Lay Down Your Life-A Short Story

Because today is Valentine's Day, here is a short story that I wrote for my family's newsletter.  This story was written 6 years ago (February of 2010) and my writing style has improved.  But because of its clear message and humor, I regard this story as one of my finest.  Enjoy!

Lay Down Your Life

A Short Story by Jordan Jachim

Sir Christopher watched with dread as the crossbow was deliberately pointed at his wife, whom he had loved and cherished for so many years.

“Kill me, but spare her!” he shouted desperately to his captors. None honored him with a response. At last, he came up with a plan to preserve her life—at least for the moment. As the crossbow bolt was discharged, Sir Christopher leapt in front of it, taking the arrow in the region of the chest. The enemy was stunned as the gallant knight collapsed to the floor.

“Christopher, why?” his wife managed to gasp out through a deluge of tears.

“Greater love hath no one than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” He struggled for breath, and when he had finished this speech, every word of which was an unspeakable burden to utter, he died. The dark knights stood stupefied. This was so contrary to their idea of “survival of the fittest.”

Wow, I thought as I closed the book momentarily. I imagined myself doing that for my wife, who was in the distant future. What a spectacular example of love, and it would really twist the nose of the bad guys.

“You need to wash the dishes now!” my mom called.

“Coming,” I said reluctantly as I slammed the book shut.

Why do I have to do something as useless as washing dishes? They’ll just get dirty again anyway. Why can’t I do important stuff, you know, like the author of that book? That’s something BIG for God, not like dishes.

I sulked as I slowly wound my way out to the kitchen. While I ran hot water in the sink, I fumed over this disturbance to my reading all the while.

That night, I regaled my dad with a short, imperfect, and choppy synopsis of the book.

“Wasn’t that neat how the guy just died for his wife? I mean, now that’s sacrificial love!”

My father smiled. “Yes,” he agreed, “that is a good example of laying down one’s life for his friends.” Then he changed the topic. “Your mother tells me that you were reluctant to do the dishes. And delayed obedience is the same as disobedience.”

I was caught red-handed.

“But, Dad,” I began, then couldn’t think of anything else to say in my defense.

“Do you realize,” my father continued, “that washing the dishes for your mother is laying down your life just as much as that fictitious knight did?” He reached for his Bible and flipped through the thin gilded pages. They made a pleasant rustle, but at last he stopped. “Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:31,‘I die daily.’ This is not literal, but instead refers to the crucifixion of the selfish desires, which is a battle we must fight every day.”

“So, I just have to give up everything I want to do?” I retorted.

“Not exactly,” my father countered swiftly. “But it does mean that you should help others before thinking of what you want.”

My father ended the conversation, challenging me by saying, “Why don’t you try laying down your life tomorrow? Then, you’ll be doing the same thing as that knight.”

Well, I decided to follow my father’s advice. That morning before starting, I prayed that God would help me as I tried to lay down my life. I washed the dishes cheerfully, without being asked. When I had finished, I sat down and opened my book. “Where was I?” I muttered. It was then that my little sister had a problem with pressing flowers. The stack of books fell down and made a horrific noise, scattering books and flowers all over the place.

“Would you help her?” my mom called, with her hands deep in breading chicken. So, I shut my book and stuffed her flowers back into the dictionary, under the monumental pile of other books. Then I helped her cut some more flowers and press those, too. When everything was arranged to her satisfaction, I plopped on the couch and opened the book. But, my little brother decided that he wanted me to play Monopoly, or, more precisely, he wanted someone different to hammer with his real estate smarts. I complied, and he pummeled me, winning with over $20,000. “That was fun!” he said. I had a slight difference of opinion, but did not bother to voice it.

Well, it would bore you if I was to tell everything I did that day, but I could put it into a single sentence which gives you the point. Every time I sat down to read, I needed to help someone with something. I was tempted many times to feel sorry for myself, but I rejected that idea with God’s help.

