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Chapter 14
Oliver, Lovell, Clarke, and Coffin met for breakfast the next morning at Clarke's elegant home on School Street.
"We cannot be any part of this madness," Clarke said sipping his tea. "We all have high-level positions to maintain and we will still have to live here in Boston after the war."
"I think the general is more than a bit mad," Lovell remarked. "As you know I attend Christ Church and the general's second-in-command, Major Pitcairn attended services most Sundays also. His adjutant came to inform our rector that he had been killed at Bunker Hill and that he was killed because General Gage ordered him to lead a charge."
"Did Pitcairn volunteer to lead the charge?" Peter Oliver asked. "Because I know officers of his rank are never sent out on the battlefield because they are considered too valuable to lose."
"No, the talk is that Pitcairn apparently did not agree with Gage's plan of attack at Bunker Hill, protested it too strongly, and was ordered out onto the battlefield by Gage."
Clarke paled. "Does this mean if we do not agree to the General's plan, it could mean our undoing?"
"Only if we do not come up with an alternate plan to present to the general," Lovell said.
Oliver took a bite of his breakfast, wiped his mouth and then asked, "What kind of a plan?"
"The general must suspect that none of us are proficient enough with a musket and that none of us could hit the side of a warship if it was two feet from us. Even Ebenezer was not and that was what got him into trouble the first time and captured the second time. What if we suggest to General Gage that he find somebody to eliminate the rebel officers and we pay them?"
"Do you think he would accept it?" Clarke asked.
Lowell shrugged. "I do not see why he would not. It will cost him nothing."
"Do we pay him per officer he shoots or do we offer him just one large payment?" Judge Oliver queried.
"We would need proof too that he actually shot an officer so we know he is not just taking our money and not doing what we are paying him for," Coffin said.
"What kind of proof would you want?" Clarke asked. This discussion was becoming more and more unbelievable.
"What about taking one of their epaulets? I know only officers wear those," Coffin suggested.
"Excellent idea Nathan," Lovell said.
"I say how much is this endeavor going to cost us, John?" Judge Oliver complained.
"We are luckily all wealthy men and I think 50 shillings each; a total of 200 shillings for every time he permanently retires an officer," Lovell replied.
"That sounds reasonable," Coffin said. "Once the rabble is subdued and the harbor opens again we will more than make it up."
"What about the rebels meeting in Philadelphia?" Richard Clarke asked.
"They will have no place to go after their rebel army collapses so I can easily hold a trial in absentia, convict them of treason, and order them hanged if they ever come back to Boston and that will include any of those so-called 'Sons of Liberty'!" Judge Oliver stated forcefully.
"Excellent plan," Coffin remarked. "I think General Gage will be very pleased with it."
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
Ralph Inman directed his carriage driver to move along the bumpy road as fast as the horses could travel. He wanted to get this done as quickly as possible and then return to the safety of his home. He was short, very plump, and anxious because he did not know how his message might be received by the rebel army. He had heard the stories about them being very barbaric. It had already been a nerve-wracking morning because he had to lie to General Gage to get permission to leave Boston.
Suddenly the horses neighed and the carriage came to a sudden jerking halt. Two colonial soldiers, one on each side of his carriage, appeared at the windows.
"What is your business that causes you to leave Boston, Sir?" The soldier closet to him asked.
"My name is Ralph Inman and I am a prominent Boston merchant. I must see Mr. Washington. It is very important – a matter of life and death in fact."
The soldier looked at the other one and nodded and they disappeared for a moment or two. Inman waited impatiently. What if they were not planning to allow him to see Washington? How would he get his information to him?
"All right, Mr. Inman. If you'll allow us to search yourself, your driver, your carriage first, and then we'll take you to see Washington."
"Fine …do whatever you must," Inman replied and got out of his carriage. He motioned to his driver to get down. He stood still as the soldier searched him for any weapon and then searched the driver. The other soldier searched the carriage. He shook his head when he finished.
"You ride inside with Mr. Inman and I'll ride up with the driver so I can direct him to camp."
The other one nodded and climbed inside the carriage after Mr. Inman. It was another twenty-five minute journey before they arrived in camp. The soldier climbed down from the carriage and saluted Washington as he came out of the tent. "Private Seth Brown, Sir. We stopped this gentleman's carriage just outside of Boston. He says his name is Mr. Ralph Inman and said he needed to see you on a matter of life and death."
