Chapter 8

We were now well into 1814 and we could breathe easier. The battle of Horseshoe Bend had crushed the Redsticks. The folks of Henryville felt safe from Injun attacks, so there was talk of disbandin' the militia. I didn't want ta do that, jus' in case we were threatened again by river pirates or some other non-Injun gang. Nobody in the militia wanted us ta break up, either, it was jus' talk by some busybodies around town what didn't know when their ass wuz well off.

It was about 5 months since our last battle with river pirates, so I wasn't 'sprised when we got word of another gang comin' upriver. This time, we knew that there wuz near 60 in the gang. Word wuz, they wuz headed toward Eufala, an' the Governor of Georgia wanted us ta cut them off, again, afore they could git there.

We had 33 in the militia, now, counting me, but I heard that these pirates had cannon, so I didn't want to go head-ta-head with 'em cuz I wuz afeard of gittin on the wrong end of a cannon shot. Ifen we stayed spread out while we wuz in range of the cannon, we would be OK, cuz I didn't think that they would fire a cannon at just one or two men.

I sent Ezra an' his detachment of 12 crossbowmen down the river ta try ta hit the pirates as soon as they could, long afore they got upriver as far as Henryville. That left me with 19 infantry, an' that wuzn't enough ta fight nearly 60 pirates in four boats, so we had ta beat 'em with guile.

There wuz a narrow section of the river where we could string a chain across ta keep them from gittin' any farther upriver without cuttin' the chain. Ifen we could block the downriver escape route, we'd have 'em in a box where we could pick 'em off with our crossbows. We managed ta scrounge up enough chain around town ta block the river like I wanted ta, but we still didn't have no way of blockin' off the escape route.

Somebody suggested we block the river by stringin' logs together. It would do fer a temporary blockade, an' that wuz all we needed. It turned out that the logs looked like such a good idee that I returned the chain, an' we made the upstream barrier from logs an' rope, too.

Meanwhile, Ezra an' his bunch had made contact with the pirates. They had managed ta pick off three of the pirates while they wuz still in their boats, but the river was really too wide along there ta do much with the crossbows. They did find out that their armor was strong enough to stand up ta musket balls from that range, too, but they shore didn't want ta chance meetin' up with them cannon.

There wuz one cannon on each of two boats, what looked ta Ezra like 2-pounders. Ezra knew from his militia days that 2-pounders weren't much good against individuals except at very close range. Shore, them balls would tear hell out of a man IFEN they hit, but that was the rub! They wuz deadly at close range with cannister, though; then they was like overgrown shotguns. The trick wuz never ta let them line up on ya, cuz that there cannister would cut a man ta mincemeat.

The boats were stayin' on the far side of the river ta try ta stay away from them crossbow bolts. Ezra was lookin' fer a way ta git some men on the other side of the river so that they could cotch the pirates in a crossfire. He'd like ta put six crossbowmen on the other side an' never gave up lookin' fer a way ta do it. Finally, they came across a man with a boat what wuz willin' ta ferry six men over at the thievin' price of 5 cents per man. There wuz nothin' fer it, but Ezra had ta pay up ifen he wuz gonna git his wishes.

The pirates wuz well passed them, so they had ta run ta cotch up ta the pirates. They stayed back away from the river bank as they ran an' stopped at a place upriver a mite ahead of the pirates. They set themselves up behind big pecan an' hickory trees an' waited fer the boats ta sail by 'em. Once the boats got even with the crossbowmen, they commenced ta shoot. The ones on the far side had the best shots at the men cuz of the shorter range, an' their first volley wuz aimed at the men standin' near the cannon. By the second volley, all four of them cannoneers wuz down with at least one bolt in the gut, but they did git off one shot from each cannon. Three of Ezra's men wuz wounded, but none were killed. The trees and the personal armor did a good job of stoppin' that shit fired as cannister rounds from them cannons.

Men jumped inta place and started ta row fer all they wuz worth. The rowin', plus the sail, pulled the boats passed the crossbowmen afore much more damage wuz done, but Ezra wuz pleased ta knock out the cannoneers so easy. He hoped that we wouldn't have no more problem from them.

Travois were built ta haul two of the wounded men, an' they headed fer where we wuz waitin' fer the boats. This time, the boats stayed ahead of 'em, so Ezra's men wuzn't able ta do no more damage right then.

We had the upstream barricade in place, an' them boats came to as quick a stop as boats can, but they all still bumped inta the floatin' logs. I yelled at the pirates ta surrender, but they refused, knowin' that they would be hanged ifen they did. I knew it wuz silly, but I figured that it wuz my duty ta make the offer.

All of this happened 'bout half an hour afore Ezra showed up, an' the boats wuz still gathered on the other side of the river. However, the river was narrow enough along here that there weren't no way the boats could git out of crossbow range without runnin' downriver.

Soon as the priates had shown up, I sent some men ta close off the downriver escape with the other log barricade. It happened that Ezra an' his men showed up just about the time the logs wuz pulled across the river ta block all escape by water. Now that I had some crossbowmen ta back me up, we started ta git ready fer an infantry fight. I sent Ezra an' his six men ta flank us on the downriver side an' start shootin' at anythin' on the boats what moved. We had brought plenty of bolts with us, so we wuz in good shape there.

There weren't no dock along here, so the only way fer the pirates ta attack us was by landin on the shore. The far bank wuz a red clay hill 'bout 12-15 feet high between the two barricades, so this side wuz their only way off the river. There wuz no way them pirates wuz gonna climb that bank without a ladder, an' I wuz certain that they didn't have nothin' like that with them. All three of the wounded crossbowmen were on that side of the river, but we still had three who could fight effectively over there.

The men on the far side were in a good place, since they could shoot down into the boats, an' there weren't no place fer the men in the boats ta hide. I didn't know how long it was gonna take fer them ta figure it out, but their only escape wuz ta attack us on this side on dry land as infantry.

After about 20 minutes of being shot at like fish in a barrel, they decided ta come at us. We wuz outnumbered, so I figured that our best bet wuz ta fight like we had trained: shoulder-ta-shoulder in one line. Ezra's bunch could he'p by shootin' the pirates in the flank.

The pirates started ta row them boats across the river ta our side. They had found somebody foolish enough ta stand up, fully exposed to the crossbowmen, an' try ta shoot that there cannon. Even though there wuz four boats, there wuz only two cannon, so we weren't in quite as much danger as it might have seemed. The crossbowmen on the far side had eliminated the substitute cannoneers afore they could get very far from the far bank, an' nobody else wuz stupid enough ta try ta take their places. At least, I guess that wuz the reason we never did git shot at by them cannon.

We let the boats ground themselves on the river bank on our side. The pirates swarmed out an' ran at our rank of infantry while shoutin' an' wavin' cutlasses. A few men tried ta shoot us with muskets, but Ezra's gang took care of them afore they got off a single shot. Ezra's men shot at the chargin' pirates with pretty good effect, since they had been usin' their crossbows fer huntin', so they were experienced at hittin' a movin' target.