Previously:

“Are you suggesting, Marshal, that they are now some time else?”

“Exactly.”

“Past or future?”

“We can’t know about the future, but we can check the past.”

“How?”

“I checked the history of Hartle’s Corners and learned how I never returned from my attempt to track down Simpson’s great-grandfather. They figured that he killed me.”

“Pop, may I borrow your computer?”

Chapter X, Return, Episode 2:

Lieutenant Silverthorn tells the Tale

“I found it! Listen to this,” Hiram Jr., announced, “It’s from a book titled Lore of Lake Erie by Sir Thomas Hines, Canadian Press Published 1850:

“In the fall of 1813, Captain Sir James Winterbottom was captured by the Americans after a brief exchange with an American Squadron. After his release and return to England in 1816 he told a most improbable tale to explain the loss of his squadron:

“Winterbottom, when subjected to a courts marshal claimed under questioning that:

‘We were chasing in inferior number of American ships—four days the chase—they were four ships, a small schooner, two sloops of war, and a large Baltimore clipper. We were faster than all but the clipper.’

‘Then how, Sir James, were the Americans able to escape?’

‘B’God sir, by sailing directly into the wind! They were phantoms, sir! As we fell farther behind we were engulfed by a strange mist. When the mist cleared moments later, we were set upon by yet another American squadron and in an instant they raked our deck with many broadsides, and succeeded in dismasting two of our number whilst sinking all our schooners. I had no choice but to surrender.’

‘The Americans claim there was but one squadron that engaged and no other present, sir. What say you to that?’

‘There were two squadrons, sir! Two, I tell you.’

‘And that one could sail into the wind?’

‘Yes, b’God sir, yes!’

Unfortunately for the British captain, not one member of his squadron would confirm his claim of a second squadron during his court marshal, although the stories continued to be told of the phantom squadron.”

“It appears they are stuck in the past, Pop.”

“That is not good,” Susie concluded.

Meanwhile…aboard the Falcon…

To be Continued…

Comments Always Welcomed & Encouraged!

Previously:

Turning to the guests, the Captain smiled, raised his ever-present mug and said: “Happy one-hundred and ninety-seventh anniversary Doc & Karen!”

As for the British Squadron, they were so intent on chasing down what would become known as the “Ghost Fleet,” they were set upon by an American Squadron and soundly defeated.

Prisoners captured by the Americans babbled incoherently about another squadron they had been chasing. There was no other squadron they were told…

Chapter X, Return, Episode 1:

Tribal police lieutenant Hiram Silverthorn, Jr. on temporary leave from

Lt Silverthorn looks out onto the lake

the Eagle Point Band of Ojibwa Police Department, had been serving as Harbormaster in the absence of Lyle “Cob” Pettigrew, parked his squad in front of his family’s Silverthorn’s Café.

He paused for a moment looking out past the breakwater and lights to the horizon for any sign of the tall sails of the Baltimore Clipper Falcon. He had been passively monitoring the radio and GPS signals from the ship, when four days ago, they stopped—suddenly and completely. Nothing from the Falcon or the other ships of the Oliver Hazard Perry fleet had been monitored since.

The Harbormaster’s Office had contacted every lake-boat passing through to Sault Sainte Marie to watch for the fleet of tall ships and none had seen them anywhere between the port and Thunder Bay, where they were expected to rendezvous with the Canadian tall ships. A rendezvous that never occurred.

The Coast Guard was doing what they could, as were their Canadian counterparts—but Superior is a big lake and a complete search would take days.

He sighed as he went inside the café, there was nothing more he could do but wait…and hope.

“Nothing yet, my son?”

“Nothing yet, Pop. I’m getting pretty discouraged.”

"Nothing yet, Pop"

“They are safe.”

“You going ‘mystic’ on me Pop?”

“No, I’m just being optimistic.”

“I wish I shared your optimism. They seem to have evaporated into thin air, Pop. How can four tall ships just disappear and not be seen by anyone?”

