War 1812

by Michael Aye

  Jonah rose from his blankets. Moses had not returned during the night, but he’d likely show up soon. Hampton was curled up next to the remnants of their fire but Gesslin was nowhere to be seen. Probably rousted out by his sergeant, Jonah thought.

  Bumping Hampton’s legs with his foot, Jonah called to his friend. “Get up and piss, the world’s on fire.”

  “Let it burn,” Hampton growled.

  Jonah walked off to relieve himself; when he returned Hampton was sitting up. “Damn sorry way to treat a guest at your fire,” Hampton muttered as he fed twigs into the embers. Somebody could be heard approaching, and both men turned toward the noise.

  “Damned if you couldn’t sneak up on a body if you were a mind to,” Hampton said to Moses as he became visible.

  “If I was a mind to, your hair would be hanging from my long rifle,” Moses said with a smile. He then removed a sack from his shoulders and laid out leftover corn dodgers and bacon. He picked the coffee pot up that had gotten knocked over during the night and filled it with water from a canteen, and then, setting it on the fire, got water boiling for coffee to be made.

  “Did you keep watch over our captives?” Jonah asked.

  “Two of them I did,” Moses replied matter-of-factly. “I could have watched over more, but I didn’t want to appear hoggish to our Kentucky friends.” This caused Hampton and Jonah to chuckle.

  “This bacon is still warm,” Jonah volunteered.

  “Course it is so are the corn dodgers,” Moses answered. Once the water was hot, Moses added grounds.

  Seeing Hampton watching, Jonah explained, “Moses likes to boil the water before adding coffee, says it improves the taste.”

  “Does it?” Hampton asked.

  “Well, anything is an improvement over my coffee, but yeah, I think it does.”

  “I’m ready to try it out,” Hampton said, smacking as he did so. “Anything is better than this taste I’ve got right now.”

  “Too much wine,” Moses said, and then looking down and seeing a cigar butt, added, “And tobacco.”

  After breakfast Hampton stood, belched and said, “I better go check in with the chaplain.”

  By that, he meant Major James Sugget. Officially, he was head of the scouts. Jonah was certain the word ‘spies’ could have been used just as well. Moses had retrieved their horses, and he and Jonah were packing up when Gesslin rode up.

  “The colonel is sending us out to ride point; said to see if you want to come along. It appears the general is achy with his rheumatism and is in a foul mood.”

  Smiling, Jonah said, “I ought to hang back just to ruin his day, but that’d ruin mine as well. Give us a minute and we’ll be ready.”

  As the point riders rode out, the sun came up, but it was late morning before the nip was out of the air. Another group of British stragglers were seen. These men were half-starved. Seeing the Americans, the soldiers laid down their weapons and held up their hands.

  The first question asked when Gesslin rode up was, “You got any rations, yer Lordship?”

  Feeling sorry for the ragged, half-starved soldiers, the Kentuckians pulled out what they had only to see it disappear immediately as the men wolfed it down.

  “Hicks,” Gesslin called to one of his men.

  “Yes sir.”

  “March these men back to the main group.”

  “Yes sir!”

  “Ere… yer Lordship!” The apparent leader of the group was speaking again.

  “Yes.”

  Holding up his worn out boots and bloody ankles for Gesslin to see, the man asked, “Couldn’t we just wait right here, sir? We done surrendered like and, of course, we’d give our parole. Besides, the man could be thar and back quicker without us holding him up.”

  Several men laughed causing Gesslin to turn quickly and stare. Then, unable to control himself, started laughing also. “All right,” he said. “Find you a comfortable spot and light.” He then looked at the British soldier who’d been talking and asked, “You’re not a lawyer, are you?”

  “No suh!” The reply was quick. “I’m a McAllister, sir… Sergeant McAllister.”

  This caused the men to laugh so hard one of the Kentuckians fell off his horse. Gesslin didn’t even try to hide his laughter this time.

