Author: SportsNightLover
Title: Ben Martin's Loss
Summary: Patriot defenses are weakening, a Patriot leader had died, and Ben Martin's army isn't doing to well.
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.
"Ten, Hut. March," The British soldier yelled for his troops to hear. They were only able to march about 20 yards before they were forced to stop.
Five loud gun cracks rang through the clear sky and the trees of which they came from. After the noise had died down, five dead soldiers lay on the ground. Out of the trees came Benjamin Martin and his son Gabriel. Behind them came the rest of their militia. While the British had their attention on their enemies, another group of soldiers fired two shots from behind. Another two British soldiers lay on the ground. The British were surrounded by the Patriots, but were not surprised, or alone.
About 50 redcoats came marching from bushes other parts of the trees, like the Patriots had done. They didn't like using the Patriots ideas, but it definitely worked to their advantage. The ground that they were standing on became an instant battlefield with the British on the inside, the Patriots in the sandwiched middle, and the British also holding strong on the outside and the escape route for the Patriots. The patriots were on horses but that didn't help much. The horses sneered and kicked their hooves high in the air and their riders fell to the floor. They were caught by the British who needed some more horses.
The British mercilessly shot the riders that had fallen on the ground and started to advance on the frightened Patriots. The Patriots had nothing to do except fight. They were back to back so that they could fight both parts of the British army. The two men that were still on horses were fortunately Ben and Gabriel Martin. They were able to get away while the British were distracted. They rode around the outer circle of British and fired so that their attention would be diverted. When the British soldiers went to save their lives, the Patriots got a small opening that they could run through to get to the outside. They ran as fast as they could, but a few were still murdered. The survivors joined Benjamin Martin in a full retreat. They still had fire over their shoulders so that they wouldn't be killed. Only half of them made it out alive and the British had only lost about ten.
During the battle it was loud noises and gun shots and soldiers falling to their deaths. After the war, it was a deafening nothingness and the soldiers were already motionless. The British left with a huge victory because they killed many Patriots, thwarted an attack from the "Ghost," defended their territory, and their losses were minimal. The Patriots needed to regroup and find more soldiers. They also needed to find another attack strategy because they had worn out their old one.
They went to churches and homes of the colonial citizens to recruit new fighters. They had motivational speeches and a lot of declined invitations. They weren't successful in getting enough men to stand up to the British, on the battlefield or in the woods. They needed as many men as they could find, and only got ten. Ten untrained, poor, starved farmers were all they could add to their ever decreasing army.
They never fought head-to-head because they knew that they would lose. None of the Continental army would win either, but they kept fighting to their death. The small amount of Patriots left kept hearing about Continental losses and that they weren't the only ones losing men. Washington was narrowly escaping death but his soldiers weren't. The Continental Congress was unable to help or offer ammunition or food. Eventually Washington and his tiny army defeated the British where there weren't many soldiers. Their win didn't do anything to help because it was an unimportant place and the British didn't mind losing it.
Washington and his army thought they could finally win and tried to attack the British at another unimportant city where there were little guards. The firing was minimal because there wasn't anyone to fight. When they succeeded, they had enough confidence that they attacked a minor city, but still more important than both the other two combined. They barely won in the long battle and continued to go south. Along the way they tried to gather men telling tales of their inspirational wins. They recruited 20 soldiers to fight. What they didn't tell them was that they had no food and winter was the worst time of the year. Winter was approaching and Washington knew this and attacked faster than before.
His small army was winning their land back from the British little by little. Winter was only days away and his army was freezing and starving. They were fighting fatigue and disease. One quarter of Washington's army died from disease or starvation. Another quarter died from the cold or injury and still fighting on the battlefield. The British beat them easily and Washington wasn't doing well himself.
With one last attempt to revive his troops and get food, Washington attacked Philadelphia. His battered troops marched into the land and stood face-to-face with a MAJOR British army. The Patriots didn't surprise the British because someone saw them coming. The British had just received new supplies and were well fed. The Patriot's arms were weak and when they shot a gun they missed their target by far. Very few bullets or cannonballs reached the British defenses.
"Ready, Aim, Fire," a British general shouted to his amused troops. His men took up arms and fired shot after shot at the defenseless Patriots. The Patriots fell straight to the ground. One of the British cannonballs hit a Patriot cannon and it exploded and weakened the Patriots even more. Bullets whizzed by each other. One bullet hit George Washington and killed him in minutes. After seeing their leader go down, the Patriots either surrendered or ran away. Their loss was heard by all the Patriot defenses around the country.
Benjamin Martin and his troops knew that were now the last hope of a new America. His troops had to continue to shoot out of trees and bushes but not show their faces or position.