Pages

Praetorium Honoris

Saturday, September 28, 2024

Let's Go for a Walk ...

Source
Edward Kirk, Silus Montgomery, and Enoch Kersey were sitting comfortably by the fireplace in Kirk's place of business. Kirk was a cobbler by trade and a budding revolutionary. He didn't like that the Crown had dispatched more troops to Boston. He and Montgomery had been out to the Common where they'd watched the regulars at their drill.

"They look rusty, Edward." Montgomery offered.

"Time at sea will make any landsman wobbly and weak after a week or two on the bounding main." Kirk said. He would know. As a young man he'd been with the troops that captured Louisbourg from the French in '58.

Kersey scoffed, "They'll be fit for action soon enough, Silus." Turning to Kirk, he asked, "Is there to be a muster this weekend?"

"Yes, not for all the men, just the officers. We need contingencies for this new situation. I fear that General Gage means to make use of these new regiments once they're fit for service."


"So tell me, Major, how many companies of the 29th are present here in Boston." Colonel Sir William Haversham looked up at Major Winston Avery, in temporary command of the 29th.

"Four companies, Sir. Two more are awaiting shipping from Halifax, another is posted in Maryland, two more are presently in New York. I'm not sure if General Gage plans to send them here or not. Most of my companies are understrength, averaging no more than fifty men each." Avery answered.

"Not much to overawe the colonials are they?" The Colonel took a pinch of snuff, sneezed, then looked again at Avery. He hadn't offered the Major any snuff.

"Give me a few more days, Sir, then they'll be more than fit for these rabble militiamen."

Haversham stood up and paced to the window. He glanced outside, he swore he saw a few snowflakes in the air. He shivered, then bellowed, "Maxwell! Get in here and stoke this bloody fire, d'ye wish your colonel to die of this bitter air?"

Oswald Maxwell, the Colonel's batman hustled in and began to work the fireplace. Soon he had it going nicely.

Avery did not relish heading back out to the Common, where his men were still under canvas. Eventually Haversham turned from the window, nodded at the Major and said, dismissively, "That will be all, Avery. Get back to your regiment."

Avery made a slight bow, "Sir Winston." Then he turned and headed back into the cold.


"Just got word from Elijah Pickart down Quincy way, he's mustered his company and plans on drilling them the entire weekend, save for Sunday services, of course." Enoch Kersey made this announcement as he discarded his gloves and warmed his hands by Mrs. Kirk's kitchen fireplace.

"Hhmm, I suppose we should do the same. I don't think this snow will continue, too early in the year for a blow, I think." Edward Kirk could smell his wife's stew, it was nearly ready.

"Care to stay for dinner, Enoch?" Mrs. Kirk offered as she started setting out plates and cutlery.

"Why thank you, Patience, if your honorable spouse does not mind?" Kersey said, smiling at Mr. Kirk.

"Mind, of course I mind, you eat more than two men together!"

Though Kersey was as thin as a rail, the man could eat prodigious amounts of food. As he never seemed to sit still for a moment, he burned through most of what he ate rather quickly. He sniffed and said, "Well then, I'll go where I'm wanted then."

"Nonsense, sit down, I'll fix you a plate." Mrs. Kirk said as she swatted at her husband with a ladle.

"Not even King in my own castle, damned shame that is!" Kirk exclaimed.

"Mind your language, Edward!"

This time she made contact with the ladle.


Captain Gilbert was drilling his company hard. The men were still clumsy, many were new recruits. He had his eye on Burton, though the man was always trying to shirk his camp duties, he was a natural soldier. He watched as the man offered advice to one of the new men.

"Ya know, Burton, if ye weren't such a layabout, you might make a good soldier!" Sergeant Miller barked at the man.

"Thank you, Sergeant!" Burton barked.

"You're a cheeky bugger you are! Now, Company 'SHUN!"

As the men snapped to attention, Gilbert heard a voice behind him, it was the Major.

"Your lads are looking well, Thomas."

Gilbert made a slight bow, "Major. Why do I sense you have a task for us?"

"Ah, because I do dear boy. A walk in the Massachusetts countryside, interested?"

"Do I have a choice, Sir?"

"Of course not. Trust me, the men will enjoy the exercise."

"What's the task, Sir?"

"A patrol out to Somerville and back. We want the colonials to get used to seeing the troops out in the countryside. If we stay cooped up here in Boston, who knows what mischief the bastards will get up to out in the countryside?"

"Very good, Sir. When do you want this patrol to head out?"

"Tomorrow, I should think, be on the road before sunrise. Questions?"

"No Sir, I'll see to it. Might I take the entire company?"

"Of course, I want the locals to see His Majesty's soldiers in force. Let them know what they are up against should trouble arise."

"Very well, Sir."