That night, I had a hard time sleeping, so I went over the day in review.

I didn’t get a lot of time to read, but I did lay down my life, just like my dad challenged me. And, I thought, maybe this is harder than taking a crossbow arrow, or a bullet, for someone you love. After all, you can only die once, but you have to deny your own selfishness multiple times in a day, every day. So possibly, I did something harder than that knight in the story. I yawned and rolled over. Maybe I should write a story about laying down your life every day. Yes, that’s it…zzz.

The End

Originally published on A Legacy of Faithfulness at http://faithful-legacy.blogspot.com/2010/02/valentines-day-newsletter-part-3.html

British Regulars from the Movie Alone Yet Not Alone

I recently watched the movie Alone Yet Not Alone.  It is set in the French and Indian War and follows the journey of a young girl captured in an Indian raid.  She lives with the Indians for four years until she escapes and reaches safety at Fort Pitt.  While much of the clothing and the scenery is visually beautiful, this movie unfortunately contains two historical errors.  I will deal with the first one in this post and the second one later.  This is not a full movie review, but perhaps I will (later) give a brief overview of what I thought of the movie itself.

Production photo of the British battling an Indian.
Picture from Alone Yet not Alone's Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/aloneyetnotalone

In Alone yet not Alone, the British regulars are portrayed as lacking in hand to hand combat skills and having no concept of teamwork.  Thankfully, this portrayal is confined to one scene because all other fight sequences are between the Indians, colonists, and French.  Their depiction of the British soldiers is as follows

 

*Spoiler warning*

 The heroine of the story named Barbara Leininger has finally reached British-held Fort Pitt in the year 1759.  She and her three companions call across the Ohio River for help.  To investigate them, a British-manned bateau is launched from Fort Pitt.  After ascertaining that Barbara and her friends are true refugees and not decoys to lure them into ambush, they disembark to conduct them to Fort Pitt. 

Suddenly they are attacked by a lone Indian named Hannawoa, who shoots one Brit with his musket and charges headlong toward the rest.  They respond with a scattered volley of shots and charge Hannawoa one at a time.  The first redcoat swings his musket butt like a club but is dispatched by Hannawoa.  Two other soldiers run up to their foe without attempting to injure him with their muskets (which oddly enough do not have bayonets fixed).

Left: a painting of a grenadier of the 46th Regiment
Right: a photo of a private soldier, possibly of the 46th

The British officer draws a pistol, shoots Hannawoa in the shoulder and draws his sword, but is defeated.  Now Barbara fumbles in the belt of the wounded officer, draws another pistol and shoots Hannawoa.  As he hits the earth, a British soldier skewers him with a bayonet.

*Spoiler warning ends*

           

This, then, is their portrayal of the British soldiers of the French and Indian War, with no group cohesion and not generally armed with bayonets.  How does it compare with history? 

Author Stuart Reid is an expert on British infantrymen of the 1700s.  He says: “…The individual soldier probably found it more easy and effective to simply butt-stroke rather than to stab his opponent in a hand-to-hand skirmish.  Contemporary bayonet fighting drills consequently reflected and stressed the need for soldiers to act in concert rather than individually.”  (1, emphasis mine)

In his attack in Quebec in 1759, General James Wolfe stressed the importance of the bayonet: “The light infantry of this army are to have their bayonets, as the want of ammunition may at some times be supplied by that weapon, and because no man should leave his post, under pretence that all his cartridges were fired.  In most attacks of the night it must be remembered that bayonets are preferable to fire.” (2)

This is the red-with-blue-lapel-and-cuff
uniform discussed in the text.

Having established that British soldiers were armed with the bayonet and knew how to use it, let us look briefly at group cohesion.  The redcoats in the movie are a detachment of 6 men drawn from two regiments: the 46^th and the 60^th Royal Americans. (3)



The uniform of the 60th Royal American Regiment
From the Seven Years' War Project at
http://kronoskaf.com/syw/index.php?

