The first rebel; being a lost chapter of our history and a true narrative of America's first uprising against English military authority and an ... and British regulars, together with a

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1834 edition. Excerpt: ...Grant had seen to that. At the last minute Grant had tried to make his next dispatch to his colonel sound a little better than it had been promising to sound. He gave up his prisoners, but he kept their guns. In doing so, he only did his duty--or else he played a dirty trick. There, again, it depended on the point of view; but the point of view did not change the consequences. To James Smith, the confiscation of those weapons was a breach of faith, an outrage as unjust as the arrests had been. To the valley men, it was plain thievery; their rifles were their meat and clothes; more than once their rifles had been their very lives. When they discovered what had happened, they stood around outside the fort and roared and damned. British muskets didn't save the valley, two years back; the long rifles saved it. We'd be dead and scalped if we'd sat waiting for them bastard soldiers. Now they're working for the traders; now they're sending powder to the redsticks; and they take our rifles! Looks like they want to make dead sure the Indians finish us the next time. Indians, hell! They fired on us themselves, didn't they, up in Great Cove Gap? Godamighty, they're as bad as Shawnees! Grant, God damn you, give us back those rifles! But the shouts were futile; the log gate stayed shut. James Smith wrote a furious demand, but that, too, was futile. Grant's reply was brusque: no rioters will get guns from me; they'll get what rebels get. He had the last word. James Smith called off his men, and they cursed the Black Watch all the way to Cunningham's. But there was something besides anger and frustration in their cursing; there was apprehension. What would Grant do now? Trudging those five miles through the mud, in the raw March drizzle, they began to...