CHAPTER IV.
Before the sun had set the _Dolphin_ was again speeding over the water,but now on the ocean, and going northward, Philadelphia being theirpresent destination. It had grown cloudy and by bedtime a steady rainwas falling, but unaccompanied by much wind, so that no one felt anyapprehension of shipwreck or other marine disaster, and all slept well.
The next morning Lulu was, as usual, one of the first to leave herberth, and having made herself neat for the day she hurried upon deck.
It had ceased raining and the clouds were breaking away.
"Oh, I'm so glad!" she exclaimed, running to meet her father, who wascoming toward her, holding out his hand with an affectionate smile, "soglad it is clearing off so beautifully; aren't you, papa?"
"Yes; particularly for your sake, daughter," he replied, putting an armabout her and bending down to give her a good-morning kiss. "Did yousleep well?"
"Yes, indeed, papa, thank you; but I woke early and got up because Iwanted to come on deck and look about. Where are we now? I can see landon the western side."
"Yes, that is a part of the Delaware coast," he answered. "We arenearing Cape Henlopen. By the way, do you remember what occurred nearthere, at the village of Lewis, in the war of 1812?"
"No, sir," she said. "Won't you please tell me about it?"
"I will; it is not a very long story. It was in March of the year 1813that the British, after destroying such small merchant craft as theycould find in Chesapeake Bay, concluded to blockade Delaware bay andriver and reduce to submission the Americans living along their shores.Commodore Beresford was accordingly sent on the expedition in command ofthe _Belvidera_, _Poictiers_, and several smaller vessels.
"On the 16th of March he appeared before Lewis in his vessel, the_Poictiers_, and pointing her guns toward the town sent a note addressedto the first magistrate demanding twenty live bullocks and aproportionate quantity of hay and of vegetables for the use of hisBritannic majesty's squadron. He offered to pay for them, but threatenedin the event of refusal to destroy the town."
"The insolent fellow!" cried Lulu. "I hope they didn't do it, papa?"
"No; indeed, they flatly refused compliance and told him to do hisworst. The people on both sides of the bay and river had heard of hisapproach and armed bodies of them were gathered at points where anattack might be expected. There were still among them some of the oldsoldiers of the revolution, and you may be sure they were ready to dotheir best to repel this second invasion by their old enemy. One ofthese was a bent old man of the name of Jonathan M'Nult. He lived inDover, and when, on the Sabbath day, the drums beat to arms, he, alongwith men of every denomination to the number of nearly five hundred,quickly responded to the call, took part in the drill, and spent thewhole afternoon in making ball-cartridges.
"The people of all the towns of the vicinity showed the same spirit andturned out with spades and muskets, ready to take part in the throwingup of batteries and trenches, or to fight 'for their altars and theirfires'--defending wives, children, and other helpless ones. AtWilmington they built a strong fort which they named Union.
"This spirited behavior of the Americans surprised Beresford, and forthree weeks he refrained from any attempt to carry out his threat.
"During that time Governor Haslet came to Lewis and summoned the militiato its defence. On his arrival he reiterated the refusal to supply theBritish invaders with what had been demanded.
"Beresford repeated his threats and at length, on the 6th of April, sentCaptain Byron, with the _Belvidera_ and several smaller vessels, toattack the town.
"He fired several heavy round shot into it, then sent a flag of truce,again demanding the supplies Beresford had called for.
"Colonel Davis, the officer in command of the militia, repeated therefusal; then Byron sent word that he was sorry for the misery he shouldinflict on the women and children by a bombardment.
"To that a verbal reply was sent: 'Colonel Davis is a gallant officer,and has taken care of the ladies.'
"Then Byron presently began a cannonade and bombardment and kept it upfor twenty-two hours.
"The Americans replied in a very spirited manner from a battery on aneminence. Davis's militia worked it and succeeded in disabling the mostdangerous of the enemy's gunboats and silencing its cannon.
"The British failed in their effort to inflict great damage upon thetown, although they hurled into it as many as eight hundred eighteen andthirty-two pound shot, besides many shells and Congreve rockets. Theheavy round shot injured some of the houses but the shells did not reachthe town and the rockets passed over it. No one was killed.
