Of Wildflowers and Gunpowder

Chapter 23

A/N Just a disclaimer: this chapter has an amputation early on that kinda goes into detail so if you're not up for that, it's alright, you can skip down to where it ends. 

   "Louisa!" Benjamin called to me over the sound of cannon fire from another part in the trench, "I have another wounded over here!" I raised a hand to let him know I heard him and continued removing shrapnel from a soldier's face, trying to keep my hands steady as he writhed in pain.
     The British had begun to fire on us a few hours ago but General Washington had not yet ordered us to return fire so, for the time being, we tried to protect ourselves behind the dirt piles.
     The soldier I was kneeling beside whimpered in pain as I removed the last visible piece of metal from his jaw and cheek, unrolling a bandage and wrapping it around his head gently but tightly.
"You'll be alright," I told him with a small smile as he sat up, "It will hurt pretty ferociously though, so you may want to go back to the infirmary where they can treat you further and you can rest. You were lucky it didn't hit you directly." He nodded and tried to compose himself, blood dripping into his eye as he stood up, quavering, "Thank you, miss."
I ran further down the crowded trench to where Benjamin had pointed out another injury. To my dismay, the young man was covered in blood and dirt, leaning barely conscious against the dirt wall. The most jarring thing was the left side of his body, completely decimated by a hit from a cannonball. He had no left arm and the bone was visible on his thigh, blood pulsing from the wound with every beat of his heart.
Another soldier was crouched next to him, trying his best to comfort the man who moaned in pain as I knelt beside them.
  "Hold him still," I ordered the man, "while I tie up his arm. Don't let him pass out."
He nodded anxiously; we both knew that if he passed out, he would never wake up again.
Putting my scalpel between my teeth, I ripped off a long piece of the bandage and tied it as tight as I could possibly muster around his arm just above where it disappeared into a bloody mess of flesh.
I wanted to cry when the man begged me to stop but I knew he had a chance of surviving if the bleeding subsided.
"Benj-Major Tallmadge!" I called to him, correcting my informal address, "I need your help!"
If I was to perform an amputation right here in the trench, I'd need a lot more help than just this basket-case soldier who was currently helping me to the best of his ability.
With shaking hands, I pulled out a bottle of whiskey from my bag and let the man's friend administer it to him while I attached the metal tourniquet to his thigh to deaden the pain a little and stop the bleeding. He screamed.
"Louisa," Benjamin whispered, coming up behind me with a look of horror on his face, "this man has no chance of survival out here. Are you sure you should-"
"Yes. He can live," I replied, "I need you to hold him down. I've never done an this in these circumstances before but I know he has a chance. Cover his eyes." A few other soldiers gathered to help me and I accepted their help gratefully, trying to mask my flustered anxiety as I pulled out the large knife used for such operations.
"Give him something to bite down on," I ordered as I began the cut, the man beginning to scream hysterically. Within less than a minute, all that was left was his bone, which made me shudder at the thought of removing that as well. One man threw up at the sound of the bone breaking and Benjamin glanced at me with a look of amazement on his face that said, I had no idea you could do this.
     His silent encouragement gave me the courage to continue and I began to suture the remaining skin together, using my own leg to hold him down as he writhed. "Go find one of the aides with a stretcher. Someone needs to bring him back to camp as quickly as possible," I told one of the soldiers who looked sick.
     "He's about to pass out," another man said, to which I replied harshly, "You need to keep him awake! Please...he'll thank you for it later. I beg you."
     Bullets rained down from the British redoubts and I gritted my teeth, silently begging for God to keep this man alive. The stitching was crude and unsanitary but I had no choice as I covered it with a white rag and wrapped it tightly with bandages.
     A stretcher arrived and the men helped me put the screaming patient on it, going back to their posts in the defenses. "Tell Doctor Shippen that his arm needs the most attention now but he's going into shock. He must stay conscious." The aides nodded worriedly and ran off, leaving me standing alone dejectedly, the trench at my feet.
     "Lou!" Benjamin said in a panic, grabbing my hand and pulling me down into his arms as a cannon exploded nearby.
     "Sorry," I breathed, sitting against the wall and putting my head in my hands, "I just...I hope he survives. He was merely a child."   
     Benjamin smiled and straightened my blood-splattered apron. "You did everything you could, my love, and I daresay it was impressive.  Any other doctor would have given up on him at first sight."
     The Marquis de Lafayette came up behind us on horseback, sword in hand. "Washington has just fired the first shot a mile north of here," he cried, "You may begin the bombardment. His orders are to aim for the earthworks. Weaken them."
     Benjamin saluted as he passed by and sprung into action, calling for the artillery to be put into use and gathering his Calvary regiment. I watched the whole scene, searching for anyone who was wounded.
As the real fighting slowly began, Benjamin had little time to speak with me, nor I with him. I was called to all corners of the battlefield to operate on soldiers and I was only relieved to get a few hours of sleep once within the two days. My work seemed to be never ending.
     We received a few visits from the General himself, being followed on horseback by very anxious, reluctant officers and bodyguards.
Everyone appreciated his visit to the front; it showed that he cared and was actively involved in fighting for our safety as well, not simply willing to sacrifice soldiers as a means to the end.
After days of constant bombardment on both sides, a messenger was sent to Benjamin from headquarters requesting our presence with General Washington in a few hours.
Colonel Sheldon, Benjamin's superior, seemed put-off by the fact that he wasn't invited to the meeting but reluctantly appointed another doctor in my place.
"Thank you sir," I told him, "Benjamin and I will be back shortly. It is probably something inconsequential, really."
He raised his eyebrows for a reason I couldn't discern and Ben took my arm and led me to our waiting horses in his with a look of amusement on his face.
"Louisa," he said with a laugh as we made our way away from the battlefield, "you just called me Benjamin in front of Colonel Elisha Sheldon." I gasped, unable to contain my laughter.
"If he doubted the truth of our courtship before, he certainly doesn't anymore!"
He guided his horse closer to mine and reached for my hand, a look of contentment on his face.
"I do believe I have fallen in love with you, Miss Adams," he said, pressing his lips to my knuckles and looking to the clear evening sky as flurries if snow began to fall.
     His blue eyes shone with happiness and I squeezed his hand lovingly. "And I with you," I whispered, "Major."