“It happened to me,” Marshal Blackmon said, “I simply disappeared from 1866 and was never heard from again—in the year of 1866, at least.”

“Are you suggesting, Marshal, that they are now some time else?”

“Exactly.”

“Past or future?”

“We can’t know about the future, but we can check the past.”

“How?”

“I checked the history of Hartle’s Corners and learned how I never returned from my attempt to track down Simpson’s great-grandfather. They figured that he killed me.”

“Pop, may I borrow your computer?”

To be Continued…

Comments Always Welcomed & Encouraged!

(Part I)

Part II:

Wethersfield Burying Ground, First Christ Church, Wethersfield, CT Samuel & Mary Boreman are buried here.

It is curious that my ancestors left England in part to escape the tyranny of a state religion—and upon arrival practiced the same tyranny of an official religion themselves.

They were wrought by fear of things they didn’t understand. They were superstitious. This resulted in the Salem Witch Trials, the most famous, but not the only witch trials in New England.

In the Connecticut Colony, beginning in 1639, estates were administered by the Particular Court also sometimes referred to as “Quarter Court” when it met quarterly, which also dealt with most other judicial actions. By September of 1662, Samuel Boreman was something of a mover & shaker in Wethersfield (today a really neat suburb of Hartford, CT), and was appointed as a juror on at least one such court:

At a Particular Court held at Hartford, December 30, 1662, Samuel served as a juror in the indictment of Nathaniel Greensmith and of Rebecca, his wife: “Nathaniel Greensmith thou art here indicted by the name of Nathaniel Greensmith for not having the fear of God before thine eyes, thou hast entertained familiarity with Satan, the grand enemy of God and mankind, and by his help hast acted things in a preternatural way beyond human abilities in a natural course , for which according to the law of God and the established law of this commonwealth thou deservest to die.”

The magistrates holding the court were Matthew Allyn, moderator, Samuel Wyllys, Richard Treat, Henry Wolcott, Daniel Clark, secretary, John Allyn. The jury were Edward Griswold, Walter Filer, Ensign Olmsted, Samuel Boardman, Gregory Winterton, John Cowles, Samuel Marshall, Samuel Hale, Nathaniel Willett, John Hart, John Wadsworth and Robert Webster.

Nathaniel Greensmith made no confession. Here is all that we know of the evidence given in against him:

Rebecca Greensmith testifieth in court January 8, 1662.

“1. ‘That my husband on Friday’ night last, when I came to prison, told me that now thou hast confest against thyself let me alone and say nothing of me and I will be good unto thy children.”

“2. ‘I do now testify that formerly when my husband hath told me of his great travail and labor, I wondered at it how he did it; this he did before I was married, and when I was married I asked him how he did it, and he answered me, he had help that I knew not of.”

“3. ‘About three years ago, as I think it, my husband and I were in the woods several miles from home, and were looking for a sow that we lost, and I saw a creature, a red creature, following my husband, and when I came to him I asked him what it was that was with him, and he told me it was.a fox.”

“4. ‘Another time when he and I drove our hogs into the woods beyond the pound that was to keep young cattle, several miles off, I went before the hogs to call them, and looking back I saw two creatures like dogs, one a little blacker than the other; they came after my husband pretty close to him, and one did seem to me to touch him. I asked him what they were, he told me he thought foxes. I was still afraid when I saw anything, because I heard so much of him before I rriarried him.”

“5. ‘I have seen logs that my husband hath brought home in his cart that I wondered at it that he could get them into the cart, being a man of little body and weak to my apprehension; and the logs were such that I thought two men such as he could not have done it.”

“I speak all of this out of love to my husband’s soul, and it is much against my will that I am now necessitate to speak against my husband. I desire that the Lord would open his heart to own and speak the truth.”

