Royalist in America

By John Gilbert

Solomon Hawke's 17th century adventures continue as he leaves England to escape the persecution of supporters of the Monarchy by the ruling Parliamentarians. Now wealthy and the owner of a powerful ship he sets out for the American colony of Virginia with his family and compatriots. Here Solomon finds allies and enemies within the Colonial and Indian comunities whilst continuing to support the King's cause. He volunteers to fight in Ireland and Wales but unexpectedly fights for the Venetian army in the Mediterranean and he eventually becomes entangled in the African slave trade which causes grave consequences for his best friend.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Jul 31, 2013
• ISBN: 9781481799911

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© 2013 by John Gilbert. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 07/27/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4817-9990-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-9991-1 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

Preview

Chapter One

THE EXPEDITION

(June-August 1646)

Chapter Two

THE INDIANS

(November 1646)

Chapter Three

THE COLONY

(December 1646)

Chapter Four

WITCHCRAFT AND DISASTER

(Winter 1646/7)

Chapter Five

IRELAND

(1647)

Chapter Six

A PRIVATEER

(January 1648)

Chapter Seven

WALES

(March 1648)

Chapter Eight

THE VENETIAN ARMY

(June 1648)

Chapter Nine

THE SLAVE SHIP

(February 1649)

The End Of Book Two

Historical Notes

Character List

Appendix

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO

Anne. Thank you for everything.

PREVIEW

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The English Royalist cause seemed at an end in 1646, with battles being lost, money running out, along with King Charles being captured and imprisoned. Supporters of the monarchy were being subjected to a hounding by the Parliamentarians and many of those who had the opportunity, left England.

Solomon Hawke and his friends had fought in numerous actions that had taken them to many parts of the Kingdom and also as far away as Morocco. They were in the position to flee the country but at the same time were determined to continue to fight for the King’s cause therefore Solomon, like many others, chose to sail to Virginia where a fledgling colony had voiced its support of the King.

Now rich with his own fortune and more experienced, Solomon travels with his friends on a new adventure to the New World but without ever being able to sever his links with England and his love for the monarchy.

CHAPTER ONE

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THE EXPEDITION

June-August 1646

I was pleased with my purchase and inwardly thanked the pirate who had posthumously donated such a quantity of gold that had made my friends, my wife Betsy and myself wealthy enough to make the expedition in relative comfort aboard my new and powerful ship the Eagle.

My name is Solomon Hawke, twenty year old son of a wealthy Royalist landowner from the Midlands of England. I had spent the years of the civil war in conflict with the Parliamentarians and was now seeking a new life away from the present regime that ruled in my homeland.

Comfort is relative as, although we were aboard the most advanced and well-built vessel available, the Atlantic has a habit of making any journey totally challenging.

The storm we had endured for the last two days had now abated but the huge swell made our armed merchant ship first climb and then plunge in a thrilling mixture of speed, spray and crashing noise. The green seawater foamed across the deck where the sixteen cannon were tightly lashed, the hatches bolted closed and where the men of the watch scurried about adjusting sail and line.

As owner I had initially thought about captaining the vessel myself but was quickly persuaded that, despite the experience I had gained over the last two years, I was not qualified or knowledgeable enough to undertake such a task even with a well-selected crew. The crew of eighty was indeed handpicked from volunteers of men in similar circumstances to my friends and myself. We were all fleeing the possible retribution of the Parliamentarians following our crushing military defeats and the capture of our king. Charles was now imprisoned and awaiting trial and during the hiatus between the conflict and the reprisals we had taken the opportunity to organise and initiate this expedition.

The crew were an interesting mixture of sailors, landsmen and Royalist gentlemen who had signed up for the single journey to Virginia with the promise of further employment if they so wished. Despite leaving their homes and for some their families, the men were in good spirits and after stern but fair training by our Captain David Blake they were turning into an enthusiastic and efficient crew.

Sam and Joe, the two special agents of Prince Rupert along with my closest friend Luke, my father’s ex-gamekeeper, were all integrated into the present watch, which was performing it’s tasks as I gazed out at the rollers continuing to crash into the hull. Duncan, the Scots warrior who had taught me so much during our longer than two-year friendship was standing nearby, like me, clinging to the ropes. Duncan was acting as a Man at Arms and had taken charge of weapons other than the cannon. He and I, like twenty of the other men, were accompanied by wives who were now all below and probably not enjoying the experience as much as I.

