Kings Pinnacle (23 page)

A fire that they had lit
outside the tent did not provide enough warmth for them to keep it
going. So they had let it go out and huddled inside the tent to
stay out of the weather and to try to stay as warm as they could.
Robert soon dropped off to sleep, and Hugh began talking with Big
Mike Finn from Philadelphia, who had recently joined their unit.
Mike would have joined a Pennsylvania unit instead of a
Massachusetts unit, but he accidently stood in the wrong enlistment
line. He was too bull-headed to admit his mistake and correct it.
So, he stayed with the Second Mass. Robert and Hugh took a liking
to Big Mike as soon as they met him, and he got along well with the
two brothers. The three friends made a good fighting
team.

Just outside their tent, two
mounted riders with their collars turned up against the cold wind
slowly rode past. The two brothers inside had no way of knowing
that one of the horsemen outside their tent was their younger
brother Alex and the other was Ellison McCoy, the two men in search
of a place for Alex to settle for the night.

Alex and Ellison rode
through the Massachusetts camp and soon arrived at the camp of the
Maryland militia, about a quarter mile past the Second Mass camp.
After some deliberation, they decided that Alex could stay in the
tent with Ellison until he could find a place for himself. The two
men dismounted, walked their horses to Ellison’s tent, and were
pulling off their saddles when they were interrupted.

“Weel, if it isn’t the young
March Hare from Scotland,” said the voice coming from behind
them.

“I recognize that voice,”
said Alex as he looked up and turned around to face his old friend,
the Longhunter, Alexander Glendenning. The two men shook hands
heartily and then embraced each other while patting each other on
the back.

“It is good to see you
again, Alexander. How’s the shoulder holding up? I know it was
giving you a bit of trouble the last time we met. And how’d you
know my nickname anyway?” asked Alex.

“The shoulder’s fine, as
good as new. Word gets around about Alex Mackenzie and his
exploits,” said the Longhunter as he rubbed his hand across his
shoulder.

“The last I heard, ye were
heading up the Maryland Rangers after Ellison here had retired,”
continued the Longhunter nodding toward Ellison McCoy.

“That’s true, but the war
has taken Ellison out of retirement and me out of the Rangers,”
said Alex, gesturing at Ellison briefly.

“It has taken me, too. I
have just arrived here and joined up this week. I’m still wondering
if I did the right thing.”

“I’m forming a new light
cavalry unit for General Washington, and I’d like to have your
help,” said Alex.

“I’d be glad to do anything
I can fer ye, Alex.”

“Good, I want you to help me
lead the unit and help me recruit some other good riders and
fighters to go along with us.”

“I know of a few in the
camp. Most of them are former Maryland Rangers. Ye know most of
them that have served with ye at Fort Cumberland.”

“Excellent! This is not
going to be as hard as I thought. It’s really great to see you
again, Alexander. We’re going to help General Washington win this
war,” said Alex.

* * * *

Samuel

Samuel closed out his
muster roll for the day, along with his other paper work, as was
required by the office of the adjutant of the Continental Army. He
put the papers in a desk drawer and locked his desk. Standing up,
he pulled on his overcoat and walked out of the headquarters tent.
Instead of going directly back to the tent where he lived, he
walked through the cold camp to a section near the outskirts, where
the camp followers were located. He walked right to the tent he was
looking for and without any announcement, he pulled back the tent
flap and walked in.

“Get yer clothes off quick;
I’m in a hurry,” said Samuel to the young woman sitting on the camp
cot inside the tent, staring at him. Without saying a word, the
young woman quickly disrobed and lay back on the cot. Samuel
unlaced his pants as he walked over to the cot. He slid them down
to his knees and crawled on top of the young woman.

It didn’t take but a few
minutes, and when he was finished, he crawled off her, stood up and
pulled up his pants to lace them back up.

“Get yer clothes back on. I
got a job for you tonight,” said Samuel as he finished lacing up
his pants.

“I want you to go over to
Trenton right now and tell the Hessian commander Colonel Rahl that
the Prophet says Washington does not plan to attack right away.
Tell him that the Prophet doesn’t know exactly when Washington
plans on attacking, but it looks like it won’t happen
soon.”

“It’s cold out there
tonight, Sir. Can’t this wait until tomorrow?” asked the
girl.

“No, it can’t wait. Get
moving now and don’t forget to tell Colonel Rahl that the message
is from the Prophet,” said Samuel with a scowl.

The young woman, whose name
was Molly, dressed hurriedly and threw on her cloak and then braced
herself for the cold wind outside the tent.

“If you ever want to see yer
sister Maggie again, you’ll be quick about it,” continued Samuel as
he kicked her in the backside just as she was walking past him out
of the tent.

Samuel left the tent at the
same time Molly did and walked back to his tent, occasionally
glancing at her as she left the camp at a hurried pace.

Molly trotted out of the
camp and then walked very fast on the trail to the Delaware River.
She crossed it on the Trenton Ferry after paying her halfpenny
toll. Then she wound her way on the path into Trenton and finally
found the Hessian headquarters where Colonel Rahl was located.
Colonel Rahl’s aides intercepted her as she attempted to walk into
Colonel Rahl’s office.

“I bear a message from the
Prophet,” said Molly to one of the aides.

Upon hearing that the
message was from the Prophet, the aide immediately ushered her into
Colonel Rahl’s office. The colonel looked up from writing a letter
as she and his aide walked in. Colonel Rahl did not speak English
and refused to learn it, so he spoke to his aide in German, asking
him to stay in the office and to translate his conversation with
the girl.

