Revolutionary War on Wednesday

by Mary Pope Osborne

  Jack wasn’t sure that was a good idea. But he didn’t have a better one.

  “Okay. But let’s try not to get caught this time,” he said.

  He and Annie took off through the frozen twilight, following the snowy footprints of the American patriots.

  Jack and Annie ran along the riverbank. The wind whooshed over the cold water. Wet snowflakes hissed in the dark.

  But then Jack heard other sounds. He heard voices, lots of voices.

  He and Annie soon came upon hundreds and hundreds of soldiers gathered near the dark river.

  Many carried oil lanterns. The lanterns gave an eerie glow to the snowy twilight.

  “The captain and his men must be here somewhere,” said Jack, looking around.

  Boats like giant canoes were tied near the river. Men were leading horses and loading cannons onto the boats.

  “What are they all doing?” said Annie.

  Jack pulled out their Revolutionary War book. He read in a whisper:

  On Wednesday, December 25, 1776—

  “December 25? That’s Christmas!” said Annie. “Today’s Christmas!”

  “Cool,” said Jack. He started reading again:

  On Wednesday, December 25, 1776, the patriots were losing the war. Ragged and weary, many were ready to give up. Then something began to happen that would turn the war around. About 2,400 American patriots gathered on the west bank of the Delaware River in Pennsylvania. They prepared to cross the river to go on a secret mission.

  “A secret mission? Oh, man … ,” said Jack.

  He started to pull out his notebook.

  “Attention, troops! The commander-in-chief!” a soldier shouted.

  Jack and Annie saw a man in a dark cape and a three-cornered hat ride up on a white horse.

  The commander-in-chief loomed above the crowd of soldiers. His cape flapped in the wind.

  He sat calmly and with dignity on the back of his horse.

  Even at a distance, Jack thought the commander-in-chief looked familiar, very familiar. But he couldn’t figure out why.

  “A dangerous mission lies before you all,” the man shouted above the wind. “But I want you to have courage. You must remember the words of Thomas Paine.”

  The commander-in-chief held up a piece of paper. He read to his men:

  “ ‘These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country. But he that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.… ’ ”

  “Wow, that’s great,” whispered Annie.

  Listening to the powerful words, Jack felt his spirits rise, too.

  “ ‘The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph,’ ” the commander-in-chief read on. “ ‘What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly. It is dearness only that gives everything its value.’ ”

  There was a silence, as if everyone were thinking about the words the man had read. Then the soldiers started cheering and clapping. They didn’t seem tired at all anymore. Now they seemed eager to set out on their mission.

  The commander-in-chief saluted his men. He steered his horse toward the river.

  As the horse moved past them, Jack got a better look at the rider.

  He gasped.

  Of course! he thought. He’d seen that face before—on dollar bills!

  Jack grabbed Annie’s arm.

  “I know who the commander-in-chief is!” he exclaimed. “He’s George Washington!”

  “George Washington? Really?” said Annie.

  “Yeah, I think he is!” said Jack.

  “Wow! Where’d he go?” said Annie. “I want to see him again! Come on!”

  She started toward the river.

  “Wait—don’t go far,” said Jack. “I just want to make sure it’s him.”

  He opened the Revolutionary War book. He found a picture of the boats on the riverbank. He read:

  When General George Washington gathered his troops by the Delaware River, he was commander-in-chief of the whole American army. The general led the army for six years, until America became a free and independent nation. In 1789, he was elected the first president of the new United States.

  “Oh, man, it is him,” said Jack.

  He pulled out his notebook and wrote:

  “Hey, what are you writing?” someone asked.

  Jack looked up.

  A bearded soldier was pointing at him.

  Jack shoved the Revolutionary War book and his notebook into his bag.

  “Nothing, sir,” he said. He started walking away.

  The man shouted after Jack. But Jack ran down toward the river and lost himself in a crowd of soldiers.

  When he looked over his shoulder, he was relieved. The bearded man was nowhere in sight.

  “Stop, young man!” Someone shone a lantern right in Jack’s face.

  Jack gasped.

  It was the captain.

  “I told you to go home, Jack,” the captain said sternly. “Where’s your sister?”

  Jack looked around. Where was Annie?

  “I don’t know,” he said.

  “Find her at once and go back to your family!” the captain ordered. “Our secret mission is very important. Children will only get in the way.”

  “Yes, sir!” said Jack.

  The captain started to leave. But he stopped.

  “I wonder if you could do me a favor, Jack?” he asked.

  “Sure,” said Jack.

  The captain pulled out his letter.

  “This is my letter to my children,” he said. “It’s a farewell letter. Would you please take it back with you to Frog Creek?”

  “Yes, sir,” said Jack.

  “You must only send it if you hear that we have failed in our mission and many patriots were lost,” said the captain.

  “Yes, sir,” said Jack.

  The captain handed his letter to Jack.

  “I copied the general’s speech for my children,” the captain said. “If anything bad happens to me, I hope those words will give them courage.”

