Chapter 22

The following new character appears in the next few chapters:

Fredrick Matherson

Senior Lieutenant, Continental Commander at Fort Washington, 5'-7" tall, 135 pounds, 25 years old, brown hair, blue eyes

We had been told that Gilmore's Station was located a bit more than the twelve miles east of Mount Sterling, but distances here had to be taken with a grain of salt, as they were seldom correct. The trail that we were following crossed the Licking River, twice before it approached the settlement of Peeled Oak with Gilmore's Station not far from there. The Station was located near Slate Creek, a tributary of the Licking River, and used it as a source of water. The creek also was anything but straight and its length wandered and turned constantly in this area of hills and flat lands that was lightly forested.

The actual Station consisted of a large two story blockhouse and a surrounding stockade that was about seventy-five feet square. The stockade required some repair, as did the cabins located inside of it. The blockhouse still appeared to be in good shape. There were no guards present at the Station, nor anyone else. The local people who we spoke to in Peeled Oak indicated that the Station had been abandoned for several years, but they believed that it still belonged to the Gilmores. They knew nothing of its acquisition by the government.

Seamus and I spent several hours going over the station and its various buildings. We thought that it would be suitable as a training facility, but wasn't large enough to station many troops, given its present size and condition. We would need to bring Captain Moore here to get his opinion on its suitability as a training site. Before leaving, we cast a defensive shell around the station to keep people and animals out of it.

We found that the Mount Sterling fort that we transferred back to, late that afternoon, had changed considerably in our absence. The entire fort now looked cleaner and brighter. The stables had been cleaned and D & C were anxious to show us the now enlarged garden behind the fort near Hinkston Creek.

"One of the Corporals knew some men in Mount Sterling, and we sent him in to hire them to extend the plowed area so there would be a larger garden. We have already seeded it from seeds that we found in the stable, and will soon have vegetables to help feed the people here," Dymphna told me excitedly.

"And where did you get the money for this?" I asked.

"Sererena gave us some money before we left this morning. It was approved by Lieutenant Lister," Coleen told me.

"That's fine. Who will be taking care of the garden?" I asked them.

"The responsibility will rotate between the guard shifts, and it will be worked on at different times during the day. Wolf and A & A worked out the guard schedule with the Corporals," Dymphna told me. It would appear that my relatives had been very busy in my absence.

Before leaving the fort that afternoon, I had a meeting with my relatives in the Commander's office.

"What have you determined will be required to make this an operational fort," I asked.

"A lot more than just furniture," Wolf told Seamus and me. "There are kitchen areas but no cooking equipment. Barracks but no furnishings. There is little feed in the stable, and only a limited number of muskets plus their ammunition in the armory. There is no lighting in the barracks, or firewood for the winter. What little firewood there is, is located near the one functional kitchen. Also the guards will need more food and firewood in addition to candles, blankets and additional uniforms. They also haven't been paid in three months," Wolf told me in frustration. I could see that conditions here had greatly upset him.

"We will consult with both Gwyn and Sergeant O'Faolain tonight on solutions to these problems," I assured him.

It was nearly 5:00 that afternoon before we prepared to leave. The Corporal had the guards to be posted assembled in a rank to be inspected before we departed. Wolf went to inspect the Corporal and his four guards. I just observed, but could see that they looked much better than they had yesterday. They had all shaved and their clothes were clean. so were their muskets. I had to attribute this to my people, and it was very gratifying to see how busy they had been and what effect the attention of good, caring Officers had on men who were not Continentals but more like long term militia.

After Wolf's inspection, we walked our horses out of the fort, and the gates were closed behind us. I noticed a number of the men not on guard were up on the wallwalks to watch us depart. Before we did, I had some words of praise for my relatives.

"You have all done a great job here. I'm sure that the fort will be much improved because of your work today. Thank you," I told them before we all calmed our horses, joined hands, and Seamus cast the transfer spell.

After dinner at the operations meeting that night, Wolf again went over what was needed at Mount Sterling, and his frustration was still apparent.

"We will go to Fort Henry tomorrow and check on the pay for those men and also the monies for upkeep for the fort," Sergeant O'Faolain told him. "We will require Lieutenant Lister to go with us, bringing the original order for us to assume command of the fort."

"I will go to Fort Henry with Sergeant O'Flannagain to see what furniture and other items can be obtained from the Quartermaster there for use at Mount Sterling and also at Gilmore's Station. Do you know what Captain Moore will require," Gwyn asked.

"No, but he will be moving his present equipment there. I will need to transfer him out there to look at the Station and see what additional items will be required," I told her.

"What do you have planned for tomorrow?" Sererena asked after that.

"I was planning on taking Seamus and his people to look at Fort Washington tomorrow," I told her.

"What about the remainder of your people?" Sererena asked.

"I will be returning to Mount Sterling. They need a strong hand there to guide them," Wolf told her.

