THE PATRIOT by Robert Rodat October 9, 1998 FADE IN: CREDITS OVER: EXT. SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTRYSIDE - DAY Woodlands. Beautiful. Untamed. Soaring old-growth elms arch over riverside maples along the shores of the gently curving, deep-water Santee River. SUPERIMPOSITION: SOUTH CAROLINA April, 1776 Upstream, the swamps. Beautiful. Hundreds of BIRDS SING. Shafts of sunlight pierce the canopy, cutting through the hanging moss and kudzu, falling onto soft, swaying ferns covering the high ground. The water is clear, with fields of floating lily pads, each with a stark white flower rising from it. SUPERIMPOSITION: THE FOLLOWING IS BASED ON A TRUE STORY EXT. POND BLUFF - DAY A farm built between the banks of the river and the deep green of the swamps. Good, fertile land, hacked out of the wilderness. The perfectly tended fields are ripe with barley, hops, alfalfa and tobacco. Two sturdy brothers, NATHAN, 13 and SAMUEL, 12, work one of the fields, rhythmically swinging scythes through the barley. The house, built of native brick, is well-constructed and well-maintained. There's a barn, a workshop and a forge. It is a home of substance rather than wealth. On the front porch, MARGARET, 11, pumps a butter churn while her brother, WILLIAM, 6, watches. GABRIEL, 18, strong and handsome, walks out of the woods with a musket in his hand and a dozen game-birds over his shoulder. At his side walks THOMAS, 14, also carrying a musket. INT. WORKSHOP - DAY A perfect colonial workshop, fastidiously arranged with every conceivable tool of the period. A foot-powered lathe. A drop-forge. A lifting saw. Racks of tools, planes, hammers, augers, drills, blocks, all hanging in their places. All very well-worn. FRANCIS MARION methodically works his lathe, turning a piece of hardwood, shaving off tiny curls of wood with a razor-sharp chisel. He's in his late-forties, strong and weathered. His hands, though big and callused, handle the chisel with a surgeon's precision. Self-educated and self-sufficient, he has built himself, as he built his farm, brick by brick, from the coarse clay of the earth. A finely-made rocking chair, missing only the dowel on which Marion is working, sits on the work table. The chair is a work of art, thin and light, a spider-web of perfectly turned wood, no nails, no glue. Sitting on the woodpile, SUSAN, 4, a silent, stone-face wisp of a child, watches her father. Marion takes the piece of wood out of the lathe, carefully fits it into the chair, inserts a peg and taps it into place. Then he steps back and appraises his handiwork. He picks up the chair and hooks the top rail to a scale, countering with a three-pound weight. The chair floats. Marion blows softly on the weight which sinks. Susan nods, so far, so good. Marion puts the chair on the floor and walks slowly around it, checking every angle. Then, the acid test. He takes a deep breath and lowers himself onto the seat, gingerly adding an ounce at a time. Not a creak. He smiles and sits back with a sigh. CRACK! THE CHAIR SPLINTERS under Marion's weight, DUMPING HIM on his ass on a pile of broken wood. MARION Damnation! He picks up some of the wood, about to fling it across the room but stops as Susan shoots him a disapproving look. He calms himself. MARION Sorry. Susan gets down from the woodpile and puts the remains of the chair in the fireplace. As she climbs back up to her perch, Marion steps over to his wood rack, extracts a fresh dowel, fits it into the lathe and starts all over again. END CREDITS. EXT. WORKSHOP - DUSK Marion leaves the workshop with Susan at his side. Nathan and Samuel walk past, exhausted from their day in the field. NATHAN Father, I saw a post rider at the house. MARION Thank you. Did you finish the upper field? SAMUEL We got it all cut and we bundled half of it. MARION Those swimming breaks cut into the day, don't they? Marion walks on without waiting for a reply from his contrite sons who jostle one another, trying to pass off the blame. Gabriel and Thomas walk out of the barn. GABRIEL Father, a post rider came from Charleston. You have a letter inside. MARION Thank you. How's the spotted one's milk? THOMAS Better. She's near ready to calve. Marion nods and motions for Susan to go with Gabriel and Thomas to the house. She does so and Marion walks on alone toward: EXT. HILLTOP - POND BLUFF - SUNSET The loveliest spot on the farm. A beautiful view of the house, barns, river, fields and hills beyond. A gravestone stands in the shade of a single apple tree. It reads: ELIZABETH PUTNAM MARION 1738-1773 Above her name is a carving of the night sky, at the center of which is the NORTH STAR, steady and guiding. Marion approaches. He gives himself a moment to look at the grave, then he starts picking apples, speaking to the gravestone in a quiet voice that is more matter-of-fact than sorrowful. MARION ... and they bundled half... almost no trace of the boys you knew... A soft wind blows some dry leaves along the ground. Marion pauses as if listening to a spoken reply. MARION ... no, she still hasn't spoken... Margaret was her age when you... I remember the time at the river when we couldn't find Catherine... you couldn't stop crying... and she was asleep in the wagon the entire time... Marion pauses, remembering. The CRASH OF A PLATE BREAKING, followed by the SOUND OF AN ARGUMENT rises from the house below. Marion shakes his head with an exasperated sigh. MARION Your children. He heads down the hill toward the house, now glowing from the lights of candles and oil lamps. INT. MARION'S HOUSE - EVENING Pre-dinner chaos. Everyone talking at once. Marion's seven children and his two family servants, ABIGAIL and AARON, a middle-aged black couple, prepare dinner. Susan silently watches from the stairs. Marion walks in. MARION I smell turnips... WILLIAM Father, Samuel broke the blue plate... SAMUEL I did not... MARGARET Dinner... Marion hands the apples to Abigail and steps over to open his mail and dispatches. GABRIEL News of Boston, father? NATHAN I hate turnips... SAMUEL William knocked it right out of my hands... GABRIEL Father...? MARION Samuel, William, both of you clean it up... Marion hands a packet of pamphlets to Gabriel and opens a letter. MARION The Assembly has been reconvened, I've been called to... Marion's children go wild. MARGARET Charleston! NATHAN We're going to Charleston! SAMUEL When, father, when? MARION We'll leave tomorrow... The children ERUPT INTO CHEERS and THUNDER into the dining room. THE CHILDREN Charleston! We're going to Charleston! Marion and Gabriel exchange a stone-faced look. Then Marion puts on a smile and inhales deeply. MARION I love turnips... Marion follows his children into the dining room. EXT. MARION'S HOUSE - NIGHT Quiet. The only sounds are the soft calls of a few NIGHTBIRDS and the DRONE OF CICADAS. A faint light moves through the downstairs, passing windows in the otherwise dark house. INT. MARION'S HOUSE - NIGHT Marion, holding a candle, does a father's bedtime check. The CAMERA FOLLOWS him as he makes his rounds into: THE KITCHEN. Everything is clean and put away in its proper place. THE MAIN HALLWAY. Marion checks that the doors are closed and bolted. He heads up the stairs. INT. BOYS' BEDROOM - NIGHT Marion enters, finding William asleep on the floor and Nathan and Samuel in bed. He lifts William into bed, takes a slingshot from Nathan's hand, tucks in Samuel and walks out. INT. GIRLS' BEDROOM - NIGHT Marion steps to the doorway, finding Margaret and Susan at the window, looking up at the night sky. MARGARET ... now count five finger lengths up from the front two stars of the Big Dipper, and that's the North Star, that's her. Susan gazes up at the North Star. The girls notice Marion and climb into bed. He puts a chair against Susan's bed and kisses her. He pulls a blanket up around Margaret, who whispers: MARGARET It helps her to know Mother's there. Marion nods with a thin smile, kisses Margaret and walks out. INT. MARION'S STUDY - NIGHT Squadrons of lead soldiers stand ready for battle as Thomas, lying on the floor, deploys his men. Gabriel reads the new pamphlets and broadsides. Marion walks in and pours a drink. Gabriel hands several of the pamphlets to his father. GABRIEL The New York and Rhode Island assemblies have been dissolved... MARION The middle colonies? GABRIEL Rioting both sides of the bay, in Chestertown they burned the Customs House and tar-and-feathered the Customs Agent. He died of burns. In Wilmington they killed a Royal Magistrate and two Redcoats. MARION Anything about the convention in Philadelphia? GABRIEL Poor Richard says they'll make a Declaration of Independence by July. Marion shakes his head and sits down, carefully extracting a delicate pair of reading glasses from a wooden box. He begins reading. GABRIEL Scott Higgins joined the militia. Marion hears but doesn't respond. Thomas looks up from his lead soldiers. GABRIEL He's seventeen. A year younger than I. Gabriel and Thomas wait for a reaction. There is none. Gabriel goes back to reading and Thomas resumes playing with his toy soldiers. Marion's eyes drift from the page to Gabriel. EXT. SWAMP ROAD - DAY The Marion family, in two tightly-packed carriages, drives on a beautiful road, cut through the swamps. The canopy of swamp maples and weeping willows forms a tunnel of green, mottled by sunlight. EXT. BENNINGTON OVERLOOK - DAY The two carriages pass a view of their entire valley. Scattered farms with a patchwork of cultivated fields surrounding the town of Bennington. EXT. SANTEE ROAD - DAY Passing through rolling farmland, the Marions head toward the coast. They pass a large contingent of South Carolina Militia, drilling in a field. The children, particularly Gabriel, watch avidly. EXT. CHARLESTON - DAY A big, bustling city. Marion and Gabriel negotiate the carriages through the busy streets. The children watch, wide-eyed, seeing taverns, a public gallows, drunkards, street entertainers, well-dressed ladies attended by their maids, food venders, a man with a trained bear. EXT. CHARLOTTE'S HOUSE - CHARLESTON - DAY Grand. Four stories. Marion and his children pull up. CHARLOTTE MOTTE hurries out. She's in her mid-thirties, beautiful, with a deep sadness that she keeps hidden as best she can. The children leap from the carriages and swarm around her, embracing her, smothering her with kisses. THE CHILDREN Aunt Charlotte! Aunt Charlotte! CHARLOTTE Welcome! Welcome! Margaret, William, look at you...! (to Marion) They're huge. What have you been feeding them? MARION They're from good stock on their mother's side. CHARLOTTE Thank you. Charlotte hustles the children toward the door. CHARLOTTE Come, come, inside, wait until you see what I have... THE CHILDREN (simultaneous) Presents! For me? What do you have? CHARLOTTE Inside, inside... Charlotte sweeps past Marion who smiles and follows her into the house. INT. PARLOR - CHARLOTTE'S HOUSE - DAY Marion watches as Charlotte finishes handing out presents. Susan plays with a new doll. William has half-a-dozen new spinning tops, skimming around the floor. Margaret holds a new dress up to herself. Samuel, Nathan and Thomas tear into packages holding platoons of lead soldiers. Gabriel looks through a new book. Charlotte sees Marion watching her, rises and joins him at the doorway. MARION You look well, Charlotte. CHARLOTTE As do you. Suddenly Thomas and Samuel race through the doorway, forcing Marion and Charlotte together, their bodies close. They step back and exchange warm but uneasy smiles. The moment is broken by the SOUND OF CHILDREN. Marion and Charlotte gratefully turn their attention back to them. EXT. CHARLESTON SQUARE - NIGHT Down the block from the Motte house. A yelling crowd of Sons of Liberty is massed around a Liberty Tree from which hang dozens of glowing lanterns. Most of the men in the crowd are drunk. Vendors sell rum, ale, food and banners emblazoned with a