| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| SgtMunro |
Posted - October 17 2005 : 1:57:44 PM
“The Conference Bower” (Part Two) By Sgt. Munro
Camp Near Tuscarawas, The Ohio Country
20 October 1764 / 1100 Hours
In a formal procession, an escort consisting of soldiers from the 42nd, 60th and Pennsylvania Regiment heralded the arrival of Colonel Henry Bouquet to the council. Looking straight ahead as he marched, Colonel Bouquet could not help but notice the Native delegation was made up of many of the headmen he had fought last year at Bushy Run.
Three days ago, headmen of the Delaware, Shawnee and Ohio Seneca (Mingo) arrived and delivered their own speech. Complete with the required amounts of strings and belts of wampum; Kiasutha of the Ohio Seneca professed that all present have taken a hold on the ‘Chain of Friendship’ and that ‘nothing remains in our hearts but good’. Kiasutha finished his speech by producing the articles of peace, granted by Colonel Bradstreet, for Colonel Bouquet’s inspection.
This day, once Bouquet arrived at the table, the uniformed soldiers assumed their posts, with bayonets fixed. Ringing the periphery of the conference was the Virginia and Pennsylvania Ranger Companies. All men present were under arms, and stoically alert. After Bouquet began his speech, with the usual formalities, he then broached the subject of Bradstreet’s peace treaty.
“Again, when you begged for peace, you assured Colonel Bradstreet that you had recalled all of your warriors from our frontiers. Contrary to the declaration, they have continued to murder our people, and to take them prisoner to this day! We can prove this by an old man, here present, who was taken the 28th of September last; forty-five days after the peace you mentioned was made!”
On cue, Private John Palmer of the Pennsylvania Regiment was escorted into the conference. Colonel Bouquet then motioned toward Private Palmer, and continued with, “Having now answered and refuted everything you have said in excuse for your breach of the peace accords; I must now inform you that I am commanded by General Gage to declare to you, that the peace is also broken on his side as well!”
Pausing a moment, to allow what he had said to ‘sink-in’, Colonel Bouquet then enumerated the list of most recent offenses. These included the murder or capture of traders, the siege on Fort Pitt, the attack on his own relief column at Bushy Run, and the various attacks on civilians, including Enoch Brown and his students.
Colonel Bouquet then made a sweeping gesture with hand, directed at the rangers encircling the conference, and finished with, “I have brought with me the relations of the people you have massacred, or taken prisoner. They are most impatient to take revenge of the bloody murders of their friends and families; and it is with the greatest difficulty that I can protect you against their just resentment, by assuring them that no peace shall ever be granted without proper satisfaction.”
Watching from the side, Francis Cooper whispered to Thacher and Patarcity, “Absolutely brilliant.”
“Sir?”
“You see, Thomas, it is a wonderfully veiled threat, which also gives the Colonel plausible denialbilty in the eyes of the Native delegation.”
“That is correct,” Patarcity, added, “The natives know that uniformed troops must adhere to orders; but the rangers in civilian clothing present a sort of ‘wild card’, that being they may act on their own accord.”
“Precisely Stephen,” Cooper then said, “Every time there was an attack on the civilian population, the headmen of the accused nation would always claim that they were the actions of their ‘hot-headed’ young men, and not done with the approval of their own council. Colonel Bouquet has now shown that he too has ‘young men’ who are barely within his control.”
Thacher grinned, and noted, “As you have said before, Sir, Colonel Bouquet is quite familiar with the customs and demeanor of the Indians.”
Leaning forward on his rifle, Cooper replied, “Why do you think that |
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