Chapter 46

“We will allow you time to consider your decision,” I told them before we all transferred back to Hickory Hill. After a fine dinner there, we all returned to our separate rooms for a good night’s sleep. I was sure that the Generals in Philadelphia were having a much less comfortable night and no sex.

On Monday morning the 16th of March, I again went to Fort Jefferson to see General Greene, and to update him on the most recent developments. Ken and Kell went with me. We had no trouble getting in to see the General. Colonel Harrower, his Chief-of-Staff, greeted us cheerfully.

“Good morning, Mark. Have you more progress to report? General Greene will be anxious to hear it. I’ll just see if he is busy,” Colonel Harrowed said before knocking at the General’s door. We were quickly waved in.

“Good morning, Colonel O’Connell. What progress have you to report?” the General asked after we had saluted.

“Good morning, sir,” I replied. “Last evening, we transferred all of the British Commanders of the east coast ports to Philadelphia, and again presented our demand that they surrender. We left them all there to consider their answer,” I informed him, but purposely did not mention that it was Clan O’Connell that was demanding their surrender and removal from North America, and not the American Government West of the Mountains. He and they didn’t need to know that presently.

“Very good, Colonel! Do you think they will surrender?” General Greene asked.

“I believe that in a few more days they will be hungry enough to consider our demands,” I told him. “Are there any requirements that you would like included in the surrender documents?” I asked after that. Ken and Kell had raised this question with me over the weekend when we had discussed what was to be included in the surrender documents.

“Yes, there are a number of items that we consider essential,” General Greene told us. “We haven’t brought these up previously as many doubted that you would be successful. Have a seat Gentlemen, while I send for my S-3. He has been working with the President and members of the Congress on items to be included in any surrender documents or treaty.”

“We are working on surrender documents, sir, not a treaty,” Ken reminded him. “Treaties are made between Nations, and are not the province of Generals who only control armies.” Still we reviewed a number of suggestions from them on how to word the document and various provisions about the removal of forces, the condition of the remaining forts, and the timing for the concentration of forces near the ports for embarkation on ships.

We returned to Hickory Hill after that with a number of new ideas and set to work drawing up the initial draft for the surrender documents. Later that afternoon, we called in John McIntosh to review what we had written to make sure that we had things worded correctly for this time and place. He suggested several changes in terminology that would be more appropriate for this time along with several other suggestions on the wording of the document. Sergeant O’Faolin then began preparation of the hand-written documents because of his excellent hand-writing. His assistant created a second copy from his original.

On Tuesday morning, we approached William Banister about printing copies of the surrender documents to be distributed throughout the colonies, and also to the American Government in Washington city. Both William and John were much improved by now.

“I’m not sure what happened to my shop in Charles Town. I could print this easily if it is still in good condition. If not, I know a few other printers who would be glad to help,” he informed us.

“Are you well enough to undertake this?” Sererena asked him in concern.

“Yes, my Dear. I feel much better, and this is important,” he told her, and kissed her for a few seconds. Sererena was breathing hard when they separated.

“Don’t overwork him, or you’ll have me to deal with!” she warned us before leaving to attend to other matters.

Ken, Kell, and I transferred to Charles Town with William. It was easy to locate his shop. It had been boarded up and the doors chained closed. This was no real impediment to us, and a quick spell removed all of the boards, and the lock on the chain closing the doors opened as we approached them.

Inside there were papers and other things scattered about on the floor, but the press was in good shape and everything else was soon straightened up. It was obvious that the British had quickly sealed the building after arresting William and may even have posted guards here, perhaps intending to use the press at some point themselves.

William was able to start to work setting type in a short time, while the rest of us helped him by doing the majority of the heavy work like moving the paper, the supplies of ink, and cleaning up the press. We were all familiar with these chores having worked at the clan’s printing plant and at our Great Uncle Frank’s printing plant in the Other World. William’s press was very similar to his.

He continued with typesetting while we were engaged in these activities. He seemed quite surprised at our knowledge of not only what needed to be done, but also how to do it.

“Have you worked as printers previously?” he asked while taking a short break from typesetting.

“Yes, our clan is in the printing business, and our Great Uncle Frank has a press similar to yours in the Other World. We all worked in the printing plant growing up and know how to set up the various presses,” Ken told him.

“Other World? What is that?” William asked in confusion, but he also seemed surprised to learn that we had all worked in printing while growing up.

“It will take a bit of time to explain what the Other World is and where it is. Ask Sererena or Saraid about it, that is if they allow you time for talking,” Kell told him with a big grin.

“Oh yes, we have discussed a number of things, but they usually have other things on their minds, and can be very insistent!” William told us with a smile.

“Yes, all of the O’Connell women can be,” I told him with a grin of my own. William soon had the first page set up, and we began printing it, while he worked on the second page.

It was mid-afternoon before we finished and cleaned things up. We closed and warded the shop before transferring ourselves and the printed copies back to Hickory Hill. William went upstairs to take a nap, as he was still recovering from the injuries he had received in prison. Ken, Kell, and I went to the den with the printed copies of the surrender agreement for a planning session.