coiled snake and the legend, "Don't Tread On Me." Scores of on-lookers, including respectable people, as well as street urchins, whores and drunkards, watch the proceedings. Several Sons of Liberty string up effigies of King George III and Governor Wilmington. They light the effigies on fire. As they begin to blaze, the crowd cheers. EXT. CHARLOTTE'S BALCONY - NIGHT Marion's children, except Gabriel, stand on the balcony watching the mob. Marion steps out onto the balcony. MARION Inside, all of you... The children turn to Marion with stricken expressions. Marion relents. MARION Very well. The children turn back to the mob. Marion joins them. THOMAS Look! There's Gabriel! They see Gabriel making his way through the crowd. He sees them and waves, then enters the house. A moment later Charlotte steps out onto the balcony and sees: IN THE SQUARE, a pair of drunk Sons of Liberty, pull down one of the smoldering effigies, cut off its head, then start hacking at it's groin with a sword. Appalled, Charlotte shoots a glare at Marion and snaps at the children. CHARLOTTE Children, inside! All of you! Right now. The children start to protest, but a glance at Charlotte's resolute expression makes them think better of it. They file into the house. Charlotte shoots a glare at Marion and shoos the children inside. Gabriel steps out and joins them. MARION What news? GABRIEL The British army is barricaded in Boston. Harry Lee, is here from Virginia, recruiting for a Continental Army. MARION Is that why the Assembly was convened? GABRIEL Yes. He seeks a levy of troops and money. MARION And the Governor? GABRIEL He vowed that if the Assembly votes a single shilling to Lee, he'll dissolve the body. MARION Which would force our delegates in Philadelphia to vote for independence. CHARLOTTE And send us to war alongside Massachusetts. MARION Our governor is a bigger fool than I thought. GABRIEL Lee is counting on your vote and expects you to be the first to enlist. Marion nods thoughtfully without revealing what he thinks of Lee's expectations. Marion turns back to watch the mob. EXT. ASSEMBLY HALL - CHARLESTON - DAY The capital building of South Carolina. A large crowd of lower-class men and women is massed in front of the Assembly Hall. As well-dressed Assemblymen walk into the building, the CROWD YELLS words of encouragement to some and berates others. In the square in front of the Assembly Hall a squadron of blue-uniformed AMERICAN CONTINENTAL SOLDIERS drills. A recruiting table is being set up by a Continental Captain and several military clerks. Marion and Gabriel walk across the square toward the Assembly Hall. As they push their way through the crowd, Gabriel eyes the Continentals. INT. ASSEMBLY HALL - DAY Two dozen ANGRY, YELLING, MEN OF PROPERTY. Among them are ROBINSON, HAMILL and JOHNSON, who are Patriots. Opposed to them are SIMMS, WITHINGTON and BALDRIDGE who are Loyalists (loyal the the King). As Marion makes his way to his seat, the SPEAKER OF THE ASSEMBLY POUNDS HIS GAVEL. SPEAKER ORDER! ORDER! Slowly, the room quiets down. SPEAKER Our first order of business... SIMMS And out last if we vote a levy... The ROOM ERUPTS. SPEAKER ORDER! ORDER! Mr. Simms, you do not have the floor. The ROOM SETTLES DOWN. SPEAKER Our first order of business is an address by Colonel Harry Lee of the Continental Army. An imposing figure rises and makes his way to the front of the assembly. He's COLONEL HARRY LEE, about Marion's age and cut from the same cloth -- strong, weathered, with a powerful bearing. The room quiets down. Lee sees Marion and offers a familiar nod, which Marion returns, stone-faced. Then Lee speaks, simply and clearly. LEE You all know why I am here. I am not an orator and I will not try to convince you of the worthiness of our cause. I am a soldier and we are at war and with the declaration of independence we all expect from Philadelphia, it will soon be a formal state of war. In preparation for that, eight of the thirteen colonies have levied money in support of a Continental Army. I ask South Carolina to be the ninth. SIMMS Colonel Lee, Massachusetts may be at war, along with New Hampshire and Rhode Island and Virginia, but South Carolina is not at war. LEE Massachusetts and New Hampshire are not as far from South Carolina as you might think and the war they're fighting is not for independence of one or two colonies. It's for the independence of a nation. WITHINGTON And what nation is that? Robinson, one of the Patriots, stands up. ROBINSON An American nation. Colonel Lee, with your permission? LEE Please. ROBINSON Those of us who call ourselves Patriots are not seeking to give birth to an American nation, but to protect one that already exists. It was born a hundred-and-seventy years ago at Jamestown, Virginia and has grown stronger and more mature with every generation reared and with every crop sown and harvested. We are a nation and our rights as citizens of that nation are threatened by a tyrant three thousand miles away. LEE Thank you. Were I an orator, those are the exact words I would have spoken. Laughter. Marion rises. MARION Mister Robinson, tell me, why should I trade one tyrant, three thousand miles away, for three thousand tyrants, one mile away? Laughter from the Loyalists. Surprise from Lee and the Patriots. In the gallery, Gabriel winces. ROBINSON Sir? MARION An elected legislature can trample a man's rights just as easily as a King can. LEE Captain Marion, I understood you to be a Patriot. MARION It's Mister Marion. LEE I understood him to be a Patriot as well. More laughter. MARION If you mean by a Patriot, am I angry at the Townsend Acts and the Stamp Act? Then I'm a Patriot. And what of the Navigation Act? Should I be permitted to sell my tobacco to the French traders on Martinique? Yes, and it's an intrusion into my affairs that I can't... legally. Laughter. MARION And what of the greedy, self-serving bastards who sit as Magistrates on the Admiralty Court and have fined nearly every man in this room. Should they be boxed about the ears and thrown onto the first ship back to England? I'll do it myself. (beat) And do I believe that the American colonies should stand as a separate, independent nation, free from the reins of King and Parliament? I do, and if that makes a Patriot, then I'm a Patriot. Marion grows more serious. MARION But if you're asking whether I'm willing to go to war with England, the answer is, no. I've been to war and I have no desire to do so again. The room is quiet, the Assemblymen having been thrown off- balance. Gabriel is stunned and disappointed by his father's speech. ROBINSON This from the same Captain Francis Marion whose anger was so famous during the Wilderness Campaign. Marion glares at Robinson, then smiles. MARION I was intemperate in my youth. My departed wife, God bless her soul, dampened that intemperance with the mantle of responsibility. Robinson looks derisively at Marion. ROBINSON Temperance can be a convenient disguise for fear. Marion bristles but before he can answer, Lee steps in. LEE Mister Robinson, I fought with Captain Marion in the French and Indian War, including the Wilderness Campaign. We served as scouts under Washington and I have no doubts about Captain Marion's courage or competence on a battlefield. There's not a man in this room, or anywhere, for that matter, to whom I would more willingly trust my life. ROBINSON I stand corrected. LEE Nonetheless, I would like to know, Mister Marion, how... how... how... Lee's oratorical skills peter out. LEE Damn it, Francis! How in God's name do you expect to gain independence without going to war? MARION Harry, Harry, Harry... Marion and Lee drop all formality and become nothing more than two old friends, pissed off. LEE My hairy arse! You live in a cave if you think we'll get independence without war... The Speaker POUNDS HIS GAVEL. SPEAKER Gentlemen! Please! This is not a tavern! MARION Wasn't it a Union Jack we fought under? LEE A long time ago... MARION Thirteen years... LEE That's a damn long time... The Speaker POUNDS HIS GAVEL again. SPEAKER Gentlemen! Please! Marion and Lee ignore the speaker. MARION You were an Englishman then... LEE I was an American, I just didn't know it yet... The astonished Assemblymen and now even the Speaker watch the argument avidly, turning their heads in simultaneous anticipation of each rejoinder. MARION We don't have to go to war to gain independence... LEE Balderdash! MARION There are a thousand avenues, other than war, at our disposal... LEE Name five hundred. MARION Royal petition, delegates to court, judicial redress, economic boycott, bribery... LEE That's five, keep going... MARION ... time, royal succession, regicide, bribery... LEE You said bribery twice... Marion speaks slowly and firmly. MARION We do not have to go to war to gain independence. Lee says nothing for a moment, then he speaks more seriously, quietly, grimly. LEE Francis, I was at Bunker Hill. It was as bad as anything you and I saw on the frontier. Worse than the slaughter at the Ashuelot River. The British advanced three times and we killed over seven hundred of them at point blank range. And still, they advanced and they took the ground. That is the measure of their resolve. If your principles dictate independence, then war is the only way. It has come to that. Marion is silent for a long moment. He softens, finds himself unsteady and speaks far more honestly than he ever wanted to. MARION I have seven children. My wife is dead. Who's to care for them if I go to war? Lee is stunned by Marion's honesty and his show of weakness. At first Lee has no answer, then: LEE Wars are not fought only by childless men. A man must weigh his personal responsibilities against his principles. MARION That's what I'm doing. I will not fight and because I won't, I will not cast a vote that will send others to fight in my stead. LEE And your principles? MARION I'm a parent, I don't have the luxury of principles. The other Assemblymen, both Patriots and Loyalists, stare at him, appalled. Marion, feeling weak, sits down. Lee looks at his friend with more sympathy than disappointment. Then Lee turns to Robinson who addresses the chair. ROBINSON Mister Speaker, I call for a vote on a levy to the Continental Army. HAMILL Second. SPEAKER So moved. The vote is taken on a roll call. Gabriel watches from the gallery. SPEAKER Mr. Robinson. ROBINSON Yea. SPEAKER Mr. Hamill. HAMILL Yea. SPEAKER Mr. Johnson. JOHNSON Yea. SPEAKER Mr. Simms. SIMMS Nay. SPEAKER Mr. Marion. No response. SPEAKER Mr. Marion. MARION Nay. In the gallery Gabriel turns and walks out. The roll call continues. Marion sits, eyes straight ahead. EXT. ASSEMBLY HALL - DAY The crowd waits. The doors open and a PAGE BOY dashes out and runs to the Continental Captain at the recruiting table. PAGE BOY Twenty-eight to twelve, the levy passed! The Continental Captain motions to an assembled squadron. They raise their muskets and FIRE A VOLLEY into the air. Other soldiers, STRIKE UP A MARTIAL AIR ON FIFES AND DRUMS. Volunteers crowd around the recruiting table, YELLING and jostling for position. The delegates walk out. Both Patriots and Loyalists give Marion a wide berth. Marion sees Gabriel, standing near the crowd at the recruiting table. Marion walks up to him. GABRIEL Father, I've lost respect for you. I thought you were a man of principle. MARION When you have children, I hope you'll understand. GABRIEL When I have children, I hope I don't hide behind them. Marion looks closely at Gabriel. MARION Do you intend to enlist without my permission? GABRIEL Yes. They lock eyes for a moment, then Gabriel turns from his father and walks away, joining the crush around the recruiting table. Marion stands alone in the middle of the chaos. The FIFES AND DRUMS continue to play. Marion doesn't hear them. Harry Lee walks out of the Assembly hall with a triumphant group of Patriots who look at Marion