The other soldier had gotten out of the carriage, saluted Washington. "Private Josiah Leavitt. We searched him, his driver, and his carriage, but found no weapons of any kind."
"Thank you both for bringing Mr. Inman here. Find Quartermaster Kelly or Garrigan and they will give you horses for you to escort Mr. Inman safely back to the main road when he's finished here. I'll send Mr. Dawes down later to bring them back. Good job, Gentlemen!" He turned to Mr. Inman and motioned towards his tent. "Mr. Inman?"
"Thank you Sir," he replied and ducked into the tent.
Inside the tent, Inman seated himself and Washington did also as he didn't want to tower over the man and make him more anxious then it appeared he already was. "What is this matter of life and death you wished to speak to me about, Mr. Inman?"
Inman cleared his throat and said, "First Mr. Washington, I am a loyal subject of His Majesty, King George and I do not believe separating from England will be a good thing for the colonies, but I do not believe in murder either and I will not be a part of it."
"Are you referring to Mr. Richardson?" Washington asked.
"Ebenezer is a fool!" Inman snapped. "If he was not a fool, he never would have stolen a weapon he barely knew how to use, aiming and firing into the middle of a crowd, killing a child, and being exiled for five years! No, I am not speaking of him." Inman paused to control himself then continued, "On October 28th General Gage suggested we who are still loyal to King George form ourselves into a society. We took his advice and we call ourselves the Loyalist Associators Desiring the Unity of the Empire."
Washington nodded. "Please continue if you will, Mr. Inman."
"On Monday night we had our second meeting since we formed and General Gage had sent a request that he would like to attend the meeting. We of course were all wondering why he wanted to attend and we soon found out. He requested we continue with what Ebenezer started – assassinating you and your officers. Everyone believes if the officers are killed, your army will fall apart. I do not know any other details of the plot though as I am not close with the other Associators."
"But you are not of that opinion that assassinating myself and my officers will result in a collapse of the Continental Army, Mr. Inman?"
"My opinion does not matter. Now if you will please excuse me I must be getting back home before someone notices my absence."
"How did you get out of Boston? I'm assuming you still need the general's permission," Washington asked curiously.
"I lied," Inman replied. "I told him I needed to see my physician in Dorchester that I had always refused to allow Dr. Warren to attend to me since he was disloyal to our king. He gave me permission. I am sure I must have looked awfully ill as I was nervous about this entire trip."
"I thank you for your courage, Mr. Inman. You are an honorable man."
Inman nodded as he climbed into his carriage and left led by Brown and Leavitt.
At supper that night, Washington asked all his officers to stay behind. Pitcairn sent Oliver back to their tent even though he knew he would worry that General Gage had somehow found out they were still alive. When they were all assembled, Washington explained about Inman's visit.
"So now General Gage is attempting to recruit assassins," Pitcairn said.
Joseph shook his head. "I doubt most of those Tories could hit the side of a barn from two feet away and the muskets' recoil would most likely knock them on their backsides."
"Tis' typical of Gage's cowardly behavior though to convince other people to do his dirty work," Kelly said.
"Indeed it is Sergeant Kelly," Pitcairn agreed. "And that is my speaking from experience of being the face of a good portion of General Gage's brutality in Boston."
"But we don't know when they're planning to do it," Amos remarked. "Or how many of them there might be at one time."
Washington shook his head. "Unfortunately no. Mr. Inman admitted he was not very close to the other Loyalists so what exactly they might be planning he doesn't know."
"Well, at least we know they they're planning something so we can station lookouts around the camp," Paul said, moving his finger around the map. "Here, here, and here would probably be the best places to post them."
"I suggest you post two to four men within range of each other," Captain Whiting said. "When the Major and I were posting sentries around Boston we made sure there were at least two men within range of each other so they could help each other if there was trouble." He smiled. "Of course neither of us was aware of Mr. Revere's and Mr. Dawes' ingenuity at that time."
Paul shrugged. "Well, we all did what we had to do."
"Mr. Revere, Mr. Dawes, and Captain Whiting, you will work together to get the lookouts posted by tomorrow evening in wherever areas you think will be to the shooter's advantage," Washington said.
All three nodded and Dawes said, "They'll probably make enough noise that we'll be able to disarm them before they even get off a shot."
When the meeting was over, Pitcairn walked back to his tent with Joseph. "Do you feel like a game of chess, John?"
