CHAPTER 1
ACT I
Scene 1
Music cue: Beethoven Symphony No. 9, the Overture, Coriolan. Lights fade up slowly on: Washington's Headquarters, Bristol, Pennsylvania just outside of Trenton. Christmas Eve, 1776. Washington is pacing and listening as Billy reads slowly. He is not a good reader but he is getting the words right.
BILLY
"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will in this chris-is shrink from the service of his country."
WASHINGTON
Good. Now William, this word is crisis. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will in this crisis shrink from the service of his country. So.. .what is the name of the book?
Music fades out.
BILLY
The ... AH- mer – ree- kan. ... Crisis.
WASHINGTON
That is very good. Very good. I'm proud of you.
BILLY
Massa George, I'm reading better than the last time, huh? WASHINGTON
Yes, William. Your progress is admirable. I am fascinated by your sudden interest and diligence in reading.
BILLY
Well, everybody's talking about this here war and I think it would help me better to know what we fighting for.
There is a knock at the door.
WASHINGTON
Come in. It will ... and I think you should pay particular attention to the writings of the Bible.
Alexander Hamilton enters.
BILLY
Yes Sir.
WASHINGTON
But for now I want you to read the rest of that page.
ALEXANDER
Merry Christmas, Your Excellency. I think my time could have been better served, but I finished passing out the pamphlets of The American Crisis as you ordered.
WASHINGTON
Alexander, I've been watching the weather.
ALEXANDER
Yes Sir. The men are freezing and the food is low.
WASHINGTON
I think this may work to our advantage.
ALEXANDER
General, I don't see how low morale, inadequate clothing, and empty bellies can help our cause.
WASHINGTON
Perfect time for a battle. I want to attack Trenton.
ALEXANDER
But, General, it's Christmas and it's snowing.
WASHINGTON
The best time to fight those Hessians.
ALEXANDER
I don't understand, General? Won't Colonel Rall have his men posted?
WASHINGTON
I hope to catch that "Old Lion" sleeping. Traditionally the Hessians like to celebrate Christmas. They will not be expecting a battle. I have it on good authority from one of my spies ...
ALEXANDER
Has he been accurate in the past?
WASHINGTON
John Honeyman, a local farmer, an immigrant, Scotch-Irish--no love for the British there. Colonel Rail has been underpaying him for meat and produce supplies. Honeyman has given me precise information on how many soldiers are in Trenton, which houses they are staying in, and how many sentries are sent out each evening--also where they patrol.
George hands the papers to Alexander.
ALEXANDER
Sounds promising. But what about Cornwallis' troops in New Brunswick?
WASHINGTON
They are fifteen miles away. I don't think they will be prepared to march on Trenton. By the time they arrive, we will be gone.
ALEXANDER
Those Hessians are well-trained ...
WASHINGTON
The Hessians like a good Christmas feast. Lots of drink, lots of food. A full belly and a noggin full of Madeira take the edge off of a soldier's wits. I'm hoping they will not be in any physical condition to do battle. I want to cross the Delaware tonight.
ALEXANDER
Your Excellency, may I speak unencumbered?
WASHINGTON That is why you are one of my aides.
ALEXANDER
General, we've been fighting for two years. We haven't won a battle since Bunker Hill. New York was a disaster. There are desertions every day. The army is ragged. Men are marching with no shoes, thin clothing, and are poorly armed. Everyone is hungry. It may be presumptuous of me, but I think the men need to rest. This is the perfect time to do it. The Hessians are not going to attack us. We need this time to lick our wounds and recuperate.
WASHINGTON
Necessity, dire necessity will--nay, must justify this attack.
ALEXANDER
You want to cross the Delaware in the dead of winter and at night? I think attacking Trenton is a bad idea.
WASHINGTON
Alexander, we must inspire the men. We win this battle--they will be wearing Hessian boots on their feet instead of rags.
ALEXANDER And beef in their bellies?
George crosses back to the maps on his desk.
WASHINGTON
Exactly. I've got Henry Knox and you with the artillery. I will cross at Mc Konkey's Ferry with Nathaniel Greene. I want Sullivan to lead his soldiers down River Road, closer to the Delaware. General Greene and I will take Pennington Road and we'll wait for the sound of gunfire from Sullivan's men as a sign that his army is ready to assault Trenton.
ALEXANDER
Aren't you worried about General Howe?
WASHINGTON
I have it on good authority that he is on his way back to New York to have a dalliance with a married woman named Elizabeth Loring.
ALEXANDER
Ahh, the spoils of war. Where will you want me to gather the men so that you can speak to them?
WASHINGTON
I'm not going to speak to the men.
ALEXANDER
Your Excellency, the men are going to need words of encouragement. The thought of attacking Hessians may unnerve some of the men, especially after the failures in New York.
WASHINGTON
I am not an orator. I am a general. They won't know who we're attacking 'till we get there.
ALEXANDER
Please forgive me General for speaking so boldly, but these men need a morale booster--and that can only come from you.