 “Nothing will make a soldier like service,” said Sir William Erskine (4) in 1776 and the 46^th and 60^th Royal Americans were seasoned campaigners.  In 1758, the 46^th and 60^th had participated in the Battle of Fort Carillon (5).  In 1759, they were involved in a campaign to capture Fort Niagara, where they decisively defeated a force of French soldiers, couriers du bois and Indians at the Battle of La Belle Famille. (6)  Because of their previous battlefield experiences, these men would be very competent soldiers.

Considering their previous service and their distinct victory over the Indians at the Battle of La Belle Famille in 1759, it is unwarranted (to say the least) to depict these tough regulars as incompetents.  While the Indians were excellent warriors, by 1759, the British too had learned the ways of woodland warfare.  Why should one side be portrayed as nearly invincible while the other is made up of bumbling buffoons?

I’ll end with an apropos quote from Timothy J. Todish and Todd E. Harburn: “In the end, both the Indians and the British were just doing their jobs for the cause they believed in.” (7)

 

1. pg. 38, Like Hungry Wolves: Culloden Moor 16 April 1746 by Stuart Reid (London: Withrow & Greene Ltd, 1994)
2. pg. 16 Quebec 1759 by Stuart Reid (Oxford: Osprey 2003)
3. This is a tricky point.  Their specific combination of plain white lace on blue lapels and cuffs is closest to the 2^nd Coldstream Guards.  The Coldstreams, however, were nowhere near North America, as they were in London in 1759!  The 60^th Royal Americans were stationed in North America in various detachments, but their blue lapels had no lace.  I have decided to identify them as the 60^th despite the white lace.
4. pg. 120, With Zeal and With Bayonets Only by Matthew H. Spring (University of Oklahoma: Norman, 2010)
5. Service drawn from The Seven Years’ War Project, found at http://kronoskaf.com/syw/index.php?title=46th_Foot and http://kronoskaf.com/syw/index.php?title=60th_Foot
6. Because the dating in Alone Yet Not Alone is not explicitly given, these soldiers could either be garrisoning Fort Pitt as the expedition to take Fort Niagara assembles; alternately, Niagara could be in British hands at this point because it surrendered on July 25, 1759.
7. pg. 107, The British Military and the Pontiac Indian Uprising of 1763-1764 by Timothy J. Todish and Todd E. Harburn (Fleischmanns: Purple Mountain Press, 2006)

 

New "About Me" Page

Me at Fort Michilmackinac 2012

Defending the Legacy is fast approaching its sixth birthday (May of 2016), but in all that time I have never put up an "About Me" page.  At last, that is remedied (better late than never)!  I hope that this helps you my readers get to know me and this blog a little bit better. This page includes:

1. A brief overview of my love of history

2. Why I chose the name Defending the Legacy

3. The blog's journey over these 6 years

To read more, please click below:

http://www.defendingthelegacy.blogspot.com/p/about-me-hello-andwelcome-to-defending.html

Review of Montcalm's Crushing Blow by Rene Chartrand

“The year 1755 saw the rivalry between Britain and France in North America escalate into open warfare as both sides sought to overcome the other's forts and trading posts. Lord Loudoun and the Marquis de Montcalm were sent out to lead their forces and Montcalm was soon tasked with capturing the formidable Anglo-American post at Oswego. Montcalm's 3,000-strong force surrounded the forts at Oswego and soon forced the defenders to surrender - an outstanding French success.”

 

https://ospreypublishing.com/montcalm-s-crushing-blow-french-and-indian-raids-along-new-york-s-oswego-river-1756

The cover of Montcalm's Crushing Blow

               Canadian author Rene Chartrand begins by covering the situation on Lake Ontario when Fort Oswego was originally built by the English to trade with the Indians.  But the French did not intend to let the British establish themselves there and built other trading posts/forts in the vicinity, like Fort Toronto.

