William Green rode north along the river. The convention had gone rather well, all sides agreeing, at last, to the final document. William thought it a fine opening line; that tall fellow from Massachusetts had drafted it. Or was he from Virginia? And what was his name?–ah, it was just as well. They’d all be in it deep after this bit of fat was thrown in the fire. The powers-that-be would act with a swift, hard hand–William had no doubt. Still, the right and proper thing had been done–of that, William was certain.
The ride north was uneventful; even Mother Nature seemed to have taken pause, for not even the faintest of breezes did William Green note on his travels. He took the crossing at the lower ferry, noting the smoke from the barrack housing in the village, where, no doubt, the evening sup was about to commence.
Upon reaching the eastern shore, William rode hard toward the Pennington Road where his small farm sat. He looked into his own larder and found all but nothing–no doubt that rabble down in the village were eating well–too well–and at William’s expense, to boot! But William accepted things as they were–for now. He dined on some old and stringy venison stew the missus had made, and afterward rode slowly south to the edge of the village. Down the slope of the small hill he saw clearly the barracks which housed hundreds of red-clad soldiers; they’d all have a good pull of beer imported from their ancestral homeland, Germany, before turning in, William knew. Beyond the barracks, the river swam slowly by in the setting summer sun. William Green thought that this vantage would be a fine place to set up a couple of cannons–but who would do that? Poor dream–as poor as those dreamers at the convention, huh?
He turned towards home, memories of this morning’s rambunctious meetings in his mind and remembered what to him seemed a madman’s ravings from a purple-faced gentleman dressed in military garb, who proclaimed: “If we can only hold out until Christmastime, the tide will turn!” And the others all cheered; being in a celebratory mood. But William’s heart could find in it nothing to celebrate this day.
Looking now at the men-at-arms milling about the barracks, William thought, “Christmastime? By Christmastime that old river will be frozen over and that lot in the barracks will be tucked in for the winter, with nary a thought of us.” He sniffed at a north wind which had picked up as the evening cooled. He now fully realized that he’d cast in his lot with a band of rebels–and with them he’d stay–til death they did part!
“But,” William sadly thought, “this hundred-year-old village named Trenton will sit right here on the banks of the Delaware River and will never know what happened this day in Philadelphia…”
Christmastime? Bah!
DJ Barber wishes everyone a happy Fourth of July!
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17 Responses to “THE FIRST FOURTH • by DJ Barber”
Comments
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July 4th, 2008 at 3:41 am
Quick, somebody give me a potted history of the US so I can be sarcastic about this!
July 4th, 2008 at 7:06 am
I don’t know what it’s about either but I’m willing to overlook that and if DJ will wish me a happy 5th of July too which is my Birthday and therefore of course much more important in the great scheme of things…I will google Trenton.
July 4th, 2008 at 9:48 am
This might help
Trenton
A relative nice story about history…I just wish the character would have been developed more.
July 4th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Happy Fifth, Oonah!
July 4th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Gorgeously written story, DJ. It set the tone of the era, and flowed.
I was not completely lost in the history of the story, but it made me immediately aware that I was lacking in a history lesson or two.
I like your story, knowing the history or not.
July 4th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Thanks Kevin,
I suppose one of the ideas I had, knowing that people know so little of history, was that they might take some time and delve into it themselves. The rout of the Hessians at Trenton was a turning point for the Revolution, America’s first military victory, and perhaps gave the French reason to support the colonial army. While the story is Historical *Fiction*, it also touches on the indifference many colonists had toward Independence; the protag. seeing it a hopeless cause.
July 4th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
I grew up in Trenton and went through many a history lesson over at The Old Barracks, so the end of this story had me smiling. Nice work, happy 4th!
July 4th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Oh yeah, it absolutely made me want to know more about it. I recognized the Hessians (I’ve always loved the idea of those dudes, even–and especially their name. I’m probably related somehow…). I was recently talking about the elitist “revolutionaries” and the indifference of the colonists–how they were coerced into fighting for a cause that did not benefit them (our legacy), it being the 4th and all.
I like your story more now. It’s always great to hear why someone wrote something.
Sorry for such a long comment, I should have done this at the forums.
July 4th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Marie,
I’ve been in The Old Barracks myself–and about the the smile–it was intended.
–dj
July 4th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
I’m glad that EDF chose your story for today and it’s nice read some historical fiction here. But I can see that maybe people wanted more because you created the atmosphere of the time and as Kevin said you write very well. But for the Fourth it suited. I liked that you chose a less known founding father for your tale.
July 4th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
There wouldn’t have been any German soldiers there at the time.
July 5th, 2008 at 3:56 am
Thank JD I’m off to google now
I actually have vbague knowledge of some battles fought for independence but limited. We were interested ( me hubby and me) in the origins of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. Fascinating stuff actually. Best Oonah
July 5th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
And yet, Hessians does refer to German regiments in the service of the British in the 18th century.
From a principality Hesse Kasel in what is now Germany. Since the history buffs at Trenton refer to those barracked there as Hessians, I’ll presume at least some were from Germany.
July 6th, 2008 at 12:20 am
Certainly the British had Hessians – after hostilities broke out and they were hired. There were no Hessian soldiers in North America as at 4.7.1776. As for other Germans, there were Hanoverian regiments, and possibly the King’s German Legion, though I don’t recall just when that was formed, but they weren’t stationed in North America then either, there were only British regiments. That was an anachronism.
July 11th, 2008 at 5:19 am
Being something of a history buff, I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed this tale. I was grinning through the entire last two paragraphs. The set up for the ending was fantastic.
Thanks to EDF for publishing a story about a USA specific holiday. Hopefully stories about holidays specific to other nations will appear here as well…if only to give Mr. Demayne the opportunity to line his shelf with potted histories of the nations of our world.
Well done, DJ!
July 11th, 2008 at 9:49 am
Thank-you, Devin.
Gerard gets special dispensation because he only likes things cold and slimy.
The First Fourth was after all historical *fiction* and I don’t mind nit-picking the details either. But the point was to tie Washington’s crossing of the Delaware and the victory at Trenton to the siging of the Declaration of Independence.
The Idea–The Delivery.
And I like the idea of honoring nations holidays, too.
India’s break from England–South Africa’s independence as well would make nice backdrops to numerous stories. I’ll leave the next potted history for Gerard’s shelf for another, though I’ll probably tackle another historical fiction for EDF soon.
–dj
July 12th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
I’ve read through all the comments and in doing so have had a history lesson. While Oonah’s googling, I’ll say I enjoyed your story. Very atmospheric.