WASHINGTON
What do you think of Tom Paine?
ALEXANDER
Common Sense is the Bible for most of the patriots. It's clear, well written, and precise.
WASHINGTON
Inspirational?
Washington hands the pamphlet to Alexander.
ALEXANDER
Well, yes ... inspirational.
WASHINGTON
Did you read his new pamphlet, The American Crisis?
ALEXANDER
Yes Sir, as I was passing them out. "These are the times that try men's souls."
WASHINGTON
Words cannot be more eloquent than these. The men will pass these pages among themselves. That will be our morale booster. I want you to bring the other officers here within the hour. I will lay out my plans in detail and we will discuss our options. Tarry not.
ALEXANDER
Yes, General.
Alexander starts to leave.
WASHINGTON
Alexander, we must learn not to look back. The future holds victory.
Alexander leaves.
BILLY
Massa George, you gone let everyone talk?
WASHINGTON
What?
BILLY
When you have meetings with your soldiers.. .you let everybody talk. Colonels, Captains, Lieutenants. Everybody has a say. Why? You the leader. You the General. Why you let Mr. Hamilton question your orders?
WASHINGTON
I am just having a conference with the Generals.
Washington pulls a book out of his desk that he has been reading.
WASHINGTON
Can you pronounce the title of this book?
BILLY
Lee- Mort- Tee. Dee -Art- Her.
WASHINGTON
Le Morte D'Arthur. French. Translated it means, "The Death of Arthur."
BILLY
Good book?
WASHINGTON
A very good book.
BILLY
Who is Arthur?
WASHINGTON
A leader. A general. He had soldiers fighting for him. He called his soldiers, knights.
BILLY
Knights.
WASHINGTON
Yes, William, knights. Come here. I want you to see how the word is spelled. It starts with the letter K. Do you see that? His knights helped Arthur to become the King of England. He united the land. They called it Camelot. It became a country.
BILLY
Just like the way you trying to do, uniting the colonies. Trying to make a whole new country.
WASHINGTON
Yes. When we win this war, the colonies will become like Camelot ... and Camelot became a utopian society.
BILLY
What's that ... utopian?
WASHINGTON
Get me the Doctor Johnson Dictionary, Second Volume.
Billy goes to the book shelf and gets the dictionary. It is a huge book, ten and one-half inches wide, seventeen inches tall and three and one-half inches thick.
WASHINGTON
Utopian comes from the word utopia. Let's find the word and see its definition. It is spelled U.T.O.P.I.A. Here it is ... now what does it say?
BILLY
Utopia: an imaginary ... is ... land, eye ... land. Dee ... scribed in Sir Thomas Moore's book Utopia, 1516. An eye deal place or state.
WASHINGTON
Good William, very good. It is the ideal place or world for a person to live in. Where there is equality for every man.
BILLY
That's what you trying to do?
WASHINGTON
Yes. Arthur made new laws and gave his knights a chance to speak. Everyone sat in a circle. They sat at a special table. Arthur tried to be a wise leader. He listened to his knights, then made a decision.
BILLY
Just like you ... everyone always sits in a circle.
WASHINGTON
I try to get the best out of my men.
BILLY
You want the colonies to be like Camelot when the war is over.
WASHINGTON
Yes, William. I want to make a new country ... free from the tyranny of our enemy. I want a union of states. I want our citizens to have liberty. I want to strive for the higher ideals of men.
BILLY
This Camelot ... did it have slaves?
WASHINGTON
What?
BILLY
In the utopian society, were there slaves? Who worked the fields in Camelot?
WASHINGTON
Peasants.
BILLY
Is that another word for slave?
WASHINGTON
No. They were free.
BILLY
So Camelot ain't had no slaves?
WASHINGTON There were no slaves in Camelot.
BILLY
Is that what you trying to do, Massa George?
There is a pause, the General thinks for a moment, then ...
WASHINGTON
William is Nelson ready?
BILLY
He's fed, but he ain't saddled.
WASHINGTON
Go saddle him. I want him ready. Brush him first. That will warm his blood.
BILLY
Yes Sir.
Billy leaves with the King Arthur book. Washington crosses to his desk and starts to draw up his plans. Music cue: Mozart Piano Concerto No. 2, Adante.
Music fades as there is a Black Out.
Scene 2
In the darkness, the sound of a cold wind blows, a gun fires, and a cannon fires. Finally, there is silence. Softly, birds sing like on a peaceful plantation. Lights up on the Mount Vernon Plantation, Virginia, January 1777, Martha's bedroom. Ona Judge is a fourteen-year-old slave. She is packing clothes into a trunk. Martha enters.
ONA
Ma'am, you want me to pack these papers?
MARTHA
Oh--those are letters Ona. Very important letters. They stay here. Be sure you pack my hats.
ONA
Yes Ma'am. These letters about the war?
MARTHA
Goodness no. More important than that. These are love letters from my husband.
ONA
Yes Ma'am, love letters. How long we gonna stay in Morristown?
