Three Scarred Oaks: Bonds in Love & War, #3

By David G Tippens

The long war with the British rages on with seemingly no end in sight. In Georgia and the Carolinas, the fighting is especially intense and harsh.

 

The Glynnes and their fellow Patriots are fierce in their quest to oust the hated British from the country. Numerous small but important skirmishes take place with the British and Loyalists, sometimes with Creek or Cherokee warriors. The Glynnes are instrumental in providing leadership, men, weapons, ammunition, and food for the cause.

 

The Burntthorne family, loyal subjects of the British Crown, continue in their quest to destroy the Glynne family and anyone associated with them. Will their endless greed and desire for vengeance come to an end when the war is over?

 

The thrilling saga continues in this, the third book in the Bonds in Love & War series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: thewordverve inc
• Release date: Nov 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781948225731

Book preview

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to my mother, Gerri J. Tippens, whose encouragement helped make this book possible. Mother took me to the library when I was very young and encouraged me to participate in the summer reading programs. I always got a certificate for reading more than the required number of books. I developed a genuine love for reading, thanks to her. She never did anything but scold me a little for reading in class when I wasn’t supposed to. My fondness for reading led to my desire to write. My mother deserves credit for the part she played in making that possible. Thank you, Mother.

CHAPTER ONE

Thanks to the efforts of everyone at Cedar Haven Farm, as well as neighbors and settlers from around Cedar Shoals, the new volunteers were going into the field well uniformed and supplied. They were better trained and disciplined, and better armed. The British had supplied much of the arms and ammunition to the Patriot cause in this area. It had been unwillingly, of course, but there was little they could do about the wily Patriots who had become rather adept at stealing supplies from the Loyalist and British troops.

In only five days, thirty men were ready for duty. A couple of them were weaned out due to sickness, and one man was simply too old and feeble to go. One kid was big enough, but he was only thirteen. His mother came and fetched him home, much to his embarrassment and chagrin.

The men were split into three platoons of ten men each. Lt. Chris Jon Glynne commanded one of them. Capt. Verdin Girard was in charge of another, and Capt. Twig Hayvan the other. Capt. Robert Loxley Glynne had been voted overall command.

Pharaoh and Caesar were assigned to work with the chief scout. They were mulatto twin brothers and former slaves from Barbados. Their former owners had seen to it that they were well educated and familiar with proper etiquette, fashion, foods, and world affairs. Their owners had been government officials who had wined and dined many military officers, government officials, and dignitaries. The brothers were accustomed to being around people of station.

Their training did not stop there. They were taught how to use and care for various weapons, as well as the art of self-defense. They were also trained in the use of stealth and how to silently kill an enemy with their bare hands, or small weapons, without being discovered. In short, they were very intelligent and knowledgeable—lean and clean killing machines. Their skills and expertise had proven to be very helpful already.

They left Cedar Haven Farm early morning of the sixth day with Pharaoh and Caesar out front. Rob, on his new horse, Free Cloud, rode at the head of the column with his younger brother, Chris Jon. Spirits were high, and the men seemed eager to get into a scrap with the hated British. Everybody was tired of the British and Loyalist threat, and in spite of recent British successes, the Patriots seemed confident the American cause would eventually prevail.

The first night, they pitched camp just a little more than halfway to Fort Heard. They turned off the trail into a grassy stretch of ground alongside a small stream. The horses were well watered and had plenty of grass for grazing.

About an hour before midnight, Rob was awakened by Chris Jon. One of my pickets has seen a body of men off to the south of our camp. It appears they have set up camp themselves and may not be aware of our presence. Just wanted you to know they are there and that we have them under observation.

Rob reached out and grabbed his brother’s shoulder affectionately. Thank you, little brother. Just let me know what develops.

Chris Jon smiled and said, Yes sir, Captain! He grasped his older brother’s shoulder in a return of affection before slipping quietly away and back to his command.

Rob was able to sleep soundly until just before daylight when Pharaoh leaned over him and said, Captain, sir. The lieutenant would like for me to take you to him. Rob immediately gathered up his things and followed the young man.

About two hundred yards from camp, in a heavily wooded area, they came to where Chris Jon had slept. Close by, the pickets could wake him if the unknown people in the camp across the way should start activities. They had. In fact, they, too, had pickets out, and one had passed dangerously close as he moved toward the American camp. From a distance, the American sentry had watched this man observe their camp quietly before returning to his own camp.

