A fictional story by Jeannette Holland Austin
The Rescued Prisoner
The boy woke early the following day.
“What is your name,” Dora asked.
“Giles Duncan.” Giles sat up in bed and told his story. He was a boy living at home with his parents in Goose Creek when his two brothers enlisted in the American Army. Although Giles begged his father to allow him to enlist, he refused. The brothers went away to camp, but when they returned home for Christmas and happily regaled stories of their great camaraderie, Giles begged to join. But his father refused. After the brothers returned to their regiment’s camp near Charleston, Giles could bear it no longer, and yearning to be a soldier, he walked some forty miles on foot to the brother’s campsite. Upon arriving, the brothers saw that he was starving but a thin morsel of a brother. Although they urged him to return home, Giles, after suffering the effects of the torrid sun and starving, was more determined than ever.
Giles’ Memory of the Battle of Charleston
It was a March when the American regiments met the British in Charleston and, finding itself greatly outnumbered, met its tragic loss to the British Army. It was a major victory that afforded the British Army total control of the port city. But the capture of six thousand Americans and the overflow of prisons were troubling. Although the British had six prison ships in the harbor, they had inadequate space to contain them, and many escaped.
Due to his small size, as he was not yet a man, Giles was physically thrown into the hole of an anchored prison vessel, the Esk. His hands and legs were tied to a wooden post. As more prisoners were crammed into the small space, the British periodically beat them to maintain control. The lack of food, crowded conditions, and the hot, steamy hull of the ship drew Giles into a great depression.
As the guards performed their ritualistic beatings, he thought of his brothers, wondering if they had survived and if he could find them. Finally, it was noted by a suffering soldier tied to his backside that the guards had left. The two wrangled free of the ropes and maneuvered their escape to the upper deck. The gray clouds of a storm were seen stirring towards the ship. Neither questioned their ability to swim ashore but quickly jumped into the bubbling sea. The exhausted Giles stumbled into the surf when the heavy rain touched the ground. Weak and exhausted, Giles remembered fainting in a wooded area.
“You are at Brennerei, a farm about ten miles from Charleston,” Dora said. “My husband found you in a brush near the road. Your back is badly bruised, with open sores. But you are in safe hands, and I will nurse your wounds until they heal.”
Later, after several weeks, the boy spoke of his brothers who first joined the local regiment and his yearning to follow. Forbidden by his parents, he remained home for weeks until he borrowed his father’s horse from the barn and rode towards Ninety-Six, where his brothers were stationed. His first battle was in Charleston, where he was taken onboard a ship and severely beaten. Upon healing from the injuries, he felt compelled to find the army.
“It is not safe to rejoin your regiment,” Evan Schwartz said boldly. Other members of your regiment escaped, but it is unknown where they went. When we know that, we shall speak of it again. Meanwhile, you can help me by assisting the other prisoners distill ale.”
“Others?”
“There are two others. It is easy to get caught if the British see you from the road. Thus, you must not be seen by those on the road.”
Wounds are Healed
After several months passed, when Giles was no longer hindered by his wounds, Dora informed him that he would no longer sleep inside the house, but inside the barn.
Giles went outside the house and found the other prisoners, Josh and Emmett, preparing to plow the field. It was early spring, a warm day, with a cloudless blue sky overhead. Giles had often assisted his father in planting the spring crops, noting that the soil was moderately wet enough for seed germination. He volunteered to plant the barley seeds at the same depth throughout the field for a uniform stand. By the end of summer, Evan’s crops produced sufficient grain to distill his ales, and in September, after the prisoners had filled four kegs, he decided that he was ready to take his first delivery to Dillon’s tavern.
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to be continued