‘And General Heath,’ Washington went on.
A bluff American, thank God, Harry thought, and shook hands.
‘Now to business,’ Washington said, and gestured Harry to the large table set against the wall of the command hut. ‘The war drags on, does it not, McGann.’
‘It does indeed, sir.’
‘Therefore we must seek to end it, and circumstances are conspiring to make that possible, with your assistance.’
Harry could only wait. He had no idea how he could play an important part in the ending of this war.
‘Have you heard the rumour that a very large French fleet, carrying both soldiers and munitions, and commanded by no less an admiral than the Count de Grasse, has left St Domingue for our shores?’
‘I have heard a rumour, sir,’ Harry said, cautiously. ‘But have largely discounted it, in view of the season.’
‘Well, it is true. I agree that he is late, but having got as far as Cap Francois, he no doubt felt he would be safer further north than waiting right in the middle of the hurricane belt. Besides, he knows we need his men and munitions, for he is carrying a small army with him. He is at sea, but under instructions to avoid a battle with the British, if possible. I therefore suppose he will seek a somewhat circuitous route, such as passing outside the Bahamas. His destination is Sandy Hook, his objestive, to reinforce my army. Captain McGann, I wish that fleet intercepted, and redirected.’
‘Sir?’
Washington glanced at the faces of the two other generals. ‘Gentlemen,’ he said. ‘I propose to take Captain McGann into our confidence.’
Rochambeau shrugged. ‘The decision must be yours.’
‘It is necessary,’ Washington said. ‘Because Captain McGann will have to convince the Count de Grasse of what we intend. McGann, I can give you no written orders, because if you were to be taken by the British it could mean a disaster for our cause. I would therefore ask you to listen very carefully to what I am going to say, understand and absorb our plan, and swear to me thay you will repeat it to no one but Count de Grasse himself.’
‘Willingly, sir.’
‘Well, then …’ Washington gestured to the map. ‘De Grasse comes north because he is reacting to the request of Congress that my forces should be reinforced. That request reached Paris, needless to say, last Christmas. Had it been possible to snap our fingers and have the Count and his fleet and his army here in a week, we might have accomplished something. However, it is now eight months later. There is New York …’ he pointed. ‘Held by the British, behind the strongest works, with a large and well equipped army. Indeed I have just received information that a fresh contingent of Hessians has recently arrived to reinforce General Clinton. The soldiers carried by de Grasse will therefore hardly change the relative strengths of our two forces, here. Because here are we … he indicated the American lines, ‘outside of those fortifications, battering our heads against a succession of stone walls. Now, it is possible that Count de Grasse could blockade the port, but there is no secure harbour for his ships out there, and Clinton is stocked to withstand a very long siege. I can see nothing better as things now stand than a long, hard war of attrition.’
He paused to take a sip of water from a glass held by his servant, then went on. ‘However, if we look at the south, we can see a different picture. There Lord Cornwallis has been conducting a war of movement, with enormous success, marching and counting-marching, winning battle after battle, while the Marquis de Lafayette and General Greene have been able to accomplish very little more than nibble at him, because he far out numbers them, and because he has the initiative. Whenever he needs replenishment, he merely withdraws to the coast and is supplied by the Royal Navy. I have recently received information from the Marquis that one of these withdrawals is now being carried out; Lord Cornwallis and his seven thousand men are retreating down the James Peninsula, to Yorktown, on the Chesapeake. Now, Captain, obviously the Marquis and General Greene, disposing as they do of no more than three thousand men, can do nothing about this. Cornwallis will defend Yorktown, which is naturally strong in any event, until the Royal Navy replenishes his powder wagons and probably his ration strength as well, and then will resume his campaign. However, it seems to us, in view of all the circumstances, that the British may here be acting through over confidence. They have the men, and they have the ships. It is simply a matter of bringing the two together, as they choose, to start another round of the war. Well, McGann, we also have the men. We have ten thousand men in our lines before New York, right here. What we have always lacked have been the ships. But if the Count de Rochambeau and myself can transfer the bulk of this army to the James Peninsula, before the British are aware of it, we could face Lord Cornwallis with odds of two to one.’