When the Major left, Gilbert called his sergeants, Miller and Teegarden, over. "Dismiss the men back to camp, have them prepare their haversacks and equipment for ..." he thought for a moment, "an entire day, perhaps a march of ten miles or more."

"Will ye be wanting yer horse, Sir?" Teegarden asked.

"Yes, I should think so. Don't want the locals seeing one His Majesty's officers trudging along the road like a commoner, do we?"

"Course not, Sir."

The two sergeants went off to see to the soldiers, to get them fed and to see to it that they got their kit together, then got a good night's rest. As for Gilbert, he decided that a warm place next to the fire at his favorite tavern and a strong drink would be just the thing right then.

And if the ladies were inviting?

Might be just the right thing indeed.




24 comments:

  1. Ah.....a walk in the countryside, show those Colonials the might of the English Empire.......a simple walk....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bear in mind this is very early in the timeline of the Revolution. The 29th has just landed (which would be October of 1768). The Crown is exercising its soldiers and making their presence in the Massachusetts Bay Colony known, if not yet felt.

      Delete
  2. A walk in the woods. Not exactly what Walt Whitman wrote about.

    The show of force sounds good but oft has unintended consequences.

    I wonder if we'll find out who fired the first shot

    Michael

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Still early days, the Boston Massacre won't happen for another year and a half.

      Delete
  3. "The two sergeants went off to see to the soldiers, to get them fed and to see to it that they got their kit together,"
    The secondary tasks of all sergeants since there were sergeants. The main tasks are to train lieutenants and make the captains look good.

    Oh...and stay alive.

    Ten miles, to take the morning air just a good stretch of the legs. Do some bird watching, maybe sketch some of the plants they've never seen before. I'm sure it will be invigorating and.....educational.

    Muse has my mind haring off in half a dozen different directions. Well done.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Early days yet, the Colonials are not used to such a large force in Boston. It's meant to enforce the law (especially as regards taxes) and to overawe the hotheads. The pot's just been put on the fire, hasn't begun to really heat up yet.

      Delete
    2. This instantly popped into my head as I read that, "He's counting your guns. Testing your firing power with the lives of his warriors." Not the same, even close to expending lives. But I doubt that the "hotheads" would pass up the chance to "count the guns" at no expense. Nor be overawed by the show of force.

      Delete
  4. Replies
    1. It's a little less than 7 years to that April morning, but it will come.

      Delete
  5. I wonder how many of the new troops still have stories of the razing of Scotland after Culloden running through their heads? How many are resentful of being posted to The Colonies and not staying in England? And how much petty larceny they'll commit?

    Lots of little things all add up to hatred and enflamed passions.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well the old troops might remember the '45 Rising, but the new troops weren't born yet. This is twenty-three years later.

      Delete
    2. Yeah, but I'm sure the old troops tell the new troops stories of the harrowing and looting that occurred. And, well, England didn't exactly cover it up either, letting the razing be known to Wales and Ireland and other places that England set its flag, as a cautionary tale, of course.

      Delete
    3. (Don McCollor) I would be pretty sure that the new troops learned of it at their mother's knee.

      Delete
    4. Beans - If those old troops were still around. Life expectancy wasn't what it is now.

      Delete
    5. Don - Sure, if they were Scots. Why would an English mother care?

      Delete
  6. I fear that we are going to have an American equivalent of the Spanish "Calvo-Sotelo Moment". If so, I hope we will have another "Merriam's Corner" moment. And I hope that your story covers the original one.

    Subotai Bahadur

    ReplyDelete
  7. Historical fiction about the latter half of the 18th century in N. America is just about my favorite. I may not comment much, but I will be bird dogging..

    ReplyDelete
  8. Historical fiction grows from a solid understanding of that history and skillfully weaving a tale into it. Sarge excels at that, and this very early "walk in the woods" is indeed part of the largely unknown background which led to the formation of "minutemen" designated from among the larger membership of militia units, to be able to instantly respond to a threat. The origins go back further than the start of this tale, but the ultimate result is the amazingly large number of relatively motivated and somewhat soldierly skilled men who arrive "by the rude bridge" and along Battle Road one fine April morning when the marchers from Boston were out with a more sinister mission than merely strolling the countryside.
    Off to a great start here!
    John Blackshoe

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, JB. I hope I can honor the memories of those who were there.

      Delete
  9. Sarge, waving the colours in a population not thrilled to see you is at best a dicey proposition. Which the British will learn, sooner or later.

    That said, it never helps that there are always those willing to stir the pot without thinking of the longer term impacts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bear in mind, only about a third of the colonists supported the Revolution. Another third supported the Crown and the remainder were neutral or indifferent. But the revolutionaries were active, many of the Loyalists were not, they relied on the Regulars to do the heavy lifting, so to speak.

      Delete

Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

NOTE: Comments on posts over 5 days old go into moderation, automatically.