Minute Boys of York Town

James Otis

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pubOne.info present you this wonderfully illustrated edition. "It was a sight well calculated to stir the blood of a boy from Virginia" (Page 227) Frontispiece

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• Publié par: Pub One Info
• Date de parution: 27 septembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9782819925729
• Langue: English

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THE MINUTE BOYS OF YORK TOWN
AMERICAN HISTORY STORIES FOR BOYS
THE MINUTE BOY SERIES
By Edward Stratemeyer and James Otis
The Minute Boys of Lexington
The Minute Boys of Bunker Hill
The Minute Boys of the Green Mountains
The Minute Boys of the Mohawk Valley
The Minute Boys of the Wyoming Valley
THE MEXICAN WAR SERIES
By Capt. Ralph Bonehill
For the Liberty of Texas
With Taylor on the Rio Grande
Under Scott in Mexico
DANA ESTES & COMPANY
Publishers
Estes Press, Summer St. , Boston


“IT WAS A SIGHT WELL CALCULATED TO STIR THE BLOODOF A BOY FROM VIRGINIA.”
THE MINUTE BOYS OF YORK TOWN
JAMES OTIS
Author of “The Minute Boys of Long Island,” The“Minute Boys of Wyoming Valley,” “Boys of '98,” “Teddy andCarrots,” “Boys of Fort Schuyler,” “Under the Liberty Tree,” etc.,etc.
Illustrated by
L. J. BRIDGMAN


