Happy Veterans Day (from Jonas)

Minute Men
by Jonas Bush


Johnny was a minute man. A minute man was a man who was ready, at any second of the day, every day of the week, every week of the month, every month of the year, to defend their town. At a moment’s notice, they could get up, put their boots on, grab their musket and report to duty, all in a split second.

It was a cold morning in November. It was 1:30 a.m. Johnny was still in a deep slumber.

“Dong! Dong! Dong!” went the church bell. It was not Sunday, and even if it had been, it was much too early for church to start. That could only mean…

In a flash, Johnny was out of bed, putting on a shirt and trousers. He put a belt on and a jacket to keep warm. He kissed his groggy wife and grabbed his musket. On his way through the kitchen, he wolfed down a slice of bread. He then sprinted out the door.

The captain, William, was already there. So were Benjamin, Jack, and Luck with his brother, Peter. Including Johnny that was six men. After waiting a bit more, five men raced up, muskets in hand. William explained to all ten what was going on.

“This is not a drill,” he said. “The English are marching to attack. We must force them back. They are coming down Fairview Road.” He gestured towards the woods and a stone wall. “That means we take our positions behind the wall or in the woods. Any questions?”

No one spoke a word. William handed them ammunition. “Let’s go then!” he said.

Johnny went to a tall stump about 10-12 feet in front of the 3 ½ foot tall stone wall. He loaded a ball into his musket, cocked the hammer back, and held his musket in position. He waited and listened while the other men whispered jokes to each other. It was 2:30 a.m.

Then he heard something. It sounded like a whinny of a horse. The horses usually weren’t up and awake at this hour… what could it be?

Then Johnny saw a flash of red. His eyes widened. Could it be? His friends had been too busy whispering jokes to see. As he looked closer, he saw that it was a British spy! He aimed, checked again, and then fired. The Englishman went down.

Instantly, all the whispered jokes stopped as Captain William walked over and glared at Johnny.

“What was that for?!” He was almost yelling. “You just gave away our position!”

“No,” Johnny retorted. “I was shooting an English spy.”

At that second, a hail of musket fire took down Peter and Jack. William dropped to the ground and pulled out a pistol.

Johnny reloaded and fired repeatedly at the red mass charging into sight. Soon Johnny’s stump was filled with musket balls, but when one splintered the wood in front of Johnny’s face, he fell back to the wall to continue fighting.

The battle went on until 7:00 a.m. The British seemed to have endless men, but the patriots had an advantage. They had cover and the English did not. Eventually, the British retreated and five of the original eleven, (including Johnny and William) were the only ones alive.

Johnny grinned sadly. “My wife and children will be glad to know I survived,” he said.

The captain looked around, surveying the carnage, and silently agreed in his mind, “Oh, that more could appreciate freedom and come to loathe war.”