“‘I also testify, that I being in the woods at a meeting, there was with me goody Seager, goodwife Sanford and goodwife Ayres. And at another time there was a meeting under a tree in the green by our house, and there was there James Walkicy, Peter Grant’s wife, goodwife Ayres, and Henry Palmer’s wife, of Wethersfield, and goody Seager; and there we danced and had a bottle of sack. It was in the night and something like a cat called me out to the meeting, and I was in Mr. Varlet’s orchard with Mrs. Judith Varlet, and she told me that she was muth troubled with the marshal, Jonathan Gilbert, and cried; and she said if it lay in her power she would do him a mischief, or what hurt she could. Taken upon oath in court.’

“The jury return that they find the prisoner at the bar, Nathaniel Greensmith, guilty of the indictment.”

“Respecting Rebecca Greensmith, the prisoner at the bar, the jury find her guilty of the indictment.”

“The said Rebecca confesseth in open court, that she is guilty of the charge laid in against her.”

“This, with the concurrent evidence, brought the woman and her husband to their death as the devil’s familiars.” [Source: A CASE OF WITCHCRAFT IN HARTFORD, By Charles J. Hoadley, LL. D. Published in the Connecticut Magazine November, 1899]

The Greensmiths were executed a couple of weeks later:

“On [January 25,] 1663, [*Sometimes recorded as 1662 or 1662/3, since January 1 was not the legal beginning of the new year] a husband and wife were hanged for witchcraft in colonial Connecticut…”

“…The persecutions began with the deathbed ravings of an 8-year-old girl, who accused a certain Goodwife of the town, the latter preserving herself only by escaping detention and fleeing the colony with her husband…”

“…Nathaniel Greensmith did not “own and speak the truth,” but he shared his wife’s fate this day. They may have been executed with a third accused witch as well, but the documentary trail for Mary Barnes’ case seems less certain. Though she, and perhaps another woman, may have been hanged after the Greensmiths in this particular spasm of supernatural paranoia, the Hartford witch trials of 1662-63 would mark the last witchcraft executions in Connecticut.”

“The Greensmiths left behind 15- and 17-year-old daughters, a modest estate, and community lore of the miraculous post-execution recovery of the party they were supposed to have been afflicting.” [Source: Executed Today.com]

Thus ends the short chronicle of my immigrant ancestor, Samuel Boreman. I’m sure glad we no longer fall prey to irrational fears and superstitions…

…or do we?

The majority of Boardmans in the United States are descended from cousins Thomas Boreman and Samuel Boreman. Sadly, there is no evidence that any of the current Boardmans living in Great Britain are related. The name has its roots in the names “Bourman” or “Bowerman.” The cousins were descendants of William Boreman (circa 1525) of Banbury, Oxfordshire, England.

The surname changed over time from Boreman to Bordman and finally to its current Boardman. The spellings were often interchanged freely as they were not all that concerned about the spelling.

The first to arrive was THOMAS BOREMAN, born in Claydon, where he was baptised Oct. 18, 1601.” (Boardman Genealogy, page 102) “The exact date of Thomas Boreman’s coming to New England is not known. He was probably here as early as 1634, but is first found on record in March 1634-5 when he was made freeman by the General Court of Massachusetts. His first grant of land is recorded at Ipswich in 1635. (Boardman Genealogy, page 104)

My immigrant ancestor SAMUEL BOREMAN, arrived in 1638. He was born Abt. Aug 1615 in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England, and died Apr 1673 in Wethersfield, Hartford, CT. He married MARY BETTS Abt. 1640 in Wethersfield, (1666 Hartford Co.) CT, daughter of JOHN BETTS and MARY BIGGS. She was born Abt. 1623 in Claydon, Oxfordshire, England, and died 03 Apr 1684 in Wethersfield, Hartford, CT.

More About SAMUEL BOREMAN:

Baptism: 20 Aug 1615, Banbury, Oxfordshire, England

Fact 1: 1634, Wethersfield established.

Fact 2: 1666, Hartford County Established.

Fact 3: 1673, At the time of his death in 1673, he was the owner of about 350 acres, including an Indian grant of 200 acres on the east side

of the Connecticut River, in the present town of Marlboro, which was confirmed to his heirs by a vote of the town in 1685.

