Chapter Thirteen--The Snow Fort on Slatter's Hill
The memory of man, even that of the Oldest Inhabitant, runneth not backto the time when there did not exist a feud between the North End andthe South End boys of Rivermouth.
The origin of the feud is involved in mystery; it is impossible to saywhich party was the first aggressor in the far-off anterevolutionaryages; but the fact remains that the youngsters of those antipodalsections entertained a mortal hatred for each other, and that thishatred had been handed down from generation to generation, like MilesStandish's punch-bowl.
I know not what laws, natural or unnatural, regulated the warmth of thequarrel; but at some seasons it raged more violently than at others.This winter both parties were unusually lively and antagonistic.Great was the wrath of the South-Enders, when they discovered that theNorth-Enders had thrown up a fort on the crown of Slatter's Hill.
Slatter's Hill, or No-man's-land, as it was generally called, was arise of ground covering, perhaps, an acre and a quarter, situated onan imaginary line, marking the boundary between the two districts. Animmense stratum of granite, which here and there thrust out a wrinkledboulder, prevented the site from being used for building purposes. Thestreet ran on either side of the hill, from one part of which a quantityof rock had been removed to form the underpinning of the new jail.This excavation made the approach from that point all but impossible,especially when the ragged ledges were a-glitter with ice. You see whata spot it was for a snow-fort.
One evening twenty or thirty of the North-Enders quietly took possessionof Slatter's Hill, and threw up a strong line of breastworks, somethingafter this shape:
(Ft Slatter graphic)
The rear of the entrenchment, being protected by the quarry, was leftopen. The walls were four feet high, and twenty-two inches thick,strengthened at the angles by stakes driven firmly into the ground.
Fancy the rage of the South-Enders the next day, when they spied oursnowy citadel, with Jack Harris's red silk pocket handkerchief floatingdefiantly from the flag-staff.
In less than an hour it was known all over town, in military circles atleast, that the "Puddle-dockers" and the "River-rats" (these were thederisive sub-titles bestowed on our South-End foes) intended to attackthe fort that Saturday afternoon.
At two o'clock all the fighting boys of the Temple Grammar School,and as many recruits as we could muster, lay behind the walls of FortSlatter, with three hundred compact snowballs piled up in pyramids,awaiting the approach of the enemy. The enemy was not slow in making hisapproach--fifty strong, headed by one Mat Ames. Our forces were under thecommand of General J. Harris.
Before the action commenced, a meeting was arranged between the rivalcommanders, who drew up and signed certain rules and regulationsrespecting the conduct of the battle. As it was impossible for theNorth-Enders to occupy the fort permanently, it was stipulated that theSouth-Enders should assault it only on Wednesday and Saturday afternoonsbetween the hours of two and six. For them to take possession of theplace at any other time was not to constitute a capture, but on thecontrary was to be considered a dishonorable and cowardly act.
The North-Enders, on the other hand, agreed to give up the fort wheneverten of the storming party succeeded in obtaining at one time a footingon the parapet, and were able to hold the same for the space of twominutes. Both sides were to abstain from putting pebbles into theirsnow-balls, nor was it permissible to use frozen ammunition. A snow-ballsoaked in water and left out to cool was a projectile which in previousyears had been resorted to with disastrous results.
These preliminaries settled, the commanders retired to their respectivecorps. The interview had taken place on the hillside between theopposing lines.
General Harris divided his men into two bodies; the first comprised themost skilful marksmen, or gunners; the second, the reserve force, wascomposed of the strongest boys, whose duty it was to repel the scalingparties, and to make occasional sallies for the purpose of capturingprisoners, who were bound by the articles of treaty to faithfully serveunder our flag until they were exchanged at the close of the day.
The repellers were called light infantry; but when they carried onoperations beyond the fort they became cavalry. It was also their duty,when not otherwise engaged, to manufacture snow-balls. The General'sstaff consisted of five Templars (I among the number, with the rank ofMajor), who carried the General's orders and looked after the wounded.
General Mat Ames, a veteran commander, was no less wide-awake in thedisposition of his army. Five companies, each numbering but six men,in order not to present too big a target to our sharpshooters, were tocharge the fort from different points, their advance being covered by aheavy fire from the gunners posted in the rear. Each scaler was providedwith only two rounds of ammunition, which were not to be used until hehad mounted the breastwork and could deliver his shots on our heads.
The drawing below represents the interior of the fort just previous tothe assault. Nothing on earth could represent the state of things afterthe first volley.
(Fort Slatter detail graphic)
The thrilling moment had now arrived. If I had been going into a realengagement I could not have been more deeply impressed by the importanceof the occasion.
The fort opened fire first--a single ball from the dexterous band ofGeneral Harris taking General Ames in the very pit of his stomach. Acheer went up from Fort Slatter. In an instant the air was thick withflying missiles, in the midst of which we dimly descried the stormingparties sweeping up the hill, shoulder to shoulder. The shouts of theleaders, and the snowballs bursting like shells about our ears, made itvery lively.
Not more than a dozen of the enemy succeeded in reaching the crest ofthe hill; five of these clambered upon the icy walls, where they wereinstantly grabbed by the legs and jerked into the fort. The rest retiredconfused and blinded by our well-directed fire.
When General Harris (with his right eye bunged up) said, "Soldiers, I amproud of you!" my heart swelled in my bosom.