Tuesday evening the 17th of March, we returned to the conference room at General Abercrombie’s Headquarters in Philadelphia. Our delegation this time only consisted of Ken, Kell, Seamus, Sererena, Gwyn, and me. Arriving there at 6:30 in the evening, we found the Generals already in conference. They all looked like hell and not their usual neat and well dressed selves. We appeared at the end of the long conference table, which had been returned to its normal place in the room.

“Have you reconsidered your decision?” I demanded on appearing. My voice startled them as much as our sudden appearance did.

“How do you do that!?” several of them asked on regaining their composure. “It’s most unsettling.”

“Those in the American Army also found it unsettling, but they became used to it after a time,” I told them while looking inquisitively at General Abercrombie.

“We have if the conditions are reasonable,” he answered after a short time having recovered from our sudden appearance also.

“We have brought a number of printed copies of the terms of surrender as well as two original hand-written copies -- one for each side,” I informed him, as Ken and Kell distributed a printed copy to each of the Generals for their perusal. It required many minutes for them to study the agreement. They had several questions.

“What is this paragraph about the surrender of all seized property?” General Doyle asked in an expectant voice.

“That paragraph is very specific. ALL confiscated property including businesses, farms, houses, money, and ships are to be returned to the original owners by all present or former British Military or government personnel. The property is to be in at least as good of a condition as when it was seized. The person responsible may remove his personal possessions such as clothing, books, papers and other personal items. Everything else, including any additions or furniture, is to remain with the property and to be returned to the original owner or their descendants,” I informed him, quoting it exactly as it was written in the document.

“There are a number of British personnel who have seized the property of colonists for their own use upon retiring here. We personally know of numerous cases of this. They will be required to depart with your troops after giving up the property,” Seamus added in a determined voice.

“The partisans in the various colonies know exactly what has been confiscated, and they will be watching to ensure that it is returned to the proper owners in the correct condition. Any attempt to destroy or otherwise reduce the value of the property instead of turning it over as is will be met with all necessary force by one or more of the O’Connells. You have only seen a part of what we are capable of. Warn those in illegal possession of these things of what we have said,” Ken warned them. Most of the Generals appeared to be very upset by this provision of the document and by our warning.

“The other terms seem generous enough, but allow us a day to further review the terms more fully,” General Abercrombie requested after that.

“Certainly! We will return for your decision at 8:00 tomorrow evening,” I told them before we cast the transfer spell and vanished from Philadelphia to reappear at Hickory Hill.

“Do you think they are stalling?” Seamus asked once we were all seated in the small parlor.

“I wouldn’t think so, but it’s possible. They are all pretty hungry by now so they should make up their minds fairly quickly,” Kell reminded him.

“Just the same, we should have everyone check their ports tomorrow for any new developments. Just in case they are stalling for some reason,” Ken advised.

“Yes, that is an excellent idea. We should keep up on the latest developments in any case,” I agreed.

“What do you think could be happening, Mark?” Gwyn asked.

“It’s impossible to tell. It could be anything from more supplies arriving to extra personnel coming in,” Ken told her.

“Maybe they think that the Tories will rise up to help them, though I don’t see what they could do. Of course the Tories and the Whigs have been at each other since 1775,” Seamus observed.

“Or it could be nothing at all!” Kell suggested with a smile. “But we should check to be sure until things are sewn up, and they have all departed.”

“It’s going to take time for all of them to leave. They are going to need ships to arrive here from England or even from Europe to carry them and their material back to wherever they are reassigned. They are going to need to use some of those supplies in the meantime,” Gwyn, ever the Quartermaster, reminded us.

“We are going to need to have the teams search each of the warehouses in their port to isolate those with weapons, ammunition, and other offensive items from the food, uniforms, and other supplies that they will require until they depart. Their own Quartermasters should know what is required to sustain them, but we need to be sure that they don’t receive anything extra that would allow them to begin offensive operations.

“Any type of attack by British forces will be met by ‘O’Connell’ retaliation. We will also need to make the partisans aware of this after the surrender is signed,” I reminded everyone before adding, “Alert all of your people that there is a meeting here at 9:00 in the morning.” The meeting ended then and we all returned to our spouses.

In the meantime there were developments in Savannah that would affect the outcome of events in North America. Under cover of the approaching darkness a fishing boat slipped into Savannah harbor and three figures dressed in dark clothing left it. They moved very quietly from shadow to shadow as they made their way from the docks up to East Bay Street. There were none of the usual British Army guards on the docks or along East Bay Street to see them, as they had all been isolated in their barracks. The men still moved very carefully down Bay Street going west until they reached the area of Captain Billy’s house. They approached it carefully and knocked at the front door. When the door opened, the three quickly entered and closed the door behind them.

“Well Captain Becker, what brings you, your Mate, and this stranger here at this time of night?” Captain Billy asked. when they were all seated in the small front room with the curtains drawn.