coldly. Lee excuses himself, and steps over next to Marion. Lee sees that Marion is watching Gabriel at the enlistment table. LEE One of yours? MARION Gabriel. LEE I recognize him now. Is he as imprudent as his father was at his age? MARION No, thank the Lord. He's more like his mother. LEE I'll see to it that he serves under me. MARION Thank you. They shake hands. Then Lee walks over to the soldiers. Marion takes a last look at Gabriel, then heads off through the crowded square, moving against the tide of men headed toward the recruiting table. EXT. POND BLUFF - DAY Springtime. The apple tree at the top of the hill is covered with blossoms. SUPERIMPOSITION: "TWO YEARS LATER" EXT. FIELD - POND BLUFF - DAY Marion plows a field. Nathan leads the plowhorse. Samuel follows, breaking up the clods of dirt. Hard work. They stop to catch their breath. A SOFT WIND blows. Marion turns his head as if listening for a faint voice. He hears nothing. He snaps the reins and continues plowing. INT. MARION'S ATTIC - LATE AFTERNOON Dark. Thomas steps up into the attic. He finds a trunk and opens it. Lifting out some blankets, he uncovers a trove of Marion's old military gear -- a worn battle coat, a box of medals, a military sword, rusted into its scabbard. Thomas puts on the coat, which hangs off his narrow shoulders. He stands in front of a dusty mirror, appraising himself, then stops as he hears FOOTSTEPS coming up the stairs. It's Marion, tired and dirty from his plowing. Thomas grimaces, expecting him to be angry, but sees him shake his head gently. MARION Not yet, Thomas. THOMAS When? Marion looks closely at his son, giving him the courtesy of really thinking about the answer. MARION Seventeen. THOMAS But it's already been two years and that's two more years. The war could be over by then. MARION God willing. Thomas considers it, then nods. THOMAS Alright. Seventeen. Marion offers his hand. They shake firmly, like adults. Marion takes the coat off Thomas and puts it back in the trunk. They walk down the stairs together. INT. POND BLUFF - DAWN All is quiet. A dawn mist hovers close over the ground. Some sparrows feed at the base of the apple tree near the gravesite. DISTANT THUNDER. Low and rolling. The birds stop feeding, uneasy, then fly away. INT. MARION'S BEDROOM - DAWN At another roll of the DISTANT THUNDER Marion awakes. He gets out of bed and pulls on his clothes. EXT. FRONT PORCH - MARION'S HOUSE - DAWN Marion steps out to his front porch and listens. He knows the sound, the DISTANT STACCATO BOOMS OF CANNON and the PATTERING WAVE OF THOUSANDS OF MUSKETS FIRING. One by one the children join him. Thomas, Nathan and Samuel listen analytically. Margaret and Susan press close against their father. William looks curiously at the cloudless sky. WILLIAM Is it going to rain? THOMAS That's not thunder. The SOUND BECOMES DEEPER, MORE OMINOUS. They all notice the change. NATHAN Father? MARION Six-pounders. Lots of them. MARGARET How far away? MARION Four, five miles. SAMUEL Waxhaus? MARION Just east of it. MARGARET Are we safe here? Marion puts on a smile. MARION Don't worry. MARGARET We could go stay at Aunt Charlotte's farm. She's to the west. MARION No, there'll be skirmishers on the roads. We're safer here. Thomas appears at the doorway with a pair of muskets. He gives one to Nathan and offers the other to his father. MARION Put those away. THOMAS But father, they might come this way. MARION Put them away. Reluctantly, Thomas takes the muskets back into the house. MARION Enough. I'll be in the workshop. Samuel, the cows. Thomas, attend to your studies here on the porch. Nathan, on the back porch. If you see anyone, come get me. Margaret, please keep William close to you. No one is to go past the yard wall. They all nod. Marion walks off toward the workshop, followed by Susan. The others hesitate. MARION Children. They head off to do as they were told. INT. WORKSHOP - DAY Marion works the lathe. Susan watches from her perch on the woodpile. EXT. BARN - DAY The SOUND OF A CRASH from inside the barn. An angry cow runs out of the barn, dragging a tenacious Samuel who is holding onto the cow's neck. Samuel's grip fails and he lands in the dirt. The cow runs about thirty yards down the hill, stopping on the bank of the river. Samuel grabs a rope and heads down the hill to get the cow. ON THE RIVERBANK As Samuel approaches the cow, he see it skittishly approaching then retreating from the water. Then he sees the cause -- the water in the river has a pale, pink hue. Samuel stares at it, trying to figure out what it is. Behind him, Margaret sees her brother beyond the yard wall. MARGARET Samuel... He doesn't respond. Margaret, trailed by William, walks down toward Samuel. MARGARET Samuel, get up to the house. You heard father... Then she sees it, too. The pale pink is turning redder and redder. And then the BODIES. First one, then more, many more. Torn apart. Missing limbs. Those with wide- open wounds, are already drained of blood. Others are still seeping, leaving trails of deep red in the paler red of the surrounding water. Samuel, Margaret and William stand frozen, appalled and fascinated. MARION steps out of the workshop and sees the children at the river. He can't see what they're looking at. Irritated, he walks toward them. Then, as he nears the river, he sees the color of the water and the bodies that have hypnotized his children. He quickens his stride, speaking calmly but firmly, careful not to frighten them. MARION Up to the house, now. All of you, come on. Now. EXT. MARION'S HOUSE - NIGHT Quiet. Dark. Marion stands on the front porch, looking out into the night, listening, hearing nothing. He glances up at the star-filled sky, tracking his eyes from the Big Dipper to the NORTH STAR. BEHIND THE HOUSE, A FIGURE IN THE DARKNESS, carrying a musket, moves from shadow to shadow. INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT Margaret and Samuel and William talk, their voices low. SAMUEL They're going to come. MARGARET Quiet. SAMUEL We're going to have to fight them off. WILLIAM Father will do that. SAMUEL They'll probably kill us men and do Lord knows what to you women. MARGARET Samuel! A SOUND. They all stop. Something moved behind the kitchen. Margaret silently eases the others out of the room, through the darkened hall toward their father. SUDDENLY IN FRONT OF THEM, A BLOODY FIGURE Big. Hulking. In uniform. Margaret SCREAMS. William and Samuel CRY OUT. The figure moves toward them... Marion, on the porch, hears the scream, races into the house. He sees the figure, moves toward it... THE FIGURE MOVES INTO THE LIGHT... Marion sees the bloodied face... MARION Gabriel! Gabriel is wounded, battered and dirty. He carries a musket and a dispatch case. He sways. Marion catches him and eases him to a seat. MARGARET You're hurt. THOMAS The battle, were you there? MARION Margaret, get bandages and water. Thomas, the porch, eyes open. Marion checks Gabriel's wounds which are nasty but not life-threatening. GABRIEL Have you seen any Redcoats? MARION Not yet. What happened? Margaret brings water and linen to Marion who expertly cleans Gabriel's wounds and applies field-dressings. GABRIEL It wasn't like Saratoga. There, we stayed in the trees, but this time Gates marched us straight at the Redcoats. They fired two volleys into us and we broke like straw. I was given these dispatches... I saw Virginia Regulars surrender... as they laid down their weapons the British Green Dragoons rode into them and hacked them to bits... killed them all, over two hundred men. Marion's appalled. MARION They had surrendered? Gabriel nods. Marion's stunned. Gabriel tries to rise. GABRIEL I have to get these dispatches to Hillsboro. MARION You're in no condition to ride. GABRIEL I have no choice, I... Gabriel passes out. Marion catches him and carries him to a day-bed in the parlor. As Marion lays him down, they hear HEAVY MUSKET FIRE, VERY CLOSE. Marion hurries to the door and looks out into the night, the children cluster around him, seeing a strange sight. A SKIRMISH IN THE FIELD BELOW THE HOUSE Pitch black. Then a MUSKET FIRES, creating a FLASH OF LIGHT that illuminates a tableau of soldiers, about three dozen Redcoats and as many Patriots. The strobe of the musket shot provides targets for an ensuing VOLLEY OF SHOTS in every direction. Then darkness, punctuated by SCREAMS OF PAIN, CONFUSED HOLLERING and the RUSTLING OF ARMED MEN IN MOVEMENT. Then the pattern repeats itself: A MUSKET FIRES, illuminating a tableau of targets for another MURDEROUS VOLLEY OF SHOTS. MARION Margaret, take William and Susan down to the root cellar. Thomas, go to the back porch. Nathan and Samuel, the side windows. Keep out of sight. They hurry off. Marion steps into the house and opens his gun cabinet. He extracts two pistols and a pair of muskets. Then he steps back to the front door. He waits and watches. EXT. LOWER FIELD - POND BLUFF - DAWN First light. The morning mist lies low over the field. Marion warily approaches the scene of the battle. He carries a Pennsylvania rifle, has another slung over his shoulder, and has a pair of pistols in his belt. As Marion nears the field he sees, appearing out of the low mist, a nightmarish vision. Young Redcoats and Continentals are scattered on the ground, dead and wounded. Many have been hideously torn apart by the massive musket balls. Blood is everywhere. Marion hurries back toward the house. EXT. LOWER FIELD - POND BLUFF - MORNING Marion loads the wounded men onto a wagon, helped by Thomas, Nathan and Samuel. EXT. MARION'S HOUSE - POND BLUFF - DAY The porch and yard have been turned into a field hospital. There are about two dozen wounded, a few more Patriots than Redcoats. Thomas, Nathan, Samuel and Margaret help Marion tend the soldiers. William and Susan watch from inside. Marion treats an arm wound, retying a tourniquet, stanching an ugly flow of blood. Marion moves to the next of the wounded. Thomas starts to help but Marion shakes his head. MARION He's dead... Marion moves on to another. MARION Thomas, help me turn him over... They turn over a young Continental and see a horrible wound on his back. Thomas, swoons. MARION Thomas! A hard glare from Marion strengthens his son. Together they bandage the wounded man. EXT. MARION'S HOUSE - AFTERNOON Triage completed. Margaret and Samuel give water and food. Marion kneels next to a CONTINENTAL SERGEANT and a COUPLE OF PRIVATES who are less severely wounded than the others. CONTINENTAL SERGEANT Thank you. Marion nods, uncomfortable with the thanks. MARION Sergeant, there are seventeen wounded men here. Seven Redcoats and ten Patriots, counting my son inside. That puts me in a difficult position. The Continental Sergeant knows what's coming. The Privates and Marion's children don't. MARION You three are the least severely wounded. I have to ask you to leave and find care elsewhere. The Privates are stunned at the request. The Sergeant looks at Marion's children and nods. SERGEANT I understand. He struggles to his feet and jerks his head for the two Privates to do the same. SERGEANT Come on, boys. Nathan, Samuel and Margaret are confused. THOMAS Father? NATHAN But they're wounded. MARION There are rules, even in war. Marion motions to a large, old scar on his arm. MARION After the Battle of Ashuelot River, against the French, I got this and the one on my leg. I couldn't walk. Washington had to march north. He left me with other wounded men and a like number of French prisoners. Nine for nine. When the French found us, their surgeon gave me the best of care. We'll be safe this way. Marion's children are not convinced. The Sergeant and the two Privates gather themselves to leave. MARION Your best chance is in Bennington, seven miles east, along the river road. The wounded men nod grimly and start off down the road. MARION Thank you. Marion and his children watch them go. EXT. POND BLUFF ROAD - DAY A dirt road