Nelson Family Juvenilia
Box 1 Folder 44
Thirty Days War, Volume 1 - n.d.

[cover page]

Thirty Days War
Vol. 1
By William J Little
Author of Ruby Island

[caption "After Battle"]

Published by Green and Little

[inside text]

Thirty Days War
Chap 1
The Beginning
In the opning of the thirty days war our party consisting of one hundred and 41 went for the boundry line to watch a number of roads hear we pitched our tents and heard no thing of the enimy for three days then a foot meseng came up in a hurry and handed me a note I opened it and read
Dear sir
Please take a small detachment and come to my asistance the blues are going to make an atack on us to morrow and I want asistance the commander is a young fellar
yours respectfully
BS Green
Well said I the enimy aint asleep are they we:ll [sic] have some fun I will take one hundred and start this minute I will take the caukbears and leave the others hear so I marched off we came a cross a Big Continent scout and I ordered five men to take him [page break] they soon came back with him but we could get nothing of him in the line of war and so we marched him along with us we reached Little Station where Green was in the night and till morning stayed in the trenches and baricades in the early morn scouts came running in saying that we were being surrounded let them go was Berts reply there are most all Zouaves and horsemen at last we heard a noise as if 1000 horses were charging up on us then over the brow of a kill came a half thousand horse men riping at the top of their speed [page break] there was eight hundred leading the atack against us six hundred but we were out of sight the fight began as the heads showed above the hill on charged the horse men their sords in their right hands their pistols in their lefts right over the crest works and trenches into the trenches and lay flat said Bert with all his might they all lay on their back their guns ready to fire as the horses leaped across jump we heard shouted and the next thing a gallent young lieutenant on a snow white horse like Ethan Allen and they bounded across the men did not discharge a single gun at the lieutenant the tall slim man sat so strait and rode so brave and well but as the line leaped across the guns were discharged with a will off rode the five hundred and went off into the woods the Zouwaves turned around and scurried back the canoneers jumped out of the pit and hurried to their canon some were over turned but not any [spilled?] they did not get around [page break] to shout at the horse men before they got into the woods to men had been killed on our side and one wounded one man killed by a pistol shot the other by a saber the one wounded had a bullet in his shoulder there was eight men found dead on the other side and ten horses Ethan Allen will be mad when he finds how quick they have left us but they havent left us said I for I thought they would properly come back but we waited and they did not come. That night we stayed there and the next morning we started for some we did not see as single person in our lonly trip not a single Big Continent fellow to quarrel with and whats more when we got to our camping place there was some black ember of a fire and not a tent in sight. There was a big pile of brush that I hadnt noticed before what did this mean [page break]

Thirty Days War
Chap 2
The Blues Are Planning Something

Some thing has happened said I or they would have been hear, yess replied the sergeon sposen [supposing] we blow the bugle, yes hear Mr Blake give the bugle call the bugle played out a few seconds then there was a stur in the brush and a mans he turned back and said it is the captain boys come on what in the world I began as the man came out followed by another and a nother and still another till I knew they were all there. But as I began the man interupted me, ye see master we wus brave but there's [morn we uns?] why what is the trouble who has been hear said I. I will tell you all about it said Mr Beecher you see the next day early in the morning we could hear the [page break] faint boom of a canon, for a few minutes then it stopped we knew it was you so we went on getting ready for breakfast then a fellow whom we had sent out to try to get a partridge or deer came running back say in a terror that a whole lot as many as six hundred New Poplington caveleers coming well we pulled down our tents and piled them in a heap way down behind these bushes and covered them up with brush then forty nine of us crawled in but one of our rappers was out to in search of food well on came them fellars and seeing the fire came up the looked around a few minutes one said I know some one has been hear lately they passed right over our pile then they pitched a tent and the commander said we can as well stop hear for the night day as not get rested for this is a good place and we shall get to duc out by to morrow night just as they want us and we shall be in time they all smiled when he said that and I knew [page break] they wanted to so I thought we were doomed well after they got there I saw the trapper comeing from the oposite side he was buisily pulling at a quarter of a bear and did not look up so that when he did look up he saw five men standing with in ten or 11 rods of him with Winchesters pointed at him you may judge he was surprised at that turn of affiars but not out of his head what are you doing pinting them things at me why you are cpatured said they am I he replied I guess you are right and said they where are your camp mates you old buckskin camp mates! said he in make believe astonishment whose camp mates why yours you block head you had some and they have gone and where did they go. Campmates skeedadled gone what do you mean I would like to know. The old fool dont know any thing come on boys take him and disarm him. He did not have any fellars I know so they disarmed him and took his bear from him and immediatly had it cooking well and they stayed till afternoon and then went takeing him to well said I and that trapper did not let on he is [page break] and now for Farmington one of you go right back and tell green and have him go and we will start now then the tents were got out of the brush pile and put together the wagon which had been taken to pieces and piled under the brush was taken out and put together then the tents piled in and of we started in silence save the clank of the canteens now and then and barking of a wolf for it was growing dark and the moon had risen I after word told them my experiences at the other battle and they felt like yelling but I restra[?] them on we marched in the moon light at a good swift gate the night was a little gold and we all had on our water prook or oil cloth capes [page break]