Immigration: Abt. 1638, Arrived in “…Bay of Massachusetts, before Boston…” (Josselyn), 3 July 1638.

Residence 1: Abt. 1619, (Samuel) removed with his father’s family about 1619, from Banbury to Claydon, their early home.

Residence 2: Bef. 22 Aug 1639, Ipswich, Massachusetts Bay Colony. Samuel Boreman’s first appearance as a settler in New England is at

Ipswich, Mass., where, in a list of inhabitants without date, he is called a cooper, and has land recorded to him, Aug. 22, 1639.

Residence 3: 1641, Wethersfield, Colony of Connecticut

Marriage: Abt. 1640, Wethersfield, (1666 Hartford Co.) CT

A contemporary story of his arrival written by John Josselyn:

‘Departed Gravesend, England, “Anno Dom. 1638, April the 26, being Thursday” (Mr. John Josselyn, who kept a journal of this voyage, and also of one taken some years later, both of which were published in London in 1675) “I came to Gravesend and went aboard the New Supply alias the Nicholas of London, a Ship of good force, 300 tons burthen…On the eighth day, one Boreman’s man, a passenger, was duck’d at the main Yards Arm (for being drunk with his master’s strong waters which he stole) thrice, and fire given to two whole Sacree at that instant”… Whether the Mr. Boreman of Josselyn was Samuel, as is probable, or some other of the name, who in an unaccountable manner utterly disappeared after landing, the journal has a direct bearing on this history as showing the circumstances likely to attend a voyage taken at the time when Samuel Boreman is known to have crossed the ocean.’ (Source: The Boardman Genealogy 1525-1895 by Charlotte Goldthwaite. pages: 158-161)

This concludes the chronicle of how and when my Boardman family arrived in the colonies.

The Boardman Chronicle will conclude tomorrow with Samuel Boreman, Part II (a Hartford Witch Trial)

I will be posting but not the Port of Danger Bay as I need to prepare for the next chapter AND take some time for the family over Thanksgiving.

Our Saint Paul will feature always-popular family history posts beginning tomorrow (believe it or not, family history posts get the most traffic on theis blog than any other…go figure).

The adventures will continue a week from today!

Previously:

There was a bit of a chill in the air as the wind calmed and shifted—coming now from the northeast. The crew responded by changing tack and trimming the sails yet again.

Daisy’s nose went involuntarily into the air searching for a scent as if on the hunt. There was nothing there, at least nothing she could detect. This happened periodically the entire voyage—and always there was nothing.

“Captain?” Doc asked, “May we have a word with you—in your cabin?”

“Of course you may,” he replied, curious, “Is there a problem?”

“Yes there is—a big problem.”

Chapter IX, Lake Erie, Episode 6:

Cap’n Jack, Doc & Karen removed to the Captain’s cabin, for a very-private meeting (you should be aware at this point—they didn’t even tell me what they were discussing—now THAT’S private!). They met for a rather longish 2 hours and then without comment to anyone left the cabin.

Various crewmembers observed Doc speaking quietly with Big Mac and Cob and Karen speaking with Sarah and Ines, but no one heard what was said. Cap’n Jack met briefly with Daisy and the helmsman Patch:

“For the next half-hour or so I’m placing you Daisy in command of the ship. There will be a meeting in my cabin that may only be interrupted if we are in extreme immanent danger.”

“Aye Cap’n.”

“What do you mean by extreme danger Alpha-Jack?”

“When the fur rises on your back.”

Moments later they entered the Captain’s cabin—first Sarah & Ines followed a few minutes later by Cob & Big Mac. The quarterdeck was manned…er…populated by Daisy, Wingnut, PepperCooper and the helmsman, Patch.

Patch was observing their pursuers’ sails some 15 miles behind them—when he noticed:

Haze begins to obscure British ships

“Daisy, the sails have disappeared.”

“That shouldn’t be—not yet, anyway,” Daisy replied and at that moment her back-fur began to tingle a little. This happened periodically and she knew not to get excited until it actually stood on end.

“There seems to be a bit of a haze obscuring my view of them.”

