“What are your thoughts?” Owl asked.
The boy was named Tecumseh and it was understood that he was going to be a chief someday. It was considered good that he would see people who might be his enemy. His uncle was Little Turtle, a Miami chief who had fought against the American rebels. Now, Little Turtle openly wondered which was the better side for the Indians to support? The British were more powerful, apparently, but the rebels simply would not go away.
“The rebel women will fight,” the boy answered. “Not as hard as our women might, but they will fight. But that is not what is important, grandfather, is it?” Owl was not the boy’s grandfather, but it was a mark of respect and affection. “The true question is whether or not they will win. Answer that question and we can decide who to back, can’t we? If we back the right side, perhaps we will win their gratitude and peace within our own land.”
It was still a sore point that the Americans had come and driven away the Indians, primarily the Potawatomi, who’d been living for many generations, in the area now called Liberty. Still, even the angriest among them fully understood that the Indians had no chance of driving away either the Americans or the British without the help of the other side.
The boy smiled. The old man couldn’t see it, but he heard it in the boy’s voice. “But which will it be, grandfather, and just when will we make our decision? Or perhaps we will not back either side?”
The older man smiled and affectionately put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. Yes, he would someday be a good chief.
* * *
This afternoon General Burgoyne was the essence of confidence. Gone were the doubts of the previous night and present was the confidence of a man who believed he possessed overwhelming advantage against an enemy that was inferior in all ways. Today he was a man who felt that destiny had chosen him to succeed where he had failed before.
Perhaps some of his pleasure was derived from the fact that the lakes, while still bitterly cold, were finally clear of ice and that more sailing barges, fully loaded with supplies, had arrived from Oswego. Also, several thousand more men were marching along the Lake Erie coast and still more were coming in from Pitt. Soon the army would be all together and they could commence to move westward. For many-most-it could not come soon enough.
Burgoyne beamed at the half dozen men in the room. Grant, Arnold, and Tarleton were the senior generals present, while Fitzroy sat quietly behind Burgoyne, ready to do his master’s bidding. Two secretaries were ready to scribble notes and compare them later for accuracy.
“This is not a true council of war, gentlemen, rather it is a meeting where we can begin to coordinate our thoughts and our efforts. First, the arrival of the boats from Oswego strengthens us and vindicates my plan for them. They are now proven seaworthy and will most certainly make it to their destination.”
Eyes turned to Benedict Arnold who fidgeted slightly and then nodded. “They, their crews, and their precious cargo are all intact,” the one-time rebel general said.
Burgoyne went on to announce that the boats built at Detroit would be sent in ballast to Oswego where they too would be loaded with supplies and shipped back to Detroit. The supplies largely consisted of heavier items, like cannon, shells, and ammunition that could only be transported with enormous difficulty through the dense forest and along the area’s almost nonexistent roads. It was a bitter truth that Burgoyne had learned during his Saratoga campaign. Had he left his cannon behind, he might have arrived at his goal of Albany long before the rebels could gather and defeat him.
Burgoyne repeated the fact that Benedict Arnold would command the flotilla of sailing barges, which would be augmented by two armed schooners, the Vixen and the Snake. Burgoyne added that the trip from Detroit to Oswego and back would be an excellent shakedown cruise for those boats and their crews that hadn’t been more than a few feet from where they’d been built.
Arnold had been chosen to command because of his experience commanding rebel boats at the battle of Valcour Island. He’d been defeated, but his aggressive efforts had forced a year’s delay in the British attack that ultimately led to Burgoyne’s disastrous defeat at Saratoga. He would also command the united flotilla when it ultimately sailed for Fort Washington. Fitzroy wondered if this was a form of revenge on Burgoyne’s part but decided it wasn’t. The decision made just too much sense. Arnold now had the independent command he so fervently desired, and the heartily detested turncoat would be out of the way of most of the rest of the British officers.
Arnold quickly informed them that the barges would have their decks covered over with planking to protect the cargo from the heavy seas that sometimes occurred on the lakes. The cannon and shot they were to take would be carried as ballast, although some barges would have cannon mounted as bow guns for defense. When Burgoyne commented that perhaps more of the guns should be mounted on the deck so they could fire broadsides, Arnold countered by saying that they could not make the decks strong enough to carry their weight and it might even make the barges unseaworthy. Fitzroy was impressed by Arnold’s quick mind and grasp of the situation.
Burgoyne added that Captain Danforth would travel with Arnold as liaison from the army’s headquarters and that they would sail on the Vixen. Arnold smiled tightly. Cornwallis’ spy on Burgoyne was now Burgoyne’s spy on Arnold. It also meant that Danforth couldn’t report to Cornwallis on Burgoyne’s advance to Fort Washington because he wouldn’t be there to observe it.
“I will not make the same mistakes I did at Saratoga,” Burgoyne added solemnly. “Except for the flotilla of barges, I will not divide my forces in any great manner, and I will not be held up for lack of supplies. Nor will I be dragging cannon through the forest. When Arnold’s fleet finally departs from Detroit for Fort Washington, we will move out as one mighty army. We will move slowly and allow those supplies that aren’t going by boat to catch up with us. We will build depots along the way so we won’t have to depend on food and ammunition coming all the way from Detroit.”
Tarleton yawned. “Won’t that require garrisons and won’t that result in the army being divided anyhow?”
“To a point, of course,” Burgoyne said with a degree of exasperation. Garrisoning the depots was an obvious need. “But the numbers will be small in comparison with the army as a whole and represent no significant reduction.”
General Grant nodded agreement. “You say we will move
slowly. How slowly? For myself, I would prefer to get there as quickly as possible and smash them.”
“I estimate that it will take two months for General Arnold’s fleet and the attending sloops of war to reach a point close to where Fort Washington is supposed to be. Since we have no reliable maps, the exact location is still a bit of a mystery.
We will target our arrival to be within just such a time frame. While we certainly cannot coordinate these things very tightly, we can at least be close.
“While on the march, General Tarleton’s force will lead with those units led by Joseph Brant. Simon Girty’s forces will provide scouting and distant flank support.”
Fitzroy was mildly amused that Burgoyne could not bring himself to refer to those men under the control of Brant and Girty as soldiers.
“I hate having those white savages watching out for us, especially Girty,” snarled Grant.
“Beggars cannot be choosers,” Tarleton said with a smile. “Anyone willing to kill rebels is a friend of ours.”
Burgoyne continued. “While on the march, it is possible, even likely, that our army will stretch upwards of twenty miles, We will be passing in a narrow column through thick forests where the danger of ambushes will be constant. Say what you will about Brant and Girty and their savage followers, but we will need them lest a raid cut our column in pieces.”