Thanks to JScorpio for her suggestions for this chapter.
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As Charlotte Tavington watched William and Ban Tarleton lead the long column of dragoons out of the fort, with Captains Bordon and Wilkins side by side behind them, Mary Miller came to stand beside her to watch the procession depart. Soldiers on foot followed the cavalrymen, with a smaller detachment of dragoons bringing up the rear, led by Major George Hanger.
Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled faintly in the distance as the women continued to watch soldiers exit the fort. Dusk had turned into evening as the coral and violet sky created by the setting sun deepened into a purplish blue by the time the gates closed behind the last men to leave the fort.
"I believe it's going to rain," Charlotte observed as she pulled a handkerchief from her pocket to mop her damp forehead.
"It's been so humid lately that I'd not be surprised if it did," Mary agreed. "Rain would be a real blessing right now."
Both women wore shortgowns with their petticoats, rather than the more dressy robe a l'anglaise gowns in order to try to stay a bit cooler in the broiling August temperatures. Unfortunately, it was only a slight respite from the oppressive heat.
Looking up again at the ominous sky after a flash of lightning, Mary said, "I hate to think of the men out in the rain. It's bad enough, they decided to travel at night, now they'll be wet, too."
"It's better for them to move at night in the summer," Charlotte told the other woman. "It's not quite so hot then and they can make better progress. Remember, they're wearing wool uniforms."
"You're right," Mary conceded. "And I can't imagine wearing the buckskin breeches the dragoons sometimes wear when it's as hot as its been lately."
"William told me that leather breeches help keep their legs from being torn up when they're passing through heavy underbrush," Charlotte said. "He said it's well worth wearing them."
"I see you've asked the Colonel a lot about his job," Mary said, laughing. "You seem to know quite a bit about being a dragoon."
"I've always believed that it's good for a wife to take a sincere interest in what her husband does," Charlotte opined. "It tend to bring a couple closer together when a husband knows his wife supports him."
"That's true," Mary agreed.
"And, besides," Charlotte confided, "I'm truly interested. I think if I'd been born a man, I would have liked to have been a dragoon."
"It does sound exciting," the other woman ventured. "Much more exciting than being a foot soldier and plodding through the mud."
A loud clap of thunder, followed by large droplets of rain pelting down interrupted their conversation.
Both women lifted their petticoats above their ankles, then rushed up the steps of the main house to the veranda, with Mary urging Susan along.
"Whew, we just made it," Mary said, shivering, as they reached the top of the steps just as a heavy downpour commenced.
"Let's stay out here for awhile," Charlotte suggested. "I just love to watch a thunderstorm." Inhaling deeply, she added, "Everything smells so fresh when it rains, plus it's much cooler out here than it would be back in our respective rooms."
"That's for certain," Mary said. "Our rooms have been like an oven for the last few days, even late at night with the windows open."
"Mother, may I take off my shoes and go splashing in the rain?" Susan asked, a hopeful expression on her face.
"I think not, dear," Mary said, frowning. "It's not safe with the lightning." Pointing to a bench on far end of the veranda, she said, "Why don't you go sit down and watch the storm from there.?"
After the little girl obeyed and was out of earshot, Mary turned to Charlotte and murmured in a tremulous voice, "My flux finally came this morning. I'm not with child!"
"Oh, I'm so relieved," Charlotte said, smiling. "I knew the possibility was weighing heavily on your mind these last couple of weeks."
"I want to be able to put that ugly business behind me," Mary said quietly. "And now I'll be able to do that in time."
Putting a hand on Charlotte's arm, she confided, "I'm not sure what I would have done if I'd conceived. I don't know if I would have ever been able to love a child conceived in violence. I was of a mind to give the baby away to a childless couple if I'd ended up with child."
She turned away from the other woman, almost ashamed of the feelings she'd admitted.
"There's nothing to be ashamed of," Charlotte reassured her. "I've never been in your shoes, but I think I would have wanted to do the same thing if it had happened to me."
