Part 1. Return of The Butcher
(Told from Captain Bordon's point of view)
A month had now passed. Col. Tavington had fully recovered. I noticed this one morning as I was just stepping out of my quarters and saw O'Hara running down the hall, a frightened look upon his face. Before he could get past me, I grabbed him by his shoulders.
"What is going on?"
"Let go of me!" Screeched O'Hara, struggling out of my grasp.
O'Hara stumbled down the hall, looking over his shoulder as he went.
I was just about to go downstairs when I spotted Col. Tavington coming out of his quarters, still dressed in his nightclothes. His eyes shone brightly with anger and he took out a dagger and hurled it into the air, just past O'Hara's ear. O' Hara froze as the dagger sailed past him, sticking firmly into the wall at the end of the hall.
"Do not stir me from my slumber you prat!" Seethed the colonel.
"I was only giving you your orders!" Replied the general.
"Next time, give them to my captain to give to me, as I do not want you in my presence or in my quarters! If you wake me one more time, I'll be sure to throw the dagger between your eyes!"
O'Hara let out a squeak and rushed downstairs.
"I see your back to your old self again." I said.
"I guess so." Replied the colonel. "I'm still tired though."
"Really; I thought that the general's extreme lack of attractiveness would be enough to scare you wide awake."
Col. Tavington laughed.
"I should probably get ready for breakfast however, I don't believe that Cornwallis would be pleased with me sticking holes in such fine wood." Said Col. Tavington, gesturing to the dagger that was stuck firmly into the wall.
I smirked, walked over to the dagger, and pulled it out of the wall.
"You're probably correct." I replied, handing the dagger to the colonel. "I shall see you at breakfast then."
I went downstairs to the banquet hall and waited for the colonel to arrive. When he did, I was surprised not to see Mary by his side.
"Where is your wife?"
"Up in our quarters." Answered the colonel taking a seat next to me at the banquet table. "She didn't feel well last night and didn't get very much sleep because she was up coughing for half the night, and spent the other half tossing and turning restlessly in bed. So, she was not in a very sociable mood this morning; I told her to stay in bed and rest, and I would bring her some food after I ate. Needless to say, I got very little sleep because I am a lighter sleeper than Mary, so I was up with her last night."
"She isn't coming down with anything serious is she? Because she was around you while you were ill…"
"I don't believe she has pneumonia. She didn't have a fever and her breathing was normal. It's probably just lack of sleep, stress, and pregnancy."
I nodded.
"That definitely seems possible."
After breakfast, I accompanied Col. Tavington to his quarters to bring Mary breakfast.
As we entered Col. Tavington's quarters, we found Mary lying in bed reading.
"Your back; good morning Captain."
"Good morning."
Col. Tavington walked over to Mary and kissed her on the cheek, handing her the tray of food we had brought for her.
"I apologize for the small variety of food; cornbread and porridge were all I could find for breakfast for you, as there wasn't anything else available that you said wouldn't upset your stomach."
"It's alright, you needn't apologize." She replied.
"I was sorry to hear you couldn't come to breakfast this morning; how are you feeling?" I asked.
"Better." Mary replied. "Though, I'm quite fatigued. Sleep is impossible."
I nodded.
"Bordon and I will be at camp most of the day; there is work to be done there, and tonight we have raids, so I won't be returning until early tomorrow morning." Said the colonel. "While I am gone, I want you to rest."
Mary nodded.
"As you wish. I shall await your return."
As Col. Tavington stated, there was work to be done at camp. Much of it. We spent much of the morning writing reports and sending them off with post riders. Then we had to send out dispatches with several men to various camps along the countryside. Then, just before lunch, Col. Tavington met with two men who were to newly recruited into the British Green Dragoons; I was to meet with them after lunch. I could tell that the meeting didn't go over very well between the two men and the colonel because the two men came out of the tent where they had met the colonel looking rather pale and intimidated, and Col. Tavington came out looking quite bristled and irate.
"What went wrong with them?" I asked as Col. Tavington and I walked over to a couple of trees where our horses were tethered.
"Everything." He replied shortly.
"They're loyal, aren't they?"
"Yes, but they only joined because of family obligations and when I told them the expectations of the British Green Dragoons, they seemed even less confident than they already were. I will not tolerate cowards who question the motives or morality of their superior officers against their own, and these are exactly those types of men."
"I see, so what is my role, as I will be seeing them after dinner."
