History Has Its Eyes On You ~ A Hamilton Fanfiction (Book 1, Act 1)

Business End Of The Bayonet

!!Warning!!

°~14th October, 1781~°

°~11:23a.m.~°

(Y/N POV)

I shuddered: another cannonfire.

It had only been days since we had launched a sudden attack on the British and forced most of them into a retreat. Furthermore, we demolished the house to which we believe Cornwallis was stationed whilst the French sank more of their ships.

A second parallel was built, at nightfall of October 11th or so. I made the suggestion to extend it closer to the river, however, there were two major problems in our way. One, redoubt 9. And two, redoubt 10. The Fusiliers redoubt indeed posed a reasonable threat too and it was safe to say that Washington would work his way around it.

"Redoubt 10 holds far less soldiers." he stated. "I suggest that our infantry take a hold of that."
"And let our men die?" Wilson questioned. "To me, Sir, your techniques are improper! A death sentence to us all!"
"How about an added challenged, eh?" Rochambeau proposed, taking a step forward. "We attack the Fusiliers redoubt and redoubt 9. Therefore, less of your men will die."

"Nobody has to die, not if we are tactical."
"Precisely." Washington agreed with me. "Do you have anything in mind?"
I bowed my head down and thought. For once, I couldn't conduct much of an idea. War was polluting my will to think. "We... We can launch tonight."
"Shouldn't they suspect us, Captain?" pondered Mr Tilghman. He had evolved into yet another of Washington's most trusted aide-de-camps.
"Unless we can find a way to distract them."

"The Fusiliers redoubt!" Rochambeau tossed his hands into the air, as if to proclaim his genius.
Washington nodded along with him. "Then the French infantry will attack there. It should buy us just enough time for preparations into redoubts 9 and 10."
"Who shall be leading, Sir?" asked Alexander, leaning forward with intent.

"Well, to my beliefs, I think that General Rochambeau should take command over our French allies-"
"Non, Sir, I think that we should hand the command to General Deux-Ponts." Rochambeau gestured his hand to another General which I hadn't paid much mind to. He always stood silent, desolate, in the corner of the room, observing as everything unfolded.
For a second, he hesitated. "Of course, Monsieur, it was be an honour."

"Thank you, General. Now, as a long-lasted promise that I have made to him, I suggest that General Hamilton takes ch--"
"Sir, if I may!" -Lafayette presented himself with a sturdy hand on the back of another man- "My aide here, Lieutenant Colonel Gimat. He has proved a strong and powerful man and I trust that he would harmlessly guide your infantry."
Washington raised his eyebrow.
"Please, Sir, he has much worthy potential!"

"I'm sorry, General, perhaps you misunderstood." I could understand that smile. Alexander gave the smile that could only symbolise jealousy and bitterness. "I am the senior officer here, am I not?"
"Of course, Mr Hamilton, b-"
"Then shouldn't I be the one commanding us into this?"
Washington sighed. "Hamilton's right, General. As it stands, Lieutenant Colonel Gimat is much too low in his ranks to take charge. I'm sorry."

Lafayette paid his respects with a small nod; meanwhile, Mr Gimat seemed terribly confused with everything that was going on.

"Past the time that the sun has set, we can attack." I submitted.
"So around the time of 1800-1900, wouldn't you say? Then a short period of time later, whilst some are thoroughly distracted, we will seize redoubts 9 and 10. " People nodded in response to Washington. "And Hamilton?"
Alexander raised his eyebrow.
"Do you have any suggestions?"

°~6:34p.m.~°

"Take the bullets out of your guns."

"What?!!"

The infantry erupted into a sea of chaos.

"I told you that they weren't going to like that..." I murmured to Alexander.
"Am I not being 'tactical'?"
"I mean yes, of course you are, but they-"
"Oh fuck this, I'm leaving." A soldier, who I recalled to be named Angus, tossed his musket to the ground. I could only remember him from the time I saved him and the group of others from the camp.

"You can't leave, this is war!" Alexander exclaimed. He picked the musket back up.
"Oh yes I can!"
"You'll be left to starve!"
"Who cares!"

Suddenly influenced by his actions, countless soldiers simultaneously dropped their muskets to the floor and joined him. "STOP, WAIT!" I called out to them. I hadn't raised my voice all that often, so they turned their heads with an intent to listen. "...We need as much help as we can get."
"By getting ourselves killed?!" one argued.
"No. If you could just let him have a chance to explain himself-"
"Explain what?!"

Alexander raised his musket up and brought out his bayonet. He attached it to the weapon. "You will be fighting with these."

Almost immediately, the soldiers made their return. "We cannot let a stray gunshot give us away. We'll be moving undercover to the redoubt. There's bound to be at least 100 of them, we will easily outnumber."
"Bayonets are available for each of you. They are alongside the artillery; General Wilson should be standing guard of them as we speak."

From grumbles to cheers, the scene had changed drastically. Men were removing their bullets and trailing off to find themselves a bayonet. "Thank you." Alexander chuckled.
"You looked like you needed a hand. No problem."
"Indeed I did..." He slouched himself back against the trench. "Do you think this will work?"
"Of course it will work, don't be daft."

"I just can't-" He mustered his breath together. "I can't... risk losing you."
"Alexander..." Against his will, I pulled him into a hug. "Everything is going to be alright. I'll stay right there by your side, okay?"
"...Mr Jackson. Stay with Mr Jackson."
I gazed at him, wide-eyed. "I thought you-"
"I do, but... It is far too dangerous for you to be with me. He will keep you safe."

With a grin, I embraced him again.

"Thank you, Alexander."

~~~~~~~~~~

The fact that this is almost at 30K already, y'all are unreal 😭

Also I'd just like to point out the meanings of the different types of warning symbols you may see.

By different I mean like 3.

!!Warning!! - Anything from swearing to abusive language.

!!WARNING!! - Violence, death, blood, etc.

!!WARNING!! - (Note) - It's something relatively bad that could act as a trigger, for example, suicidal themes.