Chapter 06 | The First Battles
Newport, Rhode Island, October 25, 1779- “Where in the hell are we going,” groused Ewald. “Damned if I know,” Conrad responded. “ We guarded this place for a year, with very few rebels in sight, but now look at all of ’em on the hill there, before we’re even out of sight.”” The officers never seem to tell us what’s going on,” griped Wilhelm, who had just come up on deck. It looks like we’re heading for New York harbor. Does anyone know?”
Wolfgang, still in shock, did not feel like joining in the conversation. He could only think of Ellie, and how shocked and unhappy she would be. None of his friends knew how much he had come to care about Ellie, and he thought it best to leave it that way. It was something he would carry in his mind and heart every day, but would give no one the chance to help him carry the load. And he had completely sublimated the fact that it had been exactly two years ago that he had left his tearful wife in Ansbach.
New York harbor it was, and the regiments marched through the city and set up camp near Corlaers Hook, not far beyond. Three weeks later, as the cold began to set in- both in the weather and in Wolfgang’s heart, the soldiers broke camp and set up winter quarters in a brewery.
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As Christmas eve approached, Wolfgang remembered promising his wife and children that he would be home for Christmas. That would have been two years ago, and it brought him remorse to think about how wrong he was. And, as he thought about his family back in Ansbach, he felt guilty about his pre-occupation with Ellie, and the thoughts he had had about her. He rationalized that it had been over two years since he had been with a woman, and that it was natural for him to have a heightened interest. But like a child flitting back and forth between his biological mother and his adoptive mother, Wolfgang didn’t know which allegiance was going to be at the forefront at any given time. He was in a confused state, and he knew it.
He wondered if it would help to go to the church parade in the city at the Evangelical church, and to the religious services, but his old avoidance of church again reared its ugly head. He knew Conrad was going, and maybe Wilhelm. Of course, Ewalt the atheist would not go, but Wolfgang was not as adamantly anti-religious as he. As he was about to put the thought out of his mind, Conrad barged into the barracks, looked at Wolfgang, and said, “Wolfie, you have been looking and acting like you’ve lost your best friend. I think what you need is to get into the spirit of Christmas! So, come on. Go to the services with Willie and me.” “Oh, OK, Wolfgang conceded, “ “I guess it’s better than sitting around here depressed.”
During the service, Wolfgang thought that it might help him if three wise men came into his life, and helped him figure out what to do. But, he thought, God is supposed to be able to do that. Why hasn’t he helped me?
And if not God, then that Guardian Angel who seems to show up when I need her. Where is she? But, again, the service seemed to bring him a greater sense of peace, and the feeling that with God’s help he could figure it all out. But he didn’t really know how to get God’s help. That would come later.
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There is nothing like the adrenaline generated in the heat of battle to make a soldier forget about the opposite sex. And during the next several months, Wolfgang and his friends, over two years since they left Ansbach, would finally experience that which they came to America for- a chance to fight the rebels.
On November 12, 1779, Wolfgang, Conrad, Ewald, and Wilhelm joined a large command from their regiment that was sent to Paulus Hook, to defend the fort against rebel attack. They knew about the 25 brave Hessians who had holed up in a redoubt just 3 months before, and resisted Major Henry Lee of Virgina to the point where he had to retreat without destroying the fort and the supplies it held. Wolfgang was excited to go on the mission, but as they marched to Paulus Hook, he began to get butterflies in his stomach. His musket, fixed with bayonet was ready, but he wasn’t sure that he was.
As his command, led by Captain Ellrodt, took their place in the fort, all was quiet. You wouldn’t have thought there was anyone within miles. But they all knew that General Washington wanted to capture Paulus Hook from the British, and were proud that they were its defenders.
As he waited in the front line of soldiers and looked into the night, Wolfgang saw Ewalt three soldiers down the line from him, and Wilhelm several soldiers down from him in the second line. “There’s no one out there tonight, he thought, as the November moon gave just a dim glimpse of the field that spread out from the front of the main part of the fort. Wolfgang began to relax, and think about other things, including Ellie.
They seemed to come out of nowhere, and suddenly the rebels were rushing the fort from all sides. Wolfgang clutched his musket, braced himself, and fired at an approaching rebel, who tumbled into a ditch around the fort wall. Muskets were blazing all around him, and Wolfgang had no time to realize that he had probably killed his first rebel.
