Boys' life of Captain John Smith

Front matter

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Preface

Dear Boys:

In telling over for you the life of this brave man, I have followed as nearly as possible his own words. If I have emphasized his virtues and said little about his faults, it is because I feel sure that we understand people best when we look for their good points. This does not mean that we must refuse to see their weaknesses, but that after all the virtues are more important.

Some writers do not believe that much John Smith has said of himself is true. All that we, who do believe him, can say is that so far as we know, it has never been disproved ; and though his words are often boastful and full of exaggerations, that sort of autobiography was very much the custom of his time. Modesty was not so much the fashion then as it is now.

PREFACE.

I have added to this life of John Smith some of his letters, and hope that when you have finished the book you will be enough interested in him to read those, too. One of his soldiers said of him when he was in Virginia that he loved actions not words. I think when we have read his life through we shall rather say that he loved action first and words next. And because he did love to write about his deeds and his opinions, we must read some of these brave and straightforward words the better to understand his brave and straightforward character.

E. H. J.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. Boyhood of John Smith, and How He Learned

to be a Soldier 9

II. He Goes to Fight the Turks

During these early years of Jolm Smith's life, most of the known world was engaged in religious wars of some sort. England had changed from a Catholic to a Protestant nation and Spain, as the great Catholic country, was her deadly enemy. France was divided — at one time under a Catholic prince, at another under a Protestant, and the different parties were constantly at war. Holland was the stronghold of Protestants and in bitter war with Spain which was trying to conquer it. Smith, as we have seen, began his soldiering in France where his leader was probably a Protestant or Huguenot, as they were called there. Then when things became more peaceful there, he went with this same leader to Holland to fight against Spain ; and now finding on this, his second visit, that things were quieter in Holland, and, as he says, "both lamenting and repenting to have seen so many Christians slaughter one another'* he longed to go and fight the Turks, who were the deadly foes of Catholic and Protestant alike, and always at war with them somewhere. Holland having been so lately at war there were soldiers from all countries gathered there, and John hoped that among them he might find a leader who would take him to try his fortunes against these heathen enemies of the Christians.

And now began those wonderful adventures which some historians have refused wholly to believe in. I am going to set them down as nearly in John Smith's own words as possible, and then we must choose for ourselves. However we choose, I am sure we cannot fail to believe that we are reading about a brave and honorable man who loved the life of a soldier but loved kindness and fair dealing as well, especially as he grew older.

Chance threw onr hero then, while in Holland, into the company of four gallant Frenchmen who pretended that they were a great lord and his three gentlemen and all devoted friends. They persuaded Smith to go with them to France where they said they knew the wife of a noble Frenchman, the Due de Mercceur or Duke Mercury, as Smith always called him, who had gone into Hungary to fight on the side of the Emperor of Germany against the Turks. The Duchess of Mercury, they assured him, would give them money and letters to her husband, and then they would join him on the field, and so John's purpose would be accomplished. He gladly set out with them in a little ship, though it was winter and they were likely to be hindered by storms. But when they neared the coast of France and came by night into a shallow bay to seek protection from the bad gales, this pretended French lord and his companions turned out to be rogues and villiains. Seeing that Smith had better clothes than they had and more of them, they plotted with the captain of the ship to send them and their trunks ashore taking Smith's along with them, while Smith was to wait until the boat should come back for him, which it did not do before evening of the next day. We wonder that he should have been so easily taken in by any such plot, for it seems that the other passengers all knew what sort of men these were, and were so angry with the captain they almost took his ship away from him and threw him overboard.

Instead of that fitting punishment for the captain, Smith himself was set on shore with only the clothes he had on and one penny in his pocket, having been obliged to sell his cloak in order to pay his passage. He had, however, gained the friendship of one man, Curzanvere, a soldier and an outlaw, as it afterwards appeared. He said that he knew the thieving Frenchmen and

26 LIFE OF Cx\PTAIN JOHN SMITH.

would take Smith to where he could find them, in the meantime sharing his purse with him.

So they traveled through that part of France, Smith seeing much that was of interest historically and always adding to his knowledge of the way men make war. When they finally reached the little town of Mortagne where both Curzanvere and the pretended lord lived. Smith's friend and benefactor was afraid to show his face for fear of the authorities ; and though his relatives were kind and hospitable, they also seemed to be afraid of the law and poor John was in no better case than when he left the ship. In fact he seems to have fallen into a nest of outlaws.