“Very well, helmsman. Continue course,” Daisy replied, “Pepper, keep your eyes on the horizon, if the sails disappear completely let me know.”

“Aye First-Mate.”

While the two beagles each had the legendary olfactory sense of all beagles PepperCooper, among the dog-people had the keenest eyesight. Ten minutes later…

“I can barely see the British sails, the haze is deepening.”

“And my fur is really tingling now!” Daisy replied.

“Do you think you should tell Peopledog Jack?”

“No, I sense no danger.”

“The sails are gone!”

The British disappear in the Haze

“Thank you Pepper. Keep watching.”

Directly below in the Master’s Quarters a “Signal Event” was concluding…

“With the inherent authority of Ship’s Master, it gives me great pleasure on this the twentieth day of November in the year of our Lord Eighteen-Hundred and Thirteen, to pronounce you to be Husband and Wife. You may kiss the bride.”

The Wedding

And Doc McLean did just that to the cheers of all assembled. Just seconds later…Daisy went to full alert as the fog enveloped the ship, and just as quickly disappeared. Everything had changed.

The haze envelopes the Falcon

“Alpha-Jack! We’re home! We’re back on Lake Superior, just off the Apostle Islands!”

“How long ago?”

“Just now.”

Return to Superior

Turning to the guests, the Captain smiled, raised his ever-present mug and said: “Happy one-hundred and ninety-seventh anniversary Doc & Karen!”

As for the British Squadron, they were so intent on chasing down what would become known as the “Ghost Fleet,” they were set upon by an American Squadron and soundly defeated.

Prisoners captured by the Americans babbled incoherently about another squadron they had been chasing. There was no other squadron they were told…But the legend of the Ghost Squadron became part of the lore of Lake Erie.

Thus ends Chapter IX, but the story?

To be Continued…

Comments Always Welcomed & Encouraged!

Previously:

The Perry Flotilla by using their engines and heading directly into the wind, had opened up a big lead over the British squadron, but with limited fuel could not maintain that tactic. They reverted back to sails hoping they could maintain their lead—and that would require some skill. The British sloops were larger, with longer hulls at the waterline, than the OHP sloops making them just a fraction faster.

“You realize, dear Doctor,” Karen smiling wryly said, “This may just be the longest engagement ever.”

“If we somehow manage to return…”

Chapter IX, Lake Erie, Episode 5:

Understanding the difficulty in maintaining the “Line Astern (or Line of Battle)” formation with ships of varying hull speeds, Cob ordered the flotilla into “Line formation” with each ship then able to maintain a side by side interval using individual short tacks and sail trim.

Ships in Line Formation

The next 48 hours were spent constantly changing tack and trimming sails. For the slower sloops—to achieve the maximum benefit of the wind and for the schooners—to maintain position with the sloops, they had to keep the ships together for their safety. It was hard demanding work for all the Perry crewmembers.

The fleet not only maintained its distance from the British ships, but slowly increased it. There was another problem to consider—in a few days they would run out of lake.

On the Quarter Deck

“Daisy, do you have any sense of another time-warp?”

“No, People-dog Cob, nothing yet,” Daisy replied, “You there, crewman, tighten up the mains’l.”

“If it’s going to happen, it better happen in the next 24 hours Captain, or we’ll run out of maneuvering room.”

“What then, Commodore Cob?”

“What then Captain, what then indeed.”

“Sleep, wake up, eat, trim sails, eat a little more, trim sails, sleep, repeat,” Sarah sighed, “I had no idea until now how much I appreciate the Danger Bay and the Sparrow.”

“I can’t believe I’m actually hoping for a nice dense fog,” Ines replied.

“You know Karen, we may just be stuck here in 1813, perhaps…” Doc began.

“We should talk to the Captain…” Karen completed the sentence.

“Exactly.”

There was a bit of a chill in the air as the wind calmed and shifted—coming now from the northeast. The crew responded by changing tack and trimming the sails yet again.