runs along the edge of the Santee Swamps, stretching toward green, rolling hills beyond. Beautiful country. Peaceful. Then, the GROUND BEGINS TO SHAKE. A THUNDEROUS SOUND rises, louder and louder. HORSES HOOVES. From around a bend, a detachment of cavalry gallops: British GREEN DRAGOONS. The finest light calvary in the world. Hard, strong men. Excellent horsemen. Their mounts are powerful, muscled and perfectly cared for. The Dragoons themselves are all hardened veterans, marked with the blood and dirt of a recent battle. Tired and vigorous. They're armed to the teeth. Each carries a flintlock carbine, a brace of pistols and a sword. Some carry lances as well. Regimental flags flutter. They are forty of the most imposing, frightening horsemen imaginable. And at their head, the most imposing man of all, LT. COLONEL BANASTRE TARLETON. "The Butcher." Aristocratic. Strong. Dark. A powerful horseman on the best mount of the entire troop. Decorated. Imperious. No temper, just hard, cold authority. His men struggle to keep up with him. Behind them, two dozen LOYALIST MILITIA CALVARY (American civilians loyal to the crown). Nasty, local men. Civilian clothes. Riding at their head is AMOS GASKINS, grizzled, lower-class, wearing ill-fitting patrician's clothing. AROUND A BEND The three wounded Patriots who just left Marion's farm hear the horses coming, stand on the side of the road, raise their arms and a white cloth of surrender. The Green Dragoons rein in. Tarleton stops in front of the three men. He motions for one of his men to lower his weapon. Then he speaks calmly, quietly, to the wounded men. TARLETON You're surrendering. CONTINENTAL SERGEANT Yes, sir. TARLETON What unit? CONTINENTAL SERGEANT First Virginia Regulars under Colonel Hamilton. TARLETON Who cared for your wounds? They hesitate. CONTINENTAL SERGEANT We did. TARLETON With a lace table cloth? Tarleton turns to his second-in-command, MAJOR WILKINS. TARLETON Kill them. Tarleton rides off. Wilkins and several other Dragoons calmly FIRE THEIR PISTOLS, killing the three Patriots. The troops ride off, thundering past the bodies of the three men. EXT. POND BLUFF - DAY Marion and his children tend the wounded. Gabriel, weak but walking, helps. REDCOAT INFANTRY appears out of the woods, heading toward the house. Three dozen men. Scouts and flank units covering the main body. Marion gathers his family around him, stands and waits. The Redcoats get to the house, warily eye the wounded and Marion's family. A young REDCOAT LIEUTENANT motions his men to check out the house and barn, then looks at the wounded, doing a silent count. He turns to Marion. REDCOAT LIEUTENANT These men are of my regiment. Thank you. Marion nods. ONE OF THE REDCOATS emerges from the house carrying Gabriel's dispatch case. REDCOAT Rebel dispatches, sir. Gabriel steps up. GABRIEL I carried those. I was wounded, these people gave me care, they have nothing to do with the dispatches. REDCOAT LIEUTENANT I understand. The SOUND OF HORSES HOOVES. All turn and see: TARLETON AND THE GREEN DRAGOONS Thundering down the road toward the house. It's an impressive, frightening sight. They rein in their horses, stopping in the yard, enveloped by their trailing cloud of dust. Tarleton surveys the scene, then speaks to the young Redcoat Lieutenant. TARLETON Lieutenant, have a detachment take our wounded to our surgeons at Camden crossing. Use whatever horses and wagons you can find here. REDCOAT LIEUTENANT Yes, sir. He hands the dispatch case to Tarleton. REDCOAT LIEUTENANT We found this, sir. Tarleton opens it and quickly scans the contents. TARLETON Who carried this? GABRIEL I did. TARLETON (to Lt. re: Gabriel) Take this one to Camden, he's a spy. He will be hung. Marion quickly steps between Tarleton and Gabriel. MARION Colonel, he's a dispatch rider and that's a marked dispatch case. Tarleton ignores Marion and continues speaking to the Lieutenant. TARLETON Fire the house and barns. REDCOAT LIEUTENANT Yes, sir. MARION Colonel... REDCOAT LIEUTENANT And the Rebel wounded? TARLETON Kill them. The Redcoat Lieutenant and several of his men are shocked by the order. Marion is, also, but he's more concerned with Gabriel. He pushes past some Redcoats and stands at Tarleton's mount, looking up. MARION A dispatch rider with a marked case cannot be held for spying. Tarleton finally pays attention to Marion. He looks down at his anguished face and offers the barest of smiles. TARLETON We're not going to hold him, we're going to hang him. MARION But... Tarleton draws his pistol and points it at Marion. Gabriel tries to intercede but is held back by a burly Redcoat Corporal. GABRIEL Father... TARLETON Oh, he's your son. You should have taught him about loyalty. MARION Colonel, I beg you, please reconsider. By the rules of war, a dispatch rider with a marked case... Tarleton controls his shifting mount, keeping his pistol trained on Marion's face. TARLETON Would you like a lesson in the rules of war? Marion doesn't answer. He looks up at Tarleton coldly, taking his measure, waiting to see if he's going to pull the trigger. Tarleton walks his horse a couple of steps and shifts his aim, pointing the pistol among Marion's children. TARLETON Perhaps your children would. The children are terrified. Thomas is more angry than frightened. Marion quickly steps between the pistol and his children and speaks quietly to Tarleton. MARION No lesson is necessary. Tarleton sees the terrified expressions on the faces of Marion's children. He smiles at the effect. Then he holsters his pistol. Marion and his children watch as one of the Redcoats ties Gabriel's hands. Thomas is beside himself. THOMAS Father, do something. Thomas grows increasingly agitated. He sees that his father is going to do nothing. He gauges the distance between Gabriel and the cover of the nearby woods. Then suddenly, Thomas SPRINGS. He RUNS, THROWING HIMSELF, into the two Redcoats holding Gabriel, KNOCKING THEM DOWN. THOMAS Gabriel! Run! Gabriel is too shocked to take flight. A few of the Redcoats, including one of the ones knocked down, shake their heads with sad laughter at Thomas' ineffectual gesture. One of them grabs Thomas by the scruff of the neck and yanks him to his feet. TARLETON sees the commotion. Without pausing he DRAWS HIS PISTOL AND FIRES, HITTING THOMAS IN THE BACK. THOMAS is thrown to his knees by the shot. Stunned, confused, he looks down and sees the massive exit wound in his chest. MARION, horrified, catches Thomas as he falls, easing him to the ground. MARGARET CRIES OUT. THE OTHER CHILDREN are stunned to silence. The REDCOATS are frozen in place. Tarleton's GREEN DRAGOONS are impassive, having seen worse. MARION holds his son, looking at the huge, incomprehensible wound. He knows that Thomas is already dead, though his body still moves. MARION'S stunned agony turns to fury. He rises, his eyes trained on Tarleton, then stops as... TARLETON raises a second loaded pistol and a DOZEN GREEN DRAGOONS raise pistols and carbines, aiming them at Marion and his children. MARION FREEZES, torn between his fury and fear for his other children. He locks his eyes on Tarleton. TARLETON calmly baths in Marion's anger. Then, with a hard yank of the reins, he jerks his horse's head around and utters a sharp command to Wilkins. TARLETON Major. Tarleton spurs his horse and rides off without looking back. His GREEN DRAGOONS THUNDER after him. MARION'S CHILDREN begin to cry. Margaret tries to revive Thomas' lifeless body, gently caressing his cheek. MARGARET Thomas, please, Thomas... The Redcoats watch in silence. MARION LOOKS AT GABRIEL and turns to the Redcoat Lieutenant. MARION Lieutenant, please... The Lieutenant wavers, but he looks after the departing Tarleton and his resolve stiffens. He turns coldly to Marion. REDCOAT LIEUTENANT I have my orders. Sergeant! The Redcoat infantrymen scatter, some to get horses and wagons from the barn, others to torch the buildings. MARION stands among the children, all of whom look to Marion with pleading eyes, waiting for him to do something. MARGARET Papa, look what they did to Thomas... NATHAN Father, they're going to take Gabriel... With stone-faced fury, Marion watches the Redcoats do their work. From the barns, they hear the sounds of MUSKETS FIRING and the SQUEALS OF THE LIVESTOCK being killed. Other REDCOATS TORCH THE HOUSE, BARN AND OUTBUILDINGS. THE FLAMES RISE. The Redcoats bring out Marion's wagons and carriages and begin loading the Redcoat wounded. The Redcoat Lieutenant and several of his men walk among the Patriot wounded who start to struggle to their feet, begging for mercy. The Redcoats quickly OPEN FIRE, as if to get it over with. The WOUNDED PATRIOTS CRY OUT. More SHOTS. Then SILENCE. GABRIEL, his hands bound behind him, looks to his father with a combination of resoluteness and fear. Marion locks eyes with him. NATHAN Father, you can't let them take him... MARION Quiet. MARION AND THE CHILDREN Watch as the Redcoats form up and move out, leading Gabriel on a tether. Gabriel looks back helplessly but a hard jerk on the rope by one of the Redcoats turns him around. They disappear around a bend in the road. THE INSTANT THE REDCOATS ARE OUT OF SIGHT, MARION speaks firmly to his weeping children. MARION Don't move. MARION STRIDES to his front door and ENTERS THE BURNING HOUSE. INSIDE, FIRE EVERYWHERE. Picking a route between the flames, Marion walks to his gun cabinet. He opens it and pulls out weapons -- two Pennsylvania rifles, two muskets, two pistols, a long-bladed knife and a worn tomahawk. He carries them, with powder horns and ammunition pouches back toward the door. Marion walks OUT OF THE BURNING HOUSE. MARION Nathan, Samuel... Without breaking stride, Marion throws muskets to Nathan and Samuel who catch them. MARION Margaret, take William and Susan to the river shed. Hide there. If we're not back by dawn, go up the river to the Richardson's house. They'll take you to your Aunt Charlotte's farm. Nathan, Samuel, and I are going to get Gabriel. MARGARET But what about Thomas? MARION Leave him. Take care of William and Susan. Marion runs off toward the woods, Nathan and Samuel follow. Margaret hesitates, then herds William and Susan toward the river. The house is enveloped in flames. EXT. WOODED PATH - AFTERNOON Marion runs, breathing hard, keeping a punishing, steady pace. Nathan and Samuel run behind, less winded than their father. Marion makes up with cold fury what he lacks in youth. EXT. WOODED HILLSIDE - AFTERNOON Marion runs up to the crest of a wooded hill. Slows. Crawls the last few feet. Nathan and Samuel just behind him. Looks over the hillside. A path runs through a glen, about fifty feet below. Marion's eyes dart, absorbing the terrain, looking for advantage. He points. MARION Nathan, there. Samuel, there. The boys go where they're told. MARION I'll fire first. Then, Nathan, kill whoever is standing closest to Gabriel. Samuel, kill the last man in the line. They stagger under the weight of the orders. Marion notices but continues. MARION After that, Samuel, load for Nathan. If something happens to me, put down your weapons and run as fast as you can, that way, downhill. Hide in the brush by the river, then make your way home, get the others and go to Aunt Charlotte's farm. The boys hesitate. Marion looks at them firmly. MARION Boys... steady. NATHAN & SAMUEL Yes, father. Marion disappears into the underbrush. DOWN THE PATH The dozen Redcoats approach. Leading Gabriel on the rope. AHEAD OF THEM Marion waits in the thick undergrowth. On the hillside, Nathan and Samuel grip their muskets and exchange a frightened, troubled look. The REDCOATS enter the glen. MARION waits, then picks his moment and FIRES, killing the Redcoat Lieutenant with a shot to the chest. NATHAN AND SAMUEL INSTANTLY FIRE, dropping the last Redcoat in the line and the one holding Gabriel's rope. THE REDCOATS STOP in confusion... GABRIEL kneels, out of