Surprise at Yorktown

by Marianne Hering

  “Follow me,” Officer Mudge said.

  The cousins obeyed. They followed Officer Mudge along the river’s edge. Then they followed him along a trail through the bluffs. Officer Mudge led them past dugouts filled with British soldiers. Most of them looked tired and sick.

  “How will the Americans know not to shoot us?” Patrick asked Officer Mudge.

  “They won’t,” the officer said. They marched on.

  Patrick leaned toward Beth. “You can’t come,” he said in a serious tone. “It’s too dangerous.”

  “I have to come,” Beth said. She held up her fife. “Mr. Whittaker gave this to me to use. It has to be for this.”

  Patrick shook his head. Everything was turning out wrong. He thought he was going to meet George Washington. Instead he was helping the British surrender.

  They reached a thick dirt wall. Soldiers crouched down behind it. Sharp-pointed logs stuck out the other side.

  Boom! Boom! Boom! The noise of the cannons was loud and close. Patrick felt as if the whole world was exploding around them. The sharp smell of burning powder stung his nose.

  Officer Mudge motioned for the cousins to march in front of him. A trail led up to the top of the dirt wall.

  Patrick turned to Beth again. “Stay here,” he said. “Please!”

  She shook her head.

  Patrick and Beth marched up the trail. Officer Mudge walked slightly behind them.

  Patrick held the drumsticks tight. The pressure made his fingers turn white. He saw Beth lift the fife to her lips beside him. Her hands shook.

  Patrick banged on the drums. Left. Right. Left. Right. Rat-a-tat-tat. Rat-a-tat-tat.

  Beth blew into the hole of the fife. But her breath came in nervous gasps. It was hard to hear a single note.

  A row of British soldiers stood at the bottom of the dirt wall. Some saluted them, others wept.

  Officer Mudge directed Patrick and Beth to a set of makeshift stairs. They followed the stairs to the top of the dirt wall.

  Patrick looked at the field below. A long line of cannons pointed straight at him and Beth. Clouds of smoke surrounded the cannons.

  Patrick saw Officer Mudge reach into his pocket. Officer Mudge muttered something and then reached into his other pocket.

  “I need something white!” he cried out. “I’ve forgotten my handkerchief!”

  Patrick now understood. This was exactly where he and Beth were supposed to be. The two gifts were for this moment. Patrick grabbed the handkerchief that Mr. Whittaker had given him. He handed it to Officer Mudge.

  A nearby redcoat waved a British flag that was on a pole. Officer Mudge took the pole. He stripped off the flag. Then he tied the handkerchief to it.

  Officer Mudge nodded his gratitude to Patrick and the redcoat. The soldier then raised the pole and waved the handkerchief in the air. Patrick beat a slow rhythm on the drums. Beth played the fife next to him.

  The cannons fell silent one at a time. Shouts came from the American side. And then those also stopped.

  Officer Mudge continued to wave the handkerchief in the air.

  Finally, Patrick’s drum and Beth’s fife were the only sounds in the open field. They stepped ahead of Officer Mudge.

  An American soldier separated himself from the line of cannons in front of them. He wore a buckskin coat.

  Patrick stopped playing the drum. Beth lowered her fife. She clutched it close to her.

  The air was still and silent. It was as if the whole world was holding its breath.

  The American soldier ran up and approached the bottom of the dirt wall.

  “What is your message?” the soldier asked.

  “I wish to offer terms of surrender,” Officer Mudge cried down to him. “Take me to your commanding officer.”

  The soldier scrambled up the dirt wall. He squeezed through the pointed logs. He stood next to Patrick.

  “Blindfolds,” he said to Officer Mudge.

  Officer Mudge called out to the British soldiers standing at the bottom of the wall. “I need blindfolds!”

  Patrick heard the sound of ripping fabric. Then strips of white cloth were handed up to the officer. The soldier wearing the buckskin coat used Patrick’s handkerchief as a blindfold for Officer Mudge. Then he used the other strips to blindfold Beth and Patrick.

  “We’re on your side,” Beth whispered to the man in buckskin.

  “You are now,” the man whispered back.

  Patrick didn’t like not being able to see. He put both drumsticks in one hand. He reached out to grab Beth’s hand with his other.

  “Come on,” the soldier said in a gruff voice. He guided Patrick by the shoulder and led them away.

  Your Excellency

  Beth felt grateful for Patrick’s hand. It was hard to walk wearing a blindfold. Her skirt was damp and heavy with mud. She stumbled several times but didn’t fall. Patrick helped her stay on her feet.