As he did not care to accept their hospitality when he could do nothing to return it, and saw that he would gain nothing by staying longer, he left the town and wandered on from port to port hoping that he could find some great soldier wliom he could follow to the wars. Finally having spent all the money Curzanvere had so generously given him, he wandered on ashamed to beg, and was found at last by a rich farmer under a tree, nearly dead from grief and cold. This kind peasant warmed and fed him and helped him on his way; and not many days later in a wood he suddenly came on one of the treacherous Frenchmen who had stolen his clothes and who was in a worse plight than himself.

Smith did not stop to question but drew his sword and rushed at the man furiously, and the two began to fight. Some countrymen looking on from a ruined tower near by saw the fight and came to the assistance of the Frenchman just in time to hear him confess, after Smith had wounded him, that he and his companions had stolen Smith's trunk and were going to divide the booty between them but that he was cheated out of his share.

So John gave up his revenge and left the thief to the care of these men. He himself started out to seek the Earl of Ployer, a French lord who had been educated in England and who he had been told was glad to befriend Englishmen who were in trouble. Sure enough the Earl received him gladly, and after showing the enthusiastic young traveler the sights of that part of France where he lived, lent him money enough to enable him to journey through the South of France visiting the principal cities and inspecting their fortifications. With all his love of travel and sightseeing. Smith never forgot his interest in war and was always eager to learn the best ways of carrying it on.

At Marseilles he took ship for Italy, but it seems as if he never started on a journey without immediately getting into trouble. The weather was bad and when it began to storm heavily, the passengers, many of whom were going on pilgrimages to Eome, became very much alarmed ; and though the ship put toward shore where the sea was shallow and quieter, they were still frightened and superstitious. Finally they swore that it was all because of John Smith ; that he was not only a heretic but that all Englishmen were pirates ; and so railing against Queen Elizabeth, then ruler of England, and saying they never should have fair weather while John was on the ship, they threw him overboard.

This would seem to have been the worst misfortune of them all, yet, as he tells us, ^^God brought him to a little Isle where there were no inhabitants, only a few cattle and goats, ' ' and next morning he spied and hailed two ships riding by, also driven in by the storm. Captain La Roche was master of these two small vessels and knew the Earl of Floyer. So when they had taken Smith on board and he had told them of his friendship with the Earl, the captain and his officers received him with such kindness that he tells us, ^^he was well content to try the rest of his fortune with them."

In that day many merchantmen carried guns and besides trade, carried on what we should consider piracy. Every ship belonging to another country, particularly one that had ever been hostile, was lawful prey, and we may be sure that Captain La Eoche was keeping his eyes open for prizes and booty. So the two little merchantmen with their guns sailed around the south of Spain toward Italy, stopping at various points for cargo. At last they came across two Venetian ships laden with rich freight and someone fired a shot killing one man. The ship Smith was on immediately responded and a desperate fight followed in which the brave Frenchmen were successful. They boarded the Venetian craft, took as much booty as they wished and set them free, leaving behind as much good merchandise as would have freighted another French boat ; and so kept on their way.

Smith's share of the booty was about

$1,000 and a valuable little box, and this made him for the time a very rich man. He asked to be put ashore in the south of Italy, hoping to do more of the sightseeing which he so loved, and at the same time to carry on his search for a chance to go to war. On his way up to Rome he found his two old friends, Robert and Peregrine Bertie, '^cruelly wounded in a desperate fray yet to their exceeding great honor,'' and we hope he was able to do something to repay them for their former kindness to him, but that he does not tell us. He does describe many of the interesting things he saw in a way that shows how much he was enjoying this chance to travel and how he was adding all the time to his education and experience. Besides seeing many things of great interest he met many people, among them an old friend, Lord Ebersbaugh, and now it seems as if at last Smith's great desire was to be realized. For the Earl recommended the young wanderer to a worthy Colonel, the Earl of Meldritch, who was going to Vienna where there was war against the Turks, and whose regiment Smith could join.

m.

The Siege of Ober Limbach, and Other Battles.

The Turks had been fighting in Austria and Hungary for some time and had won several battles, and were now besieging Olumpagh, as Smith always calls the town of Ober Limbach. When the regiment Smith belonged to reached Vienna, it was at once assigned to the forces under Baron Kisell, and this general and his army were ordered to go to the relief of the besieged town. On his way John learned that his old friend, Lord Ebersbaugh, was governor of this town and was imprisoned there^ having arrived just before the siege. As Baron Kisell had only 10,000 men and the Turks numbered twice as many, it was very important that at once there should be some communication between the town and the army which had come to help it. When Smith met Lord Ebersbaugh in Italy, they had talked over together certain signals made by waving lights, and the young soldier immediately thought that such a scheme might be useful at this critical time, if indeed his friend remembered their conversation. All through Smith's life we shall find that he was brave and resourceful in times of grave emergency and never failed those who trusted and relied on him. He asked his general therefore to give him men and torches that he might go to a hill near by and signal the town, and the Baron was glad to let him try his experiment.