the line of fire. The REDCOAT SERGEANT takes command... REDCOAT SERGEANT FORM BY TWOS! BACK-TO-BACK LINES... MARION KILLS the Sergeant with a shot to the throat... Samuel finishes reloading, swaps muskets with Nathan who FIRES, DROPPING ANOTHER REDCOAT. REDCOAT CORPORAL READY... Marion FIRES, killing the Corporal, the last man of rank... Marion ducks to the side as a VOLLEY OF REDCOAT MUSKET FIRE tears into the spot marked by Marion's rifle smoke... FROM THIS MOMENT ON, MARION NEVER STOPS MOVING. He strides rather than runs, staying just inside the brush, offering only glimpses of himself. He changes his pace and direction repeatedly, ducking and weaving, firing and loading while moving. He never gives the Redcoats a stationary target, especially one marked by billowing smoke from his flintlock. It's an Indian tactic and it works. The Redcoats TRACK HIM WITH THEIR BARRELS, about to fire... Marion suddenly STOPS DEAD, REVERSES DIRECTION, several REDCOATS FIRE AND MISS. Six Redcoats left. Some primed, some reloading. A REDCOAT draws a bead on Marion who drops to the ground and FIRES, killing him. Samuel, WEEPING as he loads, hands a primed musket to Nathan who FIRES... The Redcoats turn their attention to THE SPOT MARKED BY NATHAN'S SMOKE... Marion SEES THE REDCOATS AIMING TOWARD THE BOYS. He instantly STRIDES OUT INTO THE OPEN, drawing the Redcoats' attention from his sons... Marion FIRES BOTH HIS PISTOLS, killing two Redcoats... One Redcoat finishes reloading... Marion rushes him, shoves aside the barrel and SLAMS him in the face with the butt of the musket... This is a DIFFERENT MARION, a vicious, savage Marion, killing with stunning brutality... Marion drops his own expended rifle and CATCHES THE REDCOAT'S LOADED MUSKET before it hits the ground shoves that musket into another Redcoat's belly and FIRES... Two Redcoats left, neither finished loading... MARION CHARGES, drawing his TOMAHAWK, ignores a GLANCING BAYONET WOUND to the neck, HACKS a Redcoat open... Splattering himself with BLOOD... The final Redcoat, a cherubic-face young man, ducks into the woods... Marion tears after him... A FOOTRACE... the young Redcoat BLASTING THROUGH THE BRUSH... the older Marion, panting, losing ground... A CLEARING... the Redcoat is almost to the cover of the trees on the far side... MARION THROWS HIS TOMAHAWK which FLIES through the air and SINKS IN THE REDCOAT'S BACK... Marion runs to the wounded Redcoat, grabs his hair, yanks back his head and SLITS HIS THROAT... Then, without pausing, Marion wrenches the tomahawk from the Redcoat's body, and races back toward his sons... AT THE GLEN Nathan and a weeping Samuel, stunned at the carnage, stumble down the hillside toward Gabriel. Marion runs up and motions for them to stop. Marion, checks the Redcoats, making sure they're all dead. MARION Samuel, reload. Nathan, untie Gabriel. They quickly do so as Marion picks up a loaded musket and scans the road and the underbrush. In a moment they're ready. Marion finds his own Pennsylvania rifle, then he and his sons disappear into the underbrush. EXT. POND BLUFF - DAY The house and barns smolder. Thomas' body lies in the yard. Nearby, the bodies of the Patriot wounded, now dead. EXT. RIVER SHED - POND BLUFF - DAY Margaret waits in the shed with William and Susan. They hear a SOUND. APPROACHING FOOTSTEPS. Margaret pulls her sister and brother to her and waits. The door opens. It's Marion and Gabriel, Nathan and Samuel. Margaret and the little ones throw themselves into Marion's arms. Margaret notices the blood on Marion. She hesitates but her relief tightens her embrace. EXT. POND BLUFF - DAY Marion, trailed by his children, walks past the soldiers' bodies and the remains of their house. He kneels down next to Thomas' body. On the ground Marion sees several of THOMAS' LEAD SOLDIERS. He stares at them for a moment, picks them up and puts them in his pocket. Marion picks up Thomas and carries him up the hill toward the apple tree and Elizabeth's grave. The children follow. EXT. HILLTOP - POND BLUFF - DAY Marion digs a grave. The children watch. The only sounds are Marion's labored BREATHING, the RASP OF THE SHOVEL and the RUSTLE OF DEAD LEAVES blown along the ground by a soft wind. Some dry leaves catch on Thomas' still wet blood, as if trying to bandage his wound. EXT. HILLTOP - POND BLUFF - DAY (LATER) Marion puts the last shovelfuls of dirt on the grave. Near tears and unsure of what to do next, he turns to Elizabeth's gravestone. The soft wind blows. Marion listens. He turns and sees his children looking up at him. Holding in his own tears, he gathers the children around him and let's them cry. MARION There, there... he's alright... he's with your mother now... He stiffens, speaking formally: MARION Lord, we pray that You accept this child, Thomas Marion and give him a place at Your side with his mother. We ask that You embrace him and help us to understand the manner in which Your mercy works. This we ask, in Your name. Amen. MARION'S CHILDREN Amen. Marion looks at Elizabeth's grave, then he gently eases his children away. EXT. BENNINGTON OVERLOOK - DAY Marion and his children stop at the overlook, seeing the Santee River valley spread out before them. The SMOKE from two dozen farms rises. GABRIEL The Morgans, the Halseys, Williams, Stantons... The smoke from the separate fires joins together high in the sky, forming what looks like stormclouds. They walk on. EXT. CHARLOTTE'S FARM - NIGHT Marion and his children wait in the cover of the woods. They see a pair of shadowed figures coming toward them from the house, Gabriel and Charlotte. GABRIEL Father, it's safe. Marion hustles the children out of the woods. INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT Charlotte sits, holding a sleeping Susan. The other children lie awake on pallets. Marion, still streaked with dried blood and sweat, tucks William and Margaret into bed. MARION Sleep, now. Marion moves on to Nathan. NATHAN Father... I killed those men... MARION Don't blame yourself, you did what I told you to do. NATHAN I'm glad I killed them... I'm glad... Marion isn't. He turns to Samuel who's cried-out. Marion reaches out to touch him but Samuel recoils from Marion's blood-streaked hand. Marion sighs and tucks him in. MARION Try to get some sleep. Marion moves to take Susan from Charlotte who shakes her head. CHARLOTTE I'll stay with them. Marion nods and leaves Charlotte with the children. INT. CHARLOTTE'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Marion enters. He starts to pace but grows unsteady. He rears back as if screaming but no sound comes from his mouth, as he looks upstairs, knowing his children are searching for the solace of sleep. He opens a cabinet, pulls out a bottle of liquor, pours and drinks. Then another. THE SOUND OF HORSEMEN. Gabriel walks in. Tired. Grim. GABRIEL How are they? Marion just shakes his head. GABRIEL Gates is at Hillsboro with the Continental Army. I'll leave in the morning to join him. Marion nods. Marion and Gabriel stand in silence for a long moment, neither one finding words. Then Gabriel speaks softly. GABRIEL I'll tend my horse. He leaves Marion alone. INT. CHARLOTTE'S FARMHOUSE - NIGHT (LATER) Marion stares at the fireplace. Charlotte walks in carrying a pitcher and fresh clothing. CHARLOTTE They're asleep. Marion is silent. Charlotte pours water into a washbowl and motions to Marion. He takes off his shirt. She begins cleaning away the blood and tending the wound on his neck. MARION How did this... how did I let this happen? CHARLOTTE You couldn't have known. MARION I should have known... once I would have... I used to be wary... and today I watched my son killed before my eyes... your sister civilized me and I damn myself for having let her... CHARLOTTE Thomas is dead but you've done nothing for which you should be ashamed. MARION I've done nothing and for that I am ashamed. She looks at him closely. CHARLOTTE If you go, I'll care for them as if they were my own. MARION I'll leave in the morning with Gabriel. He stares past her, looking at the flames in the fireplace. She tends his wounds. EXT. PORCH - CHARLOTTE'S FARMHOUSE - MORNING Marion and Gabriel finish saddling their horses. Marion embraces Nathan and Samuel. Then he turns to Margaret, William and Susan. WILLIAM When will you be back? MARION I don't know, William. WILLIAM Tomorrow? Marion winces. Margaret puts her arm around William. MARGARET No, not tomorrow. Marion kisses them both, then moves on to Susan, trying to coax a word out of the silent four-year-old: MARION Goodbye? She just looks at him. MARION Just one word? Goodbye? That's all I want. Susan shakes her head. He sighs, rises and turns to Charlotte. They hesitate, then embrace, hugging deeply but a bit awkwardly, holding each other just a moment longer than one would expect. She looks up at him... he kisses her on the cheek. Marion mounts up. And he and Gabriel head off, Susan, unnoticed and unheard, whispers: SUSAN Goodbye. Marion and Gabriel ride away. EXT. CAMDEN ROAD - DAY Marion and Gabriel ride past the signs of a small skirmish. Bodies. Abandoned wagons. Dead horses. A burning farm. EXT. CAMDEN HILLSIDE - DAY Marion and Gabriel ride to the crest of a hill. A vista spreads out before them. They see an awesome sight -- A MASSIVE SLASH OF RED approaches a MASSIVE SLASH OF BLUE. A battle is taking place about five miles away. Gabriel starts to spur his horse but Marion restrains him. MARION No, it's too late. Gabriel stops. Marion points out brightly colored clusters of men behind each army. MARION Command posts... Patriot... British... The distant slash of red stops. Marion and Gabriel hear only a GENTLE WIND and some nearby SONGBIRDS. Then, from a black mass of the side of the red slash, a sudden, silent eruption of white smoke. An instant later, the blue slash quivers. A moment later the SOUND OF THE CANNONS, RUMBLES UP THE HILL and rolls over Marion and Gabriel. The RED SLASH STOPS moving. It darkens as thousands of Redcoats raise their muskets and the front ranks kneel into firing position. Marion's eyes dart. He knows what's coming. MARION Break for the trees... break for the trees... A MASSIVE ERUPTION OF WHITE SMOKE billows from the red slash. An instant later, the blue line starts to break up as hundreds of distant Patriots fall. The SOUND OF THE BRITISH MUSKETS reaches Marion and Gabriel like the pattering of rain. Then the SMOKE OF INEFFECTIVE, SCATTERED VOLLEYS erupts from the Patriot lines. The red line holds firm. MARION Send them to cover! Goddamn you! But the blue line of the Patriots stays in the open field. From behind the Redcoats, FAST-MOVING GREEN AND RED MASSES move quickly onto the battlefield. CAVALRY. GABRIEL Father, we have to do something... The British cavalry slams into the blue line, shattering it. Tiny bits of blue move in every direction. GABRIEL Father... MARION It's already over. Marion watches, appalled. At this distance the moving slashes of color and billowing smoke are strangely beautiful. Marion turns his horse and heads down the hill, toward the rear of the Patriot lines. EXT. AMERICAN ENCAMPMENT - NIGHT A nightmare. SCREAMS OF AGONY. A few hundred battered, Patriot survivors treat their wounded and prepare to move out. The battle, so bloodless and beautiful at a distance, has, in its aftermath, become horrifically painful and ugly. Marion and Gabriel ride into camp, passing nervous sentries and a field surgery which is surrounded by pools of blood and amputated legs and arms. Marion sees HARRY LEE at a make-shift command post, barking orders, trying to pull things together. LEE Damn you, Sergeant, don't move the wounded twice, put them straight on the wagons from the surgeons. PATRIOT SERGEANT Yes, sir. LEE Lieutenant, detail men for outriders. We move out as soon as the wounded are ready. LIEUTENANT Yes, sir. The Lieutenant rushes off. Lee notices Marion and Gabriel, surprised to see