BOSTON
DANA ESTES & COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
Copyright, 1912
By Dana Estes & Company
All rights reserved
THE MINUTE BOYS OF YORK TOWN
PRESS OF
THE VAIL-BALLOU CO.
Binghamton, N. Y.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
“It was a sight well calculated to stir the blood ofa boy from Virginia” ( Page 227 ) Frontispiece
“That we might peer between the leaves” 26
“He . . . touched his hat in regular militarysalute” 76
“I sprang forward” 90
“Without the slightest warning I found myself in theclutches of a man” 119
“Halt, or I'll fire! ” 138
The Release of Saul Ogden 233
“A general discharge . . . was commenced by theAmericans” 289
THE MINUTE BOYS OF YORK TOWN
CHAPTER I
TWO YOUNG VIRGINIANS
When Uncle 'Rasmus loses his temper because of someprank which we lads of James Town may have played upon him, healways says that no good can ever come of that in which “chillunan' women are mixed. ”
It had never entered my mind that there was in sucha remark any cause for anger on my part, until that day when SaulOgden repeated it, shaking his head dolefully as Uncle 'Rasmusalways did, and speaking in the negro dialect so faithfully thatone, not seeing him, might well have supposed his skin wasblack.
Of course you remember the engagement at Spencer'sOrdinary, which place is the same as if I had said Spencer'sTavern, on the 26th of June in the year of Grace 1781, whenLieutenant-Colonel Simcoe of the Queen's Rangers, andLieutenant-Colonel Tarleton with his Legion of Horse, began to“prance” around here, as Uncle 'Rasmus would put it, and weVirginians were disturbed in more ways than one.
There were a number of our people who would havebeen loyal to the king if Governor Dunmore had not written himselfdown such a consummate ass, and many even at this time whosesympathies were all with the struggling colonists, but who yethoped matters could be settled without loss of honor to eitherside, meaning that the so-called rebels and his majesty might cometogether in friendship once more.
But when this “prancing” began; when ColonelTarleton rode rough-shod over our people of Virginia withoutseeming to understand the meaning of the word “humanity, ” then itwas that even those who had hoped against hope that the coloniesmight remain in peace and harmony with the mother country, began torealize it was no longer possible.
It had required five long, weary years, during whichour Americans in the North had borne nearly all the brunt of thisstruggle against the king, and I dare not say how much offriendship, to persuade those few in Virginia who strove to holdsome shred of loyalty to the king, that the time had come when theymust take sides with those who had the best interests of thecountry at heart, no longer looking to royalty for relief.
Saul Ogden is my cousin, being but three daysyounger than I, who was, in August of 1781, just turned fifteen,and although it may seem strange to the lads of New England that wetwo Virginians knew so little concerning what was being done inthis America of ours, it is true that until the engagement atSpencer's Ordinary there had never been a thought in our minds thatwe might be called upon, or that it would be possible for us totake any part in the bloody struggle which had been prolonged untilit seemed of a verity that the people of New York and Boston musthave come to an end of all their resources, so far as strugglingagainst the king's soldiers was concerned.
It is true Saul and I had heard now and then thateven boys in Massachusetts and in New York were enrolled, or hadagreed among themselves, to act as Minute Boys, ready to dowhatsoever they might, at any time, regardless of all things elsesave the proving of that Declaration of Independence to thesatisfaction of the whole wide world.
It was on the day before the action at Spencer'sOrdinary that I, Fitzroy Hamilton, and Saul, my cousin, met for thefirst time a little French lad by name of Pierre Laurens, who hadcome up from New Orleans with his widowed mother to visit at myhome, after having spent a summer in Boston.
A companionable sort of a lad was this little Frenchboy who waved his hands and shrugged his shoulders when he talked,as if they were in some way connected with his tongue; one who wasable to tell many an entertaining story, and who had seen so muchof this land of America that it was to Saul and me as if he wassome great traveler, while we were only two country louts, neverhaving strayed a dozen miles from home.
It is not of Pierre whom I have set myself down totell; but it was necessary I should refer to him in order that youmight understand how we two lads of James Town, who seldom wentaway from the plantation save to ride into the settlement, andwhose longest journey had been from the James to the York riveracross that neck where one may best arrive at York Town, came toknow that we might serve the Cause as Minute Boys.
It was little Frenchie who took it upon himself totell us what he knew, he having met several lads in Boston whocalled themselves Minute Boys. He held up before Saul and mepictures of the duty we owed our homes, as if we Virginians neededto be taught our duty, and painted in glowing colors the honor andglory which was to be won by those lads who stood ever ready toperform the work of Minute Boys, until we were quite aflame withthe idea.
I doubt much, however, whether anything would havecome of it had it not been for that same engagement at Spencer'sOrdinary, when Lieutenant-Colonel Simcoe, counting to ride over thePennsylvania men under Colonel Butler as he had ridden over usVirginians, found much to his displeasure that it was not alwayspossible for his high mightiness to do exactly as he wished.
Do not get the idea that I intend to make it appearas if the king's troops were worsted at Spencer's Tavern; but itwas a drawn battle, as I have heard even those who really loved theking, admit, and it must have been a startling surprise to theswaggering Simcoe to have received even a check.
It was only natural that after this engagement Sauland I, egged on by Pierre, should talk quite seriously of forming acompany of Minute Boys; but no sooner would we begin, and I striveto point out how we might do this thing or that which wouldadvantage our colony of Virginia, than Saul would break in with thesaying of Uncle 'Rasmus's, that where “chillun an' women weremixed” matters went awry.
Yet despite my cousin's seeming scorn, Pierrecontinued to urge that we enroll ourselves as Minute Boys, and whenSaul asked irritably whether he believed any good would come to theCause if only three lads were banded together, agreeing to dowhatsoever they might, thereby, as you can see, throwing cold wateron the scheme, Pierre, his hands waving and his shoulders shruggednearly to his ears, would insist again and again that if no morethan three should set themselves about striving to do something inaid of those who were battling against the king, much of good mightbe accomplished.
Then Saul, without really meaning to be unkind,would cry out that Colonel Simcoe had better have a care when ourcompany of three Virginia Minute Boys set out on the war-path, andwhile his friendly scorn fretted me now and then, it did notdistress Pierre in the least.
I say it did not distress him, and yet I may bemistaken, for after Saul had repeated Uncle 'Rasmus's maxim, andspoken sneeringly of the fear which a company of Minute Boysnumbering three might produce throughout the colony, littleFrenchie said, waving his hands as if to brush my cousin aside:
“Oh, well, if you are afraid, then it would not beof avail even though you had a company of twenty. ”
“Afraid! ” Saul cried, the red blood flushing hisface as he advanced almost threateningly toward the little fellowfrom New Orleans. “Do you dare come here and tell a Virginian thathe is afraid of any person who walks this earth even though he weara crown? ”
“I did not say you were afraid, ” Pierrereplied sweetly, still shrugging his shoulders and waving hishands. “I said if you were afraid, then it would not do foryou to talk of being a Minute Boy. It is only those lads in thecolonies who dare do this or dare do that, who could be of value tothe Cause. ”
Now it is just possible little Frenchie wasirritated when he made this reply; but however it came about,certain it is from that moment Saul ceased to throw cold water uponthe plan of raising a company of Minute Boys, and no longer quotedUncle 'Rasmus, or spoke scornfully of what might be accomplished,yet at the same time he was not enthusiastic about it until afterthat sixth of July, when at Green Spring plantation the Britishunder my Lord Cornwallis met the Americans commanded by GeneralLafayette, the king's troops getting much the best of thebattle.
I had thought Saul might strive to get even withPierre by pointing out that the young French general was defeatedwhere an American might have been victorious; but no, he held hispeace concerning the nationality of the commander of the army, andseemed all afire with a desire to do something with his own handsthat should be of benefit to the Ca