The Thistle against the Crown: Chapter 12

After a bit of excitement, the Berwick company enjoys a quiet night at camp.

30 May 1775

Berwick Company Camp

     Night had fallen and a light breeze blew through the trees causing the newly sprouted leaves to rustle gently as the ambush party made their way back to the camp. The fires gave the camp's location away long before they came upon it. The group was not particularly quiet as they approached their camp, but as they continued to get closer, they were not challenged by a sentry that should have been on duty.

     "Sergeant, take a couple of men and find our sentries." Horatio instructed looking around. He knew that Dougal would have deployed the camp guards for the night, so it was very strange that they had not come across one yet.

     "Sir." Argyle said as he pointed to Reid and O'Sullivan, "You two, spread out, find our sentry."

     Horatio had the group wait as Argyle, Reid and O'Sullivan searched for whoever was on guard duty. They didn't have to wait long before they heard someone yelp in pain. Horatio rushed over in the direction that the sound came from and found Argyle pulling one of the men up by his coat collar.

     "Just thought you'd have a wee nap, eh?" Argyle said before punching the man in the stomach causing him to yelp again and double over.

     "Stand that man up!" Horatio snapped.

     "Sir." Argyle said as he grabbed the man's collar and stood him back up.

     "Who is it?" Horatio asked stepping forward.

     "Young Jamie Cameron, sir." Argyle replied.

     "Uncle, I'm...." Jamie tried to explain through his soft cries.

     "Silence!" Argyle struck Jamie again, "You do not speak to an officer unless spoken to, you piece of rat s**t!"

     "Sergeant, place Mr. Cameron under arrest. We'll deal with his punishment before the entire company tomorrow before we move. Confiscate his weapon if you please. Put a guard on him and replace him on sentry duty." Horatio instructed with a sigh.

     "As you say, sir." Argyle replied, "Let's go boy!" Argyle snapped as he pushed Jamie forward. He turned and handed Reid Jamie's musket and instructed Reid and O'Sullivan to follow guard Jamie.

     Horatio led the group back into camp. Everyone gathered around as Jamie was sat on a stump, where he would sit, under guard, for the night.

     "Sergeant, dismiss the detachment if you please. I'll need a working party of five men, not men who have just returned." Horatio said, before walking over to the fly where his table and lap secretary were set up.

     Dougal and Sinéad stood under it talking until Horatio walked under it and began to take his equipment off. Blood stained his hand and coat cuff and Sinéad gasped lightly, worried that something had happened to him.

     "Profitable evening, then?" Dougal asked.

     "Aye." Horatio said, "In more ways than one." He turned and looked at Jamie who was sitting on the stump and sobbing lightly, "Twenty-five lashes for young Jamie in the morning."

     "What for?" Dougal asked, though he knew that Jamie was proving to be a difficult recruit.

     "Sleeping on sentry duty." Horatio replied as he pulled the requisition form out of his pocket, "But we have taken quite a prize from our enemy." He said answering Dougal's first question.

     Sinéad picked up the paper and began to read through it as Horatio's attention turned to Argyle.

     "Sentry has been replaced and a guard has been put on young Jamie for the evening, sir." Argyle said saluting.

     "Very good, Sergeant. Thank you. Ensure the men see to their weapons and get food. They've done well today." Horatio said, "Early to bed tonight, we must be up before dawn to pack and prepare for our journey."

     "As you say, sir." Argyle said before turning and walking away.

     "Requisition for fifty-seven cartridge boxes, forty-five enlisted wedges, and two officer's walls." Sinéad read off the sheet, "Fifteen sacks of rice and thirteen barrels of salted pork."

     "Aye, and that doesn't include the weapons, equipment and uniforms we took off of the dead and wounded." Horatio said with a smile.

     "Sir, the five men you requested for the working party are here." Argyle said as five men stood outside the fly.