"I need to tell Oliver what occurred at the meeting and depending on his reaction I may have to put it off."
"Of course," Joseph replied.
Pitcairn entered his tent. The lantern was lit and Oliver was sitting at the table, practicing his cursive writing. Pitcairn glanced over his shoulder and smiled. "It looks as if you are catching up quickly. Pretty soon I suspect your writing will be better than mine."
Oliver leaned back in his chair and shook his head. "Maybe when I'm an old man my writing might look as fancy as yours looks."
Pitcairn smiled at his remark. "May I talk with you about something if you are not too tired?" He pulled out the other chair, lifted it, and set it down on Oliver's left. He sat down and folded his hands loosely in his lap.
Oliver sat up straight again. "Sure."
"I will admit that I did consider leaving this discussion until the morning, but I also promised you I would always be truthful …"
"Something happened hasn't it? General Washington doesn't usually have meetings with all his officers after supper."
"Yes, I shall explain, but I shall ask that you not interrupt me until I am through with the explanation."
Oliver nodded knowing that this was something really important.
Pitcairn began his explanation with General Gage suggesting that the Loyalist form themselves into a society. "Rather like a Loyalist version of the Sons of Liberty." He saw the confused look on Oliver's face. "You may ask Dr. Warren about them as he is a member and the Committee of Correspondence that he and the two Mr. Adams' formed. He is a much better source than I am."
Oliver nodded in understanding but didn't speak.
"They have done so and call themselves by the high-toned name of 'The Loyalist Associators Desiring the Unity of the Empire'. Apparently General Gage met with them last night and asked them to continue what Mr. Richardson started. Mr. Revere suggested placing lookouts around the area leading to this camp and Captain Whiting told him what he and I used to do with our sentries; we always had at least two men in range of each other so they would hear if the other had any trouble. General Washington has commanded Mr. Revere, Mr. Dawes, and Captain Whiting to get the lookouts posted by tomorrow evening."
"Do you think they'll be able to catch him before he shoots anybody? I mean I like everybody in camp. They've all been so nice to me and I don't want to see any of them get shot, but especially you."
"Mr. Dawes thinks they will make so much noise that they will be able to disarm them before they are able to fire a shot. If it makes you feel better we can say a prayer and ask God to keep his eyes on this encampment."
Oliver gave his father a hug and said, "I'd like that."
After they said the prayer, Pitcairn asked, "Are you comfortable enough with me going to Joseph's tent? I thought about inviting him here since you said the lantern does not bother you, but our talking probably would."
"No, as long as your home before midnight," Oliver joked.
"I shall strive to do so," Pitcairn said.
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
The next morning General Gage was sitting at Hancock's desk, trying to get through the paperwork that was piling up on it. He was beginning to regret his anger that had sent Pitcairn to his death. He had yet to appoint a second-in-command as none of his other officers even showed a third of Pitcairn's unique talents.
A knock on the door interrupted his musing. "Enter."
Berthold came in, bowed, and said, "General, there are four gentlemen here to see you. They say their names are Mr. Clarke, Mr. Coffin, Mr. Lovell and Judge Oliver."
"Send them in," Gage replied as he drew on his regimental coat and straightened it. He stood behind the desk with his hands clasped behind him.
"Gentlemen," Berthold said bowing and extending his hand.
The four men came into the office and stood looking around. While they had all been to Hancock's home for recitals and parties; they had never been inside his study.
"Gentlemen," Gage said nodding. "Have you thought about what I asked of you?"
John Lovell stepped forward. "Indeed we have, General and frankly none of us have ever fired a musket and I doubt we could hit one of your warships even if it was two feet away from us, but we have come up with an alternate plan if you will allow us to present it to you."
Gage nodded and then Coffin said, "Since we are not carrying out your request we decided that if you can find someone that is a good shot to do it, we will pay him 200 shillings per officer, but he must bring one of their epaulets to prove that he indeed killed an officer before we will pay him. We know then he cannot pretend to have killed one because there is no place in Boston that sells epaulets."
"Hmm …" General Gage said. He had no doubt there were plenty of malevolent characters to found in certain parts of town and all he need do is put the word out there and it would not cost even one shilling. He focused back on the men. "An excellent plan, Gentlemen and I congratulate you on your development of it."
"Thank you General," Lovell nodded. He motioned to Clarke who stepped forward carrying a small leather sack in which the clinking of coins could be heard and gave it to Lovell. "This is the first payment, General."
