Buckskin Pimpernel

by Mary Beacock Fryer

  Your Memorialist was 41 days on this Scout and lost two of his party taken prisoners by a Rebel Scout on the Coast of Lake Champlain and your Memorialt escaped with the rest of his party by seizing the Rebel boats which lay on the Shore and pushing into the Lake.

  Rowing hard, Justus decided to quit the area and complete his observations around Ty later, when the grass would be green, the trees a haze of buds and young leaves which would make concealment easier. He agonized over the fate of his lost men, well aware that they might be coerced into revealing why they were there, and who their associates were. First, however, he wanted news of Sarah and he thought a quick visit to New Haven would be safe. Simon Bothum would know whether she had borne a healthy child. His party concealed the boats on the east side of the lake opposite New Haven, and they set out on snowshoes through deep bush towards his farm.

  Simon Bothum was there, and so, to Justus' surprise, was Sarah. Proudly she showed him his new daughter. They named her Diana — the Huntress — from Greek mythology, a fitting name for a frontier girl. That night his party had beds on the second storey while Sarah and Justus were in their ground floor bedroom. As Samuel and the baby slept, the two had a passionate reunion on the mistaken assumption that nursing mothers did not conceive. Justus set out before dawn, little realizing that he had left his wife in an awkward predicament. Apart from her immediate family, Sarah could hardly explain that Justus had visited her, and would have to pretend she had been unfaithful or risk being interned for aiding the enemy. In his memorial Justus said he scouted as far as:

  Shaftsbury opposite Albany for Intelligence and returned in the beginning of May to Genl. Philips at Montreal with an Account of the Rebell Troops from Albany Northward and a Sketch of the Fortifications at Ticonderoga and Mount Independent.

  His memory was playing tricks. Brigadier William Phillips was the commandant of Fort St. Johns, and Brigadier Allan Maclean was in command at Montreal. Also, Shaftsbury is 25 kilometres north of Albany and to the east. He travelled southward through the New Hampshire Grants and from the neighborhood of Bennington turned towards Albany. That town was surrounded by a high wooden stockade inside which the rebels were stock-piling supplies that would be safe from raids by loyalists.5

  Justus led his party up the Hudson River, and at Fort Edward they visited the safe house of an Irish born lawyer, Patrick Smyth. His brother, Dr. George Smyth, a valuable contact for the British in Canada and at New York City, lived in Albany. The lawyer warned Justus to be careful of his uncles, Seth and Adiel Sherwood, both zealous rebels, an unnecessary warning for he intended to avoid them. He went instead to the house of his cousin Thomas — Seth's son — because he needed provisions. Thomas, two years older than Justus, had loyalist sympathies, and found the unexpected arrival of his cousin timely. Since the British expedition would soon be setting out, Thomas decided to accompany Justus back to Fort St. Johns. He left his wife Anna, and children Reuben and Anna, behind, confident that Seth would protect them from reprisals.

  Near Crown Point with his remaining three men and Thomas, Justus took stock of the intelligence he had acquired. At Mount Independence, the new fortifications opposite Ticonderoga, the rebels had placed their only big guns — one 32-pounder, some 24- and 18-pounders. At Fort Edward, Uncle Adiel was repairing the old citadel on the bank of the Hudson, and he had two 9-pounders mounted. A dozen other guns lacked carriages. The barracks near the fort could house 1,000 men. A storehouse on the beach was filled with flour and beef, and the rebels were building a hospital in the village.

  The garrison at Fort Ann, above Fort Edward, was thirty men, and sixty were stationed at Skenesborough, which was to be a naval base. The rebels were hauling timber for six vessels, and sailors to man them were expected from New England by the summer. Most of the soldiers were at Ty and Mount Independence, 1,350 men, but Mad Anthony Wayne, the commandant, expected to be reinforced by General Arthur St. Clair and five fresh regiments. Albany, with its stockade and supplies, and the Ticonderoga-Mount Independence complex were the strong points on the rebel line of defence. The report as complete as Justus could make it, he headed north along the west side of Lake Champlain making for Pointe au Fer. He gazed longingly in the direction of New Haven but dared not go there for fear his house was being watched.