"Tell them that I do not have time for cowards; they are to obey me without question; if I am not present, they obey you as they would me, and if they decline to do so there will be hell to pay. Also, as a test of loyalty, they will accompany the dragoons on raids this evening. Just because they're new doesn't mean that I am going to go easy on them; they have the same amount of pressure on them as any other dragoon if not more because they must impress me being as they are new and they failed to do so when they met with me."
Col. Tavington and I returned to the estate and ate a quick dinner. Then we went back to camp and back to work; Col. Tavington went into one of the larger tents to discuss strategy and raids with the dragoons, and I went into one of the smaller tents where the two new recruits were waiting for me.
Upon my entering the tent, the men immediately got off of their chairs and stood at attention.
"As you were." I commanded, and the men sat back down. "You names please." I said taking my seat in a chair across from them.
"David Livingston, Sir." Said the man to my left.
I nodded.
"And you?" I said, nodding to the other man on my right.
"Aric Dryden, Sir." He replied.
I sat for a moment, studying the two men in front of me. Both were of medium height. Aric looked younger than David and was of a bigger build. He also had sandy colored hair and hazel eyes, while David had dark brown hair and dark gray eyes. Both were about twenty to twenty five years of age and still had somewhat boyish faces.
After taking a moment to study the men, I understood why Col. Tavington didn't trust them. They had fear and cowardice written clearly on their faces.
"You understand that should you question Col. Tavington's motives or morals, or my own motives or morals, against your own, you will be killed depending on who you are with and the action upon which you question?"
"Y-yes Sir." They replied.
I was about to comment on their lack of confidence but didn't as I wanted to show some sympathy, for they would receive none during the raids.
"May you be forewarned that Col. Tavington will kill those who disobey him without question, as it is in his position to do so as your commanding officer. I may only have you flogged to the point where there is not a patch of skin on your back that hasn't been touched by the whip. However, if you disobey a command and someone dies because of it, you will most certainly be killed."
Both of the men looked terrified. I smirked.
"Understand that these incidents of disobedience among the dragoons are highly uncommon for a reason."
"Yes Sir." They replied, their faces pale and their eyes wide with fear.
"Welcome to the British Green Dragoons."
That evening around six, Col. Tavington assembled the dragoons just outside camp to begin raids.
"Now, you all know what I expect of you this evening, do you not?" Asked Col. Tavington.
"Affirmative Sir."
"Good. Dryden, Livingston," Said Col. Tavington suddenly to Aric and David; "You two ride up front on my left flank, behind Capt. Bordon."
"Yes Sir." They answered, trying but failing to keep the fear out of their eyes.
Col. Tavington immediately sensed their fear and glared at them with chillingly cold blue eyes that were so light colour, they were almost white.
"Those who fail to mask their fear are the first to die. Look at the rest of my men." Said Col. Tavington, gesturing to the dragoons, who had now formed a circle around him and the two new recruits. "They show no fear because the enemy will sense it and use it to their advantage. Emotions do not help on the battlefield, or on any other war-related action. It is the cause that matters and we stop at nothing to achieve it."
Col. Tavington gave the orders to move out and the dragoons thundered into the woods, lit torches in hand.
After about ten to fifteen minutes of hard riding, we came to a plantation house. Col. Tavington had about fifty dragoons surround the house and then he and a group of about fifteen men, including Livingston and Dryden, as well as myself, entered the house, all of us holding a torch in one hand and a pistol in the other, except the colonel, who just carried a pistol.
"Search the house." Ordered Col. Tavington. "If you find any valuables take them however, if you find any items of use to the British army, and this includes people, bring them to me."
The dragoons split up and went into different parts of the house. I went upstairs to the bedchambers. I entered the largest chamber and looked around. There appeared to be nothing of value in the room, save for a few oil paintings, which I did not take, because though they were of value, they weren't worthwhile like money or records of the residents of the house.
I walked around the room a couple more times before deciding to leave.
As I was leaving the room, my torch shed light on the curtains of the window on the outside wall of the room, exposing a pair of feet under them. I walked over to the curtains with my pistol cocked and kicked them open, revealing a boy of about thirteen, huddled on the floor. Seeing that he was armed with only a knife in his hand, I shot it out of his reach with my pistol and wrenched him by the arm.
"Well well, Col. Tavington will be wanting to speak with you." I said, dragging the boy you of the room.
"No, not The Butcher, let go of me!" Screeched the boy.
I dragged the boy downstairs and called the colonel into the kitchen to see him. When Col. Tavington entered the kitchen, he took one look at the boy and said, "Bind his wrists and ankles."