"Plenty of powder was sent for the American guns from Dupont's atWilmington, and they picked up and sent back the British balls, whichthey found just fitted their cannon."
"How good that was," laughed Lulu. "It reminds me of the British atBoston asking the Americans to sell them their balls which they hadpicked up, and the Americans answering, 'Give us powder and we'll returnyour balls.' But is that all of your story, papa?"
"Yes, all about the fight at Lewis, but in the afternoon of the nextday the British tried to land to steal some of the live stock in theneighborhood; yet without success, as the American militia met them atthe water's edge and drove them back to their ships.
"About a month later the British squadron dropped down to Newbold'sponds, seven miles below Lewis, and boats filled with their armed menwere sent on shore for water; but a few of Colonel Davis's men, underthe command of Major George H. Hunter, met and drove them back to theirships. So, finding he could not obtain supplies on the Delaware shore,Beresford's little squadron sailed for Bermuda."
"Good! Thank you for telling me about it, papa," said Lulu. "Are wegoing to stop at Lewis?"
"No, but we will pass near enough to have a distant view of the town."
"Oh, I want to see it!" she exclaimed; "and I'm sure the rest will whenthey hear what happened there."
"Well, daughter, there will be nothing to hinder," the captain answeredpleasantly.
"How soon will we reach the point from which we can see it best, papa?"she asked.
"I think about the time we leave the breakfast table," was his reply.
"Papa, don't you miss Max?" was her next question.
"Very much," he said. "Dear boy! he is doubtless feeling quite lonelyand homesick this morning. However, he will soon get over that and enjoyhis studies and his sports."
"I think he'll do you credit, papa, and make us all proud of him," shesaid, slipping her hand into her father's and looking up lovingly intohis face.
"Yes," the captain said, pressing the little hand affectionately in his,"I have no doubt he will. I think, as I am sure his sister Lulu does,that Max is a boy any father and sister might be proud of."
"Yes, indeed, papa!" she responded. "I'm glad he is my brother, and Ihope to live to see him an admiral; as I'm sure you would have been ifyou'd stayed in the navy and we'd had a war."
"And my partial little daughter had the bestowal of such preferment andtitles," he added laughingly.
Just then Rosie and Evelyn joined them, followed almost immediately byWalter and Grace, when Lulu gave them in a few hasty sentences theinformation her father had given her in regard to the history of Lewis,and told of their near approach to it.
Every one was interested and all hurried from the breakfast-table to thedeck in time to catch a view of the place, though a rather distant one.
When it had vanished from sight, Evelyn turned to Captain Raymond,exclaiming, "O sir, will you not point out Forts Mercer and Mifflin tous when we come in sight of them?"
"With pleasure," he replied. "They are at Red Bank. Port Mercer on theNew Jersey shore of the Delaware River, a few miles below Philadelphia,Fort Mifflin on the other side of the river on Great and Little MudIslands. It was, in Revolutionary days, a strong redoubt with quiteextensive outworks."
"Did our men fight the British there in the Revolutionary war, papa?"asked Grace.
"Yes; i
t was in the fall of 1777, soon after the battle of theBrandywine, in which, as you may remember, the Americans were defeated.They retreated to Chester that night, marched the next day towardPhiladelphia, and encamped near Germantown. Howe followed and tookpossession of the city of Philadelphia.
"The Americans, fearing such an event, had put obstructions in theDelaware River to prevent the British ships from ascending it, and alsohad built these two forts with which to protect the _chevaux de frise_.
"The battle of the Brandywine, as you may remember, was fought on the11th of September, and, as I have said, the British pushed on toPhiladelphia and entered it in triumph on the 26th."
"Papa, what are _chevaux de frise_?" asked Grace.
"They are ranges of strong frames with iron-pointed wooden spikes," heanswered; then went on:
"In addition to these, the Americans had erected batteries on theshores, among which was the strong redoubt called Fort Mercer, which,and also Port Mifflin on the Mud Islands, I have already mentioned.Besides all these, there were several floating batteries and armedgalleys stationed in the river.