  At New Haven Simon carried on looking after his brother-in-law's interests. Owing to Simon's presence Justus did not lose all his livestock. Shortly after his arrest, the rebels stole two of his cows and seventeen hogs, but his horses and a yoke of oxen had not been taken.6 Thanks to Simon, Justus' farm was intact, ready for him once the coming campaign had ended. Surely, by the autumn, Carleton would be in control of Albany, and if Justus succeeded in enlisting for the expedition, his term would end once the governor achieved his purpose.

  By early May his party reached Fort St. Johns. He found the fort bustling with activity as he went to hand in his report to Brigadier Phillips. Many British and German regulars had arrived since Justus had set out for Albany, and all around he saw signs of preparations for the coming expedition into New York. Of Brigadier Phillips, Justus asked help in obtaining the return of his two men who were captured, but the time was inopportune for a prisoner exchange. Neither the brigadier nor the rebels wanted flags of truce approaching the sites of their activities. For the moment nothing could be done. Because Sherwood had shown concern for the captives' welfare, Phillips resolved to do what he could to see that this colonial received a commission. He had the makings of a fine officer. On his part Justus was grieved at Phillips' refusal, and he decided to take initiatives when the opportunity arose.

  The briefing over, Justus enquired whether Governor Carleton was planning on taking any loyalists on the expedition. Phillips assured him that the governor wanted the services of every man who had come into Canada, and was honouring the promises made by Governor Tryon at New York City and Sir William Howe, by allowing the leaders to raise battalions. Justus told Phillips he wanted to join John Peters, and the brigadier gave him permission to report to Peters, whose corps was mustering on the south shore of the St. Lawrence opposite Montreal. Finding the stages full, horses impossible to borrow, Justus hurried there on foot.

  Peters was delighted, because the former Green Mountain Boy had led 40 loyalists to Crown Point the autumn before. Now Peters could lay claim to them and Justus would be their captain. Commissions were to be awarded on the basis of the numbers recruited, and Peters promised to ask Carleton to make Justus' appointment official. He should not have difficulty recruiting the men he needed to complete the company to 60, as required under the terms of the warrant for the regiment. Thus far, Peters had scarcely 200 men, and his rank as their lieutenant-colonel was only a provisional one. All his officers' commissions would be signed when the battalion reached two thirds strength.7

  Peters also told Justus that Ebenezer Jessup had permission to raise a battalion and had enlisted 80 men. Others hoping to raise corps were Francis Pfister and Daniel McAlpin. Both were former British regulars, as was Samuel McKay, whose home was near Fort St. Johns, and who wanted to accompany the expedition. Samuel Adams, a doctor from Arlington, had permission from Carleton to raise some companies.

  Sir John Johnson had 133 rank and file and they were to go to Oswego as part of a small expedition under Colonel Barry St. Leger, 34th Regiment. Major John Butler, of the Indian Department, with a large party of warriors and some loyalists who had fled to Fort Niagara, were to join St. Leger and Sir John. They were to capture Fort Stanwix, at the western end of the Mohawk Valley, and march to meet the rest of the British army at Albany.

  Early in June, Justus learned that Carleton would not be leading the expedition. General John Burgoyne, who had spent the winter in England, arrived in Quebec City with a commission to command the army in the field. He was now the military governor of Canada, while Carleton remained the civil governor. The British government felt that Carleton had been too hesitant in taking the offensive against the rebels, an opinion Just
us shared. Perhaps Burgoyne's appointment would be a blessing, for the faster the army moved towards Albany, the less opposition it would encounter. The more time the rebels had to prepare, the larger the army opposing Burgoyne would become.

