The Patriot Page #24

WASHINGTON:

Did you bring me this?

RUNNER:

Yes, sir.

Washington scribbles something on a piece of paper and

hands it to the boy.

WASHINGTON:

Take this to Colonel Marion.

RUNNER:

Yes, sir.

The boy runs off. Washington smiles.

EXT. PATRIOT ENCAMPMENT - DAY

CAMERA FOLLOWS Marion walking through the chaos of the

encampment. He walks to the cluster of tents around

Washington's HQ. He nods to the officer in charge.

MARION:

Colonel Francis Marion.

Washington, leaning over the maps on his campaign table,

hears the voice and turns around. The officers nearby

stop and watch, curious.

MARION AND WASHINGTON

Step up to one another, looking each other in the eye.

To the astonishment of Washington's officers, Marion

reaches up and lifts off Washington's wig, looking at his

hair underneath. Marion shakes his head.

MARION:

Gray.

WASHINGTON:

Earned.

Washington holds out a small bag to Marion who reaches in

and pulls out a walnut.

WASHINGTON:

Come. I have something I want to

show you.

Washington turns to his staff officers.

WASHINGTON:

Gentlemen.

Washington and Marion walk off with Washington's officers

and aides.As Washington and Marion walk, they both CRUSH

THE WALNUTS SHELLS BETWEEN THEIR THUMBS AND FOREFINGERS, a

prodigious display of strength that both men take for

granted. They eat walnuts as they walk.

EXT. YORKTOWN HILLTOP - DAY

Washington's officers who include HARRY LEE, COLONEL

ALEXANDER HAMILTON, LAFAYETTE, GENERAL PINKNEY, and

various other aides and junior officers reach the crest of

the hill and wait for Washington and Marion who trail a

bit behind them, talking privately, eating walnuts as they

go.

While they wait, the officers look out at the view, seeing

the PUFFS OF SMOKE OF INTERMITTENT CANNON FIRE.

WASHINGTON AND MARION

Finish the walnuts. They stop for a moment to catch their

breath.

WASHINGTON:

I was sorry to hear about your son.

MARION:

I lost another a year ago, Thomas.

He was only fifteen.

WASHINGTON:

I've had no sons to lose, nor

daughters.

(beat)

I lose the sons of other men.

They look out at the vista, knowing that they're looking

at the sons of thousands and thousands of other men.

WASHINGTON:

Life was easier when we only had

ourselves to get killed.

They walk on, joining the others on the crest of the hill.

The officers are looking out, some with spyglasses, at

the British emplacements.

WASHINGTON:

Gentlemen, what do we see?

HAMILTON:

Mortars, center, with two lines of

enfilading trenches.

PINKNEY:

More along the right flank and

behind the forward redoubts.

LAFAYETTE:

A formidable defensive position.

Very formidable.

HAMILTON:

They could hold out for weeks.

Washington nods and turns to Marion.

WASHINGTON:

Francis, tell me about General

Cornwallis.

MARION:

Remember Braddock?

WASHINGTON:

That bad?

MARION:

Worse.

WASHINGTON:

Proud, priggish and competent. A

very bad combination in an

adversary.

Washington sighs.

WASHINGTON:

For those of you who don't know, we

intercepted a British dispatch this

morning. General Clinton has sailed

from New York to relieve Cornwallis.

That hits Washington's officers hard.

HAMILTON:

How long before they arrive?

WASHINGTON:

Less than a week. Sixteen ships and

over nine thousand Redcoats.

LAFAYETTE:

Sooner or later that message will

get through to Cornwallis.

PINKNEY:

And when it does, he'll just wait us

out.

WASHINGTON:

And when the British ships arrive,

the French ships will flee. And

when the French ships flee, General

Rochambeau and the French troops

will flee as well.

Marion speaks up.

MARION:

Then you must let the message go

through.

They all turn to Marion, most of them looking at him as if

he's insane.

WASHINGTON:

If Cornwallis receives news that

Clinton is coming, he'll simply hold

tight and wait. He'll fight a

purely defensive battle and he'll

win that.

MARION:

No, he won't. There are two things

you need to know about Cornwallis.

First, he is a very proud man, He

would rather risk defeat than share

a victory.

(beat)

If you give him what he thinks is an

out, he'll take it.

WASHINGTON:

And what is the second thing?

Marion pulls Cornwallis' journal out of his haversack and

leafs through it.

MARION:

I'll let him tell you himself...

(reading)

"... but it is this colonial militia

that is the most irksome. Not

worthy of my attention, but

demanding it; not worthy of British

blood, but taking it; and not worthy

of a soldier's honor, but sullying

it. Those nights of mine that are

not sleepless, are filled with

dreams of a cavalry charge on the

heels of fleeing farmers..."

Marion closes the journal.

MARION:

He has no respect for citizen

soldiers. That's your bait...

militia.

Washington nods, considering it.

EXT. CORNWALLIS' HEADQUARTERS - YORKTOWN - EVENING

Under fire. Cornwallis and his staff. Major Halbert

strides in and gives Cornwallis a dispatch.

MAJOR HALBERT:

Sir, a dispatch from General Clinton

made it through the rebel lines.

Cornwallis takes the dispatch and reads it. It staggers

him. He sits down.

WILKINS:

Sir?

Cornwallis fumes. His jaw sets with anger. He slowly

crumples the dispatch and speaks with quiet fury.

CORNWALLIS:

Call a general staff meeting.

AIDE:

Yes, sir.

EXT. YORKTOWN - PRE-DAWN

Marion stands at the American battlements, looking out at

the British defensive works. Above him, stars are

visible, but they're fading in the light of the pre-dawn

glow from the horizon.

Marion scans the disappearing stars, searching out the

NORTH STAR, but in the increasingly harsh light of this

day, he can't find it. He turns his eyes back to the

battlefield.

EXT. YORKTOWN BATTLEFIELD - DAY

The sun has risen but a heavy ground fog limits visibility

to a few dozen yards. Men move like ghosts.

THE CAMERA finds waiting squadrons of men but in the mist.

There is no overview, just separate detachments:

An orderly regiment of CONTINENTAL CAVALRY, mounted,

waiting, steadying their horses.

Two long lines of CONTINENTAL INFANTRY RESERVES...

An American Command, including Washington, LaFayette and

two dozen staff officers, attended by riders and

runners...

And, finally, MARION AND HIS MEN, who stand in the middle

of a long line of Patriot militia in the center of a long,

valley-line depression.

They stand silently, unable to see anything other than

each other and the gently slope of the dew-covered grass

in front of them.

They're all grim. They know what's coming.

Then, the SOUND OF A SINGLE DRUM, heard but unseen, coming

from over the slope...

Then, MORE DRUMS, more and more, A COMPETITION OF DRUM

BEATS...

Marion's men listen, turning their heads, trying to

imagine what is happening on the other side of the rise in

front of them.

MARION MOTIONS FOR HIS OFFICERS, Dalton, Scott, Rev.

Oliver and several other Patriot militia officers from

other units. They quickly gather around.

MARION:

The British army believes in

officers. I believe in soldiers.

After we engage, there will be no

more orders. Every man here must

know what I'm about to tell you.

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