5 -
Red, White, and Black & Blue
When
the sun broke over Hillfield on the morning of September 1, 1779, the town was
prepared to greet Colonel Tye and the Black Brigade. Joshua Murray, fermenting
in Old Testament zealotry, had press-ganged Hillfield's younger, sprier boys
into serving as lookouts, shaming them for their masturbatory decadences. He
proceeded to plant various weapons on the premises and outfit the town with all
manner of makeshift booby traps. Murray spoke little, contenting himself to
quietly singing Irish folk songs with hostile lyrics lifted from the Bible.
Allegedly he slept with his eyes open.
At
8:47 AM on September 5, the thirteen-year old son of a weaver ran into town,
crying that the Black Brigade was less than a mile away. Murray ordered the
townsfolk to go about their normal activities until Tye arrived, but according
to Filman Hazelworth's diary, Murray's shrill barking emphasized his brogue,
and someone had to ask him to repeat himself. He did and promptly disappeared
into the nearby Meeker's Inn.
Tye
and the Black Brigade rode into town just after 9:00 AM, and the entirety of
Hillfield's citizen body gathered in the town square to present themselves to
Tye. Included in the assembly were Hillfield's slaves. Tye took one look and
started shaking his head with insincere disappointment. He ordered a gallows
constructed and a man identified as Amos Longtickle strung up. As his men made
quick time of the gallows' construction, the Hillfieldians looked on, unsure of
how to proceed without Murray's instruction.
With
the gallows erected and the noose around Amos Longtickle's neck, Tye addressed
the petrified townsfolk. "This is why your nation will prove
stillborn," he proclaimed. "A whipped animal will work for so long
before baring its teeth." Tye raised his hand, ready to order Longtickle's
hanging, when a dagger whistled through the rope. It landed in the mud as
Longtickle dropped to the ground. The Black Brigade immediately drew their
muskets, their heads turning every which way, their horses excited and ready to
take off. Only Colonel Tye maintained his poise.
Joshua
Murray's voice rang from the second-story balcony of Meeker's Inn.
"Colonel Tye! I defy you, you traitorous namesake of a pagan despot!"
Tye
remained still and unimpressed. "Does the innocent betray the penitentiary
when he escapes, Mr. Murray?"
"
'The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites ruin.' Proverbs
10:14."
"Please
interpret, pastor."
"It
means, 'Fuck your twisted darkie logic.' "
Murray
drew two muskets, fired, and threw himself backwards through the balcony's
glass doors.
Hazelworth
described what followed in his diary:
We ran for sanctuary
as the negro brigade reared their horses and gave chase. Tye directed two of
his mercenaries to dismount and pursue Murray into the inn while another
guarded the exit to the back. Shots rang from inside the inn, followed by
another and the neighing of a horse from behind the inn. A moment later the
Irishman sprinted from behind the inn, whooping like an Indian and confusing
both us and the negros. Murray proceeded to lead Tye and his barbarians
throughout the town, killing them one at a time with musket, saber, pitchfork,
or improvised cudgel. When trapped Murray displayed no fear at diving through
glass, wood, or thicket in escape. Even when a black succeeded in wounding the
Irishman with a musket shot or saber slash, Murray exacted judgment on the
animal and continued to his next target. He succeeded in scalding one of the
Brigade with hot stew and bludgeoned another with a slaughtered pig.
Eventually
only Colonel Tye remained alive, but when Murray dropped from a tree, Tye
crippled him with a well-placed shot to the right leg. He netted Murray from
atop his horse, but as he rode toward his hobbled quarry, Murray produced
another musket and fired into the knee of Tye's horse. Tye fell and Murray,
drawing a dagger, rushed to cut the Colonel's throat. Tye was quick to draw his
own musket and pressed it to Murray's head just as the Irishman's blade met the
black commander's Adam's Apple.
What followed can only be surmised
through speculation. Tye and Murray spoke to one another, but their words have
not been recorded. The witnesses were likely too far away to hear, but we know
that they did watch several minutes of conversation followed by a period that
saw Tye and Murray each mutilate himself in turn. It is believed that, however
the issue was arrived at, each man sought to prove to the other that he was
more willing to endure pain and eventual death for his respective cause, for
the stand-off climaxed with Murray holding Tye's musket to his own head and Tye
holding Murray's dagger to his own throat.
We
don't know how the two settled the conflict, but both exchanged their weapons
and walked away from one another, leaving the town in peace but perplexed.
Admittedly this makes for an enigmatic and unsatisfying end to the episode, at
least as it pertains to Hillfieldology. Tye would eventually prove the victor,
killing Murray the following year in Monmouth County. But the two combatants
engendered a distrust of both blacks and Irish that resulted in the immediate
abolition of slavery in Hillfield and a great deal of strife-ridden absurdity
in the years to come.
Next:
Hillfield
& the New Constitution
