Of Wildflowers and Gunpowder

Chapter 16

     "Louisa?" I heard from outside the door, "It is Mr. Hamilton. May I come in?" I put down the mending once again and opened the door with a forced smile.
He bowed deeply and kissed my hand. "I apologize that the meeting took so long but there has been an important turn of events. We have just announced to the entire camp here that we will be marching to Yorktown tomorrow in the morning."
My mind reeled. Why would Washington pull his troops out of the most important fort on the Hudson to go to Yorktown?
"Major Tallmadge is still meeting with the General; I am not sure what it is about. Now, I have a favor to ask you," he said slowly, obviously trying not to overstep his boundaries. I let him inside and motioned for him to sit in the chair.
     "You know General Charles Lee? And my good friend John Laurens? There is to be a duel between them later today and we are in need of a doctor."
I gasped. "Mr. Hamilton! Why would you all agree to such a childish thing? His Excellency will not be pleased."
"Please," he implored, the passionate flame flickering in his eyes as he spoke, "Lee is a coward and a liar and Washington simply won't defend himself against his attacks. His reputation is at stake, Miss Louisa. Whatever happens, we will not involve you. All you must do is be there to attend to the wounds which may come."
     I sighed. "Always ready for a fight, aren't you Mr. Hamilton?"
     "This is not about me, Miss Adams, Colonel Laurens is the one that proposed the duel. I am merely his second."
     With a smirk, I retorted, "And you expect me to believe that you had nothing to do with this event? Impossible. I know you too well and I certainly know the sway you hold over Laurens." He laughed.
     "Alright, I'll do it," I said, "as long as you do not involve me in it when Washington hears about it."
He grinned and rummaged through the pocket of his coat, producing a wad of British money. "Here is your payment."
     I pushed it back towards him and exclaimed, "No, no, no. There is no way I'm taking that money. Keep it, sir."
     He continued to try to get me to take it but I closed his fist around the money and assured him, "You don't need to pay me. You said yourself that this is a favor. Now come with me to the infirmary to get my supplies."

