The Young Cavalier: A Story of the Civil Wars

by Percy F. Westerman

  CHAPTER XIII

  THE SIEGE OF ASHLEY CASTLE

  THE strength of our little garrison was but thirty-three men, of whombut seven had had experience in the art of war. Yet I felt certainthat every one of the defenders could be trusted to the core, andwould acquit himself right manfully, and a glance at their set,resolute features strengthened my opinion.

  Of provisions we had plenty, while the two wells relieved us of allanxiety regarding the supply of water. Ammunition, too, wassufficient for a twelve months' siege, so that, provided the rebelsdid not bring ordnance, we felt able to hold out till a turn in theKing's affairs might free us from the unwelcome attentions of theRoundhead forces.

  Over the grassy sward of the rolling down poured the rebel cavalry,thinking, no doubt, to take us by surprise by their suddenappearance. The slanting rays of the sun glinted on the armour-cladtroopers of Old Noll's own regiment of Ironsides (who had beendetached from the siege of Basing House) and on the musketoons of astrong body of dragoons.

  Finding the drawbridge raised, the rebel horse halted, and in serriedmasses on the steep hillside they presented a mark too tempting toignore. Sergeant Lawson gave the signal, the gunners applied theirlinstocks, and next instant our ordnance had opened fire.

  This was more than they expected, for the guns, being well masked bythe gabions, were invisible to the rebels, though the latter soonbecame acquainted with their contents, and, with shouts of baffledrage, they wheeled and withdrew out of range, leaving two of theirnumber on the ground, while several others were wounded.

  "First blood," exclaimed Firestone, with a laugh. "But we'll have thewhole swarm about our ears ere long."

  It was as he said. The infantry took up an extended position on thedowns on either hand, and began to throw up rough earthworks, whilethe horse, moving towards the open ground to the south of the castle,completed the hedging circle of steel.

  "They are without ordnance," I remarked to the colonel, as we watchedin silence the closing of the hostile lines.

  "That is true," he replied. "Yet their artillery might be following,for 'tis impossible for the ordnance to keep pace with the foot overthis hilly country. But see, a pair of horsemen advancing."

  "They bear a white flag," exclaimed Granville.

  "Keep our men in hand," said Firestone. "And let us learn the meaningof this parley."

  When within two hundred yards of the gateway the rebel horsemenhalted, and one blew a long note on the trumpet.

  Hoisting a white flag had not occurred to us, so before we couldreply one of our men had to hasten to the living-apartments andprocure a tablecloth. This we fastened to a pike, and held it aloftover the gateway.

  Upon this the envoys advanced without hesitation. One was a youngcornet of dragoons, the other but a common trooper.

  At the edge of the moat they drew rein, waiting doubtless for thedrawbridge to be lowered, but this was not our intention.

  "Your message, sir?" I asked.

  "My message is for the ears of Sir Humphrey Markham, now within theresidence known as Ashley Castle."

  "I am he," I replied. "And if your message cannot be heard by earsother than mine, 'tis best left unsaid."

  "Have it then," said the cornet. "'Tis this: General Cromwell offersa safe-conduct to Sir Humphrey, his officers and garrison, on certainconditions, amongst which the castle must be delivered, withoutmalicious damage, into the hands of Captain Chaloner."

  "Captain Chaloner?" I asked amazedly.

  "Ay, Captain Chaloner. I trove he is already known to you? Failingwhich, the castle will be carried by storm, and no quarter given tothe garrison or inmates."

  "Is that all?"

  "Verily, 'tis enough," replied the cornet haughtily. "And mostcomprehensive, even to a malignant."

  "Withdraw, sir!" I exclaimed hotly, "or your flag of truce will notprotect you. This message to the renegade Chaloner: If he want thecastle, let him come for it in person!"

  "Which he will do ere long," retorted the cornet, and, wheeling hishorse, he galloped back to the rebel lines.

  So I had not slain Chaloner, after all. The news astounded me. Surelythe villain must bear a charmed life. But I resolved to take thefirst opportunity of preventing the recreant officer from eversetting foot within the castle, save as a prisoner or a corpse.

  The enemy lost no time in ordering the attack. The dismounteddragoons and musketeers, under cover of their trenches and the woodsnearest the castle, opened a hot fire, and soon there was asemicircle of white smoke drifting lazily upwards in the still airof that memorable afternoon.

  _Ralph Granville and the pikeman were locked in anunyielding embrace, and, before I could prevent the catastrophe,Ralph was dragged through the embrasure and disappeared._]

  We paid no heed to their fire, being well protected by the walls andgabions. Of arms we had plenty, every man having not less than sixloaded muskets lying within arm's length, while each piece ofordnance was loaded to the muzzle with small shot.

  After a while the rebels, thinking no doubt that their fire haddemoralised us, sent out a strong body of pikemen. Many of them borebundles of hay and straw; others long planks and ladders, with whichthey hoped to cross the moat and carry the walls by storm.

