Elsie Yachting with the Raymonds Read online

  CHAPTER II.

  "You may take us now to Frazer's grave," Captain Raymond said to thedriver as they re-entered their carriage after a cordial good-by andliberal gift to their young guide.

  "Please tell us something more about Frazer, Papa, won't you?"requested Lulu.

  "Willingly," returned her father. "Frazer was a brave and skilfulofficer; made brigadier-general for America only, by Carleton, in June,1776. He helped to drive the Americans out of Canada in that year.Burgoyne chose him to command the light brigade which formed the rightwing of the British army, so that he was constantly in the advance.In the fight of October 7th he made a conspicuous figure, dressed inthe full uniform of a field-officer, mounted on a splendid iron-graygelding, and exerting himself to encourage and cheer on his men. Morgansaw how important he was to the British cause, pointed him out to hissharpshooters, and bade them cut him off. 'That gallant officer,' hesaid, 'is General Frazer. I admire and honour him; but it is necessaryhe should die, because victory for the enemy depends upon him. Takeyour stations in that clump of bushes, and do your duty!' They obeyed,and in five minutes Frazer fell mortally wounded, and was carried fromthe field by two grenadiers. Only a few moments before he was hit, thecrupper of his horse was cut by a rifle-ball, and directly afterwardanother passed through the horse's mane, a little back of his ears.Then his _aide_ said, 'General, it is evident that you are marked outfor particular aim; would it not be prudent for you to retire from thisplace?' 'My duty forbids me to retire from danger,' Frazer answered;and the next moment he fell. That is Lossing's account; and he goes onto say that Morgan has been censured for the order by some persons,professing to understand the rules of war, as guilty of a highlydishonourable act; also by others, who gloat over the horrid details ofthe slaying of thousands of humble rank-and-file men as deeds worthyof a shout for glory, and have no tears to shed for the slaughteredones, but affect to shudder at such a cold-blooded murder of an officeron the battle-field. But, as Lossing justly remarks, the life of anofficer is no dearer to himself, his wife, and children, than that of aprivate to his, and that the slaying of Frazer probably saved the livesof hundreds of common soldiers."

  "Yes, Papa," returned Max, thoughtfully; "and so I think Morgandeserves all praise for giving that order to his men. If Frazer didnot want to lose his life, he should not have come here to help crushout liberty in this country."

  "Papa, do you think he hated the Americans?" asked Lulu.

  "No, I presume not; his principal motive in coming here and takingan active part in the war was probably to make a name for himself asa brave and skilful officer,--at least, so I judge from his dyingexclamation, 'Oh, fatal ambition!'"

  "How different he was from our Washington," exclaimed Max. "He seemedto want nothing for himself, and sought only his country's good. Papa,it does seem to me that Washington was the greatest mere man historytells of."

  "I think so," responded the Captain; "he seems to have been so entirelyfree from selfishness, ambition, and pride. And yet he had enemies anddetractors, even among those who wished well to the cause for which hewas doing so much."

  "Such a burning shame!" cried Lulu, her eyes flashing. "Was Gates oneof them, Papa?"

  "Yes; to his shame, be it said, he was. He treated Washington with muchdisrespect, giving him no report whatever of the victory at Saratoga.It was not until early in November that he wrote at all to thecommander-in-chief, and then merely mentioned the matter incidentally.In that month Gates was made president of the new Board of War andOrdnance, and during the following winter he joined with what is knownas the 'Conway cabal' in an effort to supplant Washington in the chiefcommand of the army."

  "What a wretch!" exclaimed Lulu. "It would have been a very bad thingfor our cause if he had succeeded,--wouldn't it, Papa?"

  "Without doubt," answered the Captain; "for though Gates had some verygood qualities, he was far from being fit to fill the position held byWashington."

  "He wasn't a good Christian man, like Washington, was he, Papa?" sheasked.

  "No, not by any means at that time, though it is said--I hope withtruth--that he afterward became one. He was arrogant, untruthful, andhad an overweening confidence in his own ability. Yet he had some nobletraits; he emancipated his slaves, and provided for those who wereunable to take care of themselves. Also, he was, it is said, a good andaffectionate husband and father."

