Battle of bunker's hill from the british point of view (fictional journal)

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Mary Oliver

June 1, 1775

Sam has been gone for over two months now. I just recently received a letter from him. The letter said;

May 16, 1775

Dear Mary,

General William Howe has recruited me as one of his assistants. I am very honored. I do not have very much time, so I cannot write very much. It is pouring rain right now. Thank god for these wool coats that we have! I wish I could be back with you, but I am stuck here fighting for the crown.

All my love,

Samuel

P.S. just by coincidence, our good friend Peter Webb is here with me! What great fortune! Peter says hello too!

I was very relieved to receive this letter. I was beginning to lose hope that Sam was even still alive.

Sam's mother came here looking for him the other day. When I told her that he was off at war, she started screaming and crying and praying to god that Sam was still alive.

I calmed her down by showing her the letter that he sent. She then left saying that it was my fault that Sam was off at war.

I think that she hates me now.

Other than that, life around here is ok. It is just about five times as much work for me than before, because now I have to do all of the chores in the house by myself. I am now learning how to cut lumber, and start a fire with it.

There is a good side to this though. Now that Sam is gone, the house is quiet. I only have to make enough money to buy food for one person instead of two. Also, it is much easier to clean the chamber pot without Sam using it.

I am very bored. I have been very bored for about three weeks. And I've done absolutely nothing to entertain myself except sleep and stare out the window that overlooks the path that Sam and the other men left the town on. I stare at that path every day waiting for my Sam to come home.

Samuel Oliver

June 2, 1775

Wow. The weather is horrible. It will not stop raining! But it is about 26 degrees Celsius.

It is so hot, and all of us are so tired. Just today, we passed by a big house. We went up to the door and asked it we could stay there for a while. There were two big fireplaces in it. The owner was a huge supporter of the crown. He was very wealthy also. He fed us vast amounts of soup. We rested there for the night.

In the morning, we woke up to plates full of eggs and bacon. After we ate, we left, and walked for about nine miles in the warm rain. We then stopped under a cluster of trees, and took a break. The spot was great because the branches from the trees were so close together that no water got through. We napped and joked about the colonists for about three hours. Then we got back up and walked for another eight miles.

It is now about 11:30 PM. We found a barn at about 11 PM, and are sleeping here tonight.

We also received word today, that there are some colonist spies around. The king and some officials told us to be on the lookout for spies.

Samuel Oliver

June 4, 1775

It is now the 4th of June. There has been no change in the weather. It is still raining. We are now sitting in an abandoned cave around a huge bonfire. The past month has been tiring and very boring. We haven't got much sleep lately. The average time that we get to sleep in a day is about 4 to 5 hours total.

Yesterday, I was talking to a man named Michael, who always walked alongside me, and always tried to engage in long conversations with me. We were talking about our jobs before we went into war, when he accidentally told me that he was a colonial spy. I had just told him that I was a blacksmith. He then said, "oh really? That's interesting. Yeah, back in Boston I'm one of General Washington's right-hand men." He didn't realize what he had just told me until I had the muzzle of my gun pointed straight at his forehead. General Howe asked me what I was doing. I then told him that Michael had just enlightened me with the fact that he was a colonial spy.

General Howe quickly jumped down form his horse, to find that Michael had his musket pointed towards him. But a good soldier never abandons his general. Michael then looked around and saw that he had more than a hundred muskets and rifles directed at his head. Michael quickly dropped his gun and ran from us. General then told me to tale a shot at the fleeing colonist. I stalled for a second or two, thinking about what would happen if I missed? How mad general would be. General Howe then yelled, "get on with it then!" I then quickly fired a shot, and it hit Michael in the dead center of the back of his head. The corpse quickly dropped to the ground. We went over to the body, to make sure that there was no sign of life. He had no pulse. General Howe then kicked the dead body, fired three shots into his forehead, and yelled "to hell with you!" He then congratulated me on my perfect shot, took one last look at the lifeless corpse, and walked away.