Thirty Days War
Chap 3
We Go to the Prison

All that day we worked on and by night were at dugout we marched or the strret amid cheers to the head quarters hear I went in how do you do said I pretty well what is it now captain said the man well have you seen any thing of soldiers yet of the blues I mean well I guess why for a while yesterday the whole city was smarming with them but they could not capture the dugout and so went of and I sent out a scout to follow and find out as much as he could hear he comes now well what is the news the propriter said to the scout they are going to the prison and make a hard stalk on the prison oh said the propriter I for got to tell you that they captured our flag but we put up a nother smaller one well then we will go over there in a hurry we started on a long journey again marching and marching every night [page break] we camped in the woods one time we caught sight of a scout and put after him but he ran like a deer and we thought it not worth while to chase him we marched on one day we came across a hill into a woods and as we entered headed fireing we hurried up but it all stopped in a minute and only now and then we heard one ring out and one time we heard a crack of a rifle and then yelling we came across a tent with out any one in it but it had a union flagon it this we took down and took the tent and went on as we got out in to the road we met and we ordered him to give up and he did so so [sic] we had another prisoner that night we stopped near the road and set our tents it was kind of a drizzly dark night and when we awoke we was sleeping in a shallow puddle we got up and went on we marched down the road [page break] and on through the woods then started through a small swamp then out on to a brook and then to a small pond hear we caught a few fish as we passed around the edge a deer and dow sprang of we kept off a way to the west a little then and came through a pasture into a road past a few farm houses at two they put out a flag and hurahed and the little children ran out and waved flags and we soon came into a villiage hear waved a flag on poles but it was filled with bullet holes but they showed their patritism we seluted it and they cheered day after day we marched on one day as we was neering the place we met a bear but I only ordered them to fire they fired and we had a bear but we was neering the prison and so had to go still the night before we got there there was canons [page break] booming which we could hear plainly we doubled quick and marched all night and in the morning we just go there in time to assist in driving back the union from the city the canon booms we heard was the firing of the battle out about a mile from the city at this battle Ethan Allens men quickly drove the Forest Continenters but a few came after that a battle and Allens men were driven back in the preceeding chapture I will tell you all about it but first I will tell you how many was killed in the first battle of the Allen side there was 10 killed 9 wounded on Berts side 14 killed 9 wounded Ethan Allen had 2550 and Burt had 2415 men in the whole [page break]