Harry frowned. ‘You mean to abandon New York? And New Jersey? And Pennsylvania?’
‘I propose to leave a masking force of not more than two thousand men, hopefully to fool General Clinton that we are still in our cantonments. Oh, I am well aware, McGann, that if Congress were to discover my plan they would dismiss me immediately, and indeed, that if General Clinton were to discover it, and send his men forth to overrun Pennsylvania, I would probably be accused of treason and shot. But wars cannot be won by sitting in our cantonments and staring at an enemy who is doing the same. Count de Rochambeau is agreed with me that this is our only opportunity of gaining a truly decisive victory. If we knock out Cornwallis, and leave only New York in British hands, well … I do not really see how they can continue.’
Harry nodded, even as his mind tried to understand something of the enormous moral courage it must take to make decisions of that magnitude, on which an entire nation’s future might rest.
‘So we come back to the question of ships,’ Washington went on. ‘Our plan will clearly come to naught, if when we appear before Yorktown in all our strength, Lord Cornwallis has merely to turn to the Royal Navy for assistance, or, if he regards the odds against him as too great, he merely embarks his army in those great ships, and takes it to land wherever he chooses to recommence the struggle. When my army appears before Yorktown, McGann, the mouth of the Chesapeake must be held by a French fleet, and a French fleet prepared to hold it, against all odds.’
‘But … do not the British already hold it?’
Washington shook his head. ‘Only on paper. Admiral Graves is now in command of the North American station, and he is at present in New York Harbour, with his six line of battle ships and a good number of transports, actually victualling to pour supplies into Yorktown. He will not be ready to sail for another fortnight.’
‘Can he not be intercepted, sir?’ Harry asked. ‘Admiral Barras has eight ships at Rhode Island, and if the Count de Grasse is approaching with even the same number …’ his voice died away as he looked at Washington’s expression; the general knew, as well as he did himself, how reluctant the French were to fight a general action at sea.
‘Interceptions at sea are always risky things, Captain,’ Washington said. ‘And de Grasse is still several weeks away. And then there is Hood. We do not know where he is, we only know that he commands eleven ships, and that he is on his way north. He is supposed to be trailing de Grasse, but no one knows for sure. However, we have one positive asset; every English commander, naval or army, assumes de Grasse is coming here, and that here is where the decisive confrontation will take place. We must build on that.’
‘May I ask, sir, where Admiral Rodney is, in relation to everyone else?’
Washington smiled. ‘Admiral Rodney. What would I give to have the reputation that man possesses. I reckon his very name is worth a victory. Certain I am that were he known to be at sea the Count de Grasse would probably never have sailed at all. But, Captain McGann, my despatches inform me that Admiral Rodney is on his way home to England, for medical treatment. He has the gout, poor fellow. As I said at the beginning of this meeting, we will never have a better opportunity. The most important fact is that, knowing as they do t
he present positions of the French squadrons, Count de Barras in Rhode Island with eight ships, and Count de Grasse heading this way with twenty-four ships and escorting a large number of transports, the British are hoping to concentrate their two fleets to force a battle … off Sandy hook. But if we can encourage the Count de Grasse to change his plan, and sail instead for Cape Henry …’
‘Supposing I manage to find him, sir. Would it not be more certain to request the Count de Barras to take his squadron south?’
‘Eight ships,’ Washington said. ‘And the British have their spies in Rhode Island just as we do in New York. They would discover his departure and give chase.’
‘He should still arrive there first, General,’ Harry pointed out.
‘With eight ships,’ Washington said again. ‘Against a British combination of how many? Besides …’ he glanced at Rochambeau.
Who cleared his throat. ‘As this conversation is entirely in confidence, it can do no harm to say what is in our minds. Whoever seizes the Chesapeake, Captain McGann, must be determined to hold it to the last man and the last ship — otherwise our scheme is a waste of time. It goes hard with me to have to speak ill of a fellow Frenchman and a fellow officer … but I am bound to say we have more confidence in the strength of mind of Count de Grasse than of Count de Barras.’