  "Papa, wasn't it known whose shot killed Frazer?" queried Max.

  "Yes; it was that of a rifleman named Timothy Murphy. He was posted ina small tree, took deliberate aim, and saw Frazer fall. Frazer, too,told some one he saw the man who shot him, and that he was in a tree.Murphy was one of Morgan's surest shots."

  "I should think he must always have felt badly about it, only that heknew he did it to help save his country," said Lulu.

  "It seemed to be necessary for the salvation of our country," repliedher father; "and no doubt that thought prevented Murphy's consciencefrom troubling him."

  "Didn't the Americans at first fire on the funeral procession, Papa?"asked Lulu.

  "Yes; but ceased as soon as they understood the nature of thegathering, and at regular intervals the solemn boom of a single cannonwas heard along the valley. It was a minute-gun, fired by the Americansin honour of their fallen foe, the gallant dead. Ah, here we are at hisgrave!" added the Captain, as horses and vehicle came to a standstilland the carriage-door was thrown open.

  They alighted and walked about the grave and its monument, pausing toread the inscription on the latter.

  "Though an enemy to our country, he was a gallant man, a brave and goodsoldier," remarked the Captain, reflectively.

  "Yes, Papa; and I can't help feeling sorry for him," said Lulu. "Isuppose he had to obey his king's orders of course; he couldn't wellhelp it, and probably he had no real hatred to the people of thiscountry. It does seem hard that he had to die and be buried so far awayfrom all he loved."

  "Yes," said Max; "but he had to be killed to save our country, since hewould use his time and talents in trying to help reduce her to slavery.I'm sorry for him, too; but as he would put his talents to so wrong ause, there was no choice but to kill him,--isn't that so, Papa?"

  "I think so," replied the Captain; "but it was a great pity. Frazer wasa brave officer, idolized by his own men, and respected by even hisenemies."

  "It seems sad he should lie buried so far away from all he loved,--allhis own people; and in a strange land, too. But he could hardly lie ina lovelier spot, I think," remarked Lulu; "the hills, the mountains,the beautiful river, the woods, the fields, and these tall twinpine-trees standing like sentinels beside his grave,--oh I think itis just lovely! I think he showed excellent taste in his choice of aburial-place."

  "Yes, nice place enough to lie in, if one could only be on top of theground and able to see what it's like," came in hollow tones, seeminglyfrom the grave.

  The Captain glanced at his son with a slightly amused smile.

  Lulu was startled for an instant; then, with a little laugh, as herfather took her hand and led her back to the waiting carriage, "Oh,Maxie, that was almost too bad, though he was an enemy to our country!"she exclaimed.

  "I wouldn't have done it if I'd thought it would hurt his feelings,"returned Max, in a tone of mock regret; "but I really didn't supposehe'd know or care anything about it."

  "Where now, sir?" asked the driver as the Captain handed Lulu to herseat.

  "To the Schuyler mansion," was the reply.

  "Oh, I'm glad we're going there!" exclaimed Lulu. "I've always likedeverything I've heard about General Schuyler; and I'll be ever so gladto see the house he used to live in."

  "It isn't the same house that Burgoyne caroused in the night after thebattle of Bemis Heights, is it, Papa?" asked Max.

  "No; that was burned by Burgoyne's orders a few days later," repliedthe Captain.

  "And when was this one built?" asked Lulu.

  "That is a disputed point," said her father. "Some say it was shortlyafter the s
urrender in 1777; others, not until soon after the peace of1783."

  "Anyhow it was General Schuyler's house, and so we'll be glad to seeit," she said. "Papa, is it on the exact spot where the other--thefirst one--was? The one Burgoyne caroused in, I mean."

  "They say not, quite; that it stands a little to the west of where thefirst one did."

  "But General Schuyler owned and lived in it, which makes it almost, ifnot quite, as well worth seeing as the first one would have been," saidMax.

  "Yes," assented the Captain. "It was on his return from Bemis Heightsthat Burgoyne took possession of the mansion for his headquarters;that was on the evening of the 9th of October. His troops, who hadbeen marching through mud, water, and rain for the last twenty-fourhours, with nothing to eat, encamped unfed on the wet ground nearSchuylerville, while he and his cronies feasted and enjoyed themselvesas though the sufferings of the common soldiery were nothing to them."