"Yes Sir."
After I bound the boy's wrists and ankles, Col. Tavington ordered him bound to a chair. After this was done, the colonel began to question the boy.
"Where is your family, boy?"
"Visiting neighbours."
"I find that hard to believe."
"I can manage this house just fine by myself, Butcher." Replied the boy stubbornly.
Col. Tavington cuffed the boy across the ace and then punched him, splitting his lip.
"You fool! Don't take tones with me! It is obvious you cannot manage this house. If you were capable of doing so, you wouldn't have been caught. Now, where is your family?"
When the boy didn't answer, the colonel erupted in fury, "Tell me or I'll burn you alive, along with this godforsaken house!"
The boy cracked.
"Alright, they're not visiting anyone!" He said fearfully.
"See if Livingston and Dryden found anything, Captain." Ordered Col. Tavington.
"Yes Sir."
I found Livingston and Dryden in one of the bedchambers. Dryden had indeed, found a little boy, hidden in one of the wardrobes.
"We thoroughly searched this level, but found nothing else, Sir." Said David Livingston.
I nodded. Then Aric Dryden asked cautiously, "Will Col. Tavington kill the boy I found, even if he is only four years of age?"
"Atrocities happen in war." I answered.
The two men and I brought the little boy downstairs, where Col. Tavington was waiting.
"He was all you found?" Asked the colonel.
"Yes Sir." Replied Dryden.
"Then, Captain, tell the dragoons to take the horses from the barn and then burn it, along with the outbuildings. However, before you do this gather the rest of the dragoons in the house and take them with you; I'm sure they didn't find anything, or they would have reported it to me by now."
"Yes Sir." I replied. "Is there anything else?"
"Only that I want Livingston and Dryden to remain here with me."
I nodded.
"Very well Sir."
"And Captain, don't take too much time burning the barns and outbuildings; the house needs burning and our two new recruits still need to prove themselves to the dragoons."
"Yes Sir."
After the dragoons finished burning the outbuildings, I ordered them to burn the barn. Cries of terror hung in the air from the animals in the barn as it went up in flames however, there was the distinct sound of human cries amongst them.
I led the dragoons back to the plantation house, where Col. Tavington was waiting.
"Sir, I believe the rest of the family was in the barn." I said.
"They were; the eldest of the two boys we found confirmed shortly after you left, that they were there."
"Really, is that so?"
"Yes, he didn't feel very enthusiastic about watching his brother be stabbed with a dagger, so he gave me more information."
"I see."
"However, I've decided to shoot the elder one after the house burns; he is no longer of any use to me."
I nodded and Col. Tavington and I went outside, where the rest of the dragoons were waiting, including Dryden and Livingston, who were holding the two boys, should they try anything.
"Livingston, cast your torch upon the house." Said Col. Tavington. "When he's finished, the rest of you cast your torches. Once you're finished, take out another torch and light it."
Livingston hesitated upon this order.
"Must I shoot you to get you to listen to me! Cast your torch upon the house, fool!" Snapped Col. Tavington.
Livingston thrust his torch upon the house. Then the rest of the dragoons followed suit.
As the house was being torched, the eldest boy who was being held by Livingston, bit him. Livingston let out a yelp and let go of him. The boy began to run.
"Shoot him, Livingston!" Ordered Col. Tavington.
"Sir…" Said Livingston questioningly.
"Now." Said the colonel in a deadly voice, pointing his pistol at Livingston's heart.
Livingston took out his pistol and shot the boy in the head, killing him instantly.
"Leave the younger one here." Ordered Col. Tavington. "Move out."
"Won't he freeze Sir?" Asked Dryden.
"I don't care if he freezes, he's a bloody rebel, Dryden!" Snapped the colonel. "And why do you still have your torch in your hand?"
"I…."
"Obey my orders and throw it upon the house!"
"Yes Sir." Mumbled Dryden.
"You and Livingston won't be killed when we arrived at the estate because I'm not in the mood however, I will flog you." Said the colonel irately.
We left the inferno at a gallop, raiding about seven more houses before we returned back to camp. Once there, Col. Tavington stripped Livingston and Dryden of their waistcoats, vests, and shirts. Then he proceeded to find the best whip in camp and whipped their backs until one couldn't tell where one cut began and another ended. When he was finished, he handed the two men their belongings and dismissed them to their tents. After that, Col. Tavington and I rode back to the estate.