  The most experienced commander would have found no fault with ourmen, for in perfect silence and under complete control they keptbehind the breastworks, ready to spring up and open a furious fire onthe advancing pikemen. Firestone, his head enclosed in a steelmotion, walked slowly up and down the roof of the hall, smoking along clay pipe, which he removed at intervals to give a word ofadvice to the men on the handling of their pieces.

  Granville and I took up our position on the gatehouse tower, whereten of the best of our musketeers were held in readiness, while atthe narrow window of the ground floor more men were placed to openfire on those of the pikemen who succeeded in reaching the brink ofthe moat.

  "Are any of our men hit?" I asked of Sergeant Lawson, who had justjoined us with a message from Colonel Firestone.

  "No, sir," he replied. "The sly dogs lie close."

  "'Tis well. Can we but keep them unscathed till the time to openfire, 'twill enable them to keep their courage up, for 'tisdisheartening to see a man fall and be unable to reply to the rebels'fire. Not that I want to lose a single man, though 'tis too much toexpect to come out without a scratch."

  Meanwhile the pikemen had been advancing slowly, as if inclined tohusband their strength for a final rush. The loads that some of themwere bearing also accounted for their slow progress, for those whocarried only their arms would not outstep their comrades. With themwas a sprinkling of dismounted dragoons, but I failed to see at theirhead my especial enemy, Chaloner, though, knowing the man's naturalcowardice, I was not surprised.

  It was not till the close ranks of the pikemen were within twentyyards of the moat that the order to fire was given, andsimultaneously thirty muskets and three pieces of ordnance crashedtheir contents into the press.

  It seemed as if the solid wall of men was beaten down by a singleblow, for when the smoke had cleared away, most of the pikemen werelying in a confused, struggling heap. Those who were not killed orwounded had been overthrown by the shock and the surprise, or draggeddown by their stricken comrades.

  A few here and there were left standing, and, joined by those whowere not touched, they pressed dauntlessly forward to the forlornattack. In spite of the fact that they were our foes, I realised thatthey were Englishmen--and Englishmen of the good old fighting stock.

  Staggering onward with their heavy burdens, the attackers strove tothrow a bridge across the moat, but the hay and straw merely floatedon the surface, the planks were too short, and the ladders toofragile to use as a means of crossing; and then, and only then,seeing the hopelessness of the assault, the pikemen slowly retired,bearing with them their dead and wounded comrades, on whom our menrefrained from firing.

  The besiegers had learnt a rough lesson, and henceforward contentedthemselves by drawing
a closer line of rough trenches round thecastle. For the next five days they did not offer to make an attack,though at most unexpected intervals a volley would be fired from allsides into our position, probably in the hope of striking some of usdown, or keeping us in a state of suspense.

  At night we durst not show a light, otherwise there would be a heavyfire poured in its direction, but later we adopted a plan of placingshutters over all the apertures commanding the outside of the castle,and we were in consequence free from molestation during the hours ofdarkness.

  If the rebels thought to starve us out, they were greatlydisappointed, for food there was, as I have said, in plenty. Theinaction told on the men's nerves more than anything else, and so,partly in the hope of keeping them actively employed, and also forthe purpose of tricking our foes, Firestone ordered the garrison tomake a number of dummy men dressed in old buff coats, breastplates,and steel caps.

  These were shown just above the walls, and our men derived greatamusement by moving them slowly to and fro, while the rebels merelywasted their ammunition.

  Under the hail of musket bullets the windows of the great hall hadsuffered considerably, the stained glass being shattered and thedelicate tracery splintered and chipped beyond repair. Thanks to thestout oaken boards, however, none of the missiles entered theapartment, though at times there was a continuous rattle like thenoise of a drum upon these serviceable barricades.

  On the morning of the sixth day of the siege we sustained our firstcasualty. A musketeer, one of the two farmers who had brought in thenews of the rebels' advance, was drawing water from the well in thecourtyard when a shot struck him in the forehead, laying him out deadbeside the bucket he had just raised.

  From the nature and direction of the wound, 'twas evident theRoundheads had opened a dropping fire with reduced charges, and forthe future none but mail-clad men were allowed to cross thecourtyard.

  That night, in order to convince our foes that we had food inabundance, we lowered ten sheep from the battlements to graze on thescanty pasture between the wall and the moat, keeping the ropes stillfastened to them, so as to recover their carcases should any of theanimals be struck down by a chance shot. By this means we alsohusbanded our supply of provender.

  Granville, tired of the monotony of our position, next proposed thatwe should make a sortie on the first favourable night, but to this Iwould not agree, seeing that no good was likely to arise out of theenterprise, though many valuable lives might be lost; but shortlyafterwards we had an episode that provided sufficient excitement tosatisfy my comrade's ardour.

  It was a dark night. The rain beat down in blinding torrents, and,exposed to the fury of the elements, our sentinels on the battlementshad a down-hearted task. Firestone, having had a very heavy day, wasfast asleep, but Granville and I determined to keep watch all night,visiting the men at their posts at frequent intervals to prevent apossible surprise.