"What about D & C?" Saraid asked.

"We are working on the garden," both Mages told her.

"We can remain here if you need a hand," Amelia told her after looking at her twin.

"Yes, that would be good," Saraid agreed. We broke up shortly after that and were in bed after a bit of studying. We had been rather remiss in that lately.

In the morning following chores and breakfast, Seamus met with his relatives before I transferred us and our horses to an area just outside of view from Fort Washington. We studied the fort for a time.

"It's definitely larger than Mount Sterling," Seamus said after a few minutes observation.

"There is certainly enough ground in front of it for a really large garden, too," Cessair remarked.

"How many people are stationed there currently?" Carl asked, coming to the heart of the problem.

"I don't know, but when I was here before there wasn't a lot of activity visible," I reminded all of them.

"There is only one way to find out. Let's ride over there and introduce ourselves," Seamus, ever the optimist, told us. We moved out then with Seamus and me in the lead and the others following. As we approached the fort the Sergeant of the Guard was summoned. We were stopped by regular Continental sentries just outside of the gates.

"Good morning, Major. What can we do for you and your party?" the Sergeant of the Guard asked after saluting.

"Good morning, Sergeant. I'm Major O'Connell, Commander of O'Connell's Border Rangers. I have orders to take Command of this fort. One of my companies will be stationed here. Who is the Commander of the fort presently?" I asked.

"That would be Senior Lieutenant Matherson, the Commander of the two Continental platoons stationed here, sir," the Sergeant informed me. "You will find him in the building that we are using for a headquarters."

"Thank you, Sergeant," I told him, and we passed through the gate. Once inside, it was quickly apparent where the Continentals were set up. It was the only area of the fort that showed any activity. We stopped in front of a small building where several men were visible. They immediately came to attention, as we dismounted.

"At ease," I told them before asking, "Is this your orderly room?"

"Yes sir," one answered.

"Thank you," I told them before turning to Seamus and the others. "Seamus and I will go inside. The rest of you wait out here," I told them since the building was small.

A Sergeant was waiting at the door and called "Attention" as we entered. I quickly gave "At ease" so as not to inconvenience those present. We were greeted by a young Lieutenant of about twenty-five years of age. He was short at about 5'-7" tall and maybe 135 pounds. His brown hair was neatly trimmed, and he had on a crisp clean uniform. He was the exact opposite of the Lieutenant at Mount Sterling.

"Good morning, sir. I'm Lieutenant Matherson," he said, as he approached.

"Good morning, Lieutenant. I'm Major Mark O'Connell, Commander of O'Connell's Border Rangers, and this is Captain Seamus O'Connell. He is the Commander of my B Company that will be stationed here along with a detachment of Rangers. They will be running patrols out of here to check on raids and other problems caused by the British in the Ohio country. Do you in fact have two platoons of Continentals here?" I asked.

"Yes sir. Our mission is to protect the settlers in the Ohio country, but we never hear about any of the raids until well after they are over. It is very frustrating plus most of the settlements are so far from here that we would be of little help even if we learned about them more quickly," Lieutenant Matherson told us in exasperation.

"Trust me that the situation will improve very shortly. We are just here to inspect the fort today and determine what will be needed to begin operations here," I told him.

"When will your people be moving in, sir?" he asked.

"It will be a week or so before we have any Rangers available, but some of my people will be moving in before that," I told him and noticed that the Lieutenant looked a little apprehensive. I reached into my coat pocket and withdrew the envelope containing the orders and removed the pertinent orders for him to read. The orders being handed to him upside down didn't faze this Lieutenant, and he soon had them turned around to read them. He returned them to me when he had finished.

"Very good, sir," he said after returning the orders. "Will your people need guides to the rest of the fort?" he asked.

"That might be a good idea, as this is rather larger than our Headquarters at Hickory Hill, or the fort at Mount Sterling," I admitted.

"If you will have the remainder of your people come in, I'll send for some guides and for someone to take care of your horses," he told us. When I called the others in, there was great surprise on the faces of those in the orderly room.

"You have women in your unit!!" the surprised Lieutenant asked on recovering.

"Yes, a large portion of our unit is female," I told him before introducing the others.

"These are Senior Lieutenants Carl O'Connell and Gerald O'Connell. Behind them are Meagan and Maureen O'Connell, both Senior Lieutenants. They are followed by Senior Lieutenants Cessair and Dealla O'Connell who are healers," I told him, as each pair of them smiled at him when introduced.

"Healers? Do you mean doctors?" he asked, as it appeared that he knew of no female doctors or Army Lieutenants either for that matter.

"No, they are much better than doctors. They use Green Magic to heal and repair plants, animals and people,"I told him.

"What is Green Magic? I have never heard of it," he asked not understanding.

"It is the Magic of plants and growing things," Cessair told him with a smile