Now he looked at Washington, who nodded. ‘There you have it, McGann,’ Washington said. ‘You are being detached from the Count de Barras’ fleet for a secret mission. Once you have gone, orders will be issued to the Count to put to sea, and, avoiding any risk of combat with the British, to rendezvous with the Count de Grasse off Cape Henry as soon as is possible. But de Grasse is the man. Understood?’
‘Yes, sir,’ Harry said.
‘Well, then, assuming it takes you a week to regain your ship and put to sea. Can you estimate the amount of time you will require to locate Admiral de Grasse’s fleet? Remembering that so far as we can calculate he has already been at sea three weeks.’
Harry sighed. These men, even so sharp a brain as Washington, who had just spoken of the difficulties of making an interception at sea, understood almost nothing of the problem. Quite apart of the risk of a storm which might already have scattered the French fleet over a thousand square miles of ocean, they thought that the fleet must follow certain well defined routes, like an army in search of firm ground and fodder for its horses. Well, to a certain extent they were right, in that the winds most of the time blew from certain known directions in certain latitudes, and that the ocean currents invariably pursued the same paths, but the roadways were far broader and far less determined than they imagined. But to start to catalogue the difficulties of his assignment would merely be to introduce another element of risk into what was an already too risky a situation. ‘God willing, General Washington,’ he said, ‘I will have Count de Grasse and his fleet anchored off the Chesapeake within four weeks from today.’ He smiled at them, grimly. ‘If I leave immediately.’
*
‘Not a God damn thing in sight,’ Lieutenant Truxton reported, closing the cabin door. ‘What if they’ve taken the Florida Passage? Then we’ve missed them for sure.’
‘That would hardly make sense,’ Harry said, studying the chart, as he had done little else for the past week. ‘Cap Francois to Sandy Hook is virtually a straight line, and well clear of land. To go inside the Bahamas for the Florida Passage would involve an immense dogleg. No, sir, if de Grasse did indeed leave Cap Francois five weeks ago, as General Washington’s information indicated — and it seems the captain of the sloop which brought that information actually saw the French fleet weighing anchor as he left the port — then they have to be somewhere very close to us, if they are indeed making for Sandy Hook.’
‘Unless they have turned back, to give battle,’ Truxton said. ‘Did not the General say that de Grasse commands twenty-four ships of the line to Hood’s eleven? Those are odds to tempt even a Frenchman.’
‘Somehow I doubt it,’ Harry said. ‘Recent history has no record of a French admiral deliberately seeking battle with a British fleet, however inferior.’
‘But if he has done so,’ Truxton persisted. ‘Then is our task done.’
‘We will have utterly failed, you mean,’ Harry snapped. ‘It is the occupation of the mouth of the Chesapeake which matters. And by a single ship, if it can keep out two others. Were Admiral de Grasse to gain the greatest naval victory in history, and totally annihilate Hood’s squadron, while at the same time Admiral Graves dropped his anchors off Cape Henry, then is General Washington’s entire plan ruined. And our cause with it.’
‘Um,’ Truxton commented. ‘Well, sir, give me your orders.’
Henry looked through the stern windows at the sparkling sea. The wind was out of the east, and light; the Wasp ghosted along, close hauled, with all canvas set, yet with hardly more than a ripple of wake. A calm sea, and an empty one. Yet the very lightness of the breeze meant that de Grasse would be making slow progress. And he had no alternative. ‘We will continue to stand to the south east, Mr Truxton,’ he said.
‘Aye-aye, sir,’ the Lieutenant acknowledged, and left the cabin. He was an impatient man, and was sure they were making a mistake. But he was a good officer, and would always obey his orders without question.
Well, Harry thought, am I not also an impatient man? Do I not crave an end to this war more than almost any other man in America? And to fail Washington was to postpone the end yet more indefinitely. Great Britain was now fighting almost the entire world, Holland, Spain, France, as well as the United States, as well as having to oppose the hostile neutrality of Denmark and Sweden and Russia … but for that very reason the Hon would go on fighting, until his defeat was proven, or until, as so often in the past, he retrieved his position with a single dazzling victory. A victory Washington was seeking to pre-empt, a victory which had been given to him to make possible, and now … ‘Sail ho,’ came the cry from the masthead. Harry opened his telescope, joined Truxton at the rail. ‘Where away?’