     "Thank you, Sergeant." Horatio said and dismissed Argyle so he could get some rest, "Right lads. I need you to empty that wagon, if you would be so kind. I need everything sorted by type and then we will be counting it and reloading some of it."

     The men nodded and walked over to the wagon that was parked just off from Horatio's fly. They worked together, emptying the weapons first and putting them into one pile, and then the regimental coats, followed by the waistcoats, breeches, and all the other supplies that they had scoured from the enemy.

     "Fifty-seven cartridge boxes, did you say?" Horatio asked taking the requisition form from Sinéad, "And we took thirty more off of the men who were escorting it, so we should be able to give every man a fresh cartridge box." He paused setting the paper down, "There's an officer's kit as well as a sergeant's." He looked at Dougal, "We might be able to start looking like a proper military unit, even if the men don't act like one yet." He laughed, "How are our recruits from Kittery settling in?"

     "They seem to be doing well, sir." Dougal said as he and Horatio sat down on opposite sides of the table with Sinéad in the middle, "None of them have weapons, though, or any equipment. Some don't even have a blanket."

     "Fortunately our British friends have supplied us with more than we need for the Kittery men, so we will be able to issue muskets and bayonets to those men from Berwick who do not yet have proper muskets." Horatio said taking a drink of ale that Sinéad had poured for him.

     "Aye, so what's your plan then?" Dougal asked.

     "We'll rouse at four, finish getting everything packed, and then start issuing equipment and weapons." Horatio said, "Have you put the Kittery men into the company yet?"

     "Aye, I gave them to Mackenzie. His platoon was smaller than Argyle's, and I thought it best to keep them together." Dougal replied.

     Horatio nodded, as he thought, "Aye." He took another sip of his drink, "Once the equipment and uniform pieces are issued, we'll form the company and dispatch with Jamie's punishment before marching onto Exeter."

     "Very good, sir." Dougal replied.

     The group sat quietly and watched the men work. Even working they seemed to be coming together as a unit. This pleased Horatio and Dougal as they both knew that unit cohesion was one of the most important parts of being a soldier. They both knew that they still had work to do to turn the men into a disciplined company, but that would come with time. Most of them were still getting used to military life and had only been away from home for two days. For some the reality of what they were getting themselves into had not sunk in yet. For others they merely felt as though this would be a short war, and that they would be home before the year ended. Only the veterans among them knew the reality of what they were going to face, and they knew that nothing could prepare the others for it.

     "Final count is done, sir." Ebenezer Stewart reported back to Horatio and Dougal after they had finished emptying the wagon and getting everything sorted out.

     "Very good, lad." Horatio said, "Did you happen to find a Sergeant's kit, and an officer's kit among the uniforms and equipment?"

     "Yes, sir. We placed them off to the side." Stewart replied.

     "Good." Horatio said, "Sergeant Major Cameron, will you record the count from Mr. Stewart? I'm going to collect those two kits and bring them in."

     "As you say, sir." Dougal acknowledged and pulled a quill from the lap secretary.

     Sinéad got up and walked out from under the fly and followed Horatio out into the darkness of the field. This was all new for her too. Even though her husband had been in the army, she had never campaigned with him. They had married after he'd been discharged. The rough environment did not bother her; it was the distance from her children, and the detachment from Horatio that she felt that made her feel as though she had made a mistake in leaving home. She did not let it bother her much, but it did weigh on her mind.

     "Horatio..." She said softly.

     Horatio stood, and turned holding an officer's sword in his hand. It was a regular length blade with a slight curve and a stirrup guard. Nothing remarkable, but it looked like a fine blade, not that Sinéad had much experience in determining whether a blade was of good quality or not.

     "Aye, lass?" Horatio said as he set the blade back down on the pile of things that lay at his feet.

     "I'm just wondering if I made the right choice in leaving home." Sinéad asked.

     "Missing your bairn, are you?" Horatio asked with a soft smile.

     "Yes." Sinéad said, "And the simple life we had back in Berwick."