Thirty Days War
Chap 4
After driving at the fi[r]st battle the union followed right up in a few hours and made a head long atack on the city but by that time a few more had come and they got behind the ridge the union made an atack and after a long fierce battle they retreated our flags waved up and the Allen men retrated one company was routed and my party but after them I chased one little commander through the woods we ran down a hill through a river over another hill through a mile of forest but then he was tuckered I knew he was a coledge fellow by the way he run but I got hold of him he hollared and hollared and when we got to the river I told him if he did not stop his noise I would check him into it but he kept on and a put him in but them took him out and went across as I got a cross a saw a regiment [page break] of blue comeing and then ten more in a nother direction the field seemed full of blues the woods to every thing just bristled with them I let my man free and told him to skip or I would shoot down off he went like a grey hound and I jumped into some bushes by the river and cralled in to a brush heap hear I lay for hours trying to keep was small a bunch as I could with union passing Ryall the time when it got dark I went back in the last battle there was 20 of our men and 21 of theirs on our side there was one captured and on their side . 7 captured. we done a good days work the rest of that night we spent [page break] at the prison and the next day started for Allens town at least our men stayed at the boundry line and I and my party and Joe Jam and his party went up to Allens town shouting from the prison one hole party of us started for the boundry line there was 2450 we marched up the roads through villiages and past farm houses trappers huts and barns the villiage flags were all ways out our three bands and two drum corps played their best tunes and we went in a regular form the white and the grey companys mixed up but as we got into the forests where there wasnt inhabertance with in a mile of each other our bands played less our soldiers stepped less gaily and the horse men did not ride with such dignity their sords [hund wattering?] to their side but they were enjoying it for they [page break] were laughing and jesting and Bert and I added one once in a while at last we got sick of going and it got most dark and we camped near a trappers hut there was about 100 tents set and the good trapper brought out meat he brought out one bear one deer and gave them to the soldiers then he brought out two rabbits and gave them to Bert and I. We thanked him for it and gave him a dollar we stayed there till morning and then begun our march again we might have taken the train but I thought it might betray us more we marched on that day we had gone 49 miles in those to day it was true we were not marching very fast but we were just marchin leisurely along it took us three more days to get to the boundry line where we pitched out tents in the most of a big birch forest by a stream [page break]

Chap 5
Scouting at Allens Town
At here our party left the others and went scouting to Allens Town to find out how to atack it and how many soldiers they had and where to atack it Joe Jam went to but he was not with us we went around Farmington and struck into the park through which we slowly pushed our way the forest and hills were stretching a way as far as we cold see but in a few days came to a long level and fertil plain on which now is a seed establishment the grass grew waste high far away in the distance we could see a spruce woods which we thought we would stop at over night but before we had gone much nearer our atention was a rested by a mooving brown spot what is it one of the men asked I took out my field glass and looked it is Buffalo I said lets look they all exclaimed so I let them now boys I said lets get some of Ethans buffaloes you see they are comeing right toard us we will lay in this tall grass and wait for them. But if we had only known it [page break] there was a fort in the spruces and at that time Ethan Allen and 100 of his trained soldiers were there and Ethan has seen the buffalos and had planed privately to go of a lone and shoot one so he started out on his large white horse he succeeds in getting to them but before he got with a range they ran off and he gave it up and concluded to go back and get some men to help him, our men had laid in the grass so had not seen the blue coat comeing all at once I heard a horses hook beat and the nex in a bang I raised my head and there was the great commander mounted on a large white horse riding at full speed and back about 15 rods was one of my men and a thin reath of smoke sircled above his head I raised my rifle to fire but the next instant [page break] the commanders rafle was rattling away and we all got down out of sight and when we looked up again he was about a quarter of a mile away we all fired but did not hit him at least he did nit stop his horse was going at a one fifty gate I watched him through my glass and saw him enter the spruces I bet there is a fort there said I and we better get right out of this so we started straight for Allens Town in a few days we got with in a mile of the great city we were traveling by night in order to count their number we must stay till morning and see their mustering they had four forts around the great city the centre of commerce of Forest Continent of which had the same number of solidiers we were informer so we thought if we counted one fort we could easly find out how many soliders there were the night was quite dark but not dark enough so but what we could se a black spot on top of a small ridge about a quarter of a mile away this we knew to be the forst by us stood and old rickerty tumbled down house all the windows gone we knew it was diserted and so entered we went up into the chamber and there on the flore spent the rest of the night in sleep in the morning with my field glass I watched the enimies motions they formed in line and marched around the fort twice then [page break] down the hill into the city which was about a half mile away and about ten came back only leaving 10 centinals in the fort the company I found marched 10 abreast and were about 75 men long reckoning up the seninals comander and marcials made 765 long and four times this was 3060 this is to much I said we cannot atack the city we must give it up and to night start back and tell them while I was talking I set the glass down and one of the men picked it up all at once he turned excitedly and said o captain they have several prisoneers and one has got a way and is running away I grabbed the glass and saw long reeth of smoke curl along the lines the man fell out [gained?] his feet part ran part staggerd tword us he would stumble and all most fall and then so on a squad put after him but by this time he was most to the old house the squad hall and a canon rang out and a bulled went through the house the man ran by the house and we followed we all escaped the man was Joe Jam his party had been captured he had three bullets in him but he was not mortarly wounded we never atacked Allens Town and one day in exchange of soldiers got Jams party back
The End W.J.L.