  “What’s so funny?” McAllister asked, causing the men to laugh more.

  “I’m sorry, Sergeant,” Gesslin managed. “Just good ole American humor.”

  “I see, sir. Uh, sir?”

  “Yes, Sergeant.”

  “Would you mind if we fire off a musket?”

  The sergeant’s comment wiped the smile off Gesslin’s face, suddenly alert to possible trickery. Seeing he’d created a touchy position for himself and his comrades, the sergeant quickly added, “It wouldn’t go down good for us, sir, if it was found out we gave up without firing a shot.”

  “I see,” Gesslin replied. “Hand me your weapon, Sergeant.”

  The man did as he was ordered. “It ain’t loaded, sir,” he said, handing up the weapon.

  Gesslin expertly loaded and primed the weapon but left out the ball.

  “Fire away, Sergeant.”

  The sergeant did so and thanked Gesslin. The men seemed relax again, and the sergeant sided up to Gesslin and whispered.

  “You’re certain?” Gesslin asked.

  “That I am, sir.”

  “Hicks,” Gesslin called again.

  “Yes sir.”

  “I want you to take this dispatch to Colonel Johnson.”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Hicks.”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Ride like your feet is on fire and your arse is catching.”

  “Yes sir!”

  Jonah watched as the rider galloped away. Gesslin then motioned to Jonah, and the two walked over to a clump of oak trees.

  “That sergeant says the British have a couple of barges and a store house full of weapons not twenty miles from here at a place called McGregors Creek. He says there’s not much of a guard there to keep us from taking them. Fact is he says they’ve been ordered to destroy everything when we are spotted and retreat.”

  “Why did he tell you?” Jonah asked, very suspicious of this news.

  “He said he wouldn’t have if we hadn’t been so gentlemanly about the surrender. However, he feels Proctor has turned coward, and he doesn’t trust the Red Devils as he put it. He figures as soon as this war is over he can go home.”

  “Do you trust him?” Jonah inquired, still suspicious.

  “I’m not sure. I’d like to believe it, but I mentioned the colonel may want Captain Hampton to talk to the man before we go high-tailing it into some trap.”

  Jonah winced when Gesslin said the colonel and not the general. However, Johnson was Gesslin’s reporting officer. It would be up to Johnson to make Harrison aware of the information.

  “Riders coming, sir.”

  Gesslin and Jonah stood up from where they’d been resting. Pickets had been deployed so there was little concern of a surprise attack. The British soldiers had been enamored with Moses. The group had kept a conversation going while they waited on Hicks to return with orders or for the others to catch up. Standing, Jonah was able to make out General Harrison and Commodore Perry riding in the lead of Colonel Johnson’s mounted rifles. This was a relief to Jonah, though he couldn’t have explained why other than it was the way it should be. Johnson had proved a good soldier and hadn’t let politics sway his decision.

  As the group rode up, Jonah heard the general speaking to Hampton, “As soon as you get a good feel, Captain, let me know.”

  The man saluted and then dismounted, walked over to Gesslin, and the two talked in a low voice.

  “Mr. Lee, I see you’re feeling fit today.”

  “Yes sir. I had a good night’s
sleep.”

  “As you should,” the general replied.

  Damn, Jonah thought. Does the old boy know about the wine?

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Captain Hampton talked with each of the men, alone and then as a group. After the better part of an hour, he reported to the general he felt the men were truthful and that there was a good chance of capturing a significant amount of arms and men if they moved quickly. That meant the mounted rifles, as the slower infantry could never cover the distance before the sun went down.

  “Ahem!” General Harrison and the other officers looked toward Jonah.

  “Yes, Mr. Lee, you wish to add to the discussion?”

  “Yes sir, if I may. The British at McGregors Creek have no idea when or even if we are coming. If we arrive in force after dark, it will be too late to adequately reconnoiter the area. Not only that, but an army bedding down for the night will alarm the British, who will destroy the supplies before we even get close.” Jonah could see he held the officer’s attention and some were even nodding in agreement.

