Red Man
Page 15
Micah noted the formality of the Master Gunsmith’s speech, used for the most significant of business. His information was important, must not be ignored if he was to be a Parliamentarian henceforth.
“Is that so, Master Gunsmith? I shall pay the gentleman a visit, be sure of that. If I pick up a contribution to Parliament there, be sure that I shall use it to buy from thee, sir, at an honest price.”
“I ask no more, Captain. I shall pass the word to my brethren in the trade, telling them that they will be protected by Parliament if they will sell to them. There has been some fear that the King would take his revenge on the ironmasters if they sold to his enemies…”
“I will do all I can from here, Master, and I shall see that the word is sent to the Sergeant Major General in London, to Mr Philip Skippon himself, that the fears of the ironmasters should be assuaged. He is the best of men and will do all he can for the loyal and true of ordinary folks in the land. I have worked for him and will tell you that he is as honest as the day is long and he will do his best for you.”
“Do that and I shall be pleased, Captain. So will the others of the trade – and they will work for you and yours.”
“My thanks, Master. We must go, I think.”
“Daniel, I have been told this day of a family called Peveril, just five miles west of Petersfield and threatening a gunsmith in the market to provide pistols for free for the King’s men. I do think I should pay the Peverils a visit and discourage them from such activities, do not you?”
“With the whole of your company, and half of mine, Red Man. Half to stay here in garrison… No, best leave some of your muskets as well as my pikes. Useful in the field but not so valuable on a wall, the pike. A score of yours and the same of mine to remain under my command. I shall not be riding out for a month and more by the feel of this leg. Jack can go with you – he needs more action yet.”
They rode out in the morning, the competent horsemen under Sergeant Fletcher going first to discover the road and take a look at the countryside and return with a plan of action for the five score of foot.
Micah instructed the three lieutenants to watch all most carefully.
“I shall want you to be taking out your own platoons on patrol within a few days, gentlemen. So, eyes open and watch how we do the job. Always, scouts out to the front and a corporal to the rear with his eyes on the track behind you. You must not be taken by surprise. There are no large forces of Royalists in the field hereabouts, but there might be small bands who could consider an ambush. We are marching to a specific location this day – we do not want them to be forewarned and to array themselves against us.”
The young men nodded earnestly, anxious to be seen to learn their trade.
“Beg pardon, sir, but what are we to do when we reach the Peverils?”
“At one extreme, burn them out, Halleck. Far more likely is that we will search them and confiscate any weapons they may have assembled. If they have too many riding horses for the number of men in the family, then we shall take the excess to our own use. If they fight, then upon their own heads be it. Should any of the men shout of their allegiance to the King, then they can be arrested and sent down to Portsmouth, where there is a garrison and senior officers who can try them. A fine or spell of exile may save them being a bother in future years. In truth, what we do will depend on them.”
They listened gravely, not much liking what they heard.
“It seems hard upon a family, sir, that they may suffer because of the foolishness of the one man.”
“It is. We are at war – and actions that might have attracted argument in the past call for bullets now. The King has forced us into arms against him – his supporters must not cry shame when they are treated cruelly by those they have made enemies.”
It was a hard doctrine and difficult to accept for young men who were more in search of adventure than fighting for any great cause.
Sergeant Fletcher trotted in with his party when they were taking their break at the end of the second hour of marching.
“About a mile distant, sir, down in the river valley. Wooded, sir, with oak trees and copses of hazels and ash trees for firing. Smallish fields, ploughed for wheat by the looks of them. Thick blackthorn hedgerows. Beef and milk cattle on the hillsides – grass too good just for sheep. Rich farming land, sir. The house is set up a bit back from the river, on a sort of terrace or bench, sir. Small gardens for a big house – no gentleman’s park, just enough to feed a big family and have some roses and a lawn to the front. The place itself is large – the family’s got money. Barns and stables to the back, as might be expected. No walls nor a trench dug for defence. Road comes up along the valley from the south as well as this lane coming in from the east. River’s on the other side from us, with a bridge. Simplest be to send us out round to the west across the fields to get to the bridge and hold it. You come along at fast pace, sir, and send a detachment north and south to hold the road and the bulk of the men with you and straight in. Didn’t see no great sign of a lot of men there, sir.”
“Let it be so, Sergeant. Go off with the horse now. Mr Capel, take five muskets and ten pikes to cut the road at a couple of furlongs north of the house. Mr Eglinton, the same to the south. Go now.”
Micah watched the men set off, well together and marching across the fields rather than straggling in a mob.
“Mr Halleck, bring the remainder behind me. Sergeant Driver, bring up the rear.”
The house came in sight through the trees, a furlong or so distant.
“Halt. Muskets, light your match.”
A delay of nearly five minutes of fumbling with flint and steel and finally each match was alight.
“Load.”
Another minute and the men were ready.
The pikemen looked on with some disdain, their own weapons always instantly available.
“March.”