  She heard men’s voices talking quietly as they walked past. She smelled the smoke from the cannons. A horse whinnied.

  The sounds changed from the open battlefield to what she imagined was an enclosed camp. She heard the rustle of canvas and fabric. A campfire crackled.

  Then she was guided into a tent. Patrick let go of her hand. Her blindfold was pulled off. She was standing next to Patrick and Officer Mudge. The soldier in the buckskin coat was in front of them. He spoke softly to someone and then stepped aside.

  Several soldiers in blue uniforms stood in a line ahead of them. One was taller than the others. His white hair was pulled back in a ponytail. He wore a large blue hat in the shape of a triangle. His face was pleasant, but his mouth seemed set in a frown. He wore a long blue jacket with gold trim along the front, bottom, and sleeves.

  The jacket had fancy gold fringe on the shoulders. His vest and pants were white, and he wore tall black boots. A thin sword hung at his side.

  Beth knew him from all the paintings and engravings she’d seen. It was George Washington.

  George Washington! Patrick thought and held back a gasp. He hardly knew how to feel. He was looking at the future first president of the United States face-to-face. All he could do was grin.

  Patrick looked at Beth. She had tears in her eyes. Typical girl, he thought.

  “Your Excellency,” the soldier in the buckskin coat said. “General Cornwallis wants to offer terms of surrender. He wishes for officials from both sides to meet. He suggests the Moore farm as the place to discuss the terms.”

  Washington’s frown slowly shaped into a smile. He took a deep breath and stood even taller.

  “We are glad to stop the loss of blood,” he said. “We will call a truce for two hours while your general writes a formal proposal.”

  He motioned to the soldier in the buckskin coat. “Blindfold them again,” he said.

  “Wait!” Patrick said, stepping forward. “We’re not British. We’re Americans. We belong here.”

  The soldier in the buckskin coat tied the blindfold over Officer Mudge’s eyes.

  “I don’t know what the boy is talking about,” Officer Mudge said. “They have been with us as laundry workers. Unless they are your spies.”

  “We do not use children as spies,” George Washington said.

  “Please don’t send us back, Mr. President!” Beth cried.

  All the men looked at Beth with surprised expressions.

  “What did you call me?” Washington asked.

  “I meant general,” Beth said, blushing.

  Just then Beth heard footsteps. They were running toward them from outside. Men’s loud voices came close.

  “What is happening?” a voice asked with a thick French accent. The young soldier in the fancy blue jacket stood in the tent entryway. Beth now recognized him as Lafayette.

  “Will someone tell me what is going on?” Officer Mudge said. He was still blindfolded.

  George Washington held up his hand. It was a signal for everyone to be quiet. Then he pointed to Officer Mudge. “Thi
s officer does not need a drum or fife,” George Washington said. “He is to return to General Cornwallis with no fanfare.” He turned to the soldier in the buckskin coat. “Take him back.”

  The soldier led Officer Mudge away.

  Nobody spoke until he was gone.

  “General Lafayette!” Washington said suddenly. His tone was filled with joy. “The British have surrendered!”

  “Huzzah! Huzzah!” Lafayette cried.

  “This is all because of my friend James Armistead,” Lafayette said. “He risked his life to bring us valuable information.”

  “Where is he?” General Washington asked.

  “We left him outside of Cornwallis’s hideout,” Patrick said. “We thought he was a spy for the British!”

  Lafayette looked at the cousins. “Ah yes!” he said. “You are the mysterious children. You appeared in my tent this morning. We were afraid you would ruin our plans for the surrender.”

  “How do I know you are not spies?” Washington asked.

  “We aren’t,” Beth said to the general. “We’ve been trying to find you to tell you the British plans for escape.”

  “But we prayed. And God used the storm to keep them from escaping,” Patrick said.

  The general looked at Patrick with a puzzled expression.

  Patrick said, “We’re not spies. But I’m still not sure about Armistead.”

  General Washington put his hand on Patrick’s shoulder. “James Armistead has been a double agent,” Washington said. “He has had a very dangerous job. He has served the cause of freedom well.”

  Beth remembered that Armistead had used those words to describe himself.

  “How do you know who to trust?” Patrick asked.

  “In war, we trust only God Himself,” Washington said. “After Benedict Arnold and Dr. Church of the Provincial Congress—”

  “We met Dr. Church in Concord,” Patrick said. “We suspected him right away.”

  “Concord?” Washington said, surprised. “You children are very far from home.”

  “You have no idea,” Beth said softly.