them. He jerks his head for them to follow him into: LEE'S COMMAND TENT Once out of sight of the men, Lee loses his command bearing. Exhausted, he leans on his campaign table and looks closely at Marion, asking with his eyes why Marion is here. MARION Green Dragoons came to my home, killed my son, Thomas. It was Tarleton himself. LEE I'm sorry. MARION I'm sorry I wasn't here for this. LEE There's nothing you could have done, Gates is a damned fool. MARION We saw. LEE I begged him to stay in the cover of the trees but he insisted the only way to break Cornwallis was muzzle- to-muzzle. He spent too many years in the British army. MARION Where is he now? LEE Last anyone saw, riding hard, northeast, his staff a hundred yards behind, trying to catch up. MARION Who's in command? LEE I am, I think. MARION What are my orders? Lee gives Marion a tired smile. LEE If you want orders, I've got some for you. Lee ROLLS OUT A MAP for Marion and Gabriel. LEE We're a breath away from losing this war. In the North, Washington is reeling from Valley Forge, running and hiding from Clinton and twelve thousand Redcoats. (pointing) Here in the South, Cornwallis has broken our back. He captured over five thousand of our troops when he took Charleston and today he destroyed the only army that stood between him and New York. MARION So now Cornwallis will head north, link up with Clinton and finish off Washington. LEE And Patriots will start dying on the gallows instead of the battlefield. (beat) Unless we can keep Cornwallis in the South until the French arrive. A treaty was signed at Versailles after our victory at Saratoga. The French are sending a fleet and ten thousand troops. MARION When? LEE Fall, six months at the earliest. MARION Long time. LEE The bigger problem is where, not when. The French fleet won't sail north of the Chesapeake for fear of early storms. MARION So you're going to try to keep Cornwallis in the South until then. LEE Not me, you. I'm going north with every Continental regular I can find to reinforce Washington or he won't last six weeks. MARION You expect Cornwallis to be held here by militia? LEE Not held, just slowed down. MARION They're nothing but farmers and you're asking them to try to keep a tiger in their backyard. They'd be better off letting it move on. LEE They'd be better off, but the cause wouldn't be. MARION How many men does Cornwallis have under his command? LEE Four thousand infantry and around six hundred cavalry... (beat) ... including the Green Dragoons under Tarleton. At the mention of Tarleton, Marion nods. MARION I'll do what I can. Lee quickly writes something. LEE I'm giving you a field commission as a colonel. He hands it to Marion. Gabriel steps forward. GABRIEL Colonel Lee, I request a transfer to Colonel Marion's command. LEE Granted. Lee scribbles another order and hands it to Gabriel. Then he turns to Marion. LEE Good luck. Marion nods. They duck out of the tent. EXT. AMERICAN ENCAMPMENT - NIGHT (LATER) Marion and Gabriel stand watching Lee and his Continental regulars move out. Gabriel turns to Marion. GABRIEL What now, sir? MARION We put out the word. We'll start along the south side of the Santee... GABRIEL We'd cover more ground if we split up. MARION It's safer if we stay together. Gabriel steps in front of Marion. GABRIEL Colonel, I didn't request this transfer because you're my father. I requested it because I believe in this cause and this is where I can do the most good. MARION Oh? GABRIEL I've been doing this for two years. I'm the best scout in the Continental Army, the best horseman, the best shot, the best scavenger and I know every deer path and swamp trail between here and Charleston. MARION Is that so? GABRIEL Yes, sir. (beat) My father taught me. Marion looks at Gabriel closely. MARION Did your father teach you humility? GABRIEL He tried. It didn't take. Marion looks Gabriel up and down. MARION Alright, Corporal, you take Bennington, Harrisville, Acworth and the farms along Black Swamp. I'll take the north side of the river. We'll meet at Snow's Island. GABRIEL Yes, sir. They mount up. MARION And, Corporal... (beat) ... be careful. GABRIEL Yes... (beat) ... father. They ride off in different directions. EXT. BRADFORD VILLAGE - NIGHT Marion rides into a small village, passing several bodies in blue Continental uniforms, hanging from lampposts. Marion stops in front of a tavern, dismounts and enters. INT. TAVERN - BRADFORD - NIGHT As Marion walks in he's greeted by cold stares from half- a-dozen men, huddles over their drinks. MARION I'm looking for John Billings. BARTENDER He's dead. Marion looks closely at the grim, suspicious men. MARION If he comes back from the dead, tell him Francis Marion is looking for him. BARTENDER I'll be sure to do that. As Marion turns to leave he notices an open bottle of Madeira on one of the tables. He stops. MARION I'll wait. Miracles happen. A stand-off. Then, a hulking FIGURE appears in the shadows at the back doorway. He's JOHN BILLINGS, big, coarse, about Marion's age. Billings jerks his head for Marion to join him in the back room. INT. BACK ROOM - TAVERN - NIGHT Dark. Marion and billings talk over a bottle. BILLINGS You expect to hold Cornwallis with militia? MARION I expect to try. BILLINGS Trust you and Harry Lee. Remember that damned overland you two thought up in '62 to hit Fort Louis? MARION It worked. How many men can you raise? BILLINGS Not many. Dalton, Scott, they've got their reasons; Rev. Oliver, he believes in the cause; some of the young bucks; a few like me with nothing to lose... (beat) What about you? You've got a lot to lose. Marion drains his glass and stands up. MARION You coming, or not? Billings drains his glass. They walk out together. EXT. TAVERN - BRADFORD - NIGHT Marion and Billings ride away from the tavern, passing the hanging Patriot bodies. EXT. SNOW'S ISLAND - SANTEE SWAMPS - NIGHT A CACOPHONY OF BIRDS AND INSECTS. Swamp maples and willows form a canopy over moss-covered mounds and pools of plant-choked water. Gabriel leads several men, riding along a dry path that snakes through the swamp. They cross a narrow land bridge onto a wooded island, joining a dozen-and-a-half men, including Marion who kneels at a campfire. CLOSE SHOT: Several of Thomas' brightly painted LEAD SOLDIERS MELT in a cast-iron pan. The little men fall to their knees then lose form, turning into bubbling, molten metal. The new arrivals dismount and greet the others. Gabriel steps up behind Marion and watches as he pours the lead into a bullet mold, closes the lid and dips the mold into a bucket of water which HISSES and STEAMS. GABRIEL Father, this war is about more than Thomas. Marion doesn't look up. MARION Is it? GABRIEL If you're here only for revenge, you're doing a disservice to him as well as yourself. MARION How old are you? GABRIEL You know how old I am. MARION God help us all when you're forty. Marion puts some more lead soldiers into the pan. Gabriel shakes his head, turns away and goes to tend his horse. EXT. SNOW'S ISLAND ENCAMPMENT - MORNING Day breaks. A low, thick swamp mist covers the encampment. Marion, sits alone by the embers of last night's campfire. The men are awake. Some eat, others talk. Marion pulls himself out of his dark reverie. He takes the bullets from the mold and puts them in a pouch attached to his weapons' belt. Then he rises and heads over to the men. He surveys his brigade. Twenty-six men: framers, artisans, mountain men, none in uniform. Marion walks among them, nodding familiarly to several. He notices an imposing looking Cherokee Indian, BROTHER JOSEPH, standing a bit apart from the others. They exchange nods. He notices a stern-looking man in partial clerical garb, REV. CHARLES OLIVER. MARION Reverend. REV. OLIVER I heard about your son. I'm sorry. Marion accepts his condolences. He notes GEORGE DALTON, a tough-looking, rustic man with an ice-cold, distant stare. MARION Dalton. Dalton doesn't respond. Marion recognizes another face, ABNER BROWN, African-American, around thirty, rugged. Marion addresses the men who do not gather around so much as just give him their attention. MARION You all have your own reasons for being here. I lost a son and I intend to kill the man who killed him... Marion pauses and looks over at Gabriel. MARION ... But I don't consider that man's life adequate payment for the life of my son, and killing him won't keep the sons of other men from dying... Gabriel nods, approvingly. MARION Cornwallis has to move north. We have to keep him right here. If he's south of the Chesapeake when the French arrive, if the French arrive, we have a chance of winning this war. Marion looks from face to face. MARION Eat, get some rest, we move out in two hours. Marion heads back to his campsite, passing Gabriel without looking at him, but very aware of his son's eyes on him. EXT. BRITISH FIELD HEADQUARTERS - CAMDEN - DAY A massive British army field encampment. Thousands of well-armed, veteran troops. Large detachments of Redcoats march through endless rows of tents. Some are battle- worn, others are fresh troops moving out. TARLETON and his GREEN DRAGOONS, covered with dirt and sweat, ride into the encampment. Tarleton and Wilkins peel off, riding to the front of a farmhouse that has been commandeered for British headquarters. They dismount and stride in. INT. CORNWALLIS' HEADQUARTERS - CAMDEN FARMHOUSE - DAY British officers, clerks and aides work. They're in good spirits. LORD CORNWALLIS, a proud man, comfortable with command, coldly notes one of his officers slapping another on the back. MAJOR HUNTINGTON rolls out a map for Cornwallis. CORNWALLIS Gentlemen. The officers gather around the map. CORNWALLIS Major, this is not an adequate map. MAJOR HUNTINGTON We have better coming on the trailing supply convoy from Charleston. CORNWALLIS A useful place for our maps. MAJOR HUNTINGTON I'm sorry, sir, it won't happen again. Tarleton enters, followed by Wilkins. CORNWALLIS My harrier. Join us, Colonel. TARLETON Sir. Tarleton and Wilkins join them around the map. CORNWALLIS Gentlemen, celebration is premature. We have a difficult campaign ahead of us. We are in predominately hostile country and we cannot rely on forage. As we move north, the bulk of our supplies will reach us by sea, through Charleston, which will give us a long and vulnerable supply line, one that can only be secured if the locals are loyal to the crown. CORNWALLIS' OFFICERS (multiple) Yes, sir. Cornwallis turns to his field officers, paying particular attention to Tarleton. CORNWALLIS Nonetheless, we must remember that this is a civil war... Tarleton proudly holds Cornwallis' look. CORNWALLIS These colonials are our brethren and when this conflict is over, we will be reestablishing commerce with them. Surrendering troops will be given quarter and unwarranted assaults on civilians will cease. Wilkins shifts uneasily. Tarleton isn't cowed. CORNWALLIS I expect this war to be fought in a vigorous but civilized manner. Cornwallis looks at his other officers. CORNWALLIS Have I made myself clear, gentlemen? OFFICERS (multiple) Yes, sir. Cornwallis shifts his eyes back to Tarleton who was not among those who spoke. Tarleton pointedly pauses a moment, then says: TARLETON Yes, sir. Cornwallis turns his attention back to the map. His men gather around. EXT. CORNWALLIS' FIELD HEADQUARTERS - CAMDEN - DAY Tarleton and Wilkins walk out and mount up. WILKINS I believe he was speaking to us, Colonel. TARLETON Did you know that Lord Cornwallis' father was a tenant on the estate of my grandfather? Tarleton jerks his reins and rides off. Wilkins laughs and follows. EXT. WOODED ROAD - DAY A British supply train of several dozen wagons, a herd of horses and accompanying Redcoats makes its way. ON A WOODED HILLSIDE, Gabriel lies on the ground, observing the convoy. He eases back, mounts up, and rides off. EXT. BRIDGE - SANTEE RIVER - DAY Marion and his men wait, well-hidden