"Thank you, Gentlemen. I will keep you updated. Berthold?"
The nodded and bowed slightly and when the manservant opened the door, they followed him out. Gage waited a few minutes then called, "Berthold?"
The manservant came back in and bowed once again. "Find General Clinton and tell him I want to see him immediately."
He nodded, bowed, left and closed the door behind him. Gage sat down at Hancock's desk and sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. Once the rebel army had collapsed and the colonies were back under the control of His Majesty; he was going home and never leaving again even if it meant resigning.
There was a knock on the door and Gage said, "Enter."
General Clinton came in. Gage smiled and said, "I have a job for you."
"And that is?" Clinton asked. He was dreading hearing what Thomas wanted this time. A lot of the less desirable jobs that Major Pitcairn had performed now fell on him.
"I want you to send one of your sergeants into the most disreputable parts of Boston and recruit one of those malevolent people that congregate there. He also must be able to shoot a musket accurately and does not mind eliminating people."
"You want my sergeant to find you an assassin?"
"I suppose some would call this person that. I prefer to think of him as removing annoying vermin. The sooner we eliminate the vermin, the sooner we can be back on the ship, sailing for home. You do want to return home and not have to spend another year in this God-forsaken wilderness?"
"Of course. There is nothing here except ruthless and rootless barbarians!" Clinton replied with a sniff.
"Return in the morning and I will give you note to give your sergeant who shall give it to this person when he finds him."
Clinton nodded and left, paling after he shut the door, wondering what Thomas had in mind now.
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
The next day after training, Pitcairn reported to Washington that the first group of men had reached the 90 seconds mark in reloading the cannons. "I am very proud of their hard work and I told them of the extra rations they would receive on Christmas."
"That will be on top of the extra rations I have decided to give all the men," Washington replied.
"I know the men will be most appreciative of your generosity, Sir." Pitcairn said.
"Well they have all earned it."
"Indeed, they have," Pitcairn agreed. "I have decided I will not start training the next group of men until after Christmas is over."
"That is probably a good idea," Washington said with a chuckle. "I assume the men would not like being cursed day in and day out for their inattention."
Pitcairn sighed. "And I would probably be doing exactly that as you simply cannot be inattentive when you are firing cannons. That is why I have decided to wait."
When Pitcairn was done speaking with Washington, he returned to Joseph's tent where Oliver was laboriously copying something for Joseph. Pitcairn sat down and waited as he did not want to interrupt Oliver's concentration. After about another ten minutes, Oliver said, "I'm done, Dr. Warren. Do you want to see it?"
Joseph smiled, sprinkled cuttlebone fish powder over the sheet and after a moment blew it off. He looked it over. "Very good, Oliver! Here, show your father."
Oliver got up and took the sheet over to Pitcairn who took it from him. He looked it over and saw it was a verse from the Bible and Oliver had done a very good job of copying it. "Very good work, Oliver! Perhaps you will allow me to keep this."
Oliver shrugged. "All right, but why would you want to keep it?"
"When we finally settle in Boston, I shall frame this and hang it in my study because I am very proud of the progress you have made and when people ask me about it I will tell that you had almost no education prior to your fifteenth year and this is the first thing you wrote after barely six months of education."
"You'd really do that?" Oliver asked in amazement.
"Yes, I will, but for the moment I am going to give this to Joseph to keep so it will remain undamaged. Whenever I am able to retrieve my effects from Mr. Shaw's home, if they are still there, I will place it in my trunk."
Oliver nodded. "All right."
"Why don't we get cleaned up and then we will go to supper? I do not know about you, but I am hungry."
"Me too!" Oliver replied and then raced out of the tent.
After dinner which had been a hearty stew with loves of fresh bread, Oliver and Pitcairn returned to their tent. "Oliver, are you too tired to discuss Christmas?"
"No, but what do you want to discuss?"
"Only that I am afraid I will not be able to give you any gifts as obviously nobody can go shopping in Boston."
"But you've already given me the best gift any kid in an orphanage could have; you adopted me and gave me a real family."
"And you have given me a gift also that I thought I would never have; the gift of fatherhood," Pitcairn replied giving his son a hug. "I do wish we could attend Christmas services at Christ Church though."
"You really miss going to services every Sunday, huh?"