     "Aye, it was simple, and good, but it would have been for nothing if we allow the British to continue to run those lives. Determine what we must pay them, or how much food we must give them." Horatio said, "And let us not forget what they've done to those we love."

     "No one hates the British more than I." Sinéad replied as she stepped closer, "And I am happy that we are here, making a conscious effort to change things and rid ourselves of the influence of those damned redcoats, I just wonder what the cost will be."

     "Aye, we all do." Horatio replied, "But can we really find a point in which the price is too high to fight for freedom? One day all of this will be over, but before that day comes, it will get much worse than most of these lads can imagine. That is when they will need the strength of you women to keep them going." Horatio smiled taking a step towards her, "And you have more of that strength than anyone I've ever met. So keep that fire burning inside you, it'll help us in even the darkest hour."

     Sinéad wrapped her arms around Horatio and held him for a moment as he wrapped his arms around her. The pair stood like that for a few minutes before Horatio pulled back slightly, "You should get some sleep, lass. We're up early and it'll be a long day. We've got quite a few miles to cross."

     Sinéad smiled and nodded, "You get to sleep yourself, Horatio Cameron. You won't be any use to anyone if you're asleep on your feet now will you?"

     Horatio couldn't help but smile, "Aye, I will soon, lass."

     "Goodnight, Horatio."

     "Goodnight, lass."

     Horatio picked the sword back up as well as the rest of the things from the pile and walked back over to the fly where Dougal sat finishing up the paperwork. He dropped the equipment and uniforms on the ground before sitting down on a stool next to the table and picking up the paper where Dougal had recorded the total gear and equipment that they had stolen from the British that day. He nodded, "We did well, then."

     "Aye, you did." Dougal said, "The lads are just finishing packing the tents back in the wagons, then they'll get everything else back in. I'm having them leave the food out, and we can put it in the wagon with the rest of the rations tomorrow morning."

     Horatio nodded and handed Dougal the straight, brass handled grenadier hanger that the Marine Sergeant had been wearing, "Time we at least looked the part."

     Dougal looked at the sword and pulled it out of its scabbard slightly, "I always hated having to carry one of these damned things."

     Horatio took the stirrup guarded hanger that the officer had been carrying and set it on his lap before finding the belt that it had hung on and slid it back into the frog before picking up a red and white knit sash and handing it to Dougal before finding the silk, crimson sash that the officer had worn. There was a bloodstain on it, but he knew that with some washing it would come out easily.

     "Tomorrow we have to appear every bit our proper ranks. If we're going to be accepted into the regiment of another colony, we need to present ourselves the very best we can." Horatio said, "We'll need to keep a tighter leash on the men as well. They have never set up a military camp before, so when we start setting up our tents, they'll need guidance. Make sure that Argyle and Mackenzie knew this as well."

     "Aye, I'll get it done, sir." Dougal said standing, "We should get some sleep. We can finish dividing up that kit in the morning."

     Horatio nodded, "Aye." He set the sword and sash down on the ground before standing up and blowing out the candle. Dougal and Sinéad were right; he needed to get some sleep. If he was going to be of any use to anyone, he would need his rest and he knew that in the months that were coming, there would be times he would be getting no sleep at all. He stood and watched as Mackenzie roused the men who were to stand the next guard watch. The men had a long way to go to become soldiers, but they were well on their way, and the fact that none of them had even attempted to desert was a testament to their commitment to the cause. No one could take that away from them, but they had only been there two days, by the end of the next day they would be farther from home than most of them had ever been in their lives. From there, no one knew where this war would take them. That would be the true test of their commitment and their spirit.

Author's Note

Just a quiet night in camp but I feel that this is an important chapter for showing the character's relations to one another. Of course these will likely change over the course of the story, but it shows the innocence of the pre-war, and it can eventually be compared to the horrors later in the war and how it affects the men of the company.
As always this is just a draft, but I do hope you enjoy it.