05 - The Last Day of Magic

January-February 1776

From Albany the expedition set a course East crossing the entire length of Massachusetts, traversing the Berkshire Mountains, and finally arriving in Cambridge, just outside of Boston.  It took the expedition 17 days to cross Massachusetts.  All said and done the expedition took almost 10 weeks; Knox had only anticipated 4 weeks.

Knox arrived with 59 pieces of artillery and reported to the Commanding General George Washington at the Continental Army's headquarters, the Vassell House, where he was promoted from Colonel to General for his success on the expedition.  The presence of Fisher and Rose were later requested by the Commanding General. Washington personally thank the two for their service and urged them to stay in Cambridge with the army to help boost morale, much as they had done on the expedition.

Fisher and Rose agreed to stay on with the army; at least until the siege was finished.  Fisher's motivations for staying were emotionally and financially driven since Boston was his home and his business had been shuttered by the Port Act that had closed Boston harbor following the Boston Tea Party 13 months previous.  However Rose's motivations were less straightforward.  She was caught up in the excitement of Practical Magic and didn't want to leave Fisher, but she also saw another opportunity.  If she could help the siege and the British could be defeated in one grand battle, the war would be over and her lover, John Andre, would be freed and they could be reunited.

Washington also mentioned that another magician by the name of Jonathon Crowe was also stationed in Cambridge assisting in the war effort.  Washington thought it would be appropriate for the magician's of the Continental Army to get acquainted with one another.  The name sounded familiar to the Fisher but he couldn't recall why.

Before Fisher and Rose left the Vassell house Rose made one small, yet bold request of General Washington.  She asked that a letter from his office be sent to her Father back in New York to tell him of her safe arrival in Boston and also to tell him that she was under the care and protection of the Continental Army.  Washington agreed.  A letter would be drafted by Washington's aide-de-camp immediately, he promised to report of any return reply.

The next day Jonathon Crowe was invited to the meet with Fisher and Rose at the townhouse where Rose was lodging.  Jonathon Crowe was almost half Fisher's age making him closer in age to Rose.  He was an ordinary sort of man in every way except for a crooked nose that looked like it had been broken more times than a nose should.  Fisher asked about Crowe's role thus far with the army and Crowe explained that he had been sent North along with Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold to capture several forts including Fort Ticonderoga.  It turned out that Crowe took part in the capture of the artillery that would become Knox's Expedition.  Additionally Crowe had playeda role in the capture of Fort St. John's where John Andre surrendered and was made a prisoner of war.

From Crowe, Fisher and Rose learned quickly how bad of shape the army was in.  Many accounts indicated that the Continential Army was of similar size to that of the British force stationed in Boston, around 11,000 men, however as of late the army had dwindled to somewhere around 8,800 men - many of which were not even healthy enough for duty.  Only through cunning subterfuge and rumor spreading had Washington kept the British kept fooled, preventing them from storming out of Boston and crushing the unprepared Continentals.

The army was not much of an army at all in fact.  All of the men belonged to local militia, or minutemen, from all over the colonies.  Each regiment was its own entity.  They shared very little in common and most had never seen battle.  The men were all stationed around Boston due to the fact that a small band of militia from Boston had chased the British back to Boston following the battles at Lexington and Concord in April and began a siege of the city.  Two months later, in July, a handful of the gathered militia had repelled an attack by the British at Breed's Hill and Bunker Hill, inflicting heavy casualties but ultimately fleeing the battle field before the majority of the militia could even engage the enemy.

Crowe explained that without artillery, and without a clear objective, the army had sat idle for months on end without hope for a resolution of the siege.  The Continental Congress had no money to extend pay, and most of the men weren't committed to full time soldiering.  Men had to choose between this floundering war and their families at home.  The choice for most was simple.  Some men's contracts expired and couldn't be renewed, some men died of sickness, some men deserted; the army was shrinking fast and morale was terrible.

Fisher and Rose had had success before using magic to bolster the men on the expedition.  They figured they could do it again here in Cambridge.  They began to hatch a plan right then and there.  Crowe didn't understand how magic could turn this army around but Fisher and Rose assured him that it could.

After their plan was formed they invited Knox to listen and offer suggestions. Knox was in favor of the plan with some minor adjustments, one being that some of the larger guns from Ticonderoga be brought along as a backup plan in case the magic failed.  Satisfied with the plan Knox reported back to Washington for final approval.  Approval was given and the magician's began spreading the word that a show was to be staged in the coming days.

The show was equal parts success and failure.  The magicians underestimated how poor the armies morale really was, very few men turned out for the show.  However, the magicians also underestimated the power of Knox's artillery.  The show was simple: create a curtain of fog over the Boston Bay, then summon violent winds with which they could harass and destroy the British gun boats that were docked across the way. Knox was to provide cannon fire to ensure the attack was a success.  Unfortunately the winds didn't cooperate and at first it seemed that all the magician's could do was incur the wrath of His Majesty's Navy.

Shortly after the show began a frigate cast off from the docks and made to turn face and fire upon the gathered Continentals.  Fisher and Rose lost control of the situation and panic began to sweep the crowd.  Crowe reacted quickly raising a heavy fog to obscure the frigate's line of sight.  Meanwhile Knox had the cannons dial in on their target.  In a daring last ditch effort Rose took control of the winds and sent them swirling around the frigate in the bay.  The winds tore the sails from their rigging and the frigate stalled during its turn before it fire on the crowd.  At the same time Knox ordered a volley of fire from the cannon and Crowe raised the fog like a curtain.

Several minutes passed as the winds died down and the fog cleared.  When at last the crowd could see across the bay again they saw the frigate limping back to the dock with its sails in tatters and several large hull breaches.  Although it wasn't what they planned the show served its purpose.  The assembled men left with renewed confidence.  The Continental Army had cannons, and with cannons they finally had the means with to make a direct assault on the British.