  “I recommend that you send out a forward party, General. Mounted riders can be there long before the sun sets. They can scout out the area and draw out a map of sorts. We can send a rider back with a dispatch detailing the layout.”

  “I see,” the general muttered. “And I suppose you will want to be a part of the scouting party?”

  Technically, the general couldn’t prevent him from riding off. Trying to be diplomatic, Jonah replied, “With your permission, sir. I was thinking it might be like our days with General Wayne.” This brought a smile to Harrison’s face as Jonah hoped it would.

  “Well, be off with you then; but what about the infantry? Have you forgotten about them?”

  “No sir. I would rest them here about. Let them eat and rest and then move them out about midnight. That way, with a forced march, they would be close at dawn. They could rest a bit and still be ready to attack at first light. That is, if everything goes to plan.”

  “That damnable ‘if’,” Commodore Perry exclaimed. “There’s always that.”

  “Yes, I like your plan to a point,” Harrison said. “Colonel Johnson, pick your best men for scouts. We’ll give the scouts a two hour head start. Then the mounted rifles will move out. As soon as you sight this McGregors Creek, you send a rider back to let the colonel know when he’s close. That way, should you run into trouble, a suitable force will be close by to deal with it.”

  Jonah knew the change to his recommendation was so Harrison could say it was his plan of attack. It really didn’t matter much, except now the mounted rifles as a group would have a cold camp that night. With the land open as this one was, a candle could be seen for miles.

  As Jonah was mounting his horse, Gesslin rode up and said, “Thanks, friend.” The words stung until Jonah saw Gesslin was smiling.

  “You’re most welcome,” Jonah quipped. As he mounted, he said, “Ah… think of the glory. Captain Clay Gesslin, hero of McGregors Creek. He single-handedly took on the entire British garrison… and whipped them good.”

  “Gesslin for congress.” This last was from Hampton, who hearing Jonah’s tirade joined in. Gesslin’s reply was not very complimentary.

  “So you’re riding with us?’ Jonah asked and then realized it was a dumb question. Why else would Hampton be mounted if he wasn’t to be part of the scouting party?

  Taking a deep breath, Hampton exhaled and replied, “Someone who can draw a fair map and knows his letters has to attend you uncivilized souls.”

  “I see,” Jonah said, then winking at Gesslin, he called to Moses. “You took any scalps lately, old friend?”

  Having heard the good-natured bickering, Moses replied, “No, I ain’t, but I’m itchin’.”

  “Well, it will be dark soon,” Jonah said. “Lots of bad things happen in the dark.”

  Hampton swallowed hard and then turned in his saddle and spoke, “Moses, my old friend, would you care to ride along with me? Would you like some tobacco? I may have another bottle of wine tucked away if you’d care for a libation.”

  Looking back, Jonah said, “Moses can be had, James, but he ain’t cheap. Keep talking though, likelihood is you’ll keep your hair.”

  McGregors Creek turned out to be a tributary for the Thames River. The forward scouting party closed with it within three hours of leaving the main body of the mounted rifles. Gesslin sent a rider back a ways to wait on Colonel Johnson and then deployed his men to reconnoiter the area. The men moved off in twos with only their tomahawk and knives for weapons.

  “I don’t want some fool’s gun going off,” Gesslin had explained. “These men are seasoned backwoodsmen. They could kill you in your sleep and you wouldn’t even know you were dead.”

  Still, it was a precaution and the men were professional enough not to argue. It was an hour after dark before all the scouting parties returned with a detailed report of what they had seen including men, arms, store-houses, and civilians.

  “There’s a bridge right here,” one of the scouts was saying, pointing to a place on Hampton’s map. “If we can take that, it’ll be a lot easier getting across the creek. There is a village of sorts once you are past the creek.”

  “That’s Chatham,” Hampton said.

