New Page #48!
It's St. Patrick's Day, Alan. Apparently the Mulligans start the party early.
On the night of March 4, 1776 George Washington used the cannon that Col. Henry Knox had delivered to Boston to fortify an advantageous position called Dorchester Heights overlooking Boston Harbor. For two days the Americans fired their guns though it was mostly just for the spectacle, not to really engage in battle… just yet. British guns answered in kind, though they, too, did little real damage.
(I’m glossing over that whole part about Knox going to Fort Ticonderoga to drag 120,000 pounds of cannon back through the snowy mountains of upstate New York. That’s a whole other adventure that we just won’t get to in The Dreamer but it sure is worth your time to pursue independently!)
The morning of March 5th brought the 6th Anniversary of the Boston Massacre. (A year prior Dr. Warren was giving his Boston Massacre Oration at Old South…)
The British woke up that morning to the annoying buzz of Americans digging atop their brand-new redoubt, complete with 20 guns… aimed at them. The situation was eerily similar to Bunker Hill.
Allegedly General Howe said, “My God, these fellows have done more work in one night than I could make my army do in three months.”
Howe’s instinct was to attack, but just like when the fog would roll in later that year, nature intervened in the Americans’ favor. A sudden, horrible sleet and snow storm prevented the British from making the amphibious landing and it continued into the next day. Howe remembered Bunker Hill and made the decision (perhaps overdue) to abandon Boston and bring the fight to a better position.
It wasn’t just the British army that packed up to leave Boston. Large numbers of Loyalists fled the city as well. Families were forced to take whatever they could on a ship, in just a few hours, and leave the rest of their lives behind them. Looting ensued as there was chaos in the city.
On March 15th Howe tried to set sail for Nova Scotia. Due to more ill winds, they weren’t able to leave the harbor until March 17th. And, if you live near Boston, you’ll recognize that day as “Evacuation Day” not just St. Patrick’s Day.
There’s a little story I found over on Boston 1775 about the Americans realizing they could finally get into the city after the nearly year-long siege that began after Lexington on April 19th. General John Sulivan was an American who had his eye on the activity of British soldiers boarding the ships in Boston Harbor. From his perch at Charlestown Neck, he saw sentries still guarding Bunker Hill, “standing as usual with their Firelocks shouldered.” He got suspicious though, “finding they never moved,” and upon closer observation realized they were dummies. HA!
This convinced him that the British really had gone, and it was safe to go into the city.
Clever, clever Brits.
The first men to cross over into the city that afternoon were 500 men from Roxbury who already had smallpox and thus were immune. What’s Alan doing among them? Well, that’s another story for another day. (But it IS a story you can look forward to, drawn by Meg Syverud and written by yours truly.)
For now, VOTE to preview the next page!
* I’ll be at a Tristate Con in Huntington, WV on June 9th. *
aksjbdsiohfvydsv!!!!! WE GET TO FINALLY FIND OUT WHAT THE PROMISE WAS!?!?!?!?!???????? *faints*
First comment. Interesting.
Anyways, is this where Alan learns about Bea’s kidnapping?
It’s starting to look that way. Of course the big question is WHY she was taken.
Uh-oh.
Ha! I pegged it :)
And I’m originally from Vermont, so the story of Fort Ticonderoga is pretty familiar.
Speaking of smallpox, there’s an excellent book called Pox Americana that goes into a lot of detail about the smallpox epidemics of this time period.
Omigod! the VI! Mr. Whaley just told Alan that General Howe took Bea, didn’t he?!
Either that or he told him the dish and the spoon are having a trial separation.
just don’t slip on your ring at the end of that song, okay? Leads to all sorts of problems.
Oooo, shiny. *tosses it* Everybody, catch!
*vanishes*
Watch out for the Ring Wraiths!
*unearthly shriek*
Yay Fort Ti! Hubby and I went there a couple years ago and did the tour. Very interesting.
do they still have Jane McCrea’s scalp there?
Whoa! :O They actually had that poor girl’s scalp on display? Ick!
They definitely had a scalp on display, and I’m pretty sure it was hers, but I can’t find the information on the Internet anywhere. I distinctly remember it being long, blondish-red hair. They may just have had a picture of Jane Mcrea there…it may not have been hers.
Oh, no. They took Bea along when they skedaddled, didn’t they?
And is it just me, or does anyone else find it amusing to see Bea’s straitlaced dad in an 18th century nightgown?!
I hope so. That was the point!
I honestly didn’t even recognize him until Alan called him “Mr. Whaley”.
He forgot to put his hair on this morning. Oh yeah. And his pants. XD
:D Well, they say clothes make the man, and in this case the hair, to! Honestly, though, I just can’t seem to take people in their nightshirts seriously. I don’t know why!