My wife Betsy had inherited some land in the relatively new British acquisition of Virginia and we had decided to use our newly found wealth to try and make the best of the otherwise fraught situation.

It had taken the best part of a year to put together all the elements of this voyage and acquiring the Dutch made, armed merchantman had been the most complicated part.

That was all behind us now and my thoughts were mostly directed at the present and future rather than the past although I was greatly pleased with the news I had received before our departure that my father, sisters and two brothers were safe in France. Along with this information was news of the woman I had fallen in love with yet thought was lost in a storm in the Bay of Biscay. Rebecca and her family had survived the storm despite originally being thought all lost at sea. I was now married to Betsy and although my emotions were confused I was now fully committed to our future together and I took time to assure Betsy of this after I had shown her my letter confirming Rebecca’s survival.

Our Atlantic crossing was going to be a long one as we had now left behind The Azores, where we anchored for one day to take on fresh water and which would be our last land sighting before we reached our North American destination. The only other landfall after our departure from Amsterdam had been a brief stop off in the Isle of Jersey.

We made the visit to the Channel Island for two main reasons, other than for the gathering of a few extra stores and topping up our water supplies. Firstly the strongly Royalist supportive island was to provide us with twenty extra crew, who were also keen to make a passage westwards and secondly we were keen to meet Prince Charles who was known to be making a base on the island. Personally I had met The Prince on a number of occasions, mostly when The King had visited my father’s estate for a few days hunting but also when my father went to court on business.

While the adults were talking business I was asked to accompany and entertain The Heir to the throne. Being of similar age I was pleased and honoured to accompany him and we often rode or hunted together whereupon I also taught the Prince how to use a bow which excited him greatly. Over time we had become close and although we had not seen each other for over two years we had exchanged correspondence and there was a trusting relationship between us.

The occasion of our meeting was one of great splendour and pomp despite the desperate political situation. The Prince arrived at a Grand Review on St Aubin’s sands with music blaring and guns firing where we all saluted him with shouts of ‘Long live The King, long live the Prince,’ before he was presented to all the officers present.

‘It is wonderful to see you again Solomon, I hope your family are safe,’ said The Prince.

‘I am most pleased to see you also Sire and I believe my family to be safe at the moment in France,’ I replied.

‘I would wish to speak with you at Elizabeth Castle if you could attend me this evening I have a number of questions to ask you and perhaps a favour,’ added The Prince.

‘I would be honoured Sire and of course I am at your service,’ I replied, wondering what service I might be able to perform that all the others could not.

That evening I was escorted through the castle to The Prince’s accommodation where a guard left us alone after drinks had been brought and tasted by his personal wine taster. After a few more pleasantries and reminders of our youth The Prince explained his position.

‘I am soon to go to France at the express wish of my mother and I hope that from there I will be able to mount a defence of our throne. I have money but not enough to pay the many cohorts of soldiers who man the barracks here and those that will protect me in France. You are one of the few people I know who I can trust with this information and I hoped you may be able to help by liaising with the Governor in Virginia and raise funds for me for the future.’

‘I would be honoured to attempt to bring you money from the Americas and I would be grateful if you would allow me to provide some funds from my own resources.’

The Prince was obviously touched by my offer of twelve hundred pounds which I said I would have delivered the next day.

‘I will take this as a loan until my family is restored to the throne and I thank you on behalf of the whole Royalist cause and myself personally,’ replied The Prince. ‘I have also had documents written up giving you carte blanche in respect of how you use your ship and your men. Solomon I have every belief that you will use your command to the best of your ability and in the name of The King.’

Our parting was one of friends despite the difference in our station and we both expressed the hope that we might meet again in more pleasant circumstances. I was ushered into another room where an official asked me to sign the document issued by The Prince which was certified by the Royal Seal.

I was still thinking about the importance of the documents I had been given and their corresponding responsibilities when around noon two days out of The Azores a shout from one of the men in the rigging brought me back to the present with a jolt.

‘Sail ahoy, directly astern.’

I turned quickly and extracted the telescope from my jacket pocket. Scanning the horizon I at first saw nothing and said so to Captain Blake who had joined me.

‘Still low on the horizon, but I suspect they are following us,’ he said.