               When the Seven Years’ War broke out, Mr. Chartrand covers the reinforcements from Europe that were sent to North America.  He then illustrates the situation in 1756, where Fort Oswego threatened to be the focal point for an Anglo-American drive deep into Canada.

               But Oswego had a weakness: all its supplies had to come from distant Albany.  In March 1756, the French and Indians struck at one of the posts in Oswego’s supply chain, Fort Bull.  The defenders and their gate held off the French for a while, but the French broke in and began destroying British supplies.  Then flames began to spread through Fort Bull, igniting the powder magazine in an explosion.

               When General Montcalm arrived in Canada, he and Governor Vaudreuil quickly decided to strike against Fort Oswego.  3,000 French and Indian soldiers were ferried across Lake Ontario to attack the British fort.  More incredibly, the voyageurs transported 20 cannons.

               The French built batteries to bombard Fort Oswego, and the artillery duels are chronicled here as well.  The British artillerymen put up a gallant defense, but were forced to surrender on August 14, 1756.  This was Montcalm’s first victory in the French & Indian War.

               In addition to his engaging text, Mr. Chartrand also includes sidebars with interesting historical facts.  One provides an order of battle for Montcalm’s Oswego expedition, while another lists the British prisoners, cannons, and flags captured. 

Interestingly, the information on Oswego’s flags also clears up a small mystery I chronicled on my blog http://www.defendingthelegacy.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-mystery-of-oswegos-three-flags.html.  5 flags were captured by Montcalm: 2 of Shirley’s 50^th, 2 of Pepperell’s 51^st and 1 of the New Jersey “Jersey Blues”.  Those from the 50^th and 51^st were hung up in Quebec’s Cathedral and were later recovered by General Amherst in 1760.  But the flag of the Jersey Blues was not.  Instead (according to a letter written by General Montcalm’s wife), it was sent home to Montcalm’s family as a trophy of victory.

Mr. Chartrand seamlessly weaves together French and British sources to create his narrative, while paying tribute to the bravery of the soldiers on all sides.  His information and writing is excellently done.  Nor does he stop at the end of 1756, providing additional information on the main characters later on, as well as the development and current state of the Fort Oswego area.  The book is finished with a long list of sources for further reading.

Maps are an important part of conveying the story of history, and again this book excels.  The maps are plentiful and appear at their parts in the narrative.  One of the most interesting (to me) was a map tracing the route of the French and Indians as they went to raid Fort Bull where every night’s campsite is marked.  Other maps show the French lines during the siege and the supply route from Fort Oswego to Albany, NY.

My photograph of Montcalm & his men inspecting Fort Oswego.
Figures by Frontline Figures and W. Britains

Osprey’s books are known for their carefully reconstructed original artwork and Montcalm’s Crushing Blow is no exception.  The cover is an animated study of General Montcalm and Engineer Desandroins attending a battery bombarding Fort Oswego.

               Inside, there are 4 paintings by the excellent painter Peter Dennis, divided into two uniform studies and two battle scenes.  Mr. Dennis’s paintings have an excellent balance between accurate detail and compelling action.  The first painting is a uniform study of an officer and enlisted man of the New Jersey “Jersey Blues” Provincial Regiment with almost a whole page of descriptive text.  The next one is of an officer and enlisted man of the French Canadian militia, again with a page of text.

               The first battle scene shows the Canadian militia storming Fort Bull’s main gate.  Some of them are firing through the loopholes into the fort, while a party of Canadians under an officer use a log to batter in the gate, a detail expressly noted in the account of a French officer, Chevalier de la Pause.

               The second battle scene depicts the Royal Artillery defending Fort Oswego from the French cannons.  Lieutenant-Colonel Mercer is inspecting the defenses as a French cannonball flies through the air.  One second later, Mercer would die when he was hit by the cannonball.  This plate even shows the pork barrel casks that were used to create a new defensive wall.

