The Washington herald., 1912-05-19

gunshot Of the little town upon ths
shore, and fusillade of grape, cannis-
ter, and solid shot was just pouring
into the, hapless village of Hampton
The position Of the ships was such thai
it was easy to enhlade the port, so, a
old Fiintlock gazed upon the scene, he
impulsively cried out:
why, how kin any one stand ur
sgin that ar bombardment The
bloornfl' British will blow tn little
town tew pieces afore we git in touch
But in this he showed his lack OF
knowledge Of the skill and fighting
qualities of the American troops, who
under a newly elected commander
named Woodford. were defending
Hampton. As the guns roared from
the ships, puffs Of white smoke issued
from the windows Of the houses, from
entertainments on the beach, and from
piles of old spars and rubbish on the
shore There was absolute silence, too
and not a voice broke the stiffness, as
the rolling salvos of musketry spai
venemously at the British FIRE Dou-
ble-headed balls and chain-shot fell
against the i1imsy walls of the houses
of Hampton, some of which soon took
FIRE, but in spite of this, the. defense
was kept up with spirit and precision.
This was the second attack which the
British had made upon the little port,
as, on the day previous, six tenders full
of seamen had ventured into Hampton
Greek, and had commenced an attack
upon the town Lord Dunmore-from
the Ia~lr 81 = kaNNla rrafrhad the
affair with confidence, as he thought
that the mere display of his squadron
would paralyze the courage of the
newly raised Virginian troops. With
this impression, the boats had rowed
TO the shore, under cover of herce
cannonade. with the full intention OF
setting FIRE to the houses and of carry
ing off whatever property should be
spared from the conhagRtion. But a
few moments had disclosed the vanity
of the expectations of the English, for
a shower of bullets compelled the boats
to return to the ships, while the Virgin
ian riflemen, hid in the houses and
bushes along the beach, proved that the
tenders were far from secure from the
fatal precision of their volleys. Check
ed by such a fierce and unexpected re-
sistance, the tenders were forced to
haul farther into the stream, and oper-
atoms were suspended until the follow
ing day.
by George, F1intlock." shouted
Jack, as he watched the affair. Il be-
lieve that the Americans are driving
off the boats See how that tender
over there is being rowed away from
shore, as if the devil himself were af-
ter it." ,
The trapper seemed nightly pleased
al the turn which affairs were taking,
and. as he answered, showed that he
was heart and soul with the Virgin
ianS
You're right, boy. The British
can't stand up before that precise volley
firm, an they've got-to lie off or else
there will be lots of sailors lost. You
see. even now, they are withdrawn"
True enough, the British boats SEEM
ed to be in some confusion. and their
cannonade gradually slackened, as a
white flag with a red stripe through
of-war in the center, which few the
under the aim of the rifiemen on the
beach was no easy matter, and, as the
seamen climbed aloft to unfurl some
of the tangled sails, they were struck
and fell into the water Two schoon-
ers, armed with swivel guns, drifted
helplessly to the shore and stranded on
the beach, and the two residents of
Greenway Court could see the COM
mander of one of these vainly calling
upon his men to assist in keeping her
off from the shoal places. They all
retired below. in the hold, while he,
deserted by his crew, jumped into the
river and could be seen rapidly swim
ming toward the men-of-war, as the
white splasheS from bullets churned
the water all around him. Five of the
tenders were pierced and sank. while
their crews were either drowned or
rescued by boats from Lord Dunmore's
vessel Finally. as the gigs and smaller
craft got alongside of the men-of-war,
the large sails were hoisted. and, with
a final salute, the British vessels drop
ped down stream in the direction of
Norfolk. The first fracas had resulted
in a signal victory for the Americans.
As the ships made of upon the glim-
mering surface of the bay. the trapper
drew a sigh of relief Wall. | must
say that | am glad tew see that ras-
cally Governor licked good and plenty"
he exclaimed An for his treatment
NV us up on tn Great Kanawha, I'd
like tew hev had a hand in it. But, we
are not here for fight, so after pawn
our respects tew tn commander NV
this here force, we'll hev tew paddle
down tn river. or else get. saiIboat,
an, as men NV honor, deliver our mes