I Survived the American Revolution, 1776

At the Captain’s signal, Nate joins the rest of the troops in firing at the British. For a moment, it seems as if the British have retreated, and the Americans start making plans to go back to the fort. Then, they hear a sound like a stampede coming toward them. Nate looks out to see “hundreds of soldiers charging over the top of the ridge” (96): Hessians. The Captain orders his men to retreat as cannonballs zoom through the air. Paul tries to keep track of Nate and guide him away from the Hessians, but the two get separated in the chaos. The air is filled with smoke, and Nate can hardly see his surroundings. He hears footsteps near him, but it isn’t Paul. It’s a Hessian, “chasing after Nate with his bayonet held straight out in front of him, shouting angrily” (97) in German. Nate can see from the man’s expression that the Hessian intends to kill him. He starts to lose the strength to run and expects the bayonet to stab him at any moment. Suddenly, a cannonball is heard above them and explodes upon impact. Nate is thrown off his feet in the explosion, and everything goes dark.

Two hours later, Nate awakens in the large hole left behind by the shell’s blast. He looks up to see “a bloody hand hanging over the edge of the crater” (101). The hand belongs to the Hessian who was chasing him. Now that the man is dead, Nate looks at him more closely and notices that the Hessian is no older than Paul. Nate thinks that the Hessian doesn’t “look like a blood-thirsty killer anymore. He look[s] like someone’s son, an older brother” (102). The ongoing sounds of battle bring Nate out of his trance and force him to take a closer look at his surroundings.

The rest of the men in the Connecticut 5th are nowhere to be found. Nate will have to return to the fort on his own. He remembers a story of Slash O’Shea, who avoided capture by changing his outfit. Fearing that he will be shot if he keeps his American clothes, Nate undresses the dead Hessian and dons the man’s uniform. This way, he can blend in with the enemy forces until he reaches safety. He looks ahead, afraid of the journey that he will have to take, but he is now ready to brave the risks on his own.

Nate tries to remain calm as he walks past British and Hessian soldiers. He tries to remember that if he is to convince them of his disguise, he cannot run as soon as he sees them. He waves, and “[t]o Nate’s shock, the Redcoats [wave] back” (107). He maintains his ruse until he reaches the road and the enemy troops are far behind him. He follows the road, knowing that it will lead him back to the fort.

As he approaches the American camp, he sheds his Hessian uniform so that the Patriots will recognize him. The battle drums announce that trouble is still close by. He looks out to see “thousands of men, a sea of bright red spreading back as far as [he] can see” (108). American soldiers emerge from the woods and shout for them to all return to the fort.

Somehow, Nate makes it back without being shot. At the fort, he rests for just a moment before looking for the rest of his friends. Paul and the other men from the Connecticut 5th are nowhere to be found. For hours, the American soldiers at the fort wait for the British to attack, but they never come. All the next day, through the rain, the soldiers stand at attention in the trenches. More soldiers return periodically throughout the day, but it isn’t until that afternoon that Nate finally sees a man in a familiar, ugly green hat. Paul and the Connecticut 5th have returned.

Six months later, Nate is nearly home in Connecticut again after a three-day journey. He is returning a changed person, forever altered by his experience in the horrible Battle of Brooklyn. He remembers how hopeless it felt to be outnumbered and outgunned, losing hundreds of American soldiers, with countless more wounded. However, the storms delayed the British from “laying their trap in the East River” (114). This allowed General Washington to lead about 10,000 men across the water at night to safety. When the British finally attacked the American forts in Brooklyn, no one was there, and “[m]ost of the American army had managed to survive the Battle of Brooklyn” (114). However, this was just the beginning.

Nate recalls a number of other battles that have occurred in the past six months. The odds of the Americans winning the war fluctuated, but the American soldiers never gave up hope. Nate originally intended to keep living with the Connecticut 5th, but he received word of his uncle’s death. Storch died of smallpox, and with no existing will, all of his property now goes to Nate, his only next-of-kin. Nate also “inherits” Eliza and Theo. With this new development, Nate bade farewell to the men, promising Paul that they would find each other again. He then set off for home. He plans to buy Eliza and Theo’s freedom and try to help them find Eliza’s husband. He won’t have to worry about a home anymore, as he has inherited Storch’s house. As he approaches his home and hears Theo calling his name, the horrible memories of the Battle of Brooklyn start to fade away for the first time.