  "Wasn't that the night before the day the Baroness Riedesel went to theMarshall place?" queried Max.

  "Yes," replied his father. "Her husband, General Riedesel, and others,urgently remonstrated against the unnecessary and imprudent delay,and counselled hasty retreat; but Burgoyne would not listen to theirprudent advice. While the storm beat upon his hungry, weary soldierslying without on the rain-soaked ground, he and his mates held highcarnival within, spending the night in merry-making, drinking, andcarousing."

  "What a foolish fellow!" said Max. "I wonder that he didn't ratherspend it in slipping away from the Americans through the darkness andstorm."

  "Or in getting ready to fight them again the next day," added Lulu.

  "I think there was fighting the next day,--wasn't there, Papa?" saidMax.

  "Yes; though not a regular battle. Burgoyne was attempting aretreat, which the Americans, constantly increasing in numbers, werepreventing,--destroying bridges, obstructing roads leading northward,and guarding the river to the eastward, so that the British troopscould not cross it without exposure to a murderous artillery fire. Atlast, finding his provisions nearly exhausted, himself surrounded bymore than five times his own number of troops, and all his positionscommanded by his enemy's artillery, the proud British generalsurrendered."

  "And it was a great victory,--wasn't it, Papa?" asked Lulu.

  "It was, indeed! and God, the God of our fathers, gave it to theAmerican people. The time was one of the great crises of history.Before that battle things looked very dark for the people of thisland; and if Burgoyne had been victorious, the probability is that thestruggle for liberty would have been given up for no one knows howlong. Perhaps we might have been still subject to England."

  "And that would be dreadful!" she exclaimed with warmth,--"wouldn't it,Max?"

  "Yes, indeed!" he assented, his cheek flushing, and his eye kindling;"the idea of this great country being governed by that bit of an islandaway across the sea! I just feel sometimes as if I'd like to havehelped with the fight."

  "In that case," returned his father, with an amused look, "you wouldhardly be here now; or, if you were, you would be old enough to be mygrandfather."

  "Then I'm glad I wasn't, sir," laughed Max; "for I'd rather be your sonby a great deal. Papa, wasn't it about that time the stars and stripeswere first used?"

  "No, my son; there was at least one used before that," the Captainsaid with a half smile,--"at Fort Schuyler, which was attacked by St.Leger with his band of British troops, Canadians, Indians, and Tories,early in the previous August. The garrison was without a flag when theenemy appeared before it, but soon supplied themselves by their owningenuity, tearing shirts into strips to make the white stripes andstars, joining bits of scarlet cloth for the red stripes, and using ablue cloth cloak, belonging to one of the officers, as the groundworkfor the stars. Before sunset it was waving in the breeze over one ofthe bastions of the fort, and no doubt its makers gazed upon it withpride and pleasure."

  "Oh, that was nice!" exclaimed Lulu. "But I don't remember about thefighting at that fort. Did St. Leger take it, Papa?"

  "No; the gallant garrison held out against him till Arnold came totheir relief. The story is a very interesting one; but I must reserveit for another time, as we are now nearing Schuyler's mansion."

  The mansion was already in sight, and in a few moments their carriagehad drawn up in front of it. They were politely received, and shown anumber of interesting relics.

  The first thing that attracted their attention was an artisticarrangement of arms on the wall fronting the great front door.

  "Oh, what are those?" Lulu asked in eager tones, her eyes fixed uponthem in an intensely interested way. "Please, sir, may I go and look atthem?" addressing the gentleman who had received them and now invitedthem to walk in.

  "Yes, certainly," he answered with a smile, and leading the way."This," he said, touching the hilt of a sword, "was carried at thebattle of Bennington by an _aide_ of General Stark. This other sword,and this musket and cartridge-box, belonged to John Strover, and werecarried by him in the battles of the Revolution."

  "Valuable and interesting souvenirs," remarked Captain Raymond.