Smith set up three torches on the top of the hill, and pretty soon out shone three torches from the town, showing that the besieged general saw and remembered. Then Smith spelled out this message,— waving the torch a certain number of times for each letter, Ebersbaugh repeating each

THE SIEGE OF OBER LIMBACII. 35

time to show that he understood: *^0n Thursday at night I will charge on the East, at the alarm do you start out. ' ' This was a very slow and clumsy way of doing what we do so quickly now by the process called wigwagging, but it seemed very wonderful then, and certainly accomplished its purpose.

In the mean time spies sent out by the general had come back saying that the enemy's forces were divided into two parts by a river. This made Smith think of another scheme, that they should fasten two or three thousand bits of fuse to lines stretched out on the other side of the city from the one where Baron Kisell would make his attack; and the general agreed to this also. They lighted these pieces of fuse just before the attack was made, and the Turks, thinking it was a line of soldiers firing their muskets,— for guns in that day were set off by putting a lighted match to the touch-hole, started to attack that line. This took them away from the side the

Baron was planning to charge, and in a moment they were attacked on their unprotected flank by the troops from both inside and out of the city, and were thrown into confusion ; and those who were not drowned or shot, fled. The general was so delighted with the success of our hero's experiments, that he gave him a command of 250 horsemen, and Smith became Captain John Smith, and as such he is imown to this day. Though a general peace was now proclaimed because of this great victory, the Turks had no intention of stopping their fighting, but instead they at once began to enlarge their armies. Whereupon the German Emperor, with the assistance of other Christian nations, placed three armies in the field, one of which was commanded by the French prince, whose wife has already been spoken of, Duke Mercury. It was under this general that Captain John Smith, still in the Earl of Meldritch's regiment, was to fight. This army was 30,000 strong, of which number nearly 10,000

THE SIEGE OF OBER LIMBACH. 37

were French, and with it Duke Mercury set out to besiege the town of Alba Regalis, a place so strong by art and nature, Smith tells us, that it was thought to be impregnable. At the approach of the army the Turks made a sally by night and attacking the German quarter slew nearly 500 and returned before it was known that they were there. The next night they did almost as much damage to the Hungarians and others near them,— the army seems to have been divided according to nationalities,— but when they tried the French they were surprised in their turn and lost eight or nine hundred men.

At last, being tired of these sorties and surprises, Earl Meldritch found out from refugees where there were the largest gatherings of people in the city, and then ordered Captain John Smith to make use of another device which he had learned on his travels, called the fiery dragons. These were made of round earthern pots filled with gunpowder covered with a mixture of pitch, brimstone and turpentine. Into this mixture were stuck many musket balls, partly cut into four pieces, and all this deadly compound was covered with cloth made into a sort of fuse. These terrible dragons were fitted into slings and shot over the city as near to the crowded places of assembly as they could calculate. Captain Smith thus describes the result: ^^It was a fearful sight to see the short flaming course of their flight in the air, but presently after their fall the lamentable noise of the miserable slaughtered Turks was most wonderful to hear. ' ' In the midst of the general alarm different suburbs of the city were set on fire by the besiegers ; and finally, stormed on all sides, the city fell into the hands of the French Duke and the Turkish ruler, or Bashaw, was taken prisoner in his own palace by Colonel Meldritch. The Duke was very proud of this prisoner and of the captured city, so long a stronghold of the Turks, and set about repairing it. The Turks with an army of

THE SIEGE OF OBER LIMBACH. 39

60,000 made efforts in several battles to retake the city but were repulsed eaeli time, tliough with great loss to the Emperor's troops; in one of these fights Captain Smith's horse was killed under him and he himself was sore wounded.

Then came a time of inaction because of the serious defeats which the Turks had undergone; and the Duke, after dividing his army into three parts and giving them all different commissions, returned to Vienna where he received great honor for all he had accomplished, but where to the sorrow of all, he suddenly died.

In the division of his army Duke Mercury had sent the troops under the Earl of Meldritch, Smith's commander, to Transylvania. Here they found a mixed up state of things. Much of the beautiful and fertile little country was in the hands of the Turks, some was ruled over by a native prince, '^who had the hearts of both country and people," and the German Emperor was eager to get possession of the whole. And on the frontier, amongst the almost impassable mountains, were camps and garrisons, some for the Emperor, some for the Prince, and some in the hands of the hostile Turks.