"All this troubled the British general, because he foresaw that theirpresence there would make it very difficult, if not impossible, to keephis army supplied with provisions; also they would be in more dangerfrom the American forces if unsupported by their fleet.
"Earl Howe, as you will remember, was at this time in Chesapeake Baywith a number of British vessels of war. As we have just been doing, hesailed down the one bay and up into the other, but was prevented, bythese fortifications of the Americans, from continuing on up theDelaware River to Philadelphia.
"Among his vessels was one called the _Roebuck_, commanded by a CaptainHammond. That officer offered to take upon himself the task of opening apassage for their vessels through the _chevaux de frise_, if Howe wouldsend a sufficient force to reduce the fortifications at Billingsport.
"Howe was pleased with the proposition and two regiments of troops weresent from Chester to accomplish the work. They were successful, made afurious and unexpected assault upon the unfinished works, and theAmericans spiked their cannon, set fire to the barracks, and fled; theEnglish demolished the works on the river front, and Hammond, with somedifficulty, made a passage way seven feet wide in the _chevaux defrise_, so that six of the British vessels passed through and anchorednear Hog Island."
"Did they immediately attack Forts Mifflin and Mercer, papa?" askedLulu.
"It took some little time to make the needed preparations," replied thecaptain. "It was on the 21st of October that Count Donop, with twelvehundred picked Hessians, crossed the Delaware at Cooper's Ferry, andmarched to the attack of Fort Mercer. The Americans added eight miles tothe extent of their march by taking up the bridge over a creek whichthey must cross, so compelling them to go four miles up the stream tofind a ford.
"It was on the morning of the 22d that they made their appearance, fullyarmed for battle, on the edge of a wood within cannon shot of FortMercer.
"It was a great surprise to our men, for they had not heard of theapproach of these troops. They were informed that there were twenty-fivehundred of the Hessians, while of themselves there were but four hundredmen in a feeble earth fort, with but fourteen pieces of cannon.
"But the brave fellows had no idea of surrendering without a struggle.There were two Rhode Island regiments, commanded by Colonel ChristopherGreene. They at once made preparations for defence, and while they werethus engaged a Hessian officer rode up to the fort with a flag and adrummer, and insolently proclaimed, 'The King of England orders hisrebellious subjects to lay down their arms; and they are warned that ifthey stand the battle, no quarter whatever will be given.'
"Colonel Greene answered him, 'We ask no quarter nor will we give any.'
"The Hessian and his drummer then rode hastily back to his commander andthe Hessians at once fell to work building a battery within half cannonshot of the fort.
"At the same time the Americans continued their preparations for thecoming conflict, making them with the greatest activity and eagerness,feeling that with them skill and bravery must now combat overwhelmingnumbers, fierceness, and discipline.
"Their outworks were unfinished but they placed great reliance upon theredoubt.
"At four o'clock in the afternoon the Hessians opened a brisk cannonade,and at a quarter before five a battalion advanced to the attack on thenorth side of the fort, near a morass which covered it.
"They found the works there abandoned but not destroyed, and thoughtthat they had frightened the Americans away. So with a shout of victory,and the drummer beating a lively march, they rushed to the redoubt,where not a man was to be seen.
"But as they reached it, and were about to climb the ramparts to planttheir flag there, a sudden and galling fire of musketry and grape-shotpoured out upon them, from a half-masked battery on their left flank,formed by an angle of an old embankment.
"It took terrible effect and drove them back to their old intrenchments.
"At the same time another division, commanded by Dunot himself, attackedthe fort on the south side, but they also were driven back, with greatloss, by the continuous and heavy fire of the Americans.
"The fight was a short one but very severe. Donop had fallen, mortallywounded, at the first fire. Mingerode, his second in command, waswounded also, and in all the enemy left behind, in the hasty retreatwhich followed, some four hundred in killed and wounded.
"The American galleys and floating batteries in the river galled themconsiderably in their retreat.
"After the fight was over Manduit, the French engineer who had directedthe artillery fire of the fort, was out with a detachment examining andrestoring the palisades, when he heard a voice coming from among thekilled and wounded of the enemy, saying, 'Whoever you are, draw mehence.'
"It was Count Donop, and Manduit had him carried first into the fort,afterward to a house close at hand, occupied by a family named Whitall,where he died three days afterward.