  The captain then turned and disappeared into the crowd.

  “Good luck, Captain!” Jack called. He hoped he would never have to send the letter to the man’s children.

  Suddenly, Jack clutched the letter to his chest.

  “Send!” he whispered.

  This letter was the writing they’d been looking for—something to send! He and Annie could go home now! Their mission was over!

  Jack shoved the captain’s letter into his bag. Now he just had to find Annie.

  As he looked around, he shivered.

  “Where is she?” he muttered.

  Jack started moving through the crowd, looking for Annie.

  It was hard to see. The wind was blowing harder. The snow fell faster.

  Jack started to panic.

  “Annie!” he called.

  As he wove quickly in and out of the crowd, he kept calling for her. None of the soldiers noticed him. They were all too busy.

  Finally, Jack came to the river.

  Through the lamplit mist, he saw soldiers waiting to get into the boats. Some had already climbed aboard.

  “Jack!” came a cry.

  Jack saw the figure of a small girl. She was sitting in the back of the biggest boat.

  “No way,” he whispered.

  Jack charged down to the boat. He stood at the edge of the water.

  “What are you doing?” Jack shouted.

  “This is George Washington’s boat,” Annie said. “It’s our big chance to spend time with him! We might not get another one.”

  Jack looked at the other end of the huge boat. Through the mist and falling snow, he saw the commander-in-chief talking to his crew.

  “We can’t go with him,” said Jack. “We’ll get in the way of his secret mission. Besides, we have something to send now!”

  “What? How?” said Annie.

  “A letter! The captain
gave me his letter to take back to Frog Creek!” said Jack. “We’re only supposed to send it if something bad happens to the captain. We can go home now!”

  “Oh, can’t we go a little later?” Annie asked.

  Jack climbed into the boat to pull her out.

  “No, come on,” he said, taking her hand.

  Suddenly, the crew moved to the back of the boat, near Jack and Annie. The men grabbed their oars and started pushing the boat away from the shore.

  “We’re taking off,” said Annie.

  “No! We have to get out!” Jack said to the rowers.

  But the men were working too hard to pay attention. They were using their oars to hack up the ice at the edge of the river.

  “Excuse me,” Jack said in a loud voice.

  Just then, the boat jolted forward. Jack nearly lost his balance.

  The boat broke through more ice. Rough waves sloshed against its sides.

  “We have to go back!” said Jack.

  “Too late,” said Annie.

  They were headed across the Delaware River!

  The huge boat rocked in the water. Giant chunks of ice smashed against its sides.

  “Thanks a lot, Annie,” Jack whispered. He shivered in the snowy cold. “We’re not supposed to go on their secret mission with them.”

  “It’s okay,” she whispered. “Maybe we can help George Washington.”

  “Are you nuts?” Jack whispered. “We should be on our way home now.”

  The boat hit a piece of ice. The boat bounced, then dipped into the river.

  Jack clung to the wooden side. He hoped they wouldn’t turn over. Nobody could survive in this icy water, he thought. It would be like sinking on the TITANIC.

  The crew fought hard to keep the boat moving forward. They rowed past chunks of ice into a smoother part of the river.

  Light from oil lamps shone on the water, making the ice chunks behind them glow like huge, glittering jewels.

  Jack looked back. Other boats were following them. They were filled with soldiers, horses, and cannons.

  “Where exactly are we going?” Annie whispered.

  Jack shrugged. He reached into his bag and pulled out their Revolutionary War book.

  By the dim lantern light in the boat, he searched through the book. He found a painting of General Washington crossing the Delaware River.

  He showed the painting to Annie. They each read the caption silently:

  After George Washington crossed the Delaware, he led his men on a nine-mile march to a British post. The post was filled with Hessians, German soldiers hired by the British to fight for them. The American patriots caught them off guard. The Hessians never thought the patriots would attack on a stormy Christmas night. It was a great victory for the patriots. They captured almost 1,000 Hessians. Hardly any of Washington’s men were lost.

  “Yay! We won’t have to send the captain’s letter!” Annie exclaimed.

  “Shh!” said Jack.

  But George Washington turned around and looked back at Jack and Annie.

  Oh, no, Jack thought, caught again.

  He closed his eyes, as if that would make him invisible.

  “He’s coming,” said Annie.

  Jack looked up.

  George Washington was making his way back toward them.

  In the next moment, the commander-in-chief loomed above them like a giant shadow.

  “Children?” he asked in a quiet, angry voice.

  “Sorry,” Jack squeaked.

  “Merry Christmas!” said Annie.

  But George Washington did not say “Merry Christmas” back.

  “What are you doing here?” George Washington asked. The commander-in-chief sounded furious.

  “We made a mistake,” Jack said. “We—we didn’t mean to come.”

  George Washington turned to the rowers.

  “Who let these children sneak aboard?” he asked in a stern voice.

  The men looked at Jack and Annie with surprise.

  “It’s not their fault,” Annie said quickly. “They were working too hard to notice us.”