They stretched out and found the house bubbling with activity, the residents having spotted the horsemen in the open at the bridge. Doors were slamming and shutters being pulled across the windows. Three men, two very young and one older, their father probably, were standing outside the big front door, watching, empty handed.
“Who are you, marching up to my house? This is my land and is the home of loyal men. Take your rebels away, you villain!”
Micah shrugged. If that was the game the old man wished to play, so be it.
“Is your name Peveril?”
“What if it be?”
“You were reported as trying to obtain pistols for the man of blood, Charles Stuart, in Petersfield market this week. You refused to pay for those weapons, thus making yourself a would-be thief. If you are that man, then you must surrender yourself for trial as a traitor.”
“I am no traitor! I am a loyal servant of my King.”
“Your King is an enemy of the English people. He is a villain who has raised armies against English folk and is thus a traitor to them. I arrest thee, Peveril, in Parliament’s name. Who are the young men at your side?”
Four score of pikes and matchlocks argued for discretion on the elder Peveril’s part.
“They are my sons. Will you arrest them?”
“Why? Are they traitors too?”
Peveril scowled – if he said they were, then his boys faced prison and risk of death from gaol fever irrespective of what a trial might bring. If he denied them as supporters of the King, he was to set them in jeopardy when His Majesty prevailed, as he eventually must.
“They are but young, not yet of an age.”
“Old enough to carry a pistol and sword, Peveril. Make your mind up! Are they traitors or not?”
“They are loyal.”
Micah laughed.
“Are they now? To who, I wonder?”
“To their father and family.”
The young men were certainly of less than twenty-one years, were not adult in the eyes of the law. They must obey their father’s command. Micah nodded his satisfaction.
“You will ransack my house and barns, will you not?”
“If there is a need, yes. I would prefer not to cause damage to any man’s property while he has not fought me.”
Peveril surrendered – he had too much to lose.
“I have six muskets, bought in these last weeks. A dozen of horse pistols besides and powder and ball for both. I have no horses beyond my family’s riding stock. I have put together two hundred pounds in silver, to pay for food and boots and wages for a platoon for a year.”
“Have you called men to come to muster?”
“Not yet.”
“Send your sons to collect your weapons and money. Bring them here.”
The boys made a show of reluctance before they obeyed their father.
“Will you pledge yourself to good conduct, Peveril? In writing. For yourself and your sons until they come of an age?”
“To refuse to go to war for my King?”
“Just that. To stay at home, at peace with all men. To plough your fields and sell your harvest as always and give no money, no arms, no men, no words of support to the Man of Blood, Charles Stuart?”
“What if I do as you ask?”
“Then you lose the munitions of war you have collected together, including the silver which will pay my men’s wages. You retain your liberty and your lands.”
“And if I damn thee for a traitor, I lose all?”
“I will not burn you out. But I shall take into custody and put you to trial – I can do no less.”
“You could do far more. Why do you not?”
“I claim to be a Godly man. How can I do that and persecute the innocent? Your family has done me no wrong, nor to those I support.”
“Come inside, to my work room. Bring a guard, for my protection and thine. I would have you come to no harm in my house. I will write thy paper, sir. Wrong you are, but you are honest.”
Sergeant Fletcher muttered that it would have been different in the Germanies.
Chapter Nine
Two hundred pounds in shillings and half-crowns weighed heavily in its leather bags. It was a difficult sum to handle – not merely for its bulk but because of the temptation it represented.
A man with two hundred pounds in small coins would be able to buy a cottage and fifty acres and live for two years while he stocked his little farm and took his first income from it. He would as well be able to furnish his little house and keep the plump wife who would soon be at his side.
Gold coins attracted attention, but silver was ordinary enough provided the fortunate thief did not make too great a display of his good luck.
“I need the services of one of your sons and a pack horse besides, Peveril. He will ride with me to Palethorpe’s and return with your animals. Otherwise, I have no convenient way of returning your horse to you.”
“And that would be theft, in your eyes, my fine captain! You have a tender conscience.”
“It is because I have that I am in arms against the King. He has no such burden upon him, merely an arrogant belief in his own rights. He is the King of the English people, not the owner of England. A pity that he must be infected by these Papist ideas that the King rules as the Hand of God. It is not so. Never has been. Will not be while Englishmen have strong right arms.”
“I have served my King, and will do so ever – but, it is possible that he is ill-advised in some ways. He should not be having truck with the Papists – that is for sure – but no man has the right to stand in arms against his King. Here, take your paper and be gone, sir! I must not be arguing with you, I fear. My younger son will ride with you.”
The column turned away from the house, carrying its spoils and many of the men regretting they could not have sacked the house – even a single shot fired at them would have given them the right to despoil the Peverils of all they possessed.
“What is your name, Captain?”
“Slater, sir. I am known as Red Man by many in Colonel Jevons’ Regiment and elsewhere.”
“Your name will be known, I do not doubt.”