  “General, we need to make plans for the British surrender,” Lafayette reminded Washington.

  The general nodded. He said, “Our first task is to thank God for bringing this day to pass. It’s been a long, hard war. We have reached this moment only by His gracious hand.”

  George Washington took off his hat and knelt on one knee. Lafayette knelt next to him. The other officers knelt where they were.

  Beth and Patrick knelt down too. Beth closed her eyes.

  “Almighty God,” Washington said. “We are grateful for your benefits. We humbly ask for your protection and favor. You are the great Lord and Ruler of Nations. Amen.”

  “Amen,” Beth said along with the others.

  They all stood.

  From outside the tent, Beth heard a familiar whirring sound. The Imagination Station was waiting for them.

  Patrick reached out to shake George Washington’s hand. “Thank you for leading our country, Your Excellency,” Patrick said.

  Washington’s eyes twinkled. “Please see my second-in-command. He will arrange a bath and a change of clothes.”

  “Thank you,” Patrick said. “But I have fresh clothes waiting for me somewhere else.”

  General Washington smiled and turned to the other officers. “We have work to do,” he said.

  Patrick saluted General Lafayette. “Thank you for your help, General. One day America will return the favor.”

  “I will look forward to that,” Lafayette said. Then he saluted the cousins.

  Beth and Patrick walked out of the tent. The Imagination Station waited for them next to a lone tree. The cousins climbed in.

  Patrick pushed the red button.

  Whit’s End

  Patrick jumped out of the Imagination Station. “Shake my hand, Whit!” he cried. “Shake my hand!”

  Whit was seated at his workbench. He reached out to shake Patrick’s hand.

  Patrick was excited. He said, “You just shook the hand that shook the hand of the first president of the United States!”

  “So you met George Washington after all,” Whit said, grinning.

  “It took a while,” Beth said. “We seemed to be in all the wrong places.”

  “But then we saw him!” Patrick said. He was glad it finally happened.

  “We even prayed with him,” Beth said. “I’m really glad he believed in God.”

  “He certainly did,” Whit said. “As president he published a proclamation. It declared a day of thanksgiving and prayer. He asked God to forgive the nation’s sins. He asked for God’s help so our government would be wise and kind.”

  “A lot of the people we met during the Revolutionary War were Christians,” Patrick said.

  Whit nodded. He picked up a big Bible from his workbench. It had gold lettering on the outside and old yellow pages inside.

  “You remember this,” he said.

  “It’s your family’s Bible from Colonial times,” Beth said.

  Whit nodded. “The Founding Fathers wrote documents and laws for our country,” he said. “They were based on truths found in the Bible.”

  Patrick was quiet for a moment. He thought of James Forten, who had been threatened with slavery. And James Armistead, who had been a slave. Yet both served the country before it figured out that slavery was wrong. “The Founding Fathers didn’t get everything right,” he said quietly.

  Whit placed his hand on the Bible. He said, “It’s true. We live in a sinful world. Sometimes good men and women who hope to do right still fail. That’s why we have to turn to our Bibles and our faith and the power of prayer to help them.”

  “But you fooled us,” Patrick said.

  “How?” Whit asked.

  “I hoped we would do something important for George Washington,” Patrick said.

  “But we spent most of our time helping the British,” Beth added.

  “You helped the British to surrender,” Whit reminded him. “Don’t you think that was important?”

  Patrick thought about it. “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “The American and French armies had the British cornered,” Whit said. “But victory for one side and defeat for the other didn’t come easily. Everyone had to play their parts.”

  “And we played ours!” Beth said, then lifted an eyebrow. “Though we didn’t know we were playing it until the end.”

  “Which is how history often works,” Whit said. “We play our parts by faith without knowing how things will turn out.”

  Now Patrick felt excited again. “I can’t wait to go to Boston with Grandma,” he said. “All that history will mean more because it came alive for us.”

  Whit smiled. “That’s why I built the Imagination Station,” he said, “Come back when you’re ready for a new adventure.”

  Secret Word Puzzle

  Americans used guns and cannons to fight in the Revolutionary War. But many leaders used three other powerful weapons to win the fight for freedom. You can find out what these weapons are. Start with the letter P at the top of the circle. Move in the direction of the arrows. Write down every other letter, in order, on the lines and inside the boxes. The secret word will appear inside the boxes.

  P ___ ___ ___ ___ ___, ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___, ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___.

  Go to TheImaginationStation.com. Find the cover of this book. Click on “Secret Word.” Type in the correct answer, and you’ll receive a prize.

 

 

 
-inline-share-buttons">share