  They were shown other relics of those troublous times,--shells, grape,knee and shoe buckles, grubbing-hooks, and other things that had beenpicked up on the place in the years that had elapsed since the strugglefor independence. But what interested Max and Lulu still more than anyof these was a beautiful teacup, from which, as the gentleman toldthem, General Washington, while on a visit to General Schuyler, haddrunk tea made from a portion of one of those cargoes of Boston harbourfame.

  "That cup must be very precious, sir," remarked Lulu, gazing admiringlyat it. "If it were mine, money couldn't buy it from me."

  "No," he returned pleasantly; "and I am sure you would never haverobbed us, as some vandal visitor did not long ago, of a saucer andplate belonging to the same set."

  "No, no, indeed!" she replied with emphasis, and looking quite aghastat the very idea. "Could anybody be so wicked as that?"

  "Somebody was," he said with a slight sigh; "and it has made us feelit necessary to be more careful to whom we show such things. Now let meshow you the burial-place of Thomas Lovelace," he added, leading theway out into the grounds.

  "I don't remember to have heard his story, sir," said Max, as theyall followed in the gentleman's wake; "but I would like to very muchindeed. Papa, I suppose you know all about him."

  "I presume this gentleman can tell the story far better than I,"replied the Captain, with an inquiring look at their guide.

  "I will do my best," he said in reply. "You know, doubtless," with aglance at Max and his sister, "what the Tories of the Revolution were.Some of them were the bitterest foes of their countrymen who werein that fearful struggle for freedom,--wicked men, who cared reallyfor nothing but enriching themselves at the expense of others, andfrom covetousness became as relentless robbers and murderers of theirneighbours and former friends as the very savages of the wilderness.Lovelace was one of these, and had become a terror to the inhabitantsof this his native district of Saratoga. He went to Canada about thebeginning of the war, and there confederated with five other menlike himself to come back to this region and plunder, betray, andabduct those who were struggling for freedom from their Britishoppressors,--old neighbours, for whom he should have felt only pityand kindness, even if he did not see things in just the same lightthat they did. These miscreants had their place of rendezvous in alarge swamp, about five miles from Colonel Van Vetchen's, cunninglyconcealing themselves there. Robberies in that neighbourhood becamefrequent, and several persons were carried off. General Stark, then incommand of the barracks north of Fish Creek, was active and vigilant;and hearing that Lovelace and his men had robbed General Schuyler'shouse, and were planning to carry off Colonel Van Vetchen, frustratedtheir design by furnishing the Colonel with a guard. Then CaptainDunham, who commanded a company of militia in the neighbourhood,hearing of the plans and doings of the marauders, at once summonedhis lieutenant, ensign, orderly, and one p
rivate to his house. Theylaid their plans, waited till dark, then set out for the big swamp,which was three miles distant. There they separated to reconnoitre,and two of them were lost; but the other three kept together, andat dawn came upon the hiding-place of the Tory robbers. They wereup, and just drawing on their stockings. The three Americans crawledcautiously toward them till quite near, then sprang upon a log with ashout, levelled their muskets, and Dunham called out, 'Surrender, oryou are all dead men!' The robbers, thinking the Americans were uponthem in force, surrendered at once, coming out one at a time withouttheir arms, and were marched off to General Stark's camp, and givenup to him as prisoners. They were tried by a court-martial as spies,traitors, and robbers; and Lovelace, who was considered too dangerousto be allowed to escape, was condemned to be hanged. He complained thathis sentence was unjust, and that he should be treated as a prisonerof war; but his claim was disallowed, and he was hanged here amid aviolent storm of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning."

  "They hung him as a spy, did they, sir?" asked Max.

  "As a spy and murderer. He was both; and," pointing out the precisespot, "after his execution he was buried here in a standing posture."

  "And his bones are lying right under here are they, sir?" asked Lulu,shuddering as she glanced down at the spot the gentleman had indicated.

  "No," was the reply; "his bones, and even his teeth, have been carriedoff as relics."

  "Ugh! to want such things as those for relics!" Lulu exclaimed in atone of emphatic disgust.

  "They are certainly not such relics as I would care to have," returnedthe gentleman, with a smile. Then he told the Captain he had shown themeverything he had which could be called a souvenir of the RevolutionaryWar, and with hearty thanks they took their leave.