A bullet from a gun belonging to British soldier dressed in a red coat whizzed by his ear. Jack Crofton quickly turned his head to glare at the enemy soldier that had almost hit his target. Jack then dived into the trench that had been dug by friendly French soldiers just hours ago. Looking ever his shoulder the young blond haired saw his courageous commander’s long face smiling. Whenever Alexander Hamilton had a smirk like this glued on his face, it meant victory was close.
Just hours ago, George Washington had addressed the men who were itching to carry on with their next mission. Hamilton’s men were to seize British Redoubt, or base, number 10. While they capturing the British stronghold, another battalion under Lafayette’s control would take control of British Redoubt 9. Jack tried his hardest to pay attention to General Washington’s remarks but his mind had been swimming with memories of past battles that he had taken part in. Two of them almost ended drastically for him and didn’t want things to end for him with America so close to freedom.
Washington was about to utter his final remarks to the inexperienced soldiers when six gunshots were heard echoing through the air. Jack was woken out of his trance. He knew what this meant.
“Lafayette did it! Let’s go men, we have a base to storm!” With that, Jack and all the other dangerously excited men ran after the redoubt that was positioned about a quarter mile away. A golden orb could be seen trying to reach the horizon behind the British base.
“It must be about 7 o’clock.” thought Mr. Crofton still running, “These are not the best fighting conditions,” When Hamilton’s men arrived unseen less than two hundred feet away from the British, it seemed to Jack that hundreds of shells to bullets littered the battlefield just in front of the strong hold. A small skirmish had taken place earlier that day in attempt to weaken the British defenses; not a scratch or dent could be seen in the fortification. This didn’t exactly boost the Jack’s, or any of his comrades, confidence. Looking over his shoulder, Jack saw the commander signaling to begin the attack. He, along with all the other soldiers, commenced in littering the ground with even more bullet shells. Jack quickly sharpened his eyes to get a good look the Hessians and British in the redoubt. To his horror, there were over 70 enemy soldier that were manned at gun stations, Hamilton’s plan had been discovered. Jack’s best friend, Oliver, jumped out of the trench, making his way towards the British.
Instinctively, Jack tried to pull his friend out the volley of bullets, but it was too late. Oliver tumbled back into the trench and his hand fell limply, inches away from Jack’s musket.
“Sir!” shouted Jack over the battle's fray, “Private Samson has been injured and requires medical assistance!” Hamilton smoothly made his way over to where Oliver was lying. He stooped over and put his ear into the lifeless form’s chest.
“I am sorry Crofton, he is gone,” explained the commander. Jack’s eyes were full of tears of sorrow, bullets still whiring over the heads of the American soldiers. Suddenly the echo of gunshots, somehow ended. Yells of distant Patriots were heard. Hamilton’s ear pricked up. “John Lauren’s men have arrived! They have come to help us win this battle!” he yelled. Sure enough, more militia soldiers were picking of the British one by one. After five minutes of fighting, only a handful of British remained. They took off running and slowly disappeared in the horizon. If anybody was looking at Jack Crofton’s face at this precise moment, they would have seen the look of utter shock stuck on his face. This battle that took place on October 14 would be one bound for the history books.
October 19, 1781
AMERICA WINS ITS INDEPENDENCE FROM BRITAIN!
Read the headline to a the daily edition of the local newspaper that was issued less than a week after the battle at British Redoubt 10.
“We defeated an international superpower. It was not easy by any means,” George Washington was quoted in the newspaper.
“You could say that the balance in this world has been turned upside down. We the Americans, the underdogs in this war, have defeated the British. They had almost unlimited supplies and yet we won. It truly is a miracle,” said Alexander Hamilton.
Jack Crofton returned to his home town being hailed as a hero. Though he felt as if he could do anything in the world, he would never forget his friend Oliver Samson who had sacrificed his life for an American victory.