By his actions, they definitely know we’re here, Chris Jon said quietly. Too bad I couldn’t tell what that man was wearing in the dark, but from the way he moved, he was Indian.

Pharaoh left to draw closer to the camp that was looking more and more to be that of an enemy force. In a few minutes, he returned to Chris Jon’s side and said, The camp is active now. It appears they are preparing for battle. I estimate there are around fifty men. They aren’t all red men. A few whites are among them, too.

Rob quietly directed Chris Jon, Draw your men into a line along here. If they are enemies as we suspect, and they start advancing toward us, give them a volley here and then fall back on the rest of us back at our campsite.

Just then, Pharaoh let out a low shhh. He crouched a few feet away in the darkness with his knife in hand. A figure appeared suddenly, walking straight at them, just barely discernible in the dim light.

A few seconds before the man could have stepped on Rob, Pharaoh sprang on the interloper. A quick thrust of the knife to the heart with his hand over the man’s mouth, and it was over silently and quickly. Pharaoh lowered the dead man slowly to the ground.

This is no white man, Pharaoh whispered quietly to his companions.

Chris Jon moved quickly to stand and whispered, There will be other pickets coming this way. We have no time to lose.

He and Pharaoh quickly walked back to where his platoon was sleeping and quietly awakened then. Rob ran as fast as possible in the dark to Verdin and then to Twig. He explained the situation to them in quick, hushed tones and instructed them to form a line with their platoons facing south and prepare to fire as soon as Chris Jon’s men had fallen back inside their lines. Instruct your men to allow them through to the rear and be careful not to shoot our own men!

Ambro McGrivin and Caesar had been asleep, but they awakened at the feeling of alarm and urgency in the air. They suddenly appeared at Rob’s side in the darkness and waited for instructions.

Ambro, you and Caesar ride out a ways from the camp and keep an eye on our rear flanks. They may be trying to encircle us, Rob said.

Amazingly, the two columns of men got into place with very little confusion or noise, guns loaded and ready. If only they could see how Chris Jon and his men were faring somewhere out there in front.

As if in answer, a gunshot rang out. It was immediately followed by a volley from the ten rifles of Chris Jon’s platoon. The first shot came from the enemy, and Chris Jon ordered the volley by his men before the echoes of the shot had died away. A small group of men from the direction of the enemy camp had walked plainly into view just twenty or so yards distant.

The effect of the volley could not be completely determined, but it had at least caused alarm and confusion on the part of the enemy. A few ineffective answering shots were fired by them, but then it fell quiet.

Chris Jon’s men drifted back slowly and passed through the lines of their waiting comrades before dropping to a knee to reload. Everybody was anxiously waiting to see what happened next.

Suddenly, dark forms of men brandishing rifles and various other weapons appeared in the area immediately in front of the waiting twenty-man line. It was just beginning to get a little lighter, and the Americans could tell that those approaching were merely in clumps and knots of men. They were not in well-organized lines of military formation. It was more like a mob of unorganized men. From their clothing and hair, now more easily seen in the light, they were Creek fighters.

The young, inexperienced Creek warriors had very little actual battlefield experience or discipline. The war had taken a toll on the most experienced warriors of the Creek nation. However, they still had the zest and determination, which made them very dangerous.

Rob calmly watched the clumps of men approach until they were within twenty or thirty yards of the line of kneeling Patriots. At that point, Rob screamed at the top of His lungs so the men all along the line could hear. Ready! Aim! FIRE!

The enemy could clearly hear him also and began firing and running toward the Americans. Twenty rifles belched flame, smoke, and deadly projectiles into the advancing enemy, mowing down many of them. The ground was instantly littered with wounded, bleeding, writhing men. Some of them moaned or screamed in agony. Others were completely still and lifeless.

Rob bellowed the command, Reload! and Twig and Verdin could be heard repeating the command on either side. As the men in the two platoons in the front knelt reloaded their weapons, Rob motioned for Chris Jon to have his men stand and fire at the enemy over the heads of the kneeling platoon.

Chris Jon immediately roared, Stand! Make ready! Aim! FIRE! The guns of his platoon roared in unison.

This second volley so soon after the first knocked the enemy back on their heels momentarily. But they’d only hesitated before bravely continued forward. They were green and untested but full of grit and courage. They advanced in little groups and clusters, sometimes pausing to take shots from behind trees and clumps of brush. They began to cause some casualties in the American ranks.

