I know not how to set down properly such a narrative as this, and, therefore, should be excused for such mistakes as may occur through ignorance and inexperience.
It is with the attack upon Georgetown that I must end this portion of the adventures which befell Percy and myself during the time we served under General Marion, and it may be the story should be continued straight on without any heed whatsoever to those who fought with us, although in the same squad.
Whether it be right or wrong, I cannot well neglect to speak of the part played by that other party of twenty who volunteered their lives as eagerly as did we who followed Captain Melton, and what I write [239] concerning them must, of course, be from hearsay.
Therefore it seems to me proper to tell first the story of Colonel Horry's squad, as I have heard it related again and again, before attempting to set down that which I know of my own knowledge.
When the forty volunteers were divided into two squads there was no time lost, as I have already said, in setting forward upon that mission which we believed could be fully accomplished only through the sacrifice of us all, and we parted at the limits of the temporary halting place, Captain Melton leading his force to the right, while Colonel Horry began the reconnoiter by bearing to the left.
As to what befell the first squad, this is as I have heard it related:
They continued on through the woods until near to daybreak, when, as Colonel Horry himself has said, and I am now quoting from his official account, he "laid an ambuscade, with my twenty men, near [240] the road. About sunrise a chair appeared with two ladies escorted by two British officers. I was ready in advance with an officer to cut them off, but reflecting that they might escape, and alarm the town, which would prevent my taking greater numbers, I desisted. The officers and chair halted very near me, but soon the chair went on, and the officers galloped into the town. Our party continued in ambush until 10 o'clock.
"Nothing appearing, and we having eaten nothing for many hours, retired to a plantation not far distant, where I knew were to be found friends. As soon as I entered the house four ladies appeared, two of whom were Mrs. White and her daughter. I was asked what I wanted. I answered, food, refreshment. The other two ladies were those whom I had seen escorted by the British officers.
"The strange ladies seemed greatly agitated, and begged most earnestly that I would go away. I kept my eye on Mrs. [241] White, and saw she had a smiling countenance, but said nothing. Soon she left the room, and I left it also and went into the piazza, laid my cap, sword and pistols on the long bench, and walked the piazza; when I discovered Mrs. White behind the house chimney beckoning me.
"I got to her undiscovered by the young ladies, when she said: 'Colonel Horry, be on your guard; these two young ladies are just from Georgetown; they are much frightened, and I believe the British are leaving it and may soon attack you. As to provisions, I have plenty in yonder barn, but you must affect to take them by force.'
"I begged her to say no more, for I was well acquainted with all such matters. We both secretly returned, she to the room where the young ladies were, and I to the piazza I had just left."
The colonel had no more than gained this point, when the sentinels gave an alarm. [242]
Two musket-shots told him that an enemy was near at hand, and almost immediately afterward the firing became so rapid that he knew an encounter was already begun.
That brave officer thought only of his men, and so nearly were the interests of the squad allied, that he forgot all else save the desire to be with them in the time of danger.
He rushed into the fight, forgetting to take with him even his saber—intent only on being with those who had so well proven their devotion to the Cause.
The British were seventeen in number, well armed, and commanded by a brave fellow named Merritt; but they were taken by surprise.
The redcoats retreated, but turned in their flight to strike a blow, and our men, believing they had been ordered on even to death, pursued with fatal earnestness.
Of the enemy's force only two men escaped death or capture, and one of these [243] was the captain, of whom Colonel Horry writes:
"My men in succession came up with Captain Merritt, who was in the rear of his party, urging them forward. They engaged him. He was a brave fellow. Baxter, with pistols, fired at his breast, and missing him, retired; Postell and Greene, with swords, engaged him; both were beaten off. Greene nearly lost his head. His buckskin breeches were cut through several inches. I almost blush to say that this one British officer beat off three Americans. Merritt escaped to a neighboring swamp, from whence, at midnight, he got to Georgetown."
I would it were possible for me to give as brief an account, with as satisfactory an ending, regarding our portion of the reconnoiter.
As has been said, after crossing White's Bridge the two squads separated, Colonel Horry's going toward the left and ours to the right. [244]
Then it was, as we rode on slowly, mentally nerved for anything which might happen and fully expecting sharp and bloody work at any instant, that Gabriel Marion said, looking first at Percy and then at me:
"Perhaps it will never again be our good fortune, comrades, to have such an opportunity of proving our metal as has come to us this night. Now I am in nowise eager for death; but to my mind there is little fear that the end be near at hand. Although the odds are so strongly against us, we shall take this post of Georgetown, and I believe it because my uncle, the major, is a careful, prudent soldier, never taking upon himself chances that are utterly without hope, although many times the fact may have seemed to be the reverse. We shall capture Georgetown, comrades, and if either of us fails to come out alive, we have the proud satisfaction of knowing that whatsoever befalls the Cause our names must live among [245] those who volunteered everything for freedom."
"I hold to it that this is not the time for such speeches," Gavin Witherspoon said nervously; and had I not known him to be a man of tried courage I should have said that at that moment he was afraid. "These forty men who came forward so gallantly understood full well in what kind of an adventure they were engaged. It does not prove that his courage is the greatest who speaks overly much regarding the future."
"Meaning by such speech, that I had best hold my tongue," Gabriel said with a laugh. "Perhaps you may be right, and yet there is upon me the inclination to speak of what we have ventured, in order that I may be the better able to appreciate life after it has been offered as a sacrifice and refused."
"I guarantee that once we are come out from this expedition, you will need no thought of the past to make you understand [246] that we rode down the very shadow of death, when we crossed yonder bridge, and this I say, not because there is in my mind any foreknowledge of the future, but from what I know regarding the enemy. I realize, without being told, that ours is as desperate an undertaking as men can well imagine."
"I am thinking that your words, Gavin Witherspoon, are as ill-timed as were Gabriel's, for while he spoke of what might be our reward, you are weighing, as it were, the chances against us, and to my mind it is not pleasant," Percy said with an attempt at cheerfulness which I knew full well was forced, and, stepping nearer to the lad, I grasped his hand, an act which, perhaps, gave him as much encouragement as was in my mind to impart.
Gabriel continued to speak of the future, as if he had no part in the present, until word came that each man must hold himself silent because we were come so near [247] the town that there was good reason for believing the enemy's sentinels might be close at hand.
We straggled on, each as he pleased, although there was some little show of military formation. Captain Melton was allowed to remain in the lead as he had stipulated, but we four comrades took good care not to fall back more than two or three paces, for we were minded to bear the brunt of the first encounter.
I had never before known what it was to advance against an enemy on foot, and the fact of being without a horse gave me a certain sense of uneasiness.
So far as we of these two advanced squads were concerned, there could be no sudden dash; no spurring forward into the very midst of the enemy. We must fight our way forward slowly, and, as it seemed to me, at a disadvantage.
However, it is true that my courage did not fail me, although my hand trembled with excitement, and my mouth was [248] parched and dry as if I had been many hours without water.
Gabriel had just thrown his arm over my shoulder, to show the affection which was in his heart for us all, when the thud of horses' hoofs directly in the front told that the enemy were on the alert.
Instantly we were halted, every man in a posture of defense, and I venture to say that there was not one among us who did not wish he was in the saddle.
"Hold steady, boys!" Captain Melton whispered. "Yonder comes the patrol, and it may be they will turn before coming as far as this; but if not, we have our work cut out for us. The enemy must not pass this point lest our friends in the rear be discovered!"
Involuntarily we four had crouched upon our knees in such position that we c............