"Donop was but thirty-seven. He said to Manduit, who attended him tillhe died, 'It is finishing a noble career early; but I die the victim ofmy ambition and the avarice of my sovereign.'"
"His sovereign? That was George the Third, papa?" Grace saidinquiringly.
"No, Donop was a Hessian, hired out to the British king by hissovereign," replied her father.
"And avarice means love of money?"
"Yes, daughter; and it was avarice on the part of both sovereigns thatled to the hiring of the Hessians; the war was waged by the king ofEngland because the Americans refused to be taxed by him at his pleasureand without their consent. He wanted their money.
"Whitall's house, a two-story brick, built in 1748, stood close by theriver," continued the captain, "and I suppose is still there; it was, in1851, when Lossing visited the locality.
"The Whitalls were Quakers and took no part in the war. When the fortwas attacked Mrs. Whitall was urged to flee to some place of safety, butdeclined to do so, saying, 'God's arm is strong, and will protect me; Imay do good by staying.'
"She was left alone in the house, and, while the battle was raging, satin a room in the second story busily at work at her spinning-wheel,while the shot came dashing like hail against the walls. At length one,a twelve-pound ball from a British vessel in the river, just grazed thewalnut tree at the fort, which the Americans used as a flag-staff, andcrashed into her house through the heavy brick wall on the north gable,then through a partition at the head of the stairs, crossed a recess,and lodged in another partition near where she was sitting.
"At that she gathered up her work and went down to the cellar.
"At the close of the battle the wounded and dying were brought into herhouse and she left her work to wait upon them and do all in her power torelieve their sufferings.
"She attended to all, friend and foe, with equal kindness, but scoldedthe Hessians for coming to America to butcher the people."
"I am sure she must have been a good woman," remarked Gra
ce; "but, oh, Idon't know how she could dare to stay in the house while those dreadfulballs were flying about it."
"No doubt she felt that she was in the way of her duty," replied thecaptain, "and the path of duty is the safe one. She seems to have been agood Christian woman."
"Yes, indeed!" said Evelyn. "Captain, did not the British attack FortMifflin at the same time that the fight was in progress at FortMercer?"
"Yes; the firing of the first gun from the Hessian battery was thesignal for the British vessels in the river to begin the assault uponthe other fort on its opposite side.
"The _Augusta_ and several smaller vessels had made their way throughthe passage in the _chevaux de frise_ which Hammond had opened, and werenow anchored above it, waiting for flood tide.
"The _Augusta_ was a sixty-four gun ship; besides there were the_Merlin_, of eighteen guns; the _Roebuck_, of forty-four; two frigates,and a galley. All these came up with the purpose to attack the fort, butwere kept at bay by the American galleys and floating batteries, whichalso did good service by flanking the enemy in their attack upon FortMercer.
"The British deferred their attack upon Fort Mifflin until the nextmorning, when, the Hessians having been driven off from Fort Mercer, theAmerican flotilla was able to turn its attention entirely upon theBritish fleet, which now opened a heavy cannonade upon Fort Mifflin,attempting also to get floating batteries into the channel back of theisland.
"But Lieutenant-Colonel Smith, a gallant officer in command of the fort,very vigilant and brave, thwarted all their efforts and greatly assistedthe flotilla in repulsing them.
"The fire of the Americans was so fierce and incessant that the Britishvessels presently tried to fall down the stream to get beyond its reach.But a hot shot struck the _Augusta_ and set her on fire. She also gotaground on a mud bank near the Jersey shore and at noon blew up.
"The fight between the other British and the American vessels went onuntil three o'clock in the afternoon, when the _Merlin_ took fire andblew up near the mouth of Mud Creek.
"The _Roebuck_ then dropped down the river below the _chevaux de frise_,and for a short time the Americans were left in undisturbed possessionof their forts.
"Howe was, however, very anxious to dislodge them, because the river wasthe only avenue by which provisions could be brought to his army inPhiladelphia.
"On the 1st of November he took possession of Province Island, lyingbetween Fort Mifflin and the mainland, and began throwing up works tostrengthen himself and annoy the defenders of the fort.