Rob shouted, First and second platoons, stand! Make ready! Aim! FIRE! This volley hit quite a few of the enemy, and it stopped their advance cold. It didn’t make them break and run, though. Instead, they sought cover and took potshots at the line of Patriot soldiers.

At that moment, one of the men came riding up, yelling, They are trying to turn our left flank and rear!

Rob quickly looked in that direction, and he could see a band of horsemen stealthily approaching in the pale light of early morning and in the shadows of the trees.

Chris Jon! Have your men reload and then take care of those fellows sneaking up on us from the rear!

Chris Jon saluted quickly and turned his attention to his men so they could move out and stop this threat. Rob waved at them in acknowledgment and then turned back to his hard-pressed front.

Quickly doing some math and estimating, Rob figured he was still facing some twenty enemy warriors here on the front with his twenty men. He gestured for Verdin and Twig to join him, and they quickly huddled and discussed what to do.

Their plan was to attack and flush the enemy out instead of getting into a shootout from behind trees. They quickly agreed that they didn’t want to get into a long, drawn-out fire fight, which could prove costly.

Verdin and Twig rejoined their platoons and waited for Rob’s signal to move forward. When it came, the men sprang forward, and dodging from left to right, from tree to tree, they closed in on the enemy very quickly.

In the meantime, two loud shots rang out from behind the American lines. Pharaoh and Caesar had opened up with the big rifles, taking aim at the two front riders of the horsemen attacking the left rear. The two were knocked right out of their saddles.

The other horsemen pulled up and milled around for a few seconds, looking down at their fallen comrades. Then the enemy pulled themselves together and turned once again to attack. Later, it would become known to Rob and his men that these two were the leaders of the war party.

Just as they dug in their heels to urge their horses into a run, Chris Jon and his platoon rose up out of the grass and brush and let loose a deadly volley. It decimated the horsemen, and nearly half of them went down.

Immediately, Chris Jon ordered his men to charge, which they did yelling like demons. They sprang at the startled horsemen with clubbed rifles, tomahawks, knives, rocks, tree limbs . . . anything with which to kill or maim. Panic gripped the riders, and they all fell victim to the onslaught except for three who somehow managed to escape.

Meanwhile, Rob, with Verdin and Twig, led their men in a pell-mell rush to quash the enemy resistance. The Creeks tried their best to defend themselves and resist, but they were mesmerized and overwhelmed by these disciplined, hard-charging citizen soldiers. They weren’t as neatly uniformed as the British, not as spit and polished or as spiffy in appearance, but these American Rebels were right snappy with matching uniforms. They were tough, well-trained killers and a very dangerous force to be reckoned with.

The Creeks stood their ground for several minutes, but then their resolve seemed to fail them. They began to cut and run. A few of them were actually knocked senseless from behind as they were fleeing. Their sudden departure gave the Americans time to stop and reload. Then, realigning themselves, they moved forward in a battle line.

Organized resistance was gone now from the enemy. They were just intent on getting to their horses to escape. Yells from their comrades who had survived the failed flank and rear attacks were telling them to flee.

They broke and ran just as Verdin and Twig gave the command to fire another volley. Many of those trying to escape were shot down. Some made it to their horses and rode off. A few others didn’t even bother to stop for their horses but ran right on past the animals.

As full daylight made its appearance, Rob ordered Caesar and Pharaoh, along with two others on horseback, to pursue the enemy for a mile or two to make sure they were gone for good. He cautioned them against being reckless in their pursuit and to keep an eye out for any other war parties that might be lurking near.

Rob gathered the rest of the command together and assigned platoon leaders to have the enemy casualties and prisoners brought to the area where they had picketed their horses. They gathered up the weapons and ammunition strewn about and stockpiled by the enemy. The dead and wounded were also relieved of all their weapons and ammunition.

The casualties of the thirty-seven-man American force were two men dead, six wounded, two of those seriously, and one man missing. Of the estimated fifty to sixty of the enemy, there were twenty-four dead, thirteen wounded, and seven captured without any serious wounds.

There were thirty-six horses still tied on a picket line or rounded up in the field. Nearly all of them had British military saddles and bridles.

They discovered pack saddles in the enemy camp with field rations for British soldiers, which they were evidently sharing with their Creek warrior allies. Near the horses captured on the picket line, they were surprised to discover a British six-pounder cannon complete with a caisson loaded with powder and a two-horse team of horses. There were no projectiles, but everything else was there.