Daisy’s nose went involuntarily into the air searching for a scent as if on the hunt. There was nothing there, at least nothing she could detect. This happened periodically the entire voyage—and always there was nothing.

“Captain?” Doc asked, “May we have a word with you—in your cabin?”

“Of course you may,” he replied, curious, “Is there a problem?”

“Yes there is—a big problem.”

To be Continued…

Comments Always Welcomed & Encouraged!

Previously:

“They’ve already seen us, haven’t we already changed history?”

“Only time will tell. We need you back in command of this ship, will you follow the orders of Commodore Pettigrew?”

“I guess I must. I didn’t think it through, I just was trying to defend our ships.”

“We would have probably engaged after they fired on us, but for Daisy. She determined we were on longer on Lake Superior, and we put rest of the puzzle together—no satellites—no cell-phones, that we determined we were no longer in our century.”

Aboard the Sparrow there was another small event occurring…Karen Thayer had been quietly observing the drama unfolding when Doc McLean interrupted her thoughts.

“Karen Thayer, will you marry me?”

Chapter IX, Lake Erie, Episode 4:

Karen was surprised, perplexed and delighted. She had secretly hoped this would happen—eventually. But now, when they were running from a British naval squadron in 1813 intent on their destruction? Now—when there was no certainty that they would ever return to the 21^st Century? Now?

“Why Doctor, I thought you’d never ask,” she replied, “What took you so long?”

In spite of how serious his question—Doc began to laugh uncontrollably unusual for this relatively stoic man…

The Chase Begins

“Doc, you find this funny?” Karen replied, “I just said yes.”

“I asked you,” Doc answered between fits of laughter, “one-hundred and ninety-seven years BEFORE we even met. Seems to me that is not taking ‘so long,’ at all. I’m sorry, that just struck me as a bit funny.”

Others nearby were just a little curious as they observed the two laughing—especially considering the predicament they were in at the moment.

“What’s up with Doc & Karen?” Big Mac asked Sarah.

“I have no idea, but right now I could use a little of what they have.”

“Indeed.”
The Perry Flotilla by using their engines and heading directly into the wind, had opened up a big lead over the British squadron, but with limited fuel could not maintain that tactic. They reverted back to sails hoping they could maintain their lead—and that would require some skill. The British sloops were larger with longer hulls at the waterline than the Perry sloops, making them just a fraction faster.

On the Quarter Deck

“You realize, dear Doctor,” Karen smiling wryly said, “This may just be the longest engagement ever.”

“If we somehow manage to return…”

To be Continued…

Comments Always Welcomed & Encouraged!

Previously:

Falcon comes alongside the Sea Dog

“You’re gonna have to fire through us, Commodore,” Cob shouted, his deep voice reverberating throughout both ships, “I don’t believe you want to do that!”

“And the Sea Dog cannot outmaneuver this ship…do not bother trying,” Big Mac rumbled, “You know that! Now stand down, start your engine and turn away.”

“We MUST defend ourselves!”

“Daisy, take aim for Sea Dog’s waterline & prepare to volley!”

“Aye Cob! Port battery, set your guns!” Daisy bayed, “Prepare to volley on Cob’s command!”

“You would fire on us?” Hanson was stunned.

“Gunners ready…steady…” Cob began…

Chapter IX, Lake Erie, Episode 3:

Looking down on the gun-deck Hanson saw his crew abandoning their guns, and at the same time heard the ship’s engine start. Moments later the Sea Dog’s helmsman spun the wheel and the ship heeled as she executed a hard turn away from the Falcon and the enemy ships.

“Ar-Roo! Ar-Roo! Ar-Rooooo!” Daisy, after talking quietly with Ines and Cap’n Jack, bayed, sending Ines to the quarterdeck of the Sea Dog (in the usual flash of light).

Ines & Capt Hanson

“How did you do that?”

“Never mind that, come with me, Mr. Hanson,” Ines said with a tone that must-be-obeyed, “According to the bylaws of the Oliver Hazard Perry Flotilla, you are officially relieved as the Flotilla’s Commodore. First Mate, you are in command of this ship.”

