I moved quickly down to the siege line, towards our side of redoubt ten. We had been told that were we successful, and the French successful in taking redoubt nine, that Cornwallis would be forced to surrender, his position untenable. I liked the idea of finally being a part of something important after so many years of hearing about success and failure in other places. I did not worry about enemy fire, for the British only fired their artillery at night now. I moved behind the siege line, glancing once at the British bulwark that was redoubt ten, wooden spikes and dirt and brick with unseen Redcoats behind it, at the place where I would soon stand, which might force this war, this revolution to a close.

      I saw my captain, Winters, and moved in front of him, between him and the assembling soldiers, saw Colonel Hamilton, further down the line, and waited for the order to move forward. My company filled out behind me, lined up elegantly, and I was reminded of the months of training under Steuben. In this moment I once gain marveled at the fighting force the Continentals had become, so little like the army I had joined in New York.

      “Company! Attention!” Winters’ voice startled me, and I moved immediately to stand ready. The October sun of Virginia was hotter than that of Philadelphia, and I was already sweating slightly, felt a drop trickle from beneath my tricolor and down my cheek, felt the wetness in the long hair and throughout my body as I prepared my self for one last battle, to see the end of the war that had cost me everything, that I believed in so completely, that I should have given my life for.

      “Present arms!” I moved the musket against my shoulder, felt it’s weight, looked briefly at the musket balls and powder at my waist, mused quietly about how long it would take for me to reload, prepared myself to walk into enemy fire. All around me, my brothers presented arms, three battalions, ready to die, to end this.

      There would be no speeches, though I felt there should be, I rather liked speeches. There would be more blood, more death, and, perhaps, triumph. I had seen little of the blood and death over the last years, but I tried to fix it in my mind, to remember Germantown and Trenton, to steel myself against the coming violence.