War Comes to Willy Freeman!

Chapter 1&2

"Hi, my name is Wilhelmina Freeman. Most people call me Willy. My parents’ names Lucy Freeman and Jordan Freeman.  We live in a cabin near Fort Griswold."  "There is a war going on in our town right now. I saw the red coats walk past our cabin. It scared me knowing something bad was about to happen." Not too long they would be marching up to Fort Griswold and run there bayonets though a lot of our people. I was scared for Pa because he was out working. I asked Ma if Pa would fight in the war. Ma said that he would. Pa would say, “Since we are free now, it’s our country too.” Pa got his freedom by Colonel Ledyard by joining up in the militia. Ma got a cow from Mrs. Ledyard when she was nursing her little girl though the fever when nobody thought she was going to live. We had a horse to, down in the salt marsh. We lived out on a little split of land by Thames River. As I was milking the cow I heard this big BOOM!!A cannon ball was going out to sea. That scared me even more because Pa was out there somewhere on his jolly boat. We saw the red coats march by our cabin again.  Then we heard a shrill, Ma cried out “The cow!” Ma and I ran down to the barn where the cow was. The red coats killed the cow. They said if they knew us niggers then they wouldn't have touched the cow.  WE walked back up the the cabin. Ma was mighty sad because that was the only thing she has ever had that was hers before.Two soldiers can to our door holding part of the cow. They asked us a lot of questions. They told Ma that they should take me back to New York with them. They thought I was a boy. One of them reached out and felt for my breasts. Then Pa stepped in from behind and said “Take your hands off that child, or I’m going to kill you.”

The soldier that was touching me looked at Pa. Pa said “If you touch that kid again I will tear you head off.” The soldiers left after that. Pa told the story about how he was on the jolly boat and the red coats saw him and started shooting at him. He pulled the jolly boat up behind some trees and ran into the woods and grabbed a big log just in case something happen he would have the log to protect him. We heard more shooting; Pa said I have to go now up to Fort Griswold. He told me I have to go with him, to bring the horse back down when he gets to the Fort. So I did, once we got up there and Pa was over the wall and into the Fort I headed off, back to the cabin. The red coats saw me; they were shooting at me and the horse.