Now Colonel Meldritch had been sent by the Duke, his general, to fight for the Emperor; but being a native Transylvanian himself, he was in sympathy with the native prince, whose name was Sigismund, and easily persuaded his soldiers to fight for him against the Turks, instead of for the Emperor against the Prince, as ordered. Prince Sigismund was delighted to have as brave an officer as the Earl and so many and experienced soldiers in his army. He showed this by making Meldritch campmaster of the whole army and giving him permission to plunder the Turks at will. The journey into the mountains had been made in the cold of a terrible winter and Smith gives us a little idea of how much the troops suffered from it by saying that the other army sent into the field had lost

THE SIEGE OF OBER LIMBACH. 41

three or four hundred men by freezing in a single night. So we can imagine these soldiers were most grateful for the kind reception given them by Prince Sigismund and were very willing to do battle for him ; and we see Smith still able to fulfil his boyish wish, made when he left Holland, to fight the Turks rather than the Christians. Then came sallies into the mountain fastnesses where were many Turks as well as bandits and outlaws. The city, Regall, which Meldritch wished to capture lay in the plain beyond and could be reached only through a narrow valley which the enemy held. This he gained possession of by means of a clever stratagem. He sent a small body of men through the valley driving before them a herd of cattle, and when the enemy saw how few soldiers were with the cattle they rushed out to capture them and were attacked in their turn by Meldritch and his men who were in hiding near by, and were all made prisoners. When by this means Meldritch reached the city of Eegall and decided to storm it, he found that they must wait about six days in order to bring their cannon over the rough roads through the hills. In the mean time his army lay inactive while the Turks made their city still stronger. Then they attacked the besiegers in their tents, and though the Turks were driven back to the gates, the loss on both sides was about 1500.

Finally the Transylvanian general appeared to reinforce Meldritch, with his army of 9000, and they all spent a month putting up entrenchments as a protection against the guns on the city walls. The Turks made great fun of all this seeming inactivity, said they were growing fat for lack of exercise, and at last sent this challenge to the Christians: ^^That to delight the ladies who did long to see some courtlike pastime, the Lord Turbashaw (a Turkish officer) did defy any officer who had command of a company, who durst combat with him for his head. ' ' The challenge

THE SIEGE OF OBER LIMBACII. 43

was discussed in the Christian army and finally accepted, but there were so many captains eager to fight that they had to draw lots and the choice fell on Captain John Smith.

This was the age of tilt and trial by sword, and all both noble and low-born loved the sight of single combat. Truce was therefore declared for a time, the ramparts were covered with knights and fair ladies, and at the sound of music the Lord Turbashaw entered the field. He was very splendidly armed and accoutred and was attended by three soldiers. The onlookers had not long to wait before Smith appeared in much simpler array, attended only by one page carrying his lance. But when the trumpet sounded he made the charge with such effect that at his first blow he ran the Turk through the head and face with his lance so that he fell to the ground dead. Smith alighted, cut off his opponent's head, gave the body back to his friends, and returned without any hurt at all. He was welcomed with joy by the whole army and presented the captured head to the general who graciously accepted it.

But the Turks were filled with rage, and one Grualgo, the friend of Lord Turbashaw, sent a particular challenge to the victor to meet him on the field in single combat the next day : determined to regain his friend's head or to lose his own, with his horse and armor besides. This challenge was accepted and the meeting took place, and at the first shock the Turk was nearly unhorsed. Then came pistols and at the second shot the Turk was wounded in the left arm and fell to the ground, helpless. There Smith cut off his head and taking possession of that with the horse and armor, sent back his unlucky opponent's body in its rich clothing to the town. From that time on many light skirmishes took place, but as the soldiers were still working on the entrenchments and were not ready for a general battle, to y

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THE SIEGE OF OBER LIMBACII. 45

Captain Smith in his turn sent a challenge to the besieged town. He said he wished the ladies to know that he was not so eager to keep the heads of their admirers, and that if any one came to redeem them he should have his too if he could get it.

It seems strange that the Turks were not discouraged by this time, but on the contrary the challenge was at once accepted by a man Smith calls Bonny Mulgro. The fight this time was begun with pistols and as no hurt was done, battle axes followed, and with these the fight waxed fast and furious. Both soldiers were nearly unhorsed and Smith lost his axe, whereupon a great shout went up from the city walls. But they rejoined too soon, for though Bonny Mulgro prosecuted his advantage to the uttermost of his power, yet his opponent,— as he himself so graphically describes it— ^^by the readiness of his horse, and his judgment and dexterity beyond all men's expectation, by God's assistance, not only avoided the Turk's violence, but having drawn his sword, pierced the Turk through his body that he fell from his horse and lost his head as the rest had done." Here we see the value of all that practising with horse and lance which took place in the wood near Willoughby. This success gave great encouragement to the whole army and Captain Smith was conducted to the general's presence by a guard of 6000, the three Turks' heads being carried on lances before three riderless horses. The general received him with much kindness and gave him a richly saddled horse and a very costly sword and belt; and his commander, Earl Meldritch, made him Major of his regiment.