The victory, however, had not been without its price. Six North-Enders,having rushed out to harass the discomfited enemy, were gallantlycut off by General Ames and captured. Among these were Lieutenant P.Whitcomb (who had no business to join in the charge, being weak in theknees), and Captain Fred Langdon, of General Harris's staff. Whitcombwas one of the most notable shots on our side, though he was not muchto boast of in a rough-and-tumble fight, owing to the weakness beforementioned. General Ames put him among the gunners, and we were quicklymade aware of the loss we had sustained, by receiving a frequent artfulball which seemed to light with unerring instinct on any nose that wasthe least bit exposed. I have known one of Pepper's snow-balls, firedpointblank, to turn a corner and hit a boy who considered himselfabsolutely safe.
But we had no time for vain regrets. The battle raged. Already therewere two bad cases of black eye, and one of nosebleed, in the hospital.
It was glorious excitement, those pell-mell onslaughts and hand-to-handstruggles. Twice we were within an ace of being driven from ourstronghold, when General Harris and his staff leaped recklessly upon theramparts and hurled the besiegers heels over head down hill.
At sunset, the garrison of Fort Slatter was still unconquered, and theSouth-Enders, in a solid phalanx, marched off whistling "Yankee Doodle,"while we cheered and jeered them until they were out of hearing.
General Ames remained behind to effect an exchange of prisoners. We heldthirteen of his men, and he eleven of ours. General Ames proposed tocall it an even thing, since many of his eleven prisoners were officers,while nearly all our thirteen captives were privates. A dispute arisingon this point, the two noble generals came to fisticuffs, and inthe fracas our brave commander got his remaining well eye badly damaged.This didn't prevent him from writing a general order the next day, on aslate, in which he complimented the troops on their heroic behavior.
On the following Wednesday the siege was renewed. I forget whether itwas on that afternoon or the next that we lost Fort
Slatter; but lose itwe did, with much valuable ammunition and several men. After a seriesof desperate assaults, we forced General Ames to capitulate; and he, inturn, made the place too hot to hold us. So from day to day the tideof battle surged to and fro, sometimes favoring our arms, and sometimesthose of the enemy.
General Ames handled his men with great skill; his deadliest foe couldnot deny that. Once he outgeneralled our commander in the followingmanner: He massed his gunners on our left and opened a brisk fire, undercover of which a single company (six men) advanced on that angle of thefort. Our reserves on the right rushed over to defend the threatenedpoint. Meanwhile, four companies of the enemy's scalers made a detourround the foot of the hill, and dashed into Fort Slatter withoutopposition. At the same moment General Ames's gunners closed in on ourleft, and there we were between two fires. Of course we had to vacatethe fort. A cloud rested on General Harris's military reputation untilhis superior tactics enabled him to dispossess the enemy.
As the winter wore on, the war-spirit waxed fiercer and fiercer. Atlength the provision against using heavy substances in the snow-ballswas disregarded. A ball stuck full of sand-bird shot came tearing intoFort Slatter. In retaliation, General Harris ordered a broadside ofshells; i. e. snow-balls containing marbles. After this, both sidesnever failed to freeze their ammunition.
It was no longer child's play to march up to the walls of Fort Slatter,nor was the position of the besieged less perilous. At every assaultthree or four boys on each side were disabled. It was not an infrequentoccurrence for the combatants to hold up a flag of truce while theyremoved some insensible comrade.
Matters grew worse and worse. Seven North-Enders had been seriouslywounded, and a dozen South-Enders were reported on the sick list.The selectmen of the town awoke to the fact of what was going on, anddetailed a posse of police to prevent further disturbance. The boys atthe foot of the hill, South-Enders as it happened, finding themselvesassailed in the rear and on the flank, turned round and attemptedto beat off the watchmen. In this they were sustained by numerousvolunteers from the fort, who looked upon the interference astyrannical.
The watch were determined fellows, and charged the boys valiantly,driving them all into the fort, where we made common cause, fightingside by side like the best of friends. In vain the four guardians of thepeace rushed up the hill, flourishing their clubs and calling upon us tosurrender. They could not get within ten yards of the fort, our fire wasso destructive. In one of the onsets a man named Mugridge, more valorousthan his peers, threw himself upon the parapet, when he was seized bytwenty pairs of hands, and dragged inside the breastwork, where fifteenboys sat down on him to keep him quiet.
Perceiving that it was impossible with their small number to dislodgeus, the watch sent for reinforcements. Their call was responded to, notonly by the whole constabulary force (eight men), but by a numerousbody of citizens, who had become alarmed at the prospect of a riot. Thisformidable array brought us to our senses: we began to think that maybediscretion was the better part of valor. General Harris and GeneralAmes, with their respective staffs, held a council of war in thehospital, and a backward movement was decided on. So, after one grandfarewell volley, we fled, sliding, jumping, rolling, tumbling down thequarry at the rear of the fort, and escaped without losing a man.
But we lost Fort Slatter forever. Those battle-scarred ramparts wererazed to the ground, and humiliating ashes sprinkled over the historicspot, near which a solitary lynx-eyed policeman was seen prowling fromtime to time during the rest of the winter.
The event passed into a legend, and afterwards, when later instances ofpluck and endurance were spoken of, the boys would say, "By golly! Youought to have been at the fights on Slatter's Hill!"