The Love Letter by Rachel Hauck

Author:Rachel Hauck
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2018-05-08T16:00:00+00:00

18

HAMILTON

Hannah’s Cowpens

South Carolina Colony

January 16, 1781

It was an eve like none other. A victory at dawn could very well turn the tide of this tense conflict.

Hamilton warmed himself by the fire, the cold settling in his bones. The men with him, Georgia militiamen, said little as they stretched their hands toward the flames, shivering, perhaps more from fear than cold.

Next to him, Ralphie Standish, no more than a youth of seventeen, stared into the darkness, breathing into his cold, cupped hands. “Do you think we’ll sleep tonight?”

“We should try.” But Hamilton doubted he’d catch one wink. Not the way his adrenaline ebbed and flowed.

Other than the small stand of trees where he and the others sat, Hannah’s Cowpens was open ground. Perfect for cattle grazing. Perfect for battle.

The field appeared to be level, but a survey revealed the terrain sloped just beyond the maple swamp. General Morgan had built his strategy accordingly. Earlier that day he’d declared, “On this ground I will defeat the British or lay my bones.”

Hamilton had cradled his rifle in his arms, the barrel resting on his shoulder. Morgan made his duty, along with the other skirmishers, most clear.

“Let the enemy get within killing distance . . . fifty yards . . . then blaze away, especially men with epaulets.”

Imagining how he’d execute his duty, Hamilton felt at once both old and young. At twenty-two, his life stretched before him. Yet this may well be his last night on earth.

He reached into his haversack for his stationery and the stub of a pencil he’d brought along.

In the firelight, he began.

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