“I assume the other captains agreed?”

“They did, the vote was unanimous.”

“But—they were firing on us—we HAD to engage!”

“If we did, we could change the future—our future—irreparably. We are in the early 19^th Century, 1813 to be precise, on Lake Erie and that British squadron has a destiny of its own, a destiny we MUST NOT interfere with.”

“This sounds like an episode of Star Trek.”

“The writer, I am told, rather liked that series.”

“They’ve already seen us, haven’t we already changed history?”

“Only time will tell. We need you back in command of this ship, will you follow the orders of Commodore Pettigrew?”

“I guess I must. I didn’t think it through, I just was trying to defend our ships.”

“We would have probably engaged after they fired on us, but for Daisy. She determined we were no longer on Lake Superior, and we put rest of the puzzle together—no satellites—no cell-phones, that we determined we were no longer in our century.”

Aboard the Sparrow there was another small event occurring…Karen Thayer had been quietly observing the drama unfolding when Doc McLean interrupted her thoughts.

“Karen Thayer, will you marry me?”

To be Continued…

Comments Always Welcomed & Encouraged!

Previously:

Of course, at the Gamboge cabin, the interpretation of his capture was just a little different.

“I wonder how they knew he was going to Superior,” Big A said thinking out loud, “I had no idea he was going.”

“Does it matter? He’s gone!”

“It matters, Millie, he could still try to implicate us in Sig’s murder.”

“Much as I hate her, that marshal’s no fool, she’ll learn that you were still working for Hanssen, and receiving a large amount of money from him. It just wouldn’t make sense for you to kill him.”

“That alone could cause us a lot of trouble.”

“Not the kind of trouble Hans is in.”

“There is that.”

Chapter IX, Lake Erie, Episode 2:

Aboard the Sea Dog the flotilla’s Commodore, Jonathan Hanson, was not pleased. He was so looking forward to engaging the Thunder Bay fleet.

“Are you sure? It has to be the Thunder Bay bunch…” He didn’t get to finish his thought—stopped cold by a cloud of black-powder gun smoke erupting from the other fleet—and geysers of foam from the cannonballs falling just short of his ships…

“They’re shooting at us!” Commodore Hanson exclaimed, “All ships load live rounds and prepare to engage. Raise battle flags!”

“Belay that order!” the foghorn voice of Master Chief Petty Officer Lyle “Cob” Pettigrew reverberated through the flotilla, “All ships turn hard a’port, start engines and drop sails, DO IT!”

“Port guns, load for combat, start engines, helmsman, bring us alongside the Sea Dog,” Daisy bayed.

“Daisy, what are you doing?” Cob asked.

“The commodore will not obey, we must place ourselves between the Sea Dog and the other fleet!”

“All ships, we will engage!” Hanson ordered, “I am in charge of this fleet!”

The captains of the Isle Royal & Superior, both Navy veterans knew the sound of an experienced commander and were already responding to Cob’s orders, the Sea Dog was not. Hanson decided he would rather go down fighting that run from battle. He noticed that the Falcon had not changed course.

“So Jack,” he radioed, “You’re still with me! Good! Let’s give ‘em a fight like they’ve never seen!”

But his elation was short-lived as the Falcon moved quickly beside the Sea Dog between her and the British fleet.

Falcon comes alongside the Sea Dog

“You’re gonna have to fire through us, Commodore,” Cob shouted, his deep voice reverberating throughout both ships, “I don’t believe you want to do that!”

“And the Sea Dog cannot outmaneuver this ship…do not bother trying,” Big Mac rumbled, “You know that! Now stand down, start your engine and turn away.”

“We MUST defend ourselves!”

“Daisy, take aim for Sea Dog’s waterline & prepare to volley!”

“Aye Cob! Port battery, set your guns!” Daisy bayed, “Prepare to volley on Cob’s command!”

“You would fire on us?” Hanson was stunned.

“Gunners ready…steady…” Cob began…

To Be Continued…

Comments Always Welcomed & Encouraged!