By now the ramparts were finished and all was ready for the attack on Regall. The Turks were gallant defenders, but their walls were broken down by the cannon which from the new fortifications now commanded the town, and the breaches thus made were stormed by the Christians and the besieged people driven back into the

THE SIEGE OF OBER LIMBACH. 47

castle. There they asked for a truce, but Earl Meldritch too well remembered their cruelty when they first took the place from the inhabitants of the country. So, storming the castle, he put all able to bear arms to death and took the women and children prisoners. The loss to the Christian army had also been very severe and in revenge the general sacked other towns, so taking to Prince Sigismund at last about 3000 prisoners and 36 ensigns. The Prince was also told the services which Captain Smith had rendered through his devices with torches and fire-works, and finally about his contests single-handed with three Turks. Thereupon the Prince gave him a coat of arms, the proof of nobility, with three Turks' heads upon it and also 300 ducats, a goodly sum of money, yearly as a pension. This last, I am sorry to say, so far as we know, Smith never received.

The Emperor by now had become impatient to possess this country he had so set his heart on but which from being one of the most fruitful in Europe, had become the **very spectacle of desolation— their fruits and fields overgrown with weeds, their churches and battered palaces and best buildings as for fear hid with moss and ivy.'* Indeed it is hard to see why he was so eager to own it ; but he was, and sent a large army under General Busca to take possession. Prince Sigismund, seeing he was not nearly strong enough to stand against this force, surrendered and gave up his country to the Emperor of Germany, he himself being settled under very honorable conditions at Prague.

IV. Taken Pkisonek, He Escapes and Finally Reaches England

This change of front on the part of Prince Sigismnnd left the Earl of Meldritch and the foreign troops under him with nothing to do. But in the mean time the Emperor had learned that there was trouble in Wallachia, another small country near by; and that the Turks had sent a prince there to rule the country, against whom the inhabitants were rebelling. It seemed to the Emperor then, a good time to annex that country also, so he ordered General Busca to proceed there from Transylvania, and with him went Earl Meldritch and his men.

They found the enemy strongly encamped and settled down near them, killing what scouts they could and at the same time losing many of their own camp-followers. At last, not knowing how else to induce the Turks to fight, Busca drew off his men slowly, burning and plundering as they went. This enraged the encamped Turks and also encouraged them, for they thought the German force was retreating because of the rumor that a large Turkish army was coming as a reinforcement. They therefore urged their commander to lead them out in pursuit of the retreating army. After two days of this pursuit, which was of course what the German army wanted in order that they might choose their ground, they turned furiously upon their pursuers and a tremendous battle ensued in which the Christians were victorious and 25,000 men were left dead on the field. In this battle as in all the others, Earl Meldritch showed great personal bravery, and we may be sure he was ably seconded by his captain, John Smith.

This won the country for the Emperor; but there was no rest for the soldiers, for news came that bands of Turks were foraging in another part of the country, and Meldritch with 13,000 men was sent in pursuit of these marauders. It was not long before he learned that he was setting out against an army of 30,000 men, and that Jeremie, the former Turkish ruler of Wallachia., was coming with 15,000 more. Meldritch immediately fell back towards the town of Rottenton, but soon found that he was nearly surrounded by these overwhelming forces of the enemy. From scouts and prisoners he learned the position of the Turkish army, and that his only way of retreat lay through a valley in Jeremie 's possession. Then Captain Smith again came to the rescue with another stratagem which Meldritch immediately put into execution. He caused the soldiers to attach to the tips of their lances pieces of wood on which something he calls wild fire (perhaps phosphorus) had been rubbed. Then holding these before them the soldiers rushed in the night through the lines of the enemy. The rapid motion made the pieces of wood blaze forth such flames and sparkles that it frightened both horses and men ; and the horses in the front ranks turned tail with such fury that by their violence they overthrew and trampled on their own comrades, without any loss at all to speak of to Meldritch. In this way the Christian army succeeded in getting nearly to Eottenton, but within three leagues of the town the enemy with 40,000 men so beset them that they must either fight or be cut in pieces flying.