Read Sal and Amanda Take Morgan's Victory March to the Battle of Cowpens for Free Online Page A

them. “Where have you two been?” she asked.
    â€œOh, just down the street,” Sam answered. “I was showing Ben some of our historical sites.”
    â€œWell, hurry up and get dressed! The play starts in an hour, and both of you need a shower. Just look how sweaty you are!”
    Grammy smiled at her two grandsons. “Ben, are you OK? You look pale. Come over here and let me get a good look at you…”
    â€œI’m fine, Grammy!” Ben answered, trying to squirm away as she grabbed him.
    She brushed his bangs aside to feel his forehead and saw the bump. “Ben, what happened?”
    â€œI, uhhh, bumped into a door!” he stammered, not knowing what else to say.
    â€œWell, let’s put some ice on it. Go lie on the sofa,” Grammy said as she hurried into the kitchen to get an ice pack.
    Ben sat down on the sofa and eased his legs up. He propped his head on the pillow as Grammy put the ice pack on his bump.
    Grammy smiled and thought, boys will be boys , as she went out of the room.
    Ben lay there, thinking about what his great-grandpa had told him before he died. “Takes one lie to cover another; remember that, son.”
    Ben replayed the afternoon. Today turned me into a liar and a thief, and I don’t even know why. Stupid paper; why are you in my pocket?
    â€œTime to get dressed,” Grammy called to Ben.
    He headed to the shower, and when he started to take off his clothes, he thought about the paper. I’ll just take a peek . He unfolded it, and to his great shock, he saw that it was a letter written four days before the Battle of Cowpens. The greeting was to General Nathanael Greene!
    â€œWhoa!” Ben said aloud. Sam was in the shower and did not hear him. I wonder who wrote this . He scanned the letter, and there at the bottom was General Daniel Morgan’s signature!
    He could not believe it! He started to read, “Your letters of the third and eighth instants came to hand Yesterday just as I was preparing to change…”
    His concentration was interrupted when Grammy called up the stairs, “Ben, are you in the shower?”
    â€œSam’s still in there!” he yelled back down.
    â€œI’m coming up there right now!”
    Ben quickly folded the paper and shoved it back in his pocket. Whatever Morgan had to say would just have to wait!
    After the play, the whole family went out for ice cream sundaes to celebrate. The attention was all on Sam and his hilarious performance in the play. Ben was glad because his thoughts were running a mile a minute. Why had Morgan written this letter just a few days before the battle? Why was it in a box in an old house in Cheraw? Why did he still have it in his pocket? And what on earth was he going to do about it?

Chapter 5
    Spirit!
    Late that night, Ben lay in the twin bed beside Sam pretending to be asleep. When he heard Sam snoring, he got up, picked up his pants from the chair and hurried into the bathroom. He locked the door and pulled the letter out of his pocket.
    Ben’s hand trembled as he tried to make sense of the strange words in the letter. His eyes scanned the page, and words jumped out at him like…
    Camp Buiss Mill on Thicheteke…General Sumpter directed…to obey no orders from me…We have to feed such a number of Horses…must soon be exhausted…nothing can be effected by my Detachment in this County…balance the Risques…No attempt to surprize us will be left…is beyond the art of man…keep the militia from straggling…request that I may be recalle…General Davidson and Colonel Pickens may be left with the militia…should you think it unadvisable…you may depend on my attempting wiry things & to provide for the Safety of the detachment. *
    Many of the words were misspelled and incorrect punctuation made it hard to read, but Ben could tell that Morgan believed going into battle was a mistake. Morgan sounded anxious