in the brush on a rise, just above the bridge. Gabriel rides up. GABRIEL Less than a mile. Forty-one wagons, a company of Redcoat infantry, horses at the rear. MARION Flanking riders? GABRIEL I didn't see any. Marion nods and motions to his men who check their weapons and pass the word. Gabriel ties up his horse and takes a position near his father. EXT. SANTEE ROAD - NIGHT The British convoy rounds the curve. When two-thirds of the wagons have crossed the bridge, Marion FIRES, killing the Redcoat of highest rank, a CAPTAIN. BILLINGS AND DALTON heave CORKED BOTTLES which break, spreading their OILY CONTENTS on the wooden bridge. BROTHER JOSEPH fires a FLAMING ARROW, igniting the oil. The BRIDGE BURSTS INTO FLAMES, cutting off the tail of the convoy, stranding a dozen wagons and the herd of horses on Marion's side of the river. A REDCOAT LIEUTENANT takes command. REDCOAT LIEUTENANT Across the river! Covering fire! Double rank! Marion calls to his men. MARION Epaulets first... Kill the officers. Marion and his men FIRE A WITHERING VOLLEY, KILLING ALL REDCOATS OF RANK -- two lieutenants, a sergeant and several corporals. The LEADERLESS REDCOAT PRIVATES take cover as Marion's men OPEN UP on the Redcoats on their side of the river. MARION THE WAGONS! With half of his men FIRING COVER, Marion and the other half run to the wagons, passing Redcoat dead and wounded... DALTON, notices a WOUNDED REDCOAT and pauses... The Redcoat looks up imploringly at Dalton who finishes reloading, then coldly FIRES, KILLING THE helpless Redcoat... Marion, Gabriel and Rev. Oliver see Dalton kill the wounded Redcoat as they race toward the wagons, British musketballs SPLINTERING TREES all around them... The horses nearest the burning bridge are terrified, BUCKING AND REARING, STRUGGLING in their traces... MARION LEAPS INTO THE SEAT of one wagon. Gabriel and Billings grab the reins of two more wagons. The Redcoats keep up a STEADY FIRE. TWO OF MARION'S MEN FALL, one dead another wounded. Marion, Gabriel and Billings STRUGGLE TO CONTROL THE FRIGHTENED HORSES, backing them up around the curve to the cover of the woods. MARION'S REARGUARD, Brother Joseph, Abner, Dan Scott and others, withdraws in leapfrog, FIRING BACK ACROSS THE RIVER. BRITISH MUSKET BALLS SLAM into the trees and SPLINTER THE WAGONS... Another of Marion's men is WOUNDED. Two of his comrades HEAVE HIM onto one of the wagons... As Marion's men get the wagons turned and unblocked from each other, they DRIVE THEM OFF, one after another... Brother Joseph, Abner and the rest of the rearguard make it to Marion and LEAP INTO HIS WAGON... MARION snaps the reins and they THUNDER OFF, away from the BURNING BRIDGE and the FIRING Redcoats. EXT. SNOW'S ISLAND - DAY Marion's men tend their wounded and look through the British wagons, taking inventory. REV. OLIVER ... two-hundred-sixty-six Brown Bess muskets, forty-one casks of powder, balls, tamping... BILLINGS We have enough arms for an army. Now all we need is an army. Marion checks out a wagon full of tools with DAN SCOTT and ROB FIELDING, a couple of sharp-eyed craftsmen. They overlap dialogue, rapidly speaking the private language of colonial artisans. SCOTT Reamer, boring tool... MARION Swage, broach, etching tool... FIELDING A rolling gunsmith's shop... SCOTT We can rifle those musket barrels... FIELDING Get another hundred yards out of 'em... MARION We'll need a forge... SCOTT Easy enough... MARION We've got clay to make a chamber... FIELDING Oak to make charcoal... SCOTT Oil cloth and barrel staves to make a bellows... MARION And we can yank a wagon wheel, weight it, rig a piston and drive shaft and we'll have a flywheel to power the bellows... Scott and Fielding exchange an impressed look. SCOTT (to Fielding) That's why he's a colonel. Scott and Fielding roll up their sleeves and get to work. Marion hears a COMMOTION OF BARKING DOGS AND YELLING MEN and strides over to find Billings cowering before TWO HUGE GREAT DANES who stand guard at one of the wagons. BILLINGS Shoot them! Shoot the damn things! Dalton prepares to do so. MARION Put that pistol down! SCOTT They followed us from the bridge. They won't let anyone near the wagon. Marion steps forward, speaking softly but firmly to the dogs. MARION Stay... stay... stay... The dogs waver between obeying Marion and ripping out his throat. MARION Don't you growl at me! The dogs decide to obey. Marion lets them sniff his hand, then firmly pats them. MARION Now let's see what's in this wagon. Rev. Oliver and Abner join him. Billings eases past the dogs. Abner opens a large case and finds it filled with bottles. ABNER Rum, French Champagne, Madeira, Port... BILLINGS No wonder they were guarding it. Gabriel opens a trunk and finds it filled with powdered wigs, all perfectly coifed and stored on head-shaped wig- stands. Rev. Oliver opens one of several identical cases and finds it filled with papers. REV. OLIVER My heavens, personal correspondence of... Lord Cornwallis. Marion grabs some papers, scans them, then finds matching cases on nearby wagons. MARION These four wagons must be his. GABRIEL And the dogs, too, I'll wager. BILLINGS I say we drink the wine, shoot the dogs, and use the papers for musket wadding. MARION His journals, letters, maps, books... Abner calls from another wagon. ABNER Colonel, we got a wagon full of officer's uniforms and more powder and muskets here. Ignoring Abner, Marion, sits down on a stump with a pile of Cornwallis' papers and starts to read. EXT. SNOW'S ISLAND - NIGHT Marion sits at Cornwallis' ornate, folding campaign desk, reading Cornwallis' journal, surrounded by Cornwallis' field gear which includes furniture, music boxes, oil paintings and an elaborate folding commode. The TWO GREAT DANES sit nearby, eyeing Marion warily. The men have divided themselves into two groups, one coarse, the other civilized, each clustered around a separate fire. The coarse men, including Dalton, Brother Joseph and RANDOLPH, a grizzled, black-toothed mountain man, drink and laugh loudly, wearing Cornwallis' wigs askew. The civilized men, including Rev. Oliver, Gabriel, Scott, Fielding and Abner, talk quietly. Marion puts down the journal and walks over to the campfire where the rougher men are gathered. He stands just inside the firelight and speaks loudly, so that all can hear: MARION Today was hard earned but a good start. Marion looks at Dalton, then turns to the other men as well. MARION In the future wounded British soldiers will be given quarters. DALTON Like they gave quarter to my family? My wife and three children were hiding in our root cellar when they came. The Redcoats locked the door and torched the house. MARION You have my sympathy... but the order stands. DALTON And who are you to give an order like that? We all know what you did after Fort Wilderness. That hits home but Marion remains calm. MARION I'm your commanding officer. This is militia, not regular army. I can't hold you here, but as long as you stay, you'll follow my orders. Marion looks from face to face. Most begrudgingly nod. That's enough for Marion. As he heads back to his own campfire he's intercepted by Rev. Oliver who speaks to him out of earshot of the other men, except for Gabriel and Billings who overhear. REV. OLIVER Thank you. MARION For what? REV. OLIVER For trying to impose some decency on that sort. MARION Don't depend on my decency. I'm one of that sort. Marion walks on. Rev. Oliver exchanges a look with Gabriel, then heads off. As Marion joins Gabriel and Billings at his campfire, Billings grips his bottle. BILLINGS Am I one of that sort? MARION You're the worst of that sort. You're the sort that gives that sort a bad name. Billings considers that, then shrugs and takes a long drink. He hands the bottle to Marion who takes an equally long drink. Marion picks up his Pennsylvania rifle. MARION I'm going to check the watch. He disappears into the darkness leaving Gabriel and Billings at the campfire. GABRIEL He shouldn't make light. That Redcoat should not have been killed. BILLINGS He's not making light. Gabriel shoots Billings a dubious look. BILLINGS You don't know him very well, do you? GABRIEL He's my father. Billings looks closely at Gabriel. GABRIEL I know him well enough? BILLINGS Don't fault him for having grown up on the frontier. It was a harder time and a harder place than you know. Gabriel looks at Billings, then turns back to the fire. EXT. SNOW'S ISLAND - DAWN The men are beginning to stir, gathering around the campfires, cooking, using pots, pans and other gear from the stolen British wagons. Marion reads Cornwallis' journal. He looks up, stretches and walks over to a campfire where Gabriel, Billings and Rev. Oliver cook. The dogs follow at a distance. BILLINGS Well? MARION I've just been inside the mind of a genius. Lord Cornwallis knows more about war than I could in a dozen lifetimes. BILLINGS Cheerful news to greet the morn. MARION His victories at Charleston and Camden were perfect, strategically, tactically, logistically. But he has a weakness. They all turn to Marion. MARION Lord Cornwallis is brilliant. His weakness is that he knows it. GABRIEL Father? MARION Pride is his weakness. The men consider that. BILLINGS Personally, I'd prefer stupidity. MARION Pride will do. BEGIN MONTAGE: Series of shots as follows: -- A VOLLEY OF MUSKET FIRE erupts from some thick underbrush, cutting down half of a squadron of Redcoats on the march. The surviving Redcoats FIRE BACK into the trees at unseen targets to little effect. -- Marion rides with about fifty men. -- A British supply convoy makes its way through the woods. Suddenly, Marion's men appear, rising up from the ground as if by magic, having been camouflaged by leaves and brush. They OPEN FIRE on the convoy escort, which holds for a moment, then flees. -- Marion rides with about seventy-five men. -- Cornwallis finishes reading a dispatch and furiously flings it across the room. -- Marion rides with about one hundred men. -- Snow's Island. Marion and his men do an inventory of a large haul of stolen British supply wagons. The booty includes dozens of BRASS MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, some of which Marion's men BLARE in celebration. -- Marion rides with about one-hundred-fifty men. -- Marion, Gabriel, and some of the other men watch as the flaming supports of a BURNING WOODEN BRIDGE collapse into a river. -- A seething Cornwallis stands at the same spot, looking at the charred, now cooled, remains of the bridge. Cornwallis angrily mounts up and rides off. His contrite staff officers mount up and follow. -- Snow's Island. Marion sits with his muddy feet on Cornwallis' campaign desk, reading Cornwallis' journal, with Cornwallis' Great Danes at his side. EXT. CAMDEN - NIGHT Glittering lights shine from the Camden Inn, a grand structure in the center of town. A line of OPULENT CARRIAGES discharges well-dressed passengers, arriving for a ball. Ladies in their finery. Patrician husbands. Redcoat and Green Dragoon officers in magnificent dress uniforms. INT. CORNWALLIS' PERSONAL QUARTERS - EVENING Cornwallis, standing in front of a full-length mirror, is dressed by his VALET while Major Halbert, Colonel Huntington and Tarleton look on. CORNWALLIS Why am I here, Colonel Halbert? MAJOR HALBERT For the ball, sir? Cornwallis holds his temper. CORNWALLIS Why, after six weeks, are we still here to attend a ball. By now, we should be attending balls in North Carolina, not South Carolina. MAJOR HALBERT Our supply line, sir? CORNWALLIS Excellent guess, Major. The valet puts a dress coat on Cornwallis who looks at the garment with deepest disdain. CORNWALLIS And what, praytell, is this? VALET Uh... I borrowed it from Colonel North. I took it in at the back, added wider epaulets, a court sash and looped gold braiding on the cuffs... CORNWALLIS It's a horse blanket. (to Major Halbert) First my personal baggage, then half the bridges