"But they showed themselves wonderfully brave and patient.Lieutenant-Colonel Smith was as fine an officer as one could desire tosee.
"The principal fortification of Fort Mifflin was in front, that beingthe side from which vessels coming up the river must be repelled; but onthe side toward Province Island it was defended by only a wet ditch.There was a block house at each of its angles, but they were not strong,and when the Americans saw the British take possession of ProvinceIsland and begin building batteries there, they felt that unlessassistance should be sent to dislodge the enemy, the fort would soon bedemolished or fall into his possession."
"But couldn't Washington help them, and didn't he try to?" asked Grace.
"Washington was most desirous to do so and made every effort in hispower," replied her father; "and if Gates had done his duty the fortmight probably have been saved. Burgoyne's army had been defeated andcaptured some time before this, and there was then no other formidableenemy in that quarter; but Gates was jealous of Washington and, ratherthan have him successful, preferred to sacrifice the cause which he hadengaged to defend.
"He had ample stores and a formidable force, and had he come promptly tothe rescue might have rendered such assistance as to enable Washingtonto drive the British from Philadelphia and save the forts upon theDelaware.
"But, actuated by the meanest jealousy, he delayed, and would not evenreturn Morgan's corps, which Washington had been but ill able to spareto him.
"Hamilton, sent by Washington to hasten Gates's movements in thematter, grew very indignant at the slow and reluctant compliance ofGates, and by plainly expressing his opinion induced him to send astronger reinforcement than he had intended.
"Putnam also made trouble by detaining some of the troops forwarded byGates to assist him in carrying out a plan of his own for attacking NewYork.
"Governor Clinton then advised Hamilton to issue a peremptory order toPutnam to set those troops in motion for Whitemarsh where Washington wasencamped. Hamilton did so, and the troops were sent."
"Dear, dear!" sighed Lulu, "what a time poor Washington did have withCongress being so slow, and officers under him so perverse, wantingtheir own way instead of doing their best to help him to carry out hisgood and wise plans."
"Yes," her father said, with a slight twinkle of fun in his eye, "butdoesn't my eldest daughter feel something like sympathy with them intheir wish to carry out their own plans without much regard for those ofother people?"
"I--I suppose perhaps I ought to, papa," she replied, blushing andhanging her head rather shamefacedly; "and yet," she added, lifting itagain and smiling up into his eyes, "I do think if you had been thecommander over me I'd have tried to follow your directions, believingyou knew better than I."
She moved nearer to his side and leaned up lovingly against him as shespoke.
"Yes, dear child, I feel quite sure of it," he returned, laying his handtenderly on her head, then smoothing her hair caressingly as he spoke.
"But you haven't finished about the second attack upon Fort Mifflin,have you, brother Levis?" queried Walter.
"No, not quite," the captain answered; then went on with his narrative:
"All through the war Washington showed himself wonderfully patient andhopeful, but it was with intense anxiety he now watched the progress ofthe enemy in his designs upon Fort Mifflin, unable as he himself was tosuccor its threatened garrison."
"But why couldn't he go and help them with his soldiers, papa?" askedGrace.
"Because, daughter, if he broke up his camp at Whitemarsh, and moved hisarmy to the other side of the Schuylkill, he must leave stores andhospitals for the sick, within reach of the enemy; leave the Britishtroops in possession of the fords of the river; make it difficult, ifnot impossible, for the troops he was expecting from the North to joinhim, and perhaps bring on a battle while he was too weak to hope forvictory over such odds as Howe could bring against him.
"So the poor fellows in the fort had to fight it out themselves with noassistance from outside."
"Couldn't they have slipped out in the night and gone away quietlywithout fighting, papa?" asked Grace.
"Perhaps so," he said, with a slight smile; "but such doings as thatwould never have helped our country to free herself from the Britishyoke; and these men were too brave and patriotic to try it; they werefreemen and never could be slaves; to them death was preferable toslavery. We may well be proud of the skill and courage with whichLieutenant-Colonel Smith defended his fort against the foe.
