Saul Ogden is my cousin, being but three days younger than I, who was, in August of 1781, just turned fifteen, and although it may seem strange to the lads of New England that we two Virginians knew so little concerning what was being done in this America of ours, it is true that until the engagement at Spencer's Ordinary there had never been a thought in our minds that we might be called upon, or that it would be possible for us to take any part in the bloody struggle which had been prolonged until it seemed of a verity that the people of New York and Boston must have come to an end of all their resources, so far as struggling against the king's soldiers was concerned.
It is true Saul and I had heard now and then that even boys in Massachusetts and in New York were enrolled, or had agreed among themselves, to act as Minute Boys, ready to do whatsoever they might, at any time, regardless of all things else save the proving of that Declaration of Independence to the satisfaction of the whole wide world.
It was on the day before the action at Spencer's Ordinary that I, Fitzroy Hamilton, and Saul, my cousin, met for the first time a little French lad by name of Pierre Laurens, who had come up from New Orleans with his widowed mother to visit at my home, after having spent a summer in Boston.
A companionable sort of a lad was this little French boy who waved his hands and shrugged his shoulders when he talked, as if they were in some way connected with his tongue; one who was able to tell many an entertaining story, and who had seen so much of this land of America that it was to Saul and me as if he was some great traveler, while we were only two country louts, never having strayed a dozen miles from home.
It is not of Pierre whom I have set myself down to tell; but it was necessary I should refer to him in order that you might understand how we two lads of James Town, who seldom went away from the plantation save to ride into the settlement, and whose longest journey had been from the James to the York river across that neck where one may best arrive at York Town, came to know that we might serve the Cause as Minute Boys.
It was little Frenchie who took it upon himself to tell us what he knew, he having met several lads in Boston who called themselves Minute Boys. He held up before Saul and me pictures of the duty we owed our homes, as if we Virginians needed to be taught our duty, and painted in glowing colors the honor and glory which was to be won by those lads who stood ever ready to perform the work of Minute Boys, until we were quite aflame with the idea.
I doubt much, however, whether anything would have come of it had it not been for that same engagement at Spencer's Ordinary, when Lieutenant-Colonel Simcoe, counting to ride over the Pennsylvania men under Colonel Butler as he had ridden over us Virginians, found much to his displeasure that it was not always possible for his high mightiness to do exactly as he wished.
Do not get the idea that I intend to make it appear as if the king's troops were worsted at Spencer's Tavern; but it was a drawn battle, as I have heard even those who really loved the king, admit, and it must have been a startling surprise to the swaggering Simcoe to have received even a check.
It was only natural that after this engagement Saul and I, egged on by Pierre, should talk quite seriously of forming a company of Minute Boys; but no sooner would we begin, and I strive to point out how we might do this thing or that which would advantage our colony of Virginia, than Saul would break in with the saying of Uncle 'Rasmus's, that where "chillun an' women were mixed" matters went awry.
Yet despite my cousin's seeming scorn, Pierre continued to urge that we enroll ourselves as Minute Boys, and when Saul asked irritably whether he believed any good would come to the Cause if only three lads were banded together, agreeing to do whatsoever they might, thereby, as you can see, throwing cold water on the scheme, Pierre, his hands waving and his shoulders shrugged nearly to his ears, would insist again and again that if no more than three should set themselves about striving to do something in aid of those who were battling against the king, much of good might be accomplished.