  We had discarded our defensive armour, and drawing our cloaks tightlyaround our bodies, we ascended the battlements for the third timethat night.

  At length we came to the lowest part of the walls, which here werenot more than thirty feet above the level of the moat, the inner edgeof which was not more than twenty feet from the base of thestonework.

  The sentinel was at his post, and reported nothing amiss, but just aswe were midway between his post and the next we heard a grating soundagainst the coping. It was barely audible above the hiss of thebeating rain, but fortunately we stopped to discover the meaning ofit.

  Through the darkness loomed the top rungs of a scaling-ladder and thesteel cap of a rebel pikeman.

  Without a moment's hesitation Granville leant over the wall andgripped the intruder by the throat, calling out to me to push awaythe ladder.

  Seizing a ramrod and giving the alarm, I put my whole might into thethrust.

  The ladder was heavy with armed men, yet my strength prevailed, and Ifelt the mass of men and timber tremble as it slowly rose to avertical position. Then, to the accompaniment of cries of terror, theladder fell backwards, and, to my horror, I found that Granville andthe pikeman were locked in an unyielding embrace, and ere I couldprevent the catastrophe, Ralph was dragged through the embrasure andhad disappeared.

  There was an appalling crash of broken wood and falling steel, aheavy splash, and another outburst of shouts and cries.

  Meanwhile the guard had arrived, and the rest of the garrison weresoon under arms, yet we were loth to open fire for fear of hittingGranville, and also we dared not show a light.

  At length there came the sound of retreating footsteps, and then allwas quiet.

  "He is either dead or a prisoner," said Colonel Firestone, who, cladin nothing but his invariable jackboots, long cloak, and steelheadpiece, had been one of the first of the sleeping garrison toarrive on the scene.

  "If he be a prisoner, we must rescue him," I cried.

  "Who's for a rescue party?"

  Several men signified their willingness to attempt the hazardouswork, but Firestone refused to listen to the proposal, pointing outthe hopelessness of the undertaking, when by now my companion, if notdead, would be beyond help within the rebels' lines.

  While we were still debating, there came the report of a musket fromthe gatehouse; and fearing another attack, half of our party hurriedto the spot.

  "There's a knocking at the postern, sir," explained the sentry, "butI wouldn't open it."

  "Quite right, quite right," replied Firestone, and striding over tothe wicket, he threw open a sliding hatch; then, keeping well to theside for fear of a treacherous shot, he demanded, "Who goes there?"

  "'Tis I, Granville," came my comrade's well-known voice.

  With a shout of delight I made to unbar the gate, but Firestone laida detaining hand on my arm.

  "Art alone?" asked the colonel.

  "Yes, save for a half-drowned rebel," replied Granville, with aslight laugh, and fearing no surprise, we thereupon threw open thepostern.

  The next instant my companion came into the torchlight, pale,drenched to the skin, and with blood streaming from a cut on hisforehead, while with him he brought the insensible body of a man,whose booted legs trailed heavily over the stone cobbles.

  "Do what you can for the rogue," he said breathlessly, for the man,cased in breastplate and leather coat, was no light weight.

  "Art hurt?" I asked anxiously.

  "'Tis but naught," he replied, "though I would fain get rid of thesewet clothes."

  While changing his garments he told us of what occurred after he hadbeen dragged over the wall. Fortunately, he had been thrown clear ofthe ground, and, still gripping his foe, he had fallen headlong intothe moat, which at that place was barely five feet in depth.

  With the shock of the sudden plunge the pikeman had relaxed his grip,and, weighted down by his armour and accoutrements, he would havesurely been drowned had not Ralph held on to him and dragged hissenseless body to the edge of the moat. Keeping perfectly still inthe darkness, with the water up to his neck, Granville allowed therest of the discomfited rebels to recross the moat and make their wayback to their camp. Then, directly everything was quiet, he emergedfrom his hiding-place, dragged the still insensible pikeman to thepostern, and regained the shelter of the walls.

  The rest of the night passed without incident, but next morning atangle of broken ladders showed that the scalers had all butsucceeded in effecting an entry.

  Then the question arose what was to be done with our prisoner? He hadnow recovered, and seemed grateful to us for his good treatment.

  At first it was suggested that he should be sent back, as we couldill afford the trouble of keeping him in ward and also of feedinghim; but Colonel Firestone pointed out that he might come in usefulas a hostage or for purpose of exchange, so he was placed under guardin one of our underground chambers beneath the gatehouse.

  Later on in the day Firestone interrogated him, and obtained thedisquieting information that several pieces of heavy ordnance wereexpected from the
camp before Basing House, and that Cromwell, havingheard of Captain Chaloner's cowardice (he having refused to lead hisdragoons at the first assault), had ordered him to be the first inthe breach, under the penalty of being shot as a disgrace to theParliamentarian arms.

  "Depend upon it," remarked Firestone, as he concluded his statement,"before to-morrow we shall be in a tight corner."