     I arrived at the field a few minutes after 3 o'clock, hugging my satchel of bandages, medicines, and small knives as I trudged through the snow. "Miss Adams," John Laurens said, greeting me with a nervous but determined smile and a bow. Charles Lee did the same.
     In my heart, I hated General Lee. He truly was a coward and a liar and he didn't deserve to have such a high rank with the dishonorable way he spoke about Washington. But I hated dueling more. It was immature to believe the only way a man's honor could be secured is by shooting at each other.
     I watched from a short distance as the four men talked over what was to happen, Major Edwards as Lee's second and Hamilton as Laurens'. After a few discussions, they parted in both directions and spoke with their partners as the pistols were loaded and handed over.
     Hamilton and Edwards stepped away and came beside me as the two men prepared to duel silently. When they were five or six paces from each other and I could tell they were preparing to shoot, I turned away so that I couldn't be called as a witness or even blamed as an accomplice of sorts if someone was killed.
     Two shots rang out almost simultaneously and I turned back around to find General Lee on his knees holding his side. I cringed.
Colonel Laurens advanced towards him with concern on his face and I rushed to his side, opening my bag and trying to get him to lay on the ground.
     "It's not as bad as I first perceived, doctor," he said, coming to his feet, "quite an inconsiderable wound, actually. We must fire again." I could barely comprehend what I had just heard.
     "What? No! What are you talking about? General, you are hurt! That will certainly be enough dueling for today."
Edwards and Hamilton nodded in agreement but Lee repeated, "I am fine, really. I propose that we do this again."
Laurens seemed to agree with him but Alexander said, "Unless the General is influenced by motives of personal enmity, I do not think the affair ought to be persued any further." I nodded, thinking that was the end of the discussion and beginning to examine the wound in his side.
  Lee continued to persist.
"Alright, I suppose we can renew it once again," Hamilton relented at Lee and Laurens' insistence. I looked around at these men incredulously as they prepared to shoot at each other again.
"No!" I exclaimed, "We are not doing this! You are injured, General Lee, and I don't need you to join him in the infirmary, Colonel Laurens."
Edwards seemed to agree with me and he and Hamilton decided to meet together to determine what would happen. I couldn't understand why this even needed to be discussed but I watched them as they talked it over a few paces away.
The wound wasn't deep and it seemed as though he would recover in a few days or even hours with proper care but it was imperative that we prevented an infection that very moment. It seemed like none of these men understood that.
     I folded a bandage into a small square and told General Lee to hold it in place in order to stop the blood. "I will be satisfied with whatever decision they make," he said, and Laurens replied, "As will I. Thank you for your help, Miss Adams; Alexander made the right decision enlisting your medical skills. You may very well be the best doctor in the camp."
I smiled at his compliment and looked up at the two men who had returned from their discussion.
"It is our opinion that for the most cogent reasons," Hamilton said, "the affair should terminate as it has now been circumstanced...if both parties are in agreement?" They nodded and we began to make our way back towards camp, General Lee leaning on me the whole way. The men spoke of the duel like it was simply a childhood game.
As Laurens and Lee chatted like best friends, assuring each other that their honor was intact, it struck me that dueling truly was just a way to assuage their boredom and stroke their egos. Detestable, but quite understandable.
I brought Lee into the infirmary tent and explained the situation to one of the doctors, who told me that they would take over on his care from that point on.
I hoped that Benjamin would be done with his meeting so we could go for our long promised walk. He had seemed quite excited for it earlier.
"Thank you, Miss Adams, I appreciate your presence at the duel," he said, grimacing in pain as the doctor wiped the wound with a vinegar-soaked rag, "you are a helpful nurse, especially for being a woman."
I bit my tongue and excused myself from the infirmary with a curt, forced smile. I was not a nurse, I was a doctor with more training than most of the male doctors here and I certainly wasn't uneducated.
I could speak fluent French and a little Latin and Greek and could read practically anything anyone gave me. I had studied anatomy and biology and could play the pianoforte and the violin. I could debate with anyone and hold my own in an argument well, and I had advised General Washington on multiple occasions. I was his personal courier for secret messages being sent to Long Island and New York and had escaped a death sentence from the most powerful army in the world. But I was a woman. So I was nothing.
     I headed back towards headquarters as the sun was beginning to fall behind the trees and a beautiful sunset illuminated the camp before me. A few trunks were already piled at the door, probably in preparation for the long march to Yorktown we would take early the next morning.
     Upstairs, I found Benjamin hunched over a map on his desk with his head in his hands. He jumped when he heard me come in but took a deep breath and embraced me.
"Forgive me for startling you," I said, sitting on the edge of the bed and grimacing from the ever constant pain in my side, "how did the meeting go? It certainly was a long one."
"It was fine," he said quietly.
     "So...what did he talk to you about?" I prodded, curious at his short response.
"Oh, just a few things. Just that we are going to be moving to Virginia tomorrow morning. But I'm sure you have already heard that. And," he added quietly, "Agent 355 has been captured. She's on the prison ship Jersey in New York Harbor." I froze.
     "What?" I breathed, putting my hand to my chest in shock. Abigail had been captured.
     "I'm sorry, Lou, I know she is your friend." My hands trembled at the thought of her in that infamous death ship. Of course Benjamin wasn't as upset, he didn't even know her real name for the sake of security and had never met her, but he pulled me close and let me cry on his shoulder, whispering into my ear that everything would be alright.
     "It is dangerous to be in this spy ring, Louisa, especially now that 355 has been discovered. I do wish," he paused, "you would keep this in your memory. Always remember what has happened to our woman in New York and I implore you to never let it happen to you. Stay out of danger, Louisa. Please."
     I was confused. He seemed anxious and preoccupied and, although he was sympathetic to my grief over Abigail, that seemed to be low on his worries at the moment.
    "What's going on, Ben? What else did you talk about in the meeting?"
     He shook his head and looked away. "Nothing of consequence. Come, you must pack your belongings for tomorrow." I grabbed his arm and stood with him, forcing him to look me in the eye.
     "You said you would take me on a walk."
"Yes, well, we don't have time for that tonight. Maybe...maybe some other night," he stammered. 
     I watched, dejected and confused as he left the room without another word. What have I done? I thought desperately as I began packing my bags, and what do I do next?