The Yankee Tea-party; Or, Boston in 1773Watson, Henry C. (Henry Clay)
History
The Yankee Tea-party; Or, Boston in 1773
Watson, Henry C. (Henry Clay)
United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Anecdotes
each a red rag in his hat,) 'you, I suppose, are one of Greene's men.'
The badge which they bore, marked their principles. Without the
slightest indication of alarm, or even hesitation, Manning pointed to
the portmanteau carried by Green, and exclaimed--'Hush, my good
fellow--no clamour for God's sake--I have _there_ what will ruin
Greene--point out the road to Lord Cornwallis' army, for all depends
upon early intelligence of its contents.' 'You are an honest fellow (was
the general cry), and have left the rebels just in time, for the whole
settlement are in arms to join Colonel Pyle tomorrow (naming the place
of rendezvous), where Colonel Tarleton will meet and conduct us to
camp.' 'Come,' said the man, to whom he had first spoken, 'take a
drink--Here's confusion to Greene, and success to the King and his
friends. This is the right road, and you will soon reach the army; or
rather let me conduct you to it myself.' 'Not for the world, my dear
fellow,' replied Manning; 'your direction is plain and I can follow it.
I will never-consent that a faithful subject of his Majesty should be
subjected to the dangers of captivity or death on my account. If we
should fall in with a party of rebels, and we cannot say they are not in
the neighbourhood now, we should both lose our lives. I should be hanged
for desertion, and you for aiding me to reach the British army.' This
speech produced the effect he desired. The libation concluded, Manning
rode off amid the cheers of the company, and when out of sight, crossed
to the other road, and urging his horse to full speed, in a short time
overtook and communicated the interesting intelligence to his commander.
Lee was then meditating an attack upon Tarleton, who had crossed the Haw
River to support the insurgents; but, perceiving the vast importance of
crushing the revolt in the bud, he informed General Greene of his plan
by a confidential messenger, and hastened to the point of rendezvous,
where Pyle, with upwards of four hundred men, had already arrived. You
have heard of the bloody work that ensued. Pyle and his Tories believed
to the last that the soldiers of the Legion were Tarleton's men, and
were therefore easily surprised About three hundred of them were
killed--the rest fled or were made prisoners. I don't want to justify
such butchery; but our men ought to be excused, according to the laws of
war, when we consider that these same Tories and their red-coat friends
never gave the Whigs quarter in case of a surprise, and that some such
slaughter was necessary to make them feel that they couldn't murder
without paying for it."
[Illustration: LEE'S LEGION.]
"We've already argued that question," said Davenport, "and in my mind,
it is a settled point that Lee was right." Nobody seemed disposed to
revive the argument, and Kinnison continued.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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