"Pray to God that you never know what it's like to be in my shoes," Mary stated vehemently. "It's not something I'd wish on my worst enemy."
The women fell silent for a few moments as they leaned against the railing while they continued to watch the lightning flash and listen to the thunder boom, now at increasingly longer intervals.
Looking over at Susan, Mary said, "Look, Susan's fallen asleep. Even when she was a baby, a thunderstorm would always lull her to sleep. It's uncanny, really."
Charlotte sighed at the mention of Susan as a baby. "I can't wait to watch my own baby sleep," she said dreamily. "It's something I've longed for ever since losing my first baby."
Noting Charlotte's pensive expression, Mary said, "And you will, sooner than you know."
"I just hope this baby lives," Charlotte told her. "It's something I worry about."
"You must have faith," Mary said firmly. "There's no reason to think you won't have a healthy baby. You're in good health, so your baby should be as well. And Colonel Tavington is so robust and strong; I can't imagine that any child of his could possibly be born sickly."
Charlotte laughed, then smiled at the mention of her husband. "You do have a point."
Glancing again at Susan, Mary confided, "I always wanted to have more children, but after Thomas nearly died with a fever shortly after Susan's birth, I never conceived any others."
"You're still a young woman," Charlotte pointed out. "Before long, you'll want to remarry and I'm sure you'll have more children then."
"I know I'll need to remarry sooner rather than later," Mary said slowly. "Susan needs a father, and I need the support and companionship of a man. Thomas wouldn't have wanted me to become a martyr and grieve for him forever."
"Well, there's certainly no lack of eligible bachelors here at the fort," Charlotte pointed out.
"That's for certain," Mary said, blushing.
Smiling broadly, Charlotte asked, "Are there any who have caught your eye yet?"
"Wellllll, Captain Bordon seems quite nice," Mary admitted shyly. "He's been quite helpful to me since I've been at the fort." After a moment, she added, "And I think he's rather handsome; so tall with those nice broad shoulders. His eyes are also a lively shade of green…"
"Been gazing into his eyes already, have you?" Charlotte teased. "I've noticed him looking at you several times as well. I think he's quite smitten with you."
"Is he really?" Mary demanded eagerly.
"Oh, yes, I'm sure of it." Charlotte insisted. "You give him any encouragement and he'll be courting you seriously. Mark my words."
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"I don't know what's worse: being soaked with rain or being soaked in sweat," Banastre Tarleton complained to William Tavington as they led the dragoon column down the dark, muddy road as the rain came down in torrents.
"How about being soaked in rain AND sweat?" Tavington said, smirking. "But I suppose I'd choose being soaked with rain - at least we smell better that way. And the storm has made it noticeably cooler."
"But it's still terribly humid," Tarleton pointed out.
"And muddy," Wilkins put in. "If the rain keeps up much longer, it will be a real quagmire."
"If it's like any of the other thunderstorms we've had recently, it shouldn't," Tavington said reasonably. "I can't imagine it will last much longer."
"Bordon!" Tarleton called out suddenly, looking behind him. "Are you awake back there?"
Bordon hadn't said much since leaving the fort. He'd been thinking of Mary wishing him luck then watching him as he'd left the fort with the other dragoons. He wondered if she was thinking of him now and was glad she was somewhere where it was safe and dry.
"Err, ah, I'm awake," Bordon finally replied. "I was thinking of the battle ahead and wondering which dragoon units we'll be dealing with."
Tavington turned his head and gave Bordon a knowing look. He knew what his junior officer had really been thinking about, but decided to let it pass, as he knew that Bordon wasn't ready to declare his intentions toward Mary Miller just yet.
"The Lord General said it would be Armand's Legion," Tavington told him. "I don't believe we've ever fought them before."
"We'll make short work of them just as I did with Billy Washington's dragoons at Moncks Corner," Ban Tarleton vowed. "There's not a rebel dragoon unit that can equal my dragoons or yours, Tavington."