As he and his fellow soldiers fought for their lives, alternating firing-as soon as muskets could be loaded- with hand to hand bayonet fighting, the air with filled with both shots, smoke, and screams.
Suddenly, Wolfgang saw a rebel rushing at Captain Ellrodt from behind, his bayonet outstretched. Without a seconds delay, and without a moments thought, Wolfgang threw himself between the attacker and his captain.
As the sharp blade of the rebel’s bayonet ran through the Wolfgang’s jacket sleeve, he drove his own bayonet, with all his strength, into the rebel’s heart.
The blood was everywhere, and the fighting ferocious. Wolfgang had to jump over bodies of rebels and fallen comrades to engage other onrushing rebels in battle, and he was shocked as he turned to see Ewalt use his musket to smash the head of a rebel who was about to shoot at Wolfgang from short range.
Canons from the fort were now blazing away, firing at the lines of the rebels advancing toward the fort. Almost as suddenly as it had began, the battle stopped as the rebels turned and retreated toward the bridges, and the mainland.
Wolfgang, totally exhausted, slumped onto what seemed to be almost a pile of dead or wounded soldiers and rebels. Some of the soldiers on the pile- men he knew- had terrible wounds, and were in excruciating pain and agony.
When the final count was in, 93 rebels had been killed or severely wounded, and 42 Hessians had been killed, with 20 more wounded. Wolfgang was greatly relieved that Wilhelm was safe, and Ewalt had only as slash on his arm.
There was much sadness about those killed, but the fort had been defended, Captain Ellrodt was unharmed, and Wolfgang was a battle virgin no longer!
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Wolfgang was a hero of sorts, as it became known that he had saved Captain Ellrodt’s life. His fellow soldiers respected him for it, and brought it up often in the days following the battle. On the other hand, Captain Ellrodt, prone to be quiet and short on praise for his soldiers, had said very little, seemingly assuming that it was just a part of a soldier’s duty. But Wolfgang, even though humble and dismissing when the subject came up, had tasted battle, felt the adrenalin rush, and felt satisfied that he had found his courage in the heat of the action. He was ready to fight again, armed with new confidence.
Surprisingly however, the intensity of battle and the anticipation of further clashes with the rebels had not quelled his obsession with Ellie. It seemed that he thought of her every evening when he went to bed, every morning when he got up, and even sometimes during the day. He tried again and again to tell himself that it was crazy, that he had a wife and almost adult children in Germany, but it was to no avail.
And the fact that it had months since he had received a letter from Maria did not help any. He rationalized that she was so busy in her day-to-day goings on with the grocer that she had had no time to write. If his special feeling for Ellie was sin, he was knee-deep in it, and had established himself as an award-winning sinner. His thoughts recently had been on how he could contact Ellie, and again express his feelings for her, but given where he was, and what was going on, it seemed fruitless to even try. Somehow, he thought, maybe I could wipe all thoughts of her from my mind and move on. But he simply couldn’t do it, and that was why he agonized so much.
As the weeks passed, Wolfgang alternated between battles with the rebels and battles with his emotions and his guilt. There was no question that he was having greater success in the battles on the fields, forests and trails of New Jersey than those in the recesses of his mind.
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No one in her family could understand what had happened to Ellie. The once friendly, thoughtful, beautiful young woman had drastically changed. She spent most of the time in her room, away from her aunt Irmgard, her uncle Leopold, and even from her cousin Amelina. When she did come down for supper, she had a far-away depressed look in her eyes that was totally foreign to those around her. She didn’t want to talk, and would only speak when those speaking to her seemed to demand it. Her studies took the brunt of her despondency, and she tried to avoid all the fun social activities that she used to enjoy so much. Irmgard had tried to find out what was bothering her, but with little success. She simply would not open up and talk about what had caused her disturbing transformation.
The minister of their church could not penetrate the armor of her soul either, and it was as if a hard casing had formed around her heart. Amelina tried to joke with her, or to talk about the fun that they had at the church social last year, but to no avail. Ellie knew, but would share with nobody else, her devastating hurt in losing Wolfgang. A part of her had left with him on the Eel, and it seemed that it would never return.