While Osprey’s books are known for their original artwork, they also contain other illustrations as well.  In this area again, Montcalm’s Crushing Blow does not disappoint.  This book is filled with uniforms worn by the soldiers, original French and British maps of the area, and portraits of the main characters like the Marquis de Montcalm and Colonel Peter Schuyler.  Every illustration is captioned, giving extra information on the dimensions of bateaux or Montcalm’s Irish soldiers.

If you have any interest in the French & Indian War or Early America, this book is highly recommended.  Rene Chartrand’s detailed yet easy-to-read text is well matched with Peter Dennis’s lively and detailed artwork.  My overall rating is 5/5 stars.

William Washington vs. Banastre Tarleton at the Battle of Cowpens

On January 17, 1781, at the Battle of the Cowpens, British Colonel Banastre Tarleton was decisively defeated by Continental General Daniel Morgan.  Tarleton’s British regiments gained ground until they were confronted with an unexpected counterattack and disintegrated.  Now the American troops were pushing across the battlefield, capturing surrendering British soldiers and fighting artillerymen who were defending their cannon.  The artillery and baggage was in danger, and Tarleton was determined not to let the enemy get it.  He was, after all, a cavalryman who excelled in headlong charges against numerically superior enemies.

 

Unfortunately for Tarleton, his British Legion cavalry refused to charge.  Gathering together a few cavalrymen, Tarleton returned to the battle and collided with William Washington’s troopers of the 3^rd Continental Light Dragoons with some mounted militia. (1) Upon seeing the British commander, Washington shouted “Where is now the boasting Tarleton?” (2)

 

Tarleton, who was escorted by two other British officers, slashed at Washington.  Raising his saber, Washington deflected the first slash.  Tarleton cut again at the Continental colonel and the blade of Washington’s saber snapped off, leaving him holding only the hilt.

 

To add to Washington’s danger, Cornet Patterson (2) of the 17^th Light Dragoons had ridden around the duo and was prepared to attack Washington.  But Washington’s 14-year-old trumpeter and orderly named Gillie (3) drew a pistol and shot Cornet Patterson.

 

While this was happening, another British officer made a slash at Washington.  But Sergeant-Major Perry (3) blocked it and wounded the British officer with his own sword.  Meanwhile, Tarleton had drawn his pistol from its holster and fired it at Washington.  The shot missed Washington but wounded his horse.  With this, the three British officers rode away.  Tarleton could thus claim the distinction of firing the last shot of the Battle of Cowpens.  It was small comfort for a man who had lost 1,100 of Cornwallis’ elite light troops.  This loss would be evident nine months later at a small port named Yorktown.

 

 

(1) This anecdote was related by a few eyewitnesses of Cowpens. From https://web.archive.org/web/20150912092012/http://home.golden.net/~marg/bansite/friends/washington.html  “A running encounter between Washington and Tarleton (described by Col. Howard and later by Justice John Marshall and a few pensioners) would eventually be dramatized in four nineteenth century paintings (1845-1898)!”

 

(2) Cornet Thomas Patterson of the regiment was killed on this occasion*, and Lieutenant Henry Nettles wounded; several private soldiers and troop horses were also killed and wounded.

*During the action the American Colonel Washington called out, "Where is now the boasting Tarleton?" CORNET PATTERSON of the SEVENTEENTH was riding up to attack him, and was shot by Washington's orderly Trumpeter. Anecdote by Lieut.-General Sir Evan Lloyd, who served with the regiment in America. (History of the Seventeenth Light Dragoons by John W. Parker, available at http://www.replications.com/17LD/17hist.htm)

(3) Col. Washington caught up to Tarleton, who turned with two officers and charged Washington. Washington slashed at the officer on Tarleton’s right, only to have his sabre snap at the hand guard. The British officer was about to strike down Washington, when his 14 year old Negro servant, Gillie fired his pistol, striking the Officer in the shoulder. Sergeant Major Perry then rushed in and saved Washington by deflecting the saber of the other officer and wounding him. Tarleton then fired his pistol, hitting Washington’s horse, turned and fled.—(http://www.revolutionarywararchives.org/tarleton.html)

Behind the Scenes of With Truth and Grace

This is an interview that I did with Amara of Castles in Clouds (castlesinclouds.wordpress.com). It shows some of the "behind-the-scenes" behind my short story With Truth and Grace.