  Time was passing quickly for Justus. The men of his regiment were to serve as foragers under the Quartermaster's Department.8 Tailors at Fort St. Johns were sewing uniforms, and Peters was assigning weapons to his officers and men. Burgoyne had sent ahead muskets, bayonets, swords, officers' spontoons and sergeants' halberts. Peters decided that the short spontoons would be useless, and ordered his officers equipped with muskets and bayonets, or rifles if they owned any. The regular officers would be mounted, the loyalist officers on foot since there were not enough horses to go round.

  On June 11, General John Burgoyne reached Fort St. Johns, and the following day Peters received orders to march his corps there.9 The regiment arrived on the 13th, and a few days later Sherwood's commission, approved by Carleton, was received by Burgoyne. However, Peters warned Justus that none would be signed until the corps reached two thirds strength. Neither officer was disturbed, although the corps still stood at 200 men. Once the army was on the move, recruiting agents would have no difficulty bringing in 200 more, and the commissions would be signed. Burgoyne named Peters' corps the Queen's Loyal Rangers, and Jessup's the King's Loyal Americans, while the group commanded by Francis Pfister was the Loyal Volunteers.10

  William Phillips, now a major-general and Burgoyne's second-in-command, assigned the men Justus had piloted to Crown Point to his company, and Colonel Peters chose Edward Carscallan as the lieutenant, John Wilson the ensign. At that, Carscallan and the men he had been leading when Justus found him in the Green Mountains, complained to Peters. They had promised to join Colonel Pfister before they left their homes, and they wanted to honour that commitment.

  Peters maintained that since they had accepted Sherwood's help they had a prior obligation to the Queen's Loyal Rangers. They disapproved of Justus' former association with the Green Mountain Boys, and wanted nothing to do with him after the storm his kind had stirred up in northern New York. At length, Peters reached a compromise. In a memorial Ensign John Wilson wrote later, he explained, ‘That your Petitioners agreed to be under the command of Colonel Peters on condition of leaving him if they thought proper’.11

  The matter was settled for the moment, and Justus had no time to worry about what might lie ahead, for he was busy helping drill the men in firing their weapons as rapidly as possible, imitating the training of the regulars. Justus had reservations about those tightly packed lines of regulars, a formation unsuited to forest warfare, but speed in loading the muskets was essential.

  He was disconcerted by certain restrictions which Carleton and Burgoyne were placing on his regiment. All units raised in the British colonies were to be known as Provincial Corps of the British Army. These were inferior to regiments of the British regular establishment, and officers of provincials would be ranked one grade lower when serving with regulars. Furthermore, a provincial was inferior to a regular of the same rank. He would have to take orders from lieutenants of regulars, and officers of provincial corps could not have permanent rank and half-pay when their regiments were reduced.12

  Nevertheless, at Fort St. Johns confidence was infectious. A sea of tents spread out all around the village that encircled the fort, and the fort itself was stockaded on three sides, open on the fourth where it faced the Richelieu River. There armed vessels of the Provincial Marine guarded the site. Officers of all nationalities were resplendent in gold and silver lace.

  Justus thought the Brunswick Dragoons looked ridiculous in their thigh high leather boots and enormous plumed hats. That they were unmounted did not disturb him. The army would move by water, and only on the sixteen kilometre portage between Lake George and the Hudson would the men be on foot. This large, magnificently equipped army should have no difficulty capturing Albany. Burgoyne could not possibly fail.

  Gentleman Johnny, as the regulars dubbed Burgoyne, was an elegantly attired man whom Justus remembered seeing at Crown Point the autumn before. The new commander-in-chief was popular with the regulars, who cheered lustily when he addressed them, with good reason. Gentleman Johnny did not allow corporal punishment for the men in his ranks.13 Back in Quebec City, Carleton had resigned, affronted by his demotion, but he was remaining at his post until the home government had sent his successor.

