one side, and through the streets of the town on the other, withsufficient volume to call every belated and idle citizen to theriver-front at once.

  Immediately after, a small boat was dropped into the water and mannedby four stout seamen, into which two officers rapidly descended,--onein the uniform of a soldier, and the other in naval attire. When theyreached the wharf at the foot of High Street, they found themselvesconfronted by an excited, shouting mass of anxious men, eager to hearthe news they were without doubt bringing.

  "It's Lieutenant Seymour!" cried one.

  "Yes, he went off in the Ranger about two weeks ago," answered another.

  "So he did. I wonder where the Ranger is now?"

  "Who is the one next to him?" said a third.

  "That's the young Continental from General Washington's staff, who wentwith them," answered a fourth voice.

  "Back, gentlemen, back!"

  "Way for the general commanding the town!"

  "Here, men, don't crowd this way on the honorable committee ofCongress!" cried one and another, as a stout, burly, red-faced, honest,genial-looking man, whose uniform of a general officer could notdisguise his plain farmer-like appearance, attended by two or threestaff-officers and followed by several white-wigged gentlemen of greatdignity, the rich attire and the evident respect in which they wereheld proclaiming them the committee of Congress, slowly forced theirway through the crowd.

  "Now, sir," cried the general officer to the two men who had steppedout on the wharf, "what ship is that? We are prepared for good news,seeing those two flags, and the Lord knows we need it."

  "That is the transport Mellish, sir; a prize of the AmericanContinental ship Ranger, Captain John Paul Jones."

  "Hurrah! hurrah!" cried the crowd, which had eagerly pressed near tohear the news.

  "Good, good!" replied the general. "I congratulate you. How is theRanger?"

  "We left her about one hundred leagues off Cape Sable about a week ago;she had just sunk the British sloop of war Juno, twenty-two guns, aftera night action of about forty minutes. We left the Ranger bound forFrance, and apparently not much injured."

  "What! what! God bless me, young men, you don't mean it! Sunk her,did you say, and in forty minutes! Gentlemen, gentlemen, do you hearthat? Three cheers for Captain John Paul Jones!"

  Just then one of the committee of Congress, and evidently itschairman,--a man whose probity and honor shone out from his openpleasant face,--interrupted,--

  "But tell me, young sir,--Lieutenant Seymour of the navy, is it not?Ah, I thought so. What is her lading? Is it the transport we havehoped for?"

  "Yes, sir. Lieutenant Talbot here has her bills of lading and hermanifest also."

  "Where is it, Mr. Talbot?" interrupted the officer; "let me see it,sir. I am General Putnam, in command of the city."

  The general took the paper in his eagerness, but as he had neglected tobring his glasses with him, he was unable to read it.

  "Here, here," he cried impatiently, handing it back, "read it yourself,or, better, tell us quickly what it is."

  "Two thousand stand of arms, twenty field-pieces, powder, shot, andother munitions of war, ten thousand suits of winter clothes, blankets,shoes, Colonel Seaton and three officers and fifty men of the SeaforthHighlanders and their baggage, all _en route_ for Quebec," said Talbot,promptly.

  The crowd was one seething mass of excitement. Robert Morris turnedabout, and lifting his hat from his head waved it high in the air amidfrantic cheers. Putnam and his officers and the other gentlemen of thecommittee of Congress seized the hands of the two young officers inhearty congratulation.

  "But there is something still more to tell," cried Mr. Morris; "yourship, her battered and dismantled condition, the rents in thesails--you were chased?"

  "Yes, sir," replied Seymour, "and nearly recaptured. We escaped,however, through a narrow channel extending across George's Shoal offCape Cod, with which I was familiar; and the English ship, pursuingrecklessly, ran upon the shoal in a gale of wind and was wrecked, lostwith all on board."

  "Is it possible, sir, is it possible? Did you find out the name of theship?"