  “Well, they’s lots of folks about and even some this side of the creek.”

  When it was Jonah and Moses’ turn to report, Jonah pointed to a spot on the map. “What’s this area here?” he asked, knowing it was a junction of sorts.

  “That’s where a creek combines with the Thames River. Why do you ask?”

  “There’s a couple of keelboats or barges right there. I don’t know what’s loaded on them, but it must be important, as they are well-guarded. There was even a carriage pulled up next to one.”

  “Damn sir,” Hampton cursed, all excited. “General Proctor travels in a carriage frequently. I’ll bet it was him or his family.”

  “We didn’t see no women or children,” Moses volunteered and then added, “No Redcoat general either.”

  “Well, if there’s a carriage, then he’s close about,” Hampton replied, refusing to relent. “If he’s not, that’s his belongings. I’d sure like to get aboard that boat. From the sound of these boys indicating the rest of the scouts, the rest of the places have a few soldiers here and there. But this place has a plenty. They are thicker than fleas on a hound’s butt. I’d wait until tomorrow and have a bunch of soldiers there waiting for the attack. Maybe attack there first off.”

  “I dunno,” the one scout replied. “Them boats might be important but taking that bridge would sure make it a lot easier .., specially for the infantry.”

  “I agree,” Jonah said. “However, there’s no reason the attack can’t be from several directions at once.”

  I agree,” Gesslin added. “I think we need to ride back and talk to the colonel first hand. There’s too much to put into a dispatch.”

  “Clay,” Hampton called to his friend. ‘How about if I go and take…”

  “Moore’s my name, sir, Arthur Moore.

  “Yes, thank you. What if Moore and I ride back and talk with the colonel. Would that be satisfactory with you?”

  “Yes, I think a verbal report would be much better,” Gesslin replied. Then he added, “Even if the man writing the report is a man of letters.”

  “You devil,” Hampton hissed. “Ready, Moore?”

  The man nodded and the two men headed back to where the horses were being held.

  “There’s nothing to do now, men. We’ve done our job. Now it’s sit back and wait,” Gesslin said to his men.

  “There’s a place back yonder a ways, Captain, a deserted shack. It might be a better place to hole up. There are walls and a roof. That’ll cut down on any wind and rain since we can’t build no fire.”

  “Keep the frost off, too,” Mo
ses added.

  “Is it where we can watch out for the Colonel?’

  “Better than this heah place,” Hicks said. “There is a stand of trees where we can tie a rope and hide the horses.”

  “All right, let’s go.”

  The place was an old trapper’s cabin. The floor was dirt with holes in the roof at places so you could see the sky. However, it was a lot better than being in the open or even under the trees. Some varmint had built a nest in the corner and there was a wood burning stove. Still, it was too dangerous to build a fire. If nothing else, the smoke might attract attention.

  “Stove’s pipes are probably stopped up by some critter anyway,” Moses said.

  Gesslin posted a guard on each side of the cabin so that anybody coming from either direction could be seen, and the horses could also be watched over as well. The men ate jerky and drank from their canteens.

  Then, pulling their coats about them, they were soon asleep. Tough, seasoned fighting men, Jonah thought, as he pulled a blanket under his chin. These are the type of men this nation needs to survive. The politicians talked about freedom but these were the men who kept us free.

  Little did Jonah know that back in Washington, Secretary of War Armstrong and President Madison were having a similar conversation at a dinner table set with fine china, crystal wine glasses, with beautiful ladies close by. They’d just finished a meal of lobster and steak and were waiting on dessert.

  “Jonah’s presence has kept things moving,” President Madison said.

  “Yes, Mr. President, its men like him who will help win this war and maintain our freedom.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  General Harrison was with Johnson’s mounted rifles when they arrived. A quick meeting took place with the leaders and a final plan of action was laid out. The attack would be pointed in three directions. One group would attack the storehouses, another group would secure the bridge, and the third group would attack the more heavily guarded barge.