“Captain Smith, post three of your Riflemen down by Mr. Colburn’s house to guide the rest of the Force up here to bivouac so they don’t interfere with the boat-builders. I am going to take Ensign Newman with me to find Colonel Arnold and let him know we need to move the Advance Guard to Fort Western today. All of us must do whatever it takes to get this expedition underway.

“While we’re gone, I want the three of you to select twenty-five men from each Rifle Company. Take them to the boat ramp where we saw the finished boats. Find the best thirty-five of the batteaux and set them aside. 1st Lt. Humphrey, find the boatwright in charge here and tell him we need a barrel of oakum—that’s a mixture of pine tar and hemp fibers. Use the oakum to double seal the inside and outside of the hull seams along the bottoms and between the strakes on the sides of every one of the thirty-five batteaux you have chosen. Post a guard on the boats you finish so no one else can claim them.”

He consulted his watch and continued, “It’s just noon. If at all possible, our entire Advance Guard ought to be headed upstream on a rising tide toward Fort Western by 4:00 p.m. It’s just ten miles north of here. William, we need to know whether the track between here and Fort Western is passable for wagons. Ask some of these boat workers. They are more likely to tell the truth than some others around here.

“If those you ask, say ‘no,’ tell the teamsters on our wagons to remove all the hitching gear, shafts, traces, axles, wheels, brakes, seats, and associated leather and hardware from both wagons. Have them set all that equipment neatly inside our Company perimeter. Make sure the horses have forage and water.

“When all the hardware is removed from the wagons, drive bungs and oakum into the holes. The bottoms and sides of both wagons are already sealed; I had them built that way just in case we might need to use the wagons as cargo barges. Remember, every boat should have on board four long towing lines, six long, strong poles—ash, if possible—and six paddles. Any questions?”

“Yes, sir, just two,” said 1st Lt. Humphrey. “If we turn our wagons into cargo barges, what will become of our draft horses?”

With a smile that wrinkled the scar on his face, Capt. Morgan replied, “William, you and Nathanael here will recall, I built the wagons and paid personally for those magnificent Virginia draft horses, better than anything seen up here.

“You should be able to auction the horses and hitching gear for much more than I paid back in Virginia. If you do so while Nathanael and I are gone, I will give you a 10 percent ­commission.”