  Soon after Justus' captaincy was approved he went to be measured by the tailors at the fort. In a few days his uniform was ready, and his red coat had green facings, the colour Burgoyne had selected for all his provincial troops.14 His small clothes — breeches and waistcoat — were of white linen, although he noticed that some of the enlisted men were issued with overalls of the same material. He also received short spatterdashes of white canvas. His hat was a black bicorne edged with silver lace. A single silver epaulette on his right shoulder held his sword belt in place, and the red silk sash knotted round his waist bespoke a commissioned officer. The sword by his side had a silver hilt to match the lace, epaulette, the buttons on the coat and small clothes, and a silver gorget stamped with the royal coat of arms lay shimmering on his chest, flanked by pink rosettes. Because he had a rifle, he received the bulky black leather cartridge case carried by the rank and file.

  Uniforms of provincial troops, 1775-1784

  Justus thought this attire absurd for the campaign ahead. A red coat was practical for open fields where, after a musket volley, smoke obscured everything. The red made it easier for officers to rally their men back into formation as the smoke cleared. What lay ahead was a guerrilla war in the forest, waged against riflemen who would not expose themselves. He resolved to tuck the shiny gorget in the pocket of his coat tail before going into battle. No rebel marksman was going to aim at such a tempting target!

  On June 17 the army embarked for the journey onto Lake Champlain. The impressive flotilla carried some 9,000 persons, including 300 women to do the housekeeping, and a few children. The troops rode in bateaux with gunboats along the flanks, war canoes of painted Indians beyond them. The frigate Royal George led the way, carrying Burgoyne, his staff officers — and apparently his mistress. Sitting in the bateau, Justus listened to the strains of martial music that floated over the boats, brass bands of the Germans, whistling fifes and drums of the English, bagpipes of the Scots Highlanders. By the 30th, the two kilometres-long flotilla had reached Crown Point.

  Seven kilometres farther, Burgoyne began landing his troops, British regulars, Pfister's and Adams' provincials on the west side of Lake Champlain, Germans under the Baron von Riedesel on the east, with Peters' and Jessup's corps as their vanguard.15 Justus knew his side would have more difficulty making their way on land. Apart from the dragoons' heavy boots, the east shore of the lake was swampier.

  At last he would soon see action, and he had scant cause to worry about Sarah's safety. New Haven lay to the north of the British army. Then a new recruit for his company arrived from New Haven and informed him that the Bothum family had packed and left Shaftsbury to stay with Sarah. Except for Elijah Jr., his wife's relatives were at his farm. His mind at rest, Justus could get on with the job of soldiering, free of other worries.

  Chapter 3

  Rattlesnake Hill

  In organizing his fledgling battalion, Colonel Peters decided that Sherwood would be in command of the third company. The first was Peters' own, and he was reserving the second for a major when he found the right man. The Queen's Loyal Rangers marched in single file, the only practical method Peters could devise for travelling over such difficult terrain. Leading his company, Justus could hardly contain his enthusiasm for the campaign ahead. He was unaware that since leaving Canada his regiment had come under a different administration. To conduct the military operations against the Thirteen Colonies, the British government had established military departments. The Province of Canada was the Northern Department, Nova Scotia was the Eastern Dep
artment, New York City the Central Department, and Florida, the other place where the British were in control, the Southern Department.

  Burgoyne had set out with instructions that once he reached Albany he was to place himself under Sir William Howe, in command of the Central Department. All the provincial troops serving with him, even units authorized by Carleton, were no longer the concern of the Northern Department. Sherwood's future now lay directly in Burgoyne's hands, indirectly in those of Governor William Tryon, who had once outlawed him, and Sir William Howe, whom he had never seen. None of the provincials were aware of their changed situation as they marched towards Fort Ticonderoga and Mount Independence those sweltering days of early July.

  Burgoyne sent some of his provincials to the rear to bring up supplies and maintain a link with their base at Fort St. Johns. Because the Queen's Loyal Rangers promised to be the largest corps, Burgoyne decided they would remain in the vanguard of his army throughout the campaign. Justus stated that he was, ‘Employed on various Scouts and services under Genl Burgoyne and was in every Action a [nd] Skirmish thro’ that Campaign’. John Peters confirmed the position of his corps in a letter he wrote after the war, ‘as my situation was generally in the advance party, my men were killed off not quite so fast as I enlisted them’.