"Yes, it provided me with the comfort and strength for what I had to face on a daily basis with General Gage," Pitcairn said nodding. "However General Washington has told me that Madam Washington, Madam Adams, and Madam Parker have been writing to each other and he suspects they are planning something special for Christmas."
"Maybe Mrs. Adams is going to be coming here for Christmas with the children since Mr. Adams probably can't leave Philadelphia," Oliver said.
"That very well could be. Perhaps they have a special Christmas meal planned for us."
"That would be a nice Christmas present too."
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
General Clinton sat behind the desk in the study of the former Royal Governor's Mansion. He was trying to work out, as Pitcairn and Whiting before him, the sentry duty around Boston. He thought it ridiculous to even post sentries as the colonial rebels had them surrounded. A knock on the door interrupted his frustrations. "Enter," he called.
A long time servant who Clinton had bought over with him opened the door. "Sir Henry, a soldier has requested to see you."
"Send him in, Rupert."
"Yes, Sir," he replied and motioned to somebody. "You may go in."
Sergeant Lewis Chandler came into the room and saluted. He was an older man, tough and sure, who had been in the Marines since the age of seventeen. He was the man Clinton had sent out to find an assassin for General Gage. "What do you have to report, Sergeant Chandler?"
"I believe I've found this requested person. Haven't contacted him meself yet, but from what the other blokes in that part of town told me about him; he sounds like there's nothin' he won't do."
"What did you hear about him?"
"One bloke told me he's committed all kinds of crimes, but never gone to jail so far because the victims always refuse to press charges or the witnesses won't testify. I heard from more than one bloke that he was accused of rapes and beatings; heard he beat one man almost to death, but got away with it. Everybody I talked to is scared of him and don't even want his eyes on them."
"Did you get a name?"
"Yes Sir, its Padraig Whittier."
"Make contact with this man and when you do make sure he's able to fire a musket accurately first. If he cannot he will be of no use. If he is able to …" Clinton paused while he withdrew the sealed note General Gage had given him. Cleverly he had used John Hancock's personal stamp to seal the wax on the note. "You may give him this and it will explain everything. Contact will be through you, but he needs to fulfill the requirements as stated in the note."
Chandler took the note and saluted. "Can't say I'm lookin' forward to meetin' this bloke. Sounds like I'll be meetin' with the devil himself."
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
Oliver was as excited about his first Christmas with his father as he never been before. Joseph allowed him have a few days of no lessons because he figured Oliver would not be able to concentrate on them anyway.
He wasn't the only one either. The soldiers were looking forward to free time and good food. They had all been told they would be provided with extra rations for the holiday because they had earned it.
Christmas Eve was spent listening to his father talking about his Christmases growing up in Scotland. "My first Christmas after I joined the Marines was the worst. I was terribly homesick for my mother's Cloutie Dumpling with fresh cream." He smiled at Oliver's confused expression. "It is very much the same as British Christmas Cake, but without Rum or Brandy which my father would not allow in our home. It is flour, fruit, sugar, suet and spices and is dough is wrapped in a cloth and boiled and then served with fresh cream."
"It sounds good," Oliver asked. "Do you think you could make it?"
Pitcairn had to laugh. He shook his head. "While I am very good with a sword, pistols, a musket, and commanding men; I do not have my mother's ability at cooking. We will probably need to hire a cook for our future home or risk starving to death."
"As long as she can cook as good as Mrs. Adams," Oliver replied.
"I will make sure of it," Pitcairn promised.
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
General Clinton was escorted by Berthold to the door of Gage's office. He knocked on the door and heard Gage say, "Enter."
Berthold opened the door and said, "General Clinton to see you, Sir." He stepped aside and bowed as Clinton went past him into the room.
"What news do you have for me, General?"
"Sergeant Chandler has found you somebody. He reports that the man is able to shoot a musket with a great degree of accuracy and according to the talk Sergeant Chandler heard, there is nothing he will not do."
"And what is his name?" Gage asked interestedly.
"Padraig Whittier."
A/N: Richard Clarke, Boston merchant. Courtesy of Wikipediadotcom
Nathaniel Coffin, Receiver-General of His Majesty's Customs of Boston. Courtesy of Wikipediadotcom
Ralph Inman, Boston merchant. Courtesy of Wikipediadotcom
John Lovell, headmaster of Boston Latin School. Courtesy of Wikipediadotcom
Peter Oliver, Massachusetts judge. Courtesy of Wikipediadotcom
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