‘Bearing due south, Captain. One … four … that is a fleet, Captain.’
Harry levelled his glass, counted the ships. It was indeed a fleet. His heart leapt.
‘Shall I beat to quarters, sir?’ Truxton asked. Harry lowered his glass.
‘If it should be Hood and the English …’
‘Then we are dead men,’ Harry said. ‘But …’ he levelled the glass again. ‘The General said that Hood commanded eleven ships of the line.’
‘He will have a few frigates,’ Truxton said.
‘One or two,’ Harry agreed. ‘I count twenty-three ships out there, Mr Truxton. And there are more appearing every moment. We have found de Grasse.’
*
Francois-Joseph Paul, Count de Grasse, Marquis de Tilly, was a heavy set man of medium height, with a full face and a beaked nose. Like everyone else he had heard of John Paul Jones’ first officer, but he gazed up at the huge American with a mixture of respect and dismay. ‘You face me with a grave problem, sir,’ he said. ‘I have my orders. To deliver these transports to Sandy Hook, and General Washington.’
‘But General Washington is now on his way to Yorktown, your excellency,’ Harry explained, with a touch of desperation.
‘So you tell me. Oh, I do not doubt you, Captain. But it is a long march from New York to Yorktown. Who can say what might happen? Or may already have happened? This is a most intricate plan you have put to me. Supposing Clinton was not fooled, but followed, and has brought your people to battle? Defeated them, perhaps?’
‘That may indeed have happened, your excellency,’ Harry said. ‘But if it has, what good will you accomplish by delivering your convoy to Sandy Hook? There will be no one there to receive you.’
‘Hm,’ de Grasse said. ‘Hm,’ He took a turn up and down the poop, pinching his lip, while his officers gathered in a group some distance away and watched the pair of them. ‘Well, then, this altering of our course for the Chesapeake you propose. This is no si
mple matter. Oh, not in getting there, Captain. But your general wishes us actually inside the bay. These are tricky waters, sir. Were I to pile my ships on that sandbank they call the Middle Ground …’
‘I will be your pilot, your excellency. That is why I am here.’
‘You, Captain? You know those waters?’
‘I do, your excellency. I sailed out of Norfolk, Virginia, in command of my own ship, for some years before this war began. I know those waters better than any other stretch in the world.’
De Grasse stared over the taffrail at the bubbling wake of his ship. And then at all the other ships, canvas billowing, who followed in stately fashion for as far as the eye could see. It was quite the largest fleet Harry had ever seen. ‘And then, prepare to fight an action to hold the place,’ he muttered. ‘Against Hood.’
‘You outnumber him, your excellency. Twenty-four to eleven. Why, sir, you have a superiority even should Admiral Hood be joined by Admiral Graves. And do not forget that the Count de Barras is on his way to join you, with another eight ships.’
‘Barras,’ de Grasse said contemptuously. And then suddenly smiled. ‘Graves! Now there would be fortune.’ He glanced at Harry. ‘Oh, indeed. Then there would be more English ships, to be sure, but … Graves is the senior officer, and would have overall command. Battles, Captain McGann, are more often won by the spirit, the determination, of the commanding officer, than by any strategy or tactics he may have chosen to follow, especially at sea. Your own experiences will have taught you this. Therefore it pays to study your possible enemies, Captain. Know the men to whom you will be opposed. Hood, now, he is a brilliant, unorthodox officer. He is Rodney’s shadow, and his pupil. But Graves … he is a sober man of the old school. A man who has been brought up to believe that a fleet preserved is of more importance than a fleet hazarded, even if the possible rewards are great.’ He nodded to himself, as if he had reassured himself that the plan might after all be feasible. ‘Very well, Captain McGann. Rejoin your ship, and lead us into Chesapeake Bay.’
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