  Just then, the boat banged against the ice. The ice cracked. The boat moved on, then bumped against the shore.

  Two soldiers jumped out and pulled the boat up on the shore.

  George Washington looked at Jack and Annie.

  “This boat is returning to get more men,” he said. “When it does, you two will get out and stay on the other shore.”

  “Yes, sir,” said Jack. He felt very embarrassed.

  George Washington then gave orders to the rowers.

  “Make sure these children do not board any other boats when you return,” he said.

  The general stepped onto the riverbank.

  The wind started to pick up. The snow fell harder. As the crew unloaded the boat, neither Jack nor Annie spoke.

  Jack was miserable. They had caused trouble for George Washington—just when the general was trying to make America an independent nation.

  Jack desperately wished he and Annie had gone home earlier.

  They watched more and more boats land on the riverbank. As the soldiers unloaded their weapons and horses, a freezing rain began. Now rain, snow, and sleet fell together.

  Jack heard George Washington call to one of his men.

  “This storm is getting worse, Major!” the general said.

  “Yes, sir!” the major said.

  “I think we’re in for a blizzard,” said Washington.

  “Yes, sir! Our mission may be hopeless, sir,” said the major. “Should we call it off?”

  “No, you shouldn’t,” Jack whispered. “You’re going to win.”

  “Should we turn back, sir?” the major said.

  “No, no!” said Annie.

  She stood up. The boat rocked.

  “Don’t turn back, George Washington, sir!” she shouted. “You have to march on, sir! You have to attack the Hessians, sir!”

  “Shh!” Jack tried to pull Annie back down. “We’re not supposed to know about their secret mission!”

  “How does she know our plans, Major?” George Washington asked.

  “Listen to us, sir!” said Annie. “You’re going to win!” She pulled away from Jack and jumped out of the boat.

  “Annie!” Jack leaped onto the riverbank. He scrambled after Annie up the steep, icy slope.

  “You have to lead your men, General Washington, sir!” Annie said. “The Hessians will be surprised! They think no army will be marching on a night like this!”

  “How do you know all this?” the major shouted above the storm. “How do you know what the Hessians are doing and thinking?”

  “I—I—” For once, Annie seemed at a loss for words.

  “She just guessed!” said Jack.

  Just then, the bearded soldier who had yelled at Jack earlier stepped forward.

  “I saw this boy earlier,” he said. “He was writing things down.”

  “No, I was just … ” Now Jack was at a loss for words.

  “Seize them!” the major shouted. “They’re spies!”

  Jack grabbed Annie’s hand.

  “We’re not spies!” he said.

  He whirled around to face George Washington.

  “General Washington, remember those words you said to your men?” Jack said. “You should believe them yourself, sir!”

  “What are you talking about?” George Washington asked.

  Jack yanked the captain’s letter from his bag.

  By the light of the lamp, he read the words the captain had copied for his children:

  “ ‘These are the times that try men’s souls … ,’ ” Jack read. “ ‘But he that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.… The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.’ ”

  Jack looked at George Washington.

  “Even if things look impossible, you should keep going, sir,” he said. “The harder things seem, the greater the triumph, right? That’s what you read t
o your men. You have to keep going for their sake.”

  “Yes! And you have to keep going for our sake,” said Annie. “For the sake of the future children of America, sir.”

  As the wet snow hissed about them, George Washington stared a long moment at Jack and Annie.

  Finally, he put a hand on each of their shoulders.

  “I do not know who you are,” he said. “I do not know how you know what you know. But I believe you. For your sake, and for the future children of America, we will march on.”

  “Yay!” cried Annie.

  “Yay,” said Jack softly. He sighed with relief and put away the captain’s letter.

  “Now get back in the boat,” said George Washington. “You must leave the fighting to us. To me and my men.”

  Jack felt very grateful to George Washington and his whole army. They were risking their lives for all of America’s children, past and future. He could barely speak.

  “Thank you, sir,” said Annie.

  “Thank you both for telling me to listen to my own advice,” said George Washington. He called to the rowers waiting in the boat. “Take good care of these two.”

  George Washington climbed onto his horse. He looked down at Jack and Annie.

  “Merry Christmas,” he said.

  Then the commander-in-chief rode away into the stormy darkness.

  “All aboard!” one of the rowers called.

  Jack and Annie hurried down the steep riverbank. They climbed back into the boat.

  The crew pushed away from the shore. The boat started back through the icy, churning waters of the Delaware River.

  Jack was freezing in the sleet and snow. But he didn’t worry about that now. He was thinking instead about how they had helped George Washington. He was thinking about how they had helped keep history on its course.

  Jack felt great.

  When they got to the riverbank, Jack and Annie jumped out of the boat.

  “Thanks!” Jack yelled to the rowers.

  With the wind at their backs, Jack and Annie took off through the blizzard. They ran down the icy bank of the Delaware River.

  Thunder rumbled in the snowy sky.

  Lightning zigzagged over the woods.