They learned from the wounded and captured Creek warriors that this had been no chance encounter. It was planned by the British.

A British officer had told the Creeks, who were aiding the British in their efforts around Fort Heard and Augusta, of Major Burntthorne’s death. Killed with him were some prominent Creek warriors and top leaders. A plan was made right away to ambush the Americans responsible for their deaths.

Spies were everywhere for both sides, and it didn’t take long for the British to learn that Rob Glynne and his men were headed for Fort Heard. A force of Creek warriors was dispatched immediately to intercept and ambush the American force. They’d arrived at the battle site at just about the same time Rob and his men had left Cedar Haven Farm.

The Creeks had recaptured the piece of British artillery from the Americans. They had brought it along but didn’t know how to use it, which was very fortunate for Rob and his little command. It could have wreaked havoc if they had known how to use it properly.

Rob and his officers shook their heads about the enemy knowing so much so quickly. They made a mental note: from this point on, they would have to move and act as though the enemy knew their every move. It also made them realize that spies could even be amongst their own people.

Their suspicions immediately jumped to the forefront about the one in their own command who had disappeared. Pharaoh and Caesar were dispatched immediately to pick up his trail and track him down if at all possible. They had orders to learn anything possible from him if they were successful in capturing him. No unnecessary risks were to be taken, though—kill him if necessary. It was preferred that the twins made sure he didn’t make trouble for those at the farm.

The captured men were all pressed into service to help dig graves for the dead. All the captured goods were loaded on the wagon or strapped on the horses. It was a good haul and could be of great service to the American cause.

Every man had a good hot meal, and by early afternoon, they were ready to pull out. The Creek wounded and captured were allowed to go home. Rob didn’t want to be encumbered by either. Fortunately, their own wounded weren’t so badly hurt that they couldn’t ride a horse. The speed of the column would depend on a comfortable gait for those wounded, but they should still make fairly good time.

Rob, Chris Jon, Twig, and Verdin rode along together, talking. They had survived a nasty little affair in this very nasty war. Although lives had been lost and men were wounded, it was just a small skirmish in comparison to others. Reports written by the officers were lost in the piles of paperwork and were never mentioned in the annals of the conflict.

CHAPTER TWO

Around midnight, they slowly moved into camp within the compound adjacent to Fort Heard. There were so many troops and civilians there that the stockade couldn’t come close to holding them all. One of Colonel Pickens’s officers met them and told them where to bivouac. He said that the colonel was very glad they were there and insisted they all get a good night of rest. He would meet with them in the morning to talk about future operations.

Shortly after sunrise the next morning, Rob and his little cadre of officers were sitting around a campfire after breakfast. Colonel Pickens walked up and motioned for them all to remain seated and joined them.

He was smiling when he approached and continued to do so while pleasantries were exchanged. He was noticeably still beaming, and finally, Chris Jon said, "Colonel Pickens, sir. You look like you are very happy and pleased about something. Pray tell, what is it?

Pickens smiled even bigger, clasped his hands like a schoolboy, and blurted out, Kings Mountain! The Over the Mountain Men hunted old Ferguson down and killed him, they did! Killed him and almost all of his command on King’s Mountain. A glorious and wonderful victory from Providence!

The story of Ferguson threatening to burn the settlements over the mountains if they didn’t flock to the King’s banner was known far and wide. Those mountain men had retaliated by trapping Ferguson and his men on King’s Mountain up near the South Carolina and North Carolina border. Ferguson and almost all of his whole command of nine hundred men were decimated.

Pickens also relayed to them news of a smaller but equally important victory for the Patriots at Ramseur’s Mill. This was all very good news in view of the dreadful disaster earlier at Camden C.H., South Carolina. There was cause to smile again!

Lord Cornwallis had moved north out of Charlestown and was now near Charlotte, North Carolina. Apparently, he planned to invade and lay waste to Virginia instead of staying in the Carolinas.

Pickens pointed out that this move by Cornwallis weakened the British presence around Augusta, Savannah, and Charlestown. He suddenly quit smiling and leaned forward as he said seriously, I am determined to kick the British and their Loyalist heathens completely out of Augusta!

He meant what he said. In three days, he had every man he could muster en route to Augusta. Rob and his mounted troopers fanned out in front to lead the way of the nearly sixteen-hundred-man force. Rob had his