and ferries between here and Charleston burned, a dozen convoys attacked. Colonel, if you can't secure our supply line against militia, how do you expect to do so against Colonial regulars or the French when they come? COLONEL HALBERT Sir, they're not like regulars, we can't find them and we don't know when or where they're going to strike. CORNWALLIS How impolite. And who leads these clever, secretive fellows? COLONEL HALBERT We don't know, sir. He's called, the Commander by some, the Swamp Fox by others. CORNWALLIS Colonel, I'm a civilized man but I'm finding to difficult to remain civil. Secure my supply line. COLONEL HALBERT Yes, sir. Cornwallis looks at his reflection with dismay, sighs and strides out. Tarleton, amused, follows. EXT. CAMDEN STREET - NIGHT At the far end of town Marion, Gabriel, Billings, Dalton, Scott and several other men slip through the shadows into an alley. The lights from the ball shine from down the street and the MUSICAL STRAINS of a MINUET drift to them through the night. EXT. ARMORY - NIGHT A block-like building on the far edge of town. A pair of REDCOATS stand guard. A PAIR OF DRUNKEN REDCOATS stagger out of a side-street, SINGING A MUMBLING SONG. The Redcoat guards look at the drunk Redcoats enviously. REDCOAT GUARD Hey, what you got there? The drunken Redcoats look up, bringing their faces into the light -- THE DRUNKEN REDCOATS ARE BILLINGS AND DALTON. BILLINGS We got our own little party... DALTON To hell with the officers and their fancy dress ball... GUARD Give us a nip, here. Billings and Dalton walk over to the Redcoats guards. As the guards reach for the bottles, Billings SLAMS one of the guards back against the building... Dalton DRAWS A KNIFE and PLUNGES IT into the second guard's belly and HACKS HIM OPEN... Dalton shoves Billings out of the way, SLITS THE OTHER GUARD'S THROAT. Billings is taken aback by the speed and ferocity of Dalton's attack... Marion and Scott duck into the shadows of the doorway, pull out hammer-less carving chisels and quickly and silently start gouging out the wood around the hinges of the heavy door. Billings and Dalton take the posts of the guards while the other men drag the bodies of the real guards out of sight. Everything appears as it should. INT. BALLROOM - NIGHT Grand. Opulent. Cornwallis speaks with a small gathering of loyalist civilians, among whom is the spectacular MRS. TALBOT, who wears a daring dress that reveals an enormous expanse of bosom. At her side stands her toady of a husband, MR. TALBOT. MRS. TALBOT No! The beasts took your dogs, as well? CORNWALLIS Fine animals, a gift from His Majesty. Dead now, for all I know. MRS. TALBOT Is there no decency? MR. TALBOT Among the rebels? We know the answer to that. CORNWALLIS Yes, we have learned. INT./ EXT. CAMDEN ARMORY - NIGHT Marion and Scott shove their chisels through the door which falls away from the hinges. They all duck inside finding barrels and casks of gunpowder, boxes of weapons and hundreds of muskets. Gabriel and the others load themselves up with the best of the weapons as Marion opens a cask and pours a trail of gunpowder across the floor. EXT. BALCONY - CAMDEN INN - NIGHT Cornwallis, taking the night air with Mrs. Talbot, gazes at the moon, achieving the calculated effect. MRS. TALBOT You seem far away. CORNWALLIS It's the weight of command and the lot of a widower -- memories, loneliness... (with a self- deprecating laugh) ... and long gazes at the moon. Mrs. Talbot sympathetically sighs and touches her fingertips to her heart which is conveniently located inches above her stunning cleavage. MRS. TALBOT Oh, you poor man... A MASSIVE EXPLOSION LIGHTS UP THE NIGHT as a FIREBALL erupts from the armory. British officers, including Major Halbert and Tarleton, RUSH OUT along with Mr. Talbot and other Loyalist civilians. MAJOR HALBERT Good God! Mr. Talbot tears his eyes from the flames and looks at his wife, clinging to Cornwallis' arm. MR. TALBOT These rebels seem to lack fear as well as decency, eh, General? Cornwallis registers the insult, glances at the hapless Major Halbert, then turns to Tarleton. CORNWALLIS Colonel Tarleton, you deal with these damned rebels. TARLETON Yes, sir. Tarleton smiles grimly and strides off the balcony. EXT. VIEW OF PEMBROKE VILLAGE - DAY The village of Pembroke lies nestled in a valley, surrounded by tilled fields and small farms. EXT. PEMBROKE VILLAGE - DAY Forty of Marion's men water their horses. Marion, with the two Great Danes at his side, speaks with PETER GREEN, a middle-aged storekeeper with a marked limp. GREEN ... four baskets of apples, salt pork, sweet potatoes, jerky, hard tack, salt and powder. It's not much, but I'll get you more. MARION We can't pay for this... GREEN I'll give you what I can, when I can. You pay me what you can. Green's daughter, ANNE, very attractive, around sixteen, joins them. Gabriel sees her and sidles over. GREEN Francis, you remember my daughter, Anne. MARION Nice to see you again, Anne. Gabriel clears his throat. Anne looks at him coolly. ANNE I know who you are, Gabriel Marion. The last time I saw you, I was nine and you put ink in my tea. GABRIEL I... uh... that wasn't me, it was Samuel... I mean Nathan... ANNE It was you and it turned my teeth black for a month. GABRIEL Uh... uh... I... GREEN He's sorry. Come. Green heads across the square where some townspeople are giving Marion's men provisions. Anne and Gabriel follow. Marion turns to some waiting men, new recruits. Billings, nearby, reads A POSTED BROADSHEET that announces: "Reward Offered: For the capture or death of the rebel known as 'The Swamp Fox'". He tears it down and walks over to Marion. MARION ... and your terms of enlistment will be month-to-month. Every thirty days you can re-enlist or return to your families. REED, the sturdiest of the lot offers his hand to Marion. REED I'm in. The others nod in agreement. MARION Talk to Abner and Scott about provisions, powder and mounts. The recruits head off. Billings hands Marion the wanted poster which Marion glances at and crumbles up. BILLINGS Twenty men here, seventeen in New Brighton, a dozen along the Black River. We'll pass three hundred by week's end if this keeps up. ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SQUARE Gabriel and several of Marion's men take supplies from Green, Anne, and some other townspeople. Gabriel looks at Anne. GABRIEL If I'd known you were going to look like this, I never would have put ink in your tea. ANNE You call that a compliment? GABRIEL It's a start. She gives him a bit of a smile. He checks out her teeth. GABRIEL They look nice. As white as can be. She tries to glare but she can't help but laugh. MARION AND BILLINGS watch as Anne gives Gabriel some apples which he tosses into the air, one-by-one, catching them behind his back, a cocky move, executed with a disarming smile that makes Anne laugh again. Marion smiles at his son's flirtation. Billings smiles as well. BILLINGS He reminds me of you before you got old and ugly. MARION (softly) No, he takes after his mother... Billings is taken aback by the gentleness of Marion's words. MARION ... the younger ones barely remember her but Gabriel spent more time with Elizabeth... she taught him well, guided him, she was his North Star and mine... her father was a minister, in Boston, did you know that? Billings nods. MARION ... Gabriel's already a better man than I could ever hope to be... Marion hears himself and pulls his eyes from Gabriel, adopting a coarse, joking tone. MARION What do you mean, old and ugly? BILLINGS You got me beat on both accounts. MARION The hell I do. They mount up, grateful to leave the sincerity behind. Gabriel sees Marion and his men starting to ride off. He says goodbye to Anne, then RUNS TO HIS HORSE, MOUNTING WITH A DRAMATIC LEAP. He GALLOPS up, taking his place at his father's side. Marion doesn't turn to look at him, but he knows he's there. EXT. CAROLINA ROAD - DAY A patchwork of fields with a village visible in the distance. The ROLLINS BOYS, 10 and 12, work a field, harvesting grain. Hearing the SOUND OF HORSES' HOOVES, they stop and listen. Then they see a CLOUD OF DUST rising over the ridge line. Growing excited, they throw down their scythes and race down the hillside, madly stumbling and falling, trying to intersect the approaching sound. At the bottom of the hill they pass their father, BEN ROLLINS, who watches his sons plant themselves on the side of the road, gazing in awe at: MARION AND HIS MEN, THUNDERING BY. They're an impressive sight, a hundred-and-fifty heavily armed men, on powerful mounts, raising a cloud of dust as they gallop down the road. EXT. CHARLESTON ROAD - DAY Marion and forty of his men, including Gabriel, sit on their motionless horses in the middle of the road. There are a number of new faces among Marion's men, among them Ben Rollins. Gabriel is lost in thought. MARION Gabriel? Are you asleep? GABRIEL We're low on salt. I should go to Pembroke and get some. BILLINGS You got salt last week. GABRIEL Oh, right. (beat) Baking powder, we need baking powder. BILLINGS We've got plenty of baking powder. You went to Pembroke and got five pounds two weeks ago. Gabriel sighs. They hear a SOUND APPROACHING, then see two British wagons round a curve with a guard of only SIX REDCOATS, commanded by a REDCOAT SERGEANT. The Redcoat Sergeant signals stop. REDCOAT SERGEANT Halt. Look alive, boys. The young Redcoat privates nervously UNSHOULDER THEIR MUSKETS. MARION Sergeant, this road is closed. Those wagons now belong to the Continental Army. REDCOAT SERGEANT Ready arms! By twos! Marion's surprised by the Sergeant's order. MARION Sergeant, there's no reason for you and your men to die. Just leave the wagons and go. REDCOAT SERGEANT Steady, boys... Marion sighs and lets loose with a PIERCING WHISTLE. The underbrush parts and more of Marion's men show themselves, MUSKETS LEVELED at the outnumbered Redcoats. REDCOAT SERGEANT This is the King's highway and I advise you and your men to make way. (to his men) Prepare to fire. Marion exchanges a look with Rev. Oliver who, like Marion, doesn't want to kill these men. Seeing no other option, Marion turns to give the order, then stops, hearing a FAINT BARELY DETECTABLE, RUMBLING SOUND... A moment later Brother Joseph hears it as well... HORSES HOOVES, LOTS OF THEM, growing louder by the second, THUNDERING toward them from the road behind the British wagons... Then, the SOUND OF MORE HORSES, coming in fast on both flanks. MARION It's a trap... The canvas sides of the British wagons are THROWN UP and DOZENS OF REDCOATS, armed with muskets, spill out... Marion's unmounted men run to their horses, LEAPING into their saddles... Then GREEN DRAGOONS appear, galloping down the wooded slopes on both flanks, astonishing horsemen, weaving through the trees without slacking their pace, SWORDS DRAWN, PISTOLS PRIMED... REDCOAT SERGEANT FIRE! A THUNDEROUS VOLLEY ERUPTS from the Redcoat infantry, KILLING several of Marion's men... Marion's men FIRE BACK from their BUCKING MOUNTS, most of their shots going awry... Behind the British wagons, a huge detachment of GREEN DRAGOONS appears, TARLETON among them... MARION SEES THE DRAGOONS BUT NOT TARLETON HIMSELF... MARION AND HIS MEN spur their mounts, taking off down the road in the opposite direction... The FLANKING BODIES OF DRAGOONS gallop out of the woods, JOINING THE MAIN BODY, riding in hard pursuit... EXT. WOODED ROAD - DAY Marion and his men GALLOP down the road. The much larger body of Green Dragoons THUNDER after them. EXT. BLACK SWAMP ROAD - DAY Marion and his men ride along a raised road that drops off into Black Swamp on either side... They ROUND A CURVE AND STOP, reining back their horses in confusion as they see: FIFTY GREEN DRAGOONS heading straight toward them... THE DRAGOONS OPEN FIRE from both directions, KILLING several more of Marion's men, WOUNDING others... Marion's men FIRE BACK as best