‘What makes you say that Captain?’

‘Well, they weren’t there an hour ago and although we are travelling at probably three quarters of our optimum speed they are catching us up. They must therefore be under full sail which, with this swell, would generally be inadvisable.’

News of our follower spread quickly and it was not long before all the crew and even some of the women had ventured on deck for a glimpse of the stranger.

After another hour the captain deduced that it would be dark before we were within cannon shot and ordered a small increase in sail, which certainly improved our speed but also added to the discomfort level.

The wind direction made it impossible to run straight from the other boat and both vessels had to tack to make any headway. This was done almost simultaneously and it could be seen that we were being gradually caught.

Our Captain set a very deliberate and regularly timed set of tacks, which to me seemed to make it easier for the other boat to follow suit. However, his plan was made obvious when soon after darkness had set in and our pursuer had disappeared into the night, our helmsman was given orders, which delayed a tack where-after we turned one hundred and eighty degrees and sailed back in the direction from which we had just come. With dowsed lights we continued on this course for two hours followed by another tack and soon after that another change of direction, which set us back on our original course.

‘Unless he has out-foxed us we should now be behind him and although he will have the wind in his favour we have the element of surprise. He would have caught us eventually so now we can be fully prepared,’ the Captain explained. ‘I can only conclude that he is out of the Azores archipelago which is now a Portuguese colony.’

Captain Blake’s calculations were found to be entirely accurate because as dawn broke the lookout soon shouted down that a sail was indeed almost directly ahead.

‘He will have spotted us by now I am sure with that dawn sky behind us,’ the Captain informed us nodding towards the sun rising behind us in a clear sky.

Duncan and I trained our glasses on the sail ahead which we were approaching rapidly and the Captain ordered his first mate, the massive Jago, to announce battle stations, which he did with a deep-throated roar.

Men moved quickly but purposefully to their battle positions and the cannon were made ready with shot and powder being brought up from below meanwhile Duncan who was in charge of a number of musketeers, which included myself, were soon armed and at our stations.

The wind was a steady breeze and the sky clear of any clouds while the sight of our fully armed ship dashing towards our prey was both thrilling yet at the same time daunting. The enemy, if the other ship was in fact an enemy, was larger and had the weather gauge but we were confident that our aggressive approach might yield us an advantage.

When almost within cannon distance the ship ahead reduced sail, slowed considerably and simultaneously hoisted a flag.

‘They want to talk,’ said Captain Blake, ‘it could be a ruse but I feel not as their guns are not run out, nor are their decks prepared for an engagement.

Unlike our vessel there were no nets hoisted above the deck to catch falling spars and the bulwarks had not been reinforced with hammocks and such like.

On the forecastle of the vessel there stood a colourfully dressed man who was waving his hat vigorously.

‘Well who would have thought we would be chased half way across the Atlantic by a Venetian Barbary pirate,’ announced Duncan who was now lowering his glass.

‘Barbary pirate!’ exclaimed Captain Blake, with just a hint of alarm in his voice.

‘I think we have been tracked by an old friend who I am sure means us no ill,’ I ventured.

It was not long before both ships were virtually stationary and a small gig was being manfully rowed across to our vessel and there were hugs of delight as Duncan and I greeted Captain Allesandri before introducing him to our Captain.

‘Captain Blake this is our esteemed friend Captain Francesco Allesandri who I am sure has a tale to tell,’ I presumed.

On meeting Captain Blake, Allesandri suggested that both ships continue together while in the mean time we could discuss the situation and catch up on our news.

Captain Blake agreed this would be an excellent idea so that time was not wasted and forward movement was always better than bobbing around in an Atlantic swell.

‘Captain Blake I think an explanation is in order,’ I said. ‘Captain Allesandri was indeed a Barbary pirate and may in fact still be one but without his friendship and help we would quite likely not be here today. We have vowed to help each other whenever we can although we have not seen the Captain for nearly two years. Tell us Allesandri what brings you to be attached to our coat tails in the middle of the Atlantic?’

We were by now all ensconced in the Captains cabin and a meal and drink had quickly been provided as Allesandri related his story.

‘As you know Solomon I had every intention of renouncing piracy and becoming an honest merchant, if that is not a contradiction in terms. My leader Murat Rais died and I collected a crew of men who, like me, want to make living without the barbarism we have been associated