There was barely any talking for the rest of the day, except for men patting me on the back, and whispering "good job", or "great shot", then a soft response of, "thank you".

Mary Oliver

July 19, 1775

Today is my birthday. Sam sent me a letter that arrived two days ago, wishing me a happy birthday, and telling me about how he caught a colonial spy, and then shot him down when he was fleeing with one perfect shot. The letter said;

June 3, 1775

Dear Mary,

I wish I could be there with you and tell you this myself, but since I cannot, this will have to do. Happy birthday! I miss you so much. Life here is tough. There are miles and miles of walking in the rain.

You won't believe what happened today! I was talking to a man named Michael. We were talking about our jobs before we went into war, when he accidentally told me that he was a colonial spy. He didn't realize what he had done until I had the muzzle of my gun pointed at his forehead. General Howe asked me what I was doing. I then told him that Michael had just told me that he was a colonial spy.

General Howe quickly jumped down form his horse, but then looked up to find that Michael had his musket pointed towards him. But a good soldier never abandons his general. Michael then looked around and saw that he had more than a hundred muskets and rifles directed at his head. Michael quickly dropped his gun and ran from us. General then told me to tale a shot at Michael I then quickly fired a shot, and it hit Michael in the dead center of the back of his head. Michael quickly dropped to the ground. We went over to the body, to make sure that there was no sign of life. He had no pulse. General Howe then kicked the dead body, fired three shots into his forehead, and yelled "to hell with you!" He then congratulated me on my perfect shot, took one last look at the lifeless corpse, and walked away.

Well, anyways, happy birthday! I love you so much!

All my love,

Samuel

P.S. Peter Webb is again being a nuisance, telling me to say that he says hello again!

I love my husband! He is so sweet. I miss him so much. It is so boring without him! Not to mention that I have to do ALL of the housework and yard work myself! The worst part is getting the firewood in the rain. This is because of two reasons. One is that the rain is particularly cold. The other reason is that the rain makes the wood wet, so I have to wait for it to dry out before I can use it.

I still stare out the window that overlooks the path that Sam and the other men left the town on every day waiting for my Sam to come home.

Mary Oliver

August 2, 1775

I just received a letter from Peter Webb saying that Samuel had died in the Battle for Bunker's Hill. The letter said;

June 17, 1775

My great friend Mary,

I am extremely repentant to inform you that your wonderful husband, my great friend Samuel has perished. He was killed in the Battle for Bunker's Hill. I was next to him in the in the front line. As we walked up the slope of Bunker's Hill, I looked around frightened, wondering why I was doing this. The dead brown grass crunched underneath us every step that we took. There was smoke, and fire everywhere on the left. As we looked up the hill, we saw colonists pop up from behind a sloppily made wall, firing a quick shot at us, then sinking back down behind the wall. There were bodies falling on both sides, but there were surprisingly about twice as many Englishmen perishing as there were colonists perishing. There were dozens of dead bodies fallen on all sides of us. There were just three long lines of Englishmen, with pairs of drummers scattered in the back. As soon as the battle had started, he departed this life by a shot from a colonist's gun. I heard a yelp from Sam. His body quickly dropped to the ground. I quickly carried him off to the side and tried to nourish him back to health. I brought him to the water, and washed out his wound, and splashed water on his face. After twenty minutes of no pulse, I realized that there was no chance. I then left him leaned against a tree near the water. I then ran back to the battle. I then fought strongly until the battle was won. When it was over, I ran back to the tree where I had left Sam. I saw that the tide had risen tremendously. Almost the entire tree was underwater. Sam had been carried out to sea by the tide. Sam's soul is in Heaven how, where he is watching over us tranquilly.

Sam was a great man. Once again, I am truly sorry about the loss. If you ever need anything, just send a letter to my house, and we will help.

Sincerely,

Peter Webb

This letter came as a great shock to me. I loved Sam so much. Why did God take his life so early? I will miss Sam very much. At least I know that Sam is in a better place, and that some day, I will see him again.