Amara, of Castles in Clouds: Hi Jordan, it’s great to have you here.

Jordan, of Defending the Legacy:  Hi Amara.  I’m glad to be here on your new blog!

Amara: You entered a story for a contest.  How did you hear about the contest?

Jordan: A book-loving friend of mine named Schuyler M. announced it on her blog at www.ladybibliophile.blogspot.com/2015/11/announcing-sea-scribblers-2015-short.html.  At that time, I had not written a short story for five years, but this gave me a push to get started.

Amara: What gave you the idea for your story?

Jordan: The story was supposed have a Christmas/winter theme and needed to include at least one of the picture prompts that were provided.  The first picture I saw showed a mask, and I debated if I should write a story of the 1775 American invasion of Quebec.  Then I saw the picture of a figure falling from the sunset to a city below.  This picture gave me a challenge because of its surreal nature (because I write mostly historical nonfiction), but I eventually fashioned the concept of a messenger sent to change the main character’s wrong ideas, much like A Christmas Carol or It’s a Wonderful Life.

As for the main character’s journey, that was written from first-hand experience [laughs].  Once, I believed that with enough power, I could remake the world into a better place.  But just like the character in the story, I came face-to-face with the disaster this type of power could have.  To write this story, all that I needed to do was to take these real-life lessons and turn them into an enjoyable story.

One of the most important plot points in my story is Isaac Watts’s Christmas carol Joy to the World.  I was four years old when I first heard the carol’s 4^th verse, which states that Christ rules the world with truth and grace.  That verse has always been a favorite of mine and I was able to use it to set up both the story’s conflict and its resolution.  Because of the story’s theme and that verse, it seemed appropriate to call it With Truth and Grace.

Amara: How long did it take you to write?

Jordan: I began writing the first draft on November 9 (as soon as I had determined the outline for my story) and finished it a week or two later.  Then it was proofread several times, polished for clarity and finally submitted on December 5.

Amara: Have you written any other short stories previously?

Jordan: I have written quite a number of them.  One of my earliest self-directed writing endeavors (as opposed to writing assignments for homeschool) was a story about space exploration.  This was written in 2002-2003.  In 2007, I entered a short story verbosely named The Great Adventure of a Mouse and Toy Soldiers for our library’s contest.  Next year I entered the contest again with Sir Christopher and the Dragon.  A few more stories intervened before 2010, when I wrote one that I still consider a gem: Lay Down Your Life (which can be read at www.faithful-legacy.blogspot.com/2010/02/valentines-day-newsletter-part-3.html).  This was my last short story until 2015, when I wrote With Truth and Grace.

Amara: That’s great.  Do you have plans for any other stories?

Jordan: I certainly do.  One that I hope to write soon is called The Homeschool Spaceship.  This is (very loosely) based off my original 2003 story of space exploration.  I am looking forward to sharing it with you all in the near future.

Amara: Thank you for taking time for this interview, and I look forward to more stories from you!

Defending the Legacy--Plans for 2016

As the new year dawns, I want to write 50 blog posts (about one a week) here on Defending the Legacy.  By December 31, 2016, I hope to have written:

• At least 12 book reviews (including one of King by J. Aaron Gruben)
• At least 4 movie reviews (including a review of Alone yet not Alone)
• 6 short stories (including The Homeschool Spaceship)
• At least 6 photo galleries of painted soldiers (including the grenadier and center companies of the 80th Regiment, Royal Edinburgh Volunteers)
• An "About Me" page (to introduce myself more personally)

The remaining 31 posts will mainly include the same things that usually appear here: painting galleries, historical quotes and articles.