Micah rode back to Palethorpe’s unsure that he had been right to treat Peveril so leniently. The man was a King’s supporter through and through; he would probably keep to his written pledge, but his sons might well ride off to war, well equipped and possibly leading his household.
The younger son said nothing as he led the pack horse away, remained silent until they had unloaded the money bags.
“I must return the horse to my father, sir. Thank you for your forbearance. He is a King’s man for all that has ever been said to him. So is Charles, my brother.”
“And what of you, Mr Peveril?”
“I have read much and talked with some few of the local young men in like case to myself – younger sons with no inheritance and a career to discover. Like them, I shall take to arms, as the most honourable course. I know nothing of merchanting and such and have no love for the sea; I must take to soldiering and I cannot fight for the King’s cause. Was I to present myself with pistol and sword, sir, would you take me as an officer?”
“You would need a horse, Mr Peveril. Otherwise, it is to be a footman, carrying a matchlock.”
“I shall have a horse, sir. What of breast-and-back?”
“I can supply none – we do not have them to hand. You will take them in the field, I suspect.”
“So be it, Captain Red Man.”
Father and son on opposite sides of the conflict – probably a commonplace. At least, in this case, the father would remain at home, the two would not actually raise blades against each other. The chance of the brothers meeting on the battlefield was small, but not impossible.
“Gives one to wonder, Daniel. Just how many families may be in like case, do you think?”
“Too many, Red Man. Mine may be one – I am third son of a viscount and have had no word from father or brothers these eight years. No great conflict, we have merely drifted apart while I was in the Germanies and they remained in their agricultural mud in the South Country – not so far from here, over on the border of Hampshire and Wiltshire, north of the New Forest towards Salisbury. The odds are that they will have stood for the King – being rural sorts who know no better. Hopefully, they will have held clear. The family has not been seen at court these fifty years, since a grandfather fell out with the Queen over a privateering voyage to the Main and the distribution of the spoils taken from the Spaniards. I believe the old fellow sent her a third of his takings and she was of the opinion that a half was more right. It was a matter of some thousands, enough to lead to bad temper on both sides.”
Micah had heard of the voyages made to the Main, and of the sometimes massive profits brought back to England.
“I had not known that the Queen was a principal in that piracy, Daniel. I thought when Jevons mentioned such that it was no more than a loyal expression of goodness. Was she actually a party to the whole business?”
“Oh, very much so, Red Man! The corsairs took to the seas in the knowledge that they would not be called pirate in England – provided they paid up.”
It seemed very English somehow – turning a blind eye to the law and cobbling together something that worked. The Spanish had been the enemy and too powerful to go to war with, so the Queen had let a swarm of pirates loose upon them, all done without her official knowledge.
“A pity this King could not have followed her example, Daniel. He has insisted on the letter of the law, on his absolute rights; he would have been far better advised to have worked out a compromise of sorts.”
“His successor will do so if the present man has the grace to be killed on the field of battle, Red Man. There is still a likelihood that all will come out for the best.”
They hoped it might be so.
“Will you make contact with your family,
Daniel?”
“Not now, Red Man. If we happen to pass close to, then I might ask of the villagers, discover what is happening and whether my brothers prosper. If they are of the King’s party, then I shall keep well clear. If they have stood aside or supported Parliament, that will be a different matter. I should like to see my parents again, but not if it will cause them a deal of bother. I shall see what is possible if we go Odstock way, but I do not wish to embarrass them.”
Micah could agree that was wise.
“What do you do next, Red Man?”
“Speak with young Peveril – if he actually comes to us. He will know the location of the King’s supporters in the locality. Then it will be to pay these gentlefolk a visit and persuade them to follow Peveril’s wise example.”
“And collect more cash, I doubt not. Forty days’ pay, Peveril supplied us. We could use a few more generous donations to the pay chest.”
Sixpence per man per day added up to a large sum in only a few weeks. Money was short and generous donations were much to be applauded. They laughed and agreed that they must seek more King’s men among the local gentry.
Young Mr Peveril rode in on a good horse, the pick of his father’s stables. He did not say whether his esteemed parent had approved or been aware of his intentions.
“Which families in the locality are certainly loyal to parliament, Mr Peveril?”
“I am Peter by name, sir.”
“And I Red Man. Mr Carew is Daniel. It is as well to be formal in front of the men – they prefer it so.”
“Thank you, Red Man. I can name and place on the map eight families of the County who are Parliamentarians, and four more who will stand aside from bloodshed through belief that man shall not kill his brothers. Apart from them, there are two who have already sent sons to Oxford, to the King’s encampment, and three more who may well do so. Shall I write them in now?”
“Do so, Peter. We shall pay them all a visit, under arms, over the next few days. We shall request a subvention to Parliament, a willing aid to our cause.”
The young man dithered for a few moments, coming to terms with the fact that by naming the five families who supported the King, all of whom he knew well, he was condemning them to a visitation by the troops from Palethorpe’s, that he might be responsible for the sack and burning of their homes. He bent down to what he saw as his duty.