The sharp wind slapped our faces. The waves crashed against the boat like whips. “Keep fighting men! The British will back down!” came the shout from General George Washington. The gunshots rang out but not half as loud as the canons. “General Washington, we’re going down,” one of the men in my boat, William Bail, informed George Washington.
“Men, you’ve fought hard for America and now it is someone else’s turn. We’ll go down but with honor and glory for our country. Keep fighting ‘till the last minute,” George Washington told us as he headed to a canon. By now the water was up to our ankles and rising quickly. “BOOM!” another canon hit the ship. The small ship rocked as lightening lit the sky, showing the bloody bodies floating atop the water.
The day before I had written to my wife and four children back home in Caroline Country, Virginia. I hoped they would understand when I never returned home with a smile on my face.
The American Flag stuck in my mind and I fought even harder, firing my gun at every British visible. We did keep fighting ‘till the last minute. Only a few minutes before the battle ended my boat disapeared beneath the murky black water.
Now, I’m not saying I died. Surely I didn’t since I’m talking to you now.
Written: Age 11
AN: I remember that this story was supposed to solve the mystery of some Revolutionary War soldier’s body being found in a cave in New England with a pocket watch, a letter, and his weapons, or something. In this short beginning, they’re crossing the Potomac, despite the fact that they weren’t in ships, they were in small boats – and a canon would only have to hit one of those boats once, haha.
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