MARTHA
For the winter, I miss him so. I ever tell you how I met Mr. Washington?
No Ma'am.
MARTHA
I thought he was the most striking young man I had ever seen and quite a good dancer. He was polite, gallant, and charming. We met at a ball.
ONA
Love at first sight.
MARTHA
For me, yes. For him ... not really. He liked someone else. A pretty lady ... Sally Fairfax. Thank goodness she was already married. I just had to arrange a way to meet him in a private setting instead of a public forum.
ONA
How did you do that?
MARTHA
This is a secret Ona. So you must promise to keep my confidences.
ONA
Miss Martha, I promise.
MARTHA
First I tried to get as much information regarding him as possible. I found out we had a mutual friend, William Chamberlayne. And William told me, George was in the habit of riding on Thursdays with his boy, Billy Lee. At the end of his ride on the way back to Mount Vernon, George usually stopped by William's for a strong drink and good conversation.
ONA
Was he riding Nelson?
MARTHA
On no, my dear, this was long before he found Nelson. Sooooo, on one particular Thursday afternoon, I managed to be visiting my friend Mister William Chamberlayne. George stopped by as was his custom and while William supplied the strong drink, I supplied the good conversation.
ONA
You didn't get bored?
MARTHA
Certainly not. I am a lady. I know how to keep a conversation going.
ONA
Yes, you do.
MARTHA
He had wonderful stories how he fought battles in the French Indian war. He talked of his lineage and how he inherited Mount Vernon from his brother Lawrence's widow. I talked about my first marriage to Daniel Custis, my children Patsy, and little Jacky. Oh, we did not get bored.
ONA
A lady must know how to keep the conversation going.
MARTHA
He told me of an adventure he had in the Ohio country. I shouldn't tell it, but it was so exciting to hear him describe it to me. Daniel Boone was with him. It happened on the Monongahela. George was under the command of a general named Braddock.
ONA
A Virginian?
MARTHA
No, a British Officer. They were to take a French Fort called Duquense.
The French had sent out nine hundred men, mostly Indians.
ONA
How many troops did the General have?
MARTHA
They had some British regulars and George was heading the Virginia Militia. In total there were about thirteen hundred men. They were surprised by the enemy at the edge of a clearing in a forest. Within the first ten minutes their ranks were being demolished. The British were used to fighting in concentrated rows. The Indians were hiding behind trees and rocks. They were using the forest as a shield from the British musket balls.
ONA
Don't seem fair.
As she talks, Martha crosses to a desk, opens a drawer, and pulls out a pair of leather military riding gloves. She holds the gloves as she continues her story.
MARTHA
George and the Virginia troops were caught in the middle. So they were being fired on not only by the enemy but also by the British regulars. George said, "They behaved like men and died like soldiers." As the Indians got the upper hand, most of the British soldiers broke and ran. General Braddock rode into the heart of the fighting trying to rally his men. He was cut down by enemy fire, shot in the shoulder and the chest, and mortally wounded. It fell to George to lead the men. Riding back and forth, he stopped the men from their panic. He had two horses shot out from under him and four musket balls passed through his coat--but he was unharmed. They had nine hundred casualties that day, while the Indians only lost twenty-three.
ONA
He's a brave man.
MARTHA
How could I not fall in love with a man like that? I asked for a token. He gave me these.
ONA
Gloves.
MARTHA
Not just gloves. These are his military gloves. The ones that he carried with him on that trip. I must make sure I bring these gloves for good luck.
ONA
Someday I want to be courted.
MARTHA
What? What did you say?
ONA
Nothing. Should I put these love letters away?
MARTHA
No give them to me.
ONA
Yes, Miss Martha.
MARTHA
Now, I must go ask Hercules to pack us a scrumptious lunch for the trip.
Martha exits the room. Ona admires one of her hats.
Black Out.
In the darkness, there is the sound of soldiers marching.
Scene 3
Music cue: Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, Adante. Lights up on: Jacob's Three-Story Tavern, Morristown, New Jersey, January 1777. George Washington is sitting at his desk as he finishes writing a letter. His hair is shoulder length and unkempt. Billy walks into the room carrying an ornate wooden box. He sets the box on Washington's desk and pulls out combs of varying sizes, two brushes and a hand mirror. Washington seals the letter he has written, while Billy combs and brushes Washington's hair and ties it in a queue. Washington's uniform is laid out, with his coat, boots, sash, and sword. During the scene, Billy dresses him.
BILLY
Massa George, I am almost finished with the King Arthur story.
As the music fades, there is a knock at the door.
WASHINGTON
Come in. Not now William.
Nathaniel Greene enters. He walks with a limp. Billy ties Washington's hair with a black ribbon.
WASHINGTON
Nathaniel, did you read this?
Washington crosses to his desk and gets another newspaper.
WASHINGTON
Freeman's Press from Philadelphia?
GREENE
No Sir.
WASHINGTON
Supporting our victories in Trenton and Princeton?
GREENE
Those victories have certainly boosted the morale of the men. Permission to report Sir.