Oh, dear… Mr. Whaley, barefoot with all that broken glass around? Watch your step, man…
Ohhhhhhh, dees ees eeeeeeeet…… :-D :-D :-D
Finally, we get to see (or hear) how Beatrice was taken. I’ve been waiting for this all series (well, that and a scene with the two Howes……hello, fanfiction). Anyway…..
So, what’s this other story I hear about, hmm? Is it tasty, precious, yes? Oooo….
INCENTIVE CAPTION!!!!
Lord Whalley (not sure his status, just go with it): “Mr. Warren, I’m afraid….my prize apple has been picked.”
Alan: “That’s okay, you can have some of mine.”
Lord Whalley: “No….the bee is with lobsters.”
Alan: “Since when do you make honey?”
Lord Whalley: “No, I mean…..my daughter has left with someone who is red.”
Alan: “…..She’s with a writer?”
Lord Whalley: “…..You’re kind of an idiot, aren’t you?”
LOL!
I love it!
Hah! Good one!
Ha, nice. Poor Alan just isn’t hip to the spy lingo.
St.Patrick’s day is my birthday! Is this were bea is kidnapped?
I was under the impression, no idea why, that Bea’s 18th century parents disapproved of Alan a little bit. Maybe her mother just really can’t stand “the rabble.”
I can’t wait to see Alan’s reaction when Mr. Whaley tells him the Brits have absconded with Bea. I predict angry/impulsive words and actions in his future which may or may not endear him to Mr. Whaley.
This was probably about the time that the Loyalist side of the Eustis family (yes, they existed) ran off to Canada and changed their name to Chamberlain. (Maybe not the exact moment, but it’s as good a time as any.) Always thought it would be interesting to track them down.
I like the juxtaposition of the different characters in this – people cheering about how the British had left Boston in the background, but Mr. Whaley with his vandalized house in the foreground. It’s a rather poignant image, all things considered.
Dude, Mr. Whaley looks spent but I love that ‘eff-it’ look on his face. It’d be funny if it weren’t serious. Okay, it’s a little funny! (what, it’s me.)
Hey that bit in the history lesson, where the British used dummys as decoys…that was just like in the movie ‘The Patriot!!!!’ *ducks and runs*
Hey everybody!
I have just recently unearthed a startling new reason why we fought the Revolutionary War, based upon British newspapers and letters. Would you like me to share what I found? It is really earth-shaking. I cannot look at the American War for Independence the same way ever again.
This isn’t having to do with vampires looking to escape persecution back in Europe, is it? *still loves Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter*
No, no, the vampires were the ones doing the persecuting. Because they were in league with the Illumanti. Geez, get your facts straight, man!
And don’t forget they’ve been distracted by a war with the Werewolves
For heavens sake, Amber, just spill the beans already!
LMAOADDS But seriously guys, in the book that is the reason given for vamps secretly fighting for the americas during the revolutionary war…..seriously. That said…..fill our lives with the unholy light of knowledge*, Miss Amber!
*seperation of church and state, remember?
So last night just before I went to bed, I read the latest page and then went to sleep. That night I dreamed that I woke up back in time in Revolutionary War America, just like Bea. :) Except instead of being in Boston, my dream took place not to far away from Richmond, VA. The dream was very involved, vivid, and strange. In the dream these evil people that were also from the future had formed an evil dreaming-time traveler group. They tried to kill me – haha! Just before I woke up, I remember thinking “I wonder if I will see Beatrice if I go up North.” :)
Wait, so you had a dream about The Dreamer, which is set half in a dream?
That’s…kinda mind-boggling, really.
Somehow, I doubt we’ll see the evil time-travelers show up in this one, though. Probably.
OMG, it’s Inception all over again XD
That fence does a good job of keeping the rioters at bay. I should invest in one of those to keep those pesky kids off my lawn.
If I had a lawn.
You know, it would help if I kept track of my days and remembered there was an update…
Oh mai, is this where we find out what happened to Bea?!?!?!? :D!!!
Quite the bewildered-puppy expression there, Alan. Personally, I kind of want to see the Mulligan’s Paddy’s Day party after Lora’s teaser, but I expect whatever it actually is will be even better, or at least make more sense.
As for the VI:
“Well Alan, what happened here is a couple high-speed baseballs met our window. You boys wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
“Oh, um, I’m sure that, um, whoever did that will pay you for a new window as soon as, as they can do that…ah, does your lawn need mowing by any chance?”
lol, though i believe the correct terminology for this time period would simply be “trimming”.
A little late for trimming the verge, don’t you think? XD
*immense hugs*
that, and baseball is definitely more of a late Civil War and after type thing (did you know a lot of the frontier forts out West had baseball teams?)
Hmm, in fact I did not. Interesting to know though. I figured baseball was the most likely innocuous thing to explain broken windows and Alan’s expression, but it’s definitely an anachronistic caption.