"It should be easy work," Tavington agreed. "We've also got some of the best infantry units in the entire army with us, which should help us to give those rebel upstarts a good thrashing."
The four dragoons fell silent then, each returning to their own private thoughts. They'd be riding all night in unpleasant weather, so they wanted to preserve as much energy as possible for the battle ahead.
As the rain began to abate a short time later, William Tavington's thoughts returned to Charlotte and the news of their impending parenthood:
"Bloody inconvenient to have to go and fight a battle now. I find out just today that I'm to become a father and then I have to leave Charlotte the very same night. Damned rebels.
I know she's concerned about whether our baby will be born healthy because of her first baby. I don't imagine she'll really stop worrying until she holds him in her arms. But I didn't expect her to get pregnant so soon after our wedding, though I probably shouldn't be so surprised, considering the reputation we Tavington men have for virility. She's worrying for nothing - I'll bet we'll have a houseful of children in ten years' time."
As Tavington was mentally congratulating himself for his own virility, Banastre Tarleton's mind was also wandering:
"Why did Gates have to pick tonight to start moving toward Camden? He's been dawdling for weeks in Charlotte and he has to start moving in the middle of a bloody thunderstorm!
I finally get enough blunt together to get a good card game going, so I can win some back that I've lost recently, and I end up having to go out to teach the rebels a lesson yet again. What's the matter with them? Are they all feeble-minded? Didn't they learn their lesson the many other times I've trounced them? Well, at least all the men who would have been in the game tonight are out here slogging through the mud as well.
And I'm not any happier about not getting any tail tonight. I had three of them waiting for me tonight! Ah, well, they'll still be there when I get back. And maybe I'll find a willing miss to roger in Camden. I always find amiable women wherever I go, that's for sure."
Looking over at Tavington riding beside him, Ban's mind turned to the Tavingtons' happy news:
"Tavington's really shackled now! First, he actually gets married, then he gets careless and his wife gets pregnant! Better him than me, though. I'm very lucky not to have sired any by-blows since I've been here in the Colonies - none that I know of, at least."
James Bordon was also deep in thought as the dragoon column proceeded onward:
"I hated to leave Mary tonight. I finally am given an excuse to spend some extended time with her and we end up getting called away to a battle! What bloody rotten luck! But I think she likes me, at least a little. When she told Wilkins and I good luck and to come back safely, she was looking at me and not him when she said it. I hope this battle doesn't take long and that we give the rebels a devil of a whipping, so that I can get back to the fort as quickly as possible to see Mary. Heaven help me; I am completely besotted with that woman!"
James Wilkins, however, was not ruminating as his fellow officers were. He was exhausted from having paid a visit to the camp followers' tents before going to the Tavingtons' congratulatory dinner. Now that the rain had slacked off, he'd been lulled to sleep by the regular movement of his horse's trotting and was now dozing in the saddle, as were several of the dragoons around him. The horses, however, simply followed the group, not allowing their riders to go astray.
A few hours later, not long before dawn, the two Colonels called for a short rest period, as they knew that Gates' army could not be much further ahead. They were already a couple of miles north of Camden, and expected to encounter the vanguard of his army before too long. The rain had stopped quite some time ago, and it was now foggy and misty as well as muggy.
As the four officers dismounted to stretch their legs, other dragoons checked their weapons, tended to any last minute needs their horses might have, with several going off into the brush to answer the call of nature. Some ate what little food they'd brought with them.
Within fifteen minutes, they were on their way again. A group of lower ranking dragoons moved ahead of the officers to take the point as Tavington gave the signal to move out.
A couple of miles later, as the half-light of dawn filtered through the trees. Tavington heard the crack of a pistol's report ahead. As he and Tarleton moved closer to investigate, they saw the dim forms of dragoons approaching from the other direction.
"It seems as if we've found Gates' army," Tarleton pointed out, as shots from more pistols and carbines were heard.
"They must be Armand's dragoons," Tavington replied, as he noted the uniforms they wore.
"Let's get 'em, Will!" Tarleton exclaimed. "Let's charge - they'll never know what hit them!"