"On the 10th of November the British opened their batteries on land andwater. They had five on Province Island, within five hundred yards ofthe fort; a large floating battery with twenty-two twenty-four pounders,which they brought up within forty yards of an angle of the fort; alsosix ships, two of them with forty guns each, the others with sixty-foureach, all within less than nine hundred yards of the fort."
"More than three hundred guns all firing on that one little fort!"exclaimed Rosie. "It is really wonderful how our poor men could standit."
"Yes, for six consecutive days a perfect storm of bombs and round shotpoured upon them," said the captain, "and it must have required no smallamount of courage to stand such a tempest."
"I hope they fired back and killed some of those wicked fellows!"exclaimed Walter, his eyes flashing.
"You may be sure they did their best to defend themselves and theirfort," replied the captain. "And the British loss was great, though theexact number
has never been known.
"Nearly two hundred and fifty of our men were killed or wounded.Lieutenant Treat, commanding the artillery, was killed on the first dayby the bursting of a bomb. The next day quite a number of the garrisonwere killed or wounded, and Colonel Smith himself had a narrow escape.
"A ball passed through a chimney in the barracks,--whither he had goneintending to write a letter,--scattered the bricks, and one of themstriking him on the head knocked him senseless.
"He was carried across the river to Red Bank, and Major Thayer of theRhode Island line took command in his place.
"The first day a battery of two guns was destroyed, a block house andthe laboratory were blown up, and the garrison were compelled to keepwithin the fort. All that night the British threw shells and the scenewas a terrible one indeed, especially for the poor fellows inside thefort.
"The next morning, about sunrise, they saw thirty armed boats comingagainst them, and that night the heavy floating battery was brought tobear upon the fort. The next morning it opened with terrible effect, yetthey endured it, and made the enemy suffer so much from their fire thatthey began to think seriously of giving up the contest, when one of themen in the fort deserted to them, and his tale of the weakness of thegarrison inspiring the British with renewed hope of conquest theyprepared for a more general and vigorous assault.
"At daylight on the 15th two men-of-war, the _Iris_ and the _Somerset_,passed up the channel in front of the fort on Mud Island. Twoothers--the _Vigilant_ and a hulk with three twenty-fourpounders--passed through the narrow channel on the west side and wereplaced in a position to act in concert with the batteries of ProvinceIsland in enfilading the American works.
"At ten o'clock all was silent, and doubtless our men were awaiting thecoming onslaught with intense anxiety, when a signal bugle sounded andinstantly all the ships and batteries poured a storm of shot and shellfrom the mouths of their many guns upon the devoted little garrison."
"Oh, how dreadful!" sighed Grace. "Could they stand it, papa?"
"They endured it with astonishing courage," replied the captain, "whileall day long, and far into the evening, it was kept up without cessation.The yards of the British ships hung nearly over the American battery;and there were musketeers stationed in their tops who immediately shotdown every man who showed himself on the platform of the fort. Our mendisplayed, as I have said, wonderful bravery and endurance; there seemsto have been no thought of surrender; but long before night palisades,block houses, parapet, embrasures--all were ruined.
"Early in the evening Major Thayer sent all but forty of his men to RedBank. He and the remaining forty stayed on in the fort until midnight,then, setting fire to the remains of the barracks, they also escaped insafety to Red Bank.
"Lossing tells us that in the course of that last day more than athousand discharges of cannon, from twelve to thirty-two pounders, weremade against the works on Mud Island, and that it was one of the mostgallant and obstinate defences of the war.
"Major Thayer received great credit for his share in it, and waspresented with a sword by the Rhode Island Assembly as a token of theirappreciation of his services there."
"Did not Captain--afterward Commodore--Talbot do himself great creditthere?" asked Evelyn.
"Yes; he fought for hours with his wrist shattered by a musket ball;then was wounded in the hip and was sent to Red Bank. He was a verybrave man and did much good service during the war, principally on thewater, taking vessel after vessel. In the fight with one of them--the_Dragon_--his speaking trumpet was pierced by bullets and the skirts ofhis coat were shot away."
"How brave he must have been!" exclaimed Lulu with enthusiasm. "Don'tyou think so, papa?"
"Indeed, I do," replied the captain. "He was one of the many men of thatperiod of whom their countrymen may be justly proud."