  "Yes, sir; one of our seamen who had served aboard her recognized her.She was the Radnor, thirty-six guns."

  "That's the ship that Lord Dunmore is reported to have returned toEurope in," said Mr. Clymer, another member of the committee. Ashudder passed over the two young men at this confirmation of theirmisfortunes. Seymour continued with great gravity,--

  "We have reason to believe that some one else in whom you have deeperinterest than in Lord Dunmore was on board of her,--Colonel Wilton, oneof our commissioners to France, and his daughter also. They must haveperished with the rest."

  There was a moment of silence, as the full extent of this calamity wasmade known to the multitude, and then a clergyman was seen pushing hisway nearer to them.

  "What! Mr. Seymour! How do you do, sir? Did I understand you to saythat all the company of that English ship perished?"

  "Yes, Dr. White."

  "And Colonel Wilton and his daughter also?"

  "Alas, yes, sir."

  "I fear that it is as our young friend says," added Robert
Morris,gloomily. "I remember they were to go with Dunmore."

  "Oh, Mr. Morris, our poor friends! Shocking, shocking, dreadful!"ejaculated the saintly-looking man; "these are the horrors of war;" andthen turning to the multitude, he said: "Gentlemen, people, andfriends, it is Christmas eve. We have our usual services at ChristChurch in a short time. Shall we not then return thanks to the Giverof all victory for this signal manifestation of His Providence at thisdark hour, and at the same time pray for our bereaved friends, and alsofor the widows and orphans of those of our enemies who have been sosuddenly brought before their Maker? I do earnestly invite you all toGod's house in His name."

  The chime of old Christ Church ringing from the steeple near by seemedto second, in musical tones, the good man's invitation, as he turnedand walked away, followed by a number of the citizens of the town.General Putnam, however, engaged Talbot in conversation about thedisposition of the stores, while Robert Morris continued his inquiriesas to the details of the cruise with Seymour. The perilous situationof the shattered American army was outlined to both of them, and Talbotreceived orders, or permission rather, to report the capture of thetransport to General Washington the next day. Seymour asked permissionto accompany him, which was readily granted.

  "If you do not get a captain's commission for this, Mr. Talbot,"continued Putnam, as they bade him good-night, "I shall be muchdisappointed."

  "And if you do not find a captain's commission also waiting for you onyour return here, Lieutenant Seymour, I shall also be much surprised,"added Robert Morris.

  "Give my regards to his excellency, and wish him a merry Christmas fromme, and tell him that he has our best hopes for success in his newenterprise. I will detach six hundred men from Philadelphia,to-morrow, to make a diversion in his behalf," said the general.

  "Yes," continued Robert Morris, "and I shall be obliged, LieutenantSeymour, if you will call at my house before you start, and get a smallbag of money which I shall give you to hand to General Washington, withmy compliments. Tell him it is all I can raise at present, and that Iam ashamed to send him so pitiable a sum; but if he will call upon meagain, I shall, I trust, do better next time."

  Bidding each other adieu, the four gentlemen separated, General Putnamto arrange for the distribution and forwarding of the supplies to thetroops at once; Robert Morris to send a report to the Congress, whichhad retreated to Baltimore upon the approach of Howe and Cornwallisthrough the Jerseys; and Seymour and Talbot back to the ship to makenecessary arrangements for their departure.

  Seymour shortly afterward turned the command of the Mellish over to theofficer Mr. Morris designated as his successor; and Talbot deliveredhis schedule to the officer appointed by General Putnam to receive it.Refusing the many pressing invitations to stay and dine, or partake ofthe other bounteous hospitality of the townspeople, the young menpassed the night quietly with Seymour's aunt, his only relative, and atfour o'clock on Christmas morning, accompanied by Bentley and Talbot,they set forth upon their long cold ride to Washington's camp,--a ridewhich was to extend very much farther, however, and be fraught withgreater consequences than any of them dreamed of, as they set forthwith sad hearts upon their journey.