“What is it that you wish to
say to the colonel?” asked the aide.

“The Prophet says that
General Washington will not attack anytime soon and that he doesn’t
know when the general is planning on attacking,” said the young
woman.

“Anything else?” asked the
aide after he had translated the message to Colonel
Rahl.

“No, that was all he said to
deliver,” replied the girl.

“Very well, you may go now,”
said the aide.

Molly spoke German, but she
preferred to speak English in her new country. She did not tell
them that she spoke German. But she knew that the aide had
translated her English into German correctly.

She immediately left the
headquarters and made her way back across the ferry and into her
tent in the Continental Army camp. Molly sat down on her cot and
cried softly with her head in her hands. She felt sad about being
forced to deliver the messages for Major Ruskin, but she had no
choice. She wasn’t a traitor; she believed in the patriot’s cause,
but she didn’t want her sister Maggie to suffer. She and her sister
had been caught trying to steal some food from one of Samuel
Ruskin’s warehouses in Philadelphia. Rather than turn them over to
the authorities, Samuel had kept them as personal servants, but
truly as prisoners, in his household to do his bidding and whatever
else he saw fit for them to do. For now, Molly was being forced to
stay in the camp followers’ tents, ready at any time carry messages
for Ruskin and satisfy his base desires. Her sister, meanwhile, was
back in Philadelphia, held captive in Ruskin’s warehouse under
threat of bodily harm if Molly did not perform
satisfactorily.

“What do you make of that
information and how much do you trust this person who calls himself
the Prophet?” Colonel Rahl asked his aide.

“It appears that the
Americans want to take time off from the war and celebrate the
Christmas holidays. I have no idea about the Prophet, but I think
we should be prepared in case he is wrong,” replied the
aide.

“I disagree. The Americans
are poor soldiers and they are lazy. They will not attack in this
kind of weather anyway. Let’s celebrate the holiday also. Call in
the patrols, and we’ll plan a big Yuletide celebration for the
men,” said the colonel.

“Very well, Sir; I will see
to it,” replied the aide.

As the aide turned to walk
out of the colonel’s office, he grimaced to himself but was
unwilling to argue with his commanding officer.

* * * *

* * * *

Alex

“
Good morning gentlemen.
The reason I called you into this war council so early this morning
is to announce that we are going to attack the Hessian troops in
Trenton tomorrow morning. My plan is that the army will depart the
camp this afternoon in order to cross the Delaware River and attack
the Hessians in Trenton at first light tomorrow morning. Please
make preparations for each soldier to carry three days rations,
sixty rounds of ammunition, powder, and other necessary supplies.
We will muster on the west bank of the Delaware River nine miles
north of the camp at dusk. We will cross the river by barge as soon
as it is fully dark,” said General Washington when all his officers
were finally seated around the large folding conference table in
his field office.

The general paused for his
message to sink in as he made eye contact with each officer around
the table. It was December 25, 1776, and the weather was cold and
threatening, but no precipitation had yet fallen from the cloudy
sky.

“Sir, I must protest. Today
is Christmas Day, and the men have been planning on celebrating
Christmas tonight. That doesn’t give me time to prepare the
rations, ammunition, and all other items that are necessary to move
this army. As adjutant, I require more time to organize and
prepare,” said Major Samuel Ruskin.

“Major Ruskin, you will have
to do the best you can because we leave at three o’clock this
afternoon, and we attack tomorrow morning. Let’s hope that the
Hessian troops occupying Trenton have a very loud and boisterous
Christmas celebration tonight and that they drink plenty of
Christmas spirits. Maybe if we are lucky, they will still be
feeling the effects of their celebration tomorrow morning when we
attack. Make ready to muster on the west bank of the Delaware River
at dusk. I will give specific orders for each unit’s deployment
later in the day. That is all for now. Let’s get to it,” stated
General Washington, dismissing his men and walking toward his field
desk, where he started preparing troop disposition and battle
orders.

As the officers on General
Washington’s staff and command stood up to leave the conference,
General Washington turned to seek out Alex and Ellison
McCoy.

“Lieutenant Mackenzie and
Captain McCoy, please wait a moment. I would like to speak with you
before you leave,” said General Washington as his officers were
filing out of his office.

Alex and Ellison stood by
their chairs while the conference room cleared. As soon as the last
man left, General Washington stepped over to the tent flap and
glanced into the outer office to make sure that no one was within
earshot of the conference room in the large office. Major Samuel
Ruskin had taken his accustomed position behind his desk in the
outer office. General Washington motioned for Alex and Ellison to
take a seat in two side chairs next to his desk on the far side of
his office. The general wanted to speak to the two men without
being overheard outside his office. General Washington seated
himself in his desk chair and scooted it over to be nearer to where
Alex and Ellison were seated. He leaned close to the two men to
speak in a hushed voice that was almost a whisper.

“I suspect that we have a
spy in our midst. I have no idea who it is, and I don’t suspect
anyone in particular, but the enemy seems to know our every move,
sometimes even before our own soldiers do. Our New York and New
Jersey campaigns were one disaster after another. There appears to
be no good reason for it except that the enemy had advance
knowledge of our plans and movements. That is one of the reasons
why I have ordered this surprise attack and given everyone very
little time for preparation. I don’t want the British to get wind
of the attack before we spring it this time. The reason that I am
telling you two and only you two about this is that I trust you.
The reason why I trust you is because I began to suspect the
traitor long before you two joined the army. After this attack is
over, I want the two of you to ferret out this spy by any means
that you can and dispose of him,” said General Washington as he
stared at Alex and Ellison.