Hello! Sorry it has been a few days. I have a lot of research ahead of me for the next few chapters. Wish me luck!

"Okay, so you have your uniform, and your pajamas, and some food, and your Bible," my wife mutters as she triple checks my bag.

"Eliza, please. I'll be fine," I say as I wrap my arms around her.

"Just double-checking." She kisses my cheek. "I'm going to miss you." She hugs me tightly at a bone-crushing level.

"I love you."

"I love you too." Eliza walks over to the kitchen table and hands me a little knapsack. "Here's some more food. And cookies."

I chuckle. "Thanks."

She smiles and kisses me again. "Stay safe!"

"I will, don't worry!"

"And please write when you can."

"I will, goodness! I'll see you probably in November or December."

She sighs. " Alright."

"Goodbye, Sweetheart."

"Bye." She kisses me one last time before I walk out the door.


That night at headquarters (we leave tomorrow morning at dawn) I'm filled in on the plan.

"Final battle in Yorktown. We can win it. Three battalions to recapture Redoubt No. 10, with French forces," Washington says as he uses a map as an example. I'm gripping the back of a chair as I listen, intrigued. "The French'll take nine. Light infantrymen in the middle of the night, got it?"

I nod.

"After you weaken them, we'll finish them off."

I nod again. "Thank you, sir."

Now Washington nods.

After the planning session, I slept heartily in my old aide-de-camp bunk. I did manage to scrawl a short note to include with a longer letter to Eliza on a later date. It filled her in on the plans.


I sighed as I trudged through Pennsylvania wilderness. Our guns were unloaded to prevent misfires that would give us away. I wiped the sweat off my brow. The September air was still hot and the sun had done a number on us all.

Sometimes I would write as I wrote, usually to Eliza, although I never sent them. I had sent a few, but not nearly as many as I wrote. I missed her and wondered how she was getting along. Her latest letter informed me that she had a little run-in with some British troops at her parents' estate. They had broken in and invaded, looking for her father. Peggy's wit saved them. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared out of my wits when I read about how they threatened her in order to get someone to give up information. Lucky Peggy had a solution.

Now she's safe and settled into normality. I thanked my lucky stars. One of the French commanders was a friend of mine, Marquis de Lafayette. We shared conversation to pass the dull time hiking through pine trees.

"How's the family?" I ask.

He bites his lip. Family is a soft subject for all here. "Adrienne wrote to me." He forces a slight smile. "Georges is doing well." I nod.

"That's good. Elizabeth and her family had a bit of a battle with the redcoats."

He chuckles. "I heard about that in the papers. 'Peggy Schuyler the war hero'," he teases.

"Yeah. Thank god she was brave."

"She should be here instead of us."

We laugh. "Definitely."

"And I hear you are to be a father soon, oui?"

I nod with a smile. "Oui. In the winter."

"Congratulations, mon ami."

"Thanks. We're excited."

We continue our chatter whilst leading our men through the woods. It's mind-numbing, sure, but it has to be done. Soon we'll make it Virginia. And soon the true battle will begin.