"I agree," Tavington agreed. "Let's go!"
After both men each raised a hand to give their men the signal to charge, the British dragoons of both units thundered ahead to confront the enemy horsemen.
For several long minutes, it was a jumbled melee of fighting, with sabres swinging and flashing in the early morning light, accompanied by the occasional crack of pistol and carbine fire. Within a short time, Tavington's and Tarleton's men had driven most of Armand's dragoons back, through superiority of both numbers and skill.
"Yes!" Tarleton crowed, pumping his fist in the air. "Keep after them, boys!"
After cutting one man down with his sabre, Tavington turned to see Bordon far ahead struggling to fight two rebel dragoons and having a bad time of it. He spurred his horse to go to Bordon's aid, but before he could reach his second in command, one of the rebel horsemen lunged and impaled Bordon through the right shoulder. Just as quickly he yanked his sabre out, toppling the British dragoon from his horse.
By this time, Tavington had reached Bordon to confront the enemy dragoons, with Wilkins coming in from the other side. Both of the rebels turned to beat a hasty retreat, after belatedly noticing that most of their comrades in arms had already fled and the two British dragoons were rapidly closing on them.
But it was too late for them. Almost as if they'd choreographed it beforehand, Tavington swung his sabre at the dragoon who'd injured Bordon, impaling him through the chest, while Wilkins did likewise with the other horsemen.
After yanking his sabre out of the enemy soldier's chest, Tavington used the sabre along with his foot to shove the man off his horse, then grabbed the reins. Wilkins did likewise, after which the two dragoons rushed back to where Bordon sprawled on the ground, each leading a plundered horse.
"Do you think you can mount?" Tavington asked Bordon, who was now sitting up, bracing himself with his good arm.
"I think, so, sir," Bordon replied. "I broke my wrist when I fell, but I'm lucky that the rebel bastard wasn't that good of a swordsman. He missed the bone and I'm fairly certain he missed the big artery, if the amount of blood I'm producing is any indication." Wincing visibly as he got to his feet shakily, he added, "But I believe I'll need a bit of assistance."
As Bordon used his uninjured hand to grab onto his patiently waiting horse, Tavington gave him a boost from behind, while Wilkins grabbed onto his uniform from the other side. Between the three men's efforts, Bordon was soon seated upon his horse once again.
At that moment, gunfire erupted from the woods, which turned out to be coming from rebel infantry.
Tavington gave the order to fall back and let the infantry come through to deal with the enemy foot soldiers, while the dragoons regrouped to stand in reserve to wait until they were needed again. The three dragoons hurried to the rear, along with the rest of the dragoons, with Tavington and Wilkins flanking the injured Bordon to make sure he made it back safely.
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Historical Notes:
See my companion blog entry, "Charlotte's and Mary's Summer Clothes" to see images of a shortgown and a robe a l'anglaise. My blog can be accessed through a link in my profile.
During the Southern Campaign, troops often did move at night for the reasons Charlotte gave. Likewise, dragoons often also wore leather breeches for the reasons given.
Armand's Legion, was a Continental unit comprised of both cavalry and infantry, just as Tarleton's Legion was. It contained mainly foreign volunteers and was commanded by a Frenchman, Charles Armand Tuffin, marquis de la Rouërie. He was commonly known as "Colonel Armand" while serving in this war. Armand's Legion saw action in the battles of Camden, Guilford Courthouse, and Yorktown.
"Blunt" is 18th century slang for money.
Lt. Colonel William Washington, who was George Washington's second cousin, was Tarleton's opposite number in several battles during the Southern Campaign. Banastre Tarleton did indeed soundly defeat forces at Moncks Corner, capturing 400 dragoon horses and a hundred men. William Washington fled for his life through the swamps nearby.
It was not uncommon for dragoons to doze in the saddle when on a long march, just as Captain Wilkins did.
The skirmish between the two opposing dragoon units that preceded the main Battle of Camden is true and went down pretty much as I described it.