More from my upcoming book- The War Comes to Redding

Chapter Five- The Troops Arrive in Redding

It was late November now, the weather was much colder and I was spending a lot more time foraging for wood than I was foraging for food. I was stacking piles of firewood and kindling near the beaver pond when Tom came racing up the hillside.

"What is it Tom?" I shouted.

"They're here!" he shouted back excitedly.

"The troops?"

"Yes!!"

Tom's excitement was unusual. I dropped what I was doing and headed over to him. 

"What's so exciting Tom?" I asked.

"My people are here Jonas. My people are here in Redding."

"Native Indian soldiers?"

"Yes!" Tom was beaming with pride.

"A lot of them?"

"No, no, just a couple, but I didn't expect them to be here, I thought they all went home." Tom explained.

"Mr. Heron told us there would be black soldiers with General Parsons, are they here too?" I asked

"Yes. They are here too, in good numbers. I counted at least 25 as they marched in and troops are still arriving."

"Which camp are they setting up first?" I asked

"The middle camp, just three hills over, by the Whortleberry bushes." Tom answered.

"Wow, this is real," I thought "just down the road from our house there is going to be a soldier's camp."

"Will you show me Tom?" I asked, knowing that he would.

"If you can keep up." He said turning to race back down the hill.

"Hey! No fair!" I shouted as I sprinted after him.

Tom just laughed and kept right on running.

I caught him on the backside of the second hill and we both slowed to a trot that got slower and slower as we got closer to the crest of the third hill. From that crest you could see everything.

The encampment was well hidden; no one that didn't know about it would suspect it. It was tucked into a hillside on a roadway seldom used, but it had access to a water source, was well wooded and allowed for troop movement if needed.

The troops had just arrived so they had not started on the huts yet but it was clear that these troops were well organized. We could see a good number of tents that had already been erected and it looked like either a bridge or a dam was being built along the ridge on the west end of the encampment.

"Do you see the rock outcropping on that hill over there?" Tom asked me, pointing northwest of where we were standing.

"Mmmm Hmmm." I answered.

"That's where the Native American Indian soldiers will be stationed."

"Anyone you know?" I asked him.

"I think so," he said "the soldier I spoke to earlier said that several Kent Indians had attended The Great Barbecue up on Quaker Ridge this Fall and he believed they were still enlisted." 

"And you think you know them?" I wanted to know if Tom really knew these Indians from Kent or if he was just saying he did because he visited Kent from time-to-time.

"Yes!" was his definitive answer.

"Jonas," Tom became very somber "I am going to tell you something that I would rather not have you repeat to anyone... at least not anytime soon."

I quickly agreed to keep the secret.

"My people are very divided about this War Jonas. Many of my people worry, just as some of your people worry about this War." he said.

"What are they worried about?" I asked.

"My people are fearful of what your Independence means for us. Will it be to our benefit or demise? We don't really know. What we do know is that since the white man has arrived in what you call "America," our ancient home lands have been taken and we have been pushed out. For those of us that fight for the Independence of your people we hope this War brings what your Declaration of Independence promises *and* restores for us the rights that we have lost. Do you know what I speak of Jonas?"

"Yes." I said, we memorized the Declaration last year at the schoolhouse.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness -- that to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever Any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new Government."

"That is right," said Tom "and I pray that it is known that the Native American Indian soldiers here in Redding are not 'merciless Indian savages' and recognized that they too are men in pursuit of Life, Liberty and Happiness; fighting for their own unalienable rights."

"Amen." I said and we both enjoyed that moment.

Looking back to the camp we could see and hear trees coming down just south of the rock outcropping.

"They work fast." I said to Tom.

"They must work faster," Tom replied "there will be snow tomorrow morning."

"How do you know that?" I asked wonderously.

A playful grin grew across his face and he said: "The wind told me."

"The wind? Yeah right. You're pulling my leg again Tom." I said waving my arm at him dismissively.

Tom just kept on smiling and told me I'd owe him a basket full of eggs should it happen.


Chapter Six- The Campaign of Starving and Freezing Begins

Tom was right. It snowed about 6 inches the next day and two days later it rained so hard that a majority of that snow melted into a muddy slush preventing the teamsters from bringing food and supplies to Redding.

"The soldiers are starving," Abby said at breakfast "isn't there any way we can help them?"

"We have." Said Father. "We have provided them with an efficient means to cut their wood at all three of their encampments."

"But they haven't any food." Pleaded Abby.

"That is not our concern," Father said sternly. "they have the supplies in Danbury and it is the Army's job to get them here. If we give away our stored food to starving soldiers and our supplies run out, then we will be the ones starving."

Abby nodded silently, she knew he was right. I did too but it got me to thinking and after lunch I headed up the hill to Tom's lean-to. Tom wasn't there but he had hung a fishing spear above the door so I knew exactly where he was and headed off in that direction. Along the way I passed Stephen's house and stopped in to see if he wanted to come with me. He was working in the root cellar.

"Stephen, Stephen, you down there?" I called.

"Yep. Come on down." he answered.

"Are you taking them out or putting them in?" I asked.

"A little of both." he said 

When I got down there I saw what he meant. He had all the vegetables sorted and readied to load back into the boxes.

"Are you making sand boxes?" I asked.

"Yep and I'm almost done. Where are you going?" he replied.

"I'm trying to find Tom, I think he's down at Umpawaug fishing." I told him.

"Is someone looking for him?" Stephen asked.

"No," I said "I want to talk to him about the soldiers situation."

"Oh, okay." he said "Help me finish up here and I'll come with you."

Sand boxes are how we store root vegetables for the winter, it keeps them fresh for months. 

The process is pretty simple, you work in layers starting with some moist sand at the bottom of the box, then you work your way up, lining each layer with vegetables and covering them with dry sand as you go. On the top layer you add some more moist sand and you're finished. Stephen had the carrots, and I took on the beets and turnips.

We made quick work of it and wove our way over to Umpawaug through Chestnut Woods.

{Background- Umpawaug is one of my favorites sections of town, it's swamps, ponds and rivers are always filled with fish. Tom says that when european settlers came to Redding the Indians made sure they would retain access to these places because the fish they caught here was so essential to their livelihoods.}

Tom was right where I thought he would be, on the west end of the pond. That area always freezes last and Tom likes to take advantage of it by placing his fishing weirs there. It's where the pond drains into a swampy stream that fish are drawn to and the way Tom narrows down the space with his weirs allows him to spear the fish that get caught up attempting to get through it. Looking at the size of the fish pile behind him, Tom wasn't fishing just for himself. 

"That's quite a take Tom." Stephen said admiring the pile.

Tom just nodded, he was in the process of driving another fish towards his weir. His focus was completely on the fish, slowly and meticulously he followed it until the fish had no where else go and then, BAM! He speared and tossed it on top of the pile.

"Why so many fish Tom?" I asked.

Tom never took more fish than he needed.

"The soldiers are hungry." He said matter-of-factly. "Will you and Stephen bring them to middle camp for me?" He asked.

We agreed to and began loading them into one of the sleds Tom had brought for that purpose.

"I am going to check the weirs over in Simpaug," Tom said grabbing his second sled. "If you see someone who can help me over there on your way to the encampment send them. I will be where the pond empties into the North Walk River."

We agreed to and began loading them into one of the sleds Tom had brought for that purpose. It was about 4 miles over mostly flat land until we got to Stetzell's Farm but from there it got steep.

Stephen said, "I think we'd better rest and think about this, pulling these fish up that hill isn't going to be easy."

As we were sitting down he asked-

"What were you going to ask Tom about?"

"I was going to ask him how we could help the soldiers" I answered.

Stephen smiled. "I guess he already had the answer."

"He always does, especially when it comes to helping others." I said.

"Why does he help people anyway? No one here in town seems to help him when he needs it." Stephen asked.

"That's not how he thinks." I replied.

"How does he think?" said Stephen.

"It's tough to explain. Tom says 'With all things and in all things, we are relatives.' which I take to mean that he sees everything as connected and he does not wish to break that chain with his own actions."

"It sounds like a good policy to me." Stephen said.

"It is." I agreed.

"Now, how are we going to make it up that hill?

"How 'bout I take the back and you take the front?" I said.

"And half way up we switch?" Said Stephen.

"Deal." I said.

It took us a lot longer than we expected but we made it to the top of the hill and veered off through the woods towards the encampment, taking advantage of the snow that still existed. As we neared the camp we were met by a sentry who stopped us.

"Halt." he said "Are you here on offical business?"

"No." I said. "We have food for the soldiers."

"Who sent you?" He demanded.

"Tom." we answered in unison.

The soldier furrowed his brow, turned and made a whistle call back to the encampment. Within minutes three soldiers appeared, one of them was clearly a native Indian.

Ignoring the others, I asked him directly: "Do you know Tom Warrups?"

He did; a broad smile crept across his face. "I do!" he said. "Where is he?"

"He's fishing," I said. "for you and all the others at this encampment. These fish are all for you and there are more. He asked us to bring these to your encampment and see if we could find help to get what he has caught down at the North Walk River up here as well."

The sentry made a second whistle call, this one a different tone and several more soldiers quickly appeared. The sentry explained the situation to them and within minutes they were headed over to Simpaug.

It was the first real meal the soldiers had had in three days. One of the soldiers told us it was getting so bad that they were gnawing on shoe leather flavored with pine sap.

Many soldiers came to thank us as we pulled the empty sled out of the encampment and made our way back home, it felt good to help out.

Future Updates:

For more previews as I finish new chapters be sure to "Like" me on Facebook or "Follow" me in Twitter...

My Brother Sam is Dead Facebook page
My Brother Sam is Dead Twitter account

You can also sign-up for my Dropbox Folder. This book and many others will soon be posted to the Dropbox Folder along with teaching resources for them.

What’s in the My Brother Sam is Dead Dropbox Folder?

Everything I have collected and written over that past 6 years and that's a whole lot. The idea behind this folder is to help parents and teachers better understand what topics the authors have woven into each chapter of the fictional history novel, My Brother Sam is Dead.

I have broken out this resource into three sections:

1). Guide to MBSD(2 e-books and 8 supporting documents),

2). Maps, Photos and Visuals and

3). Teaching Resources(includes lesson plans and online quizzes).

All my ebooks are included at this resource and much more. Photos and maps of everything that occurs in the novel and teaching tools are included as well.

This is everything you need and more to get your kids really excited about the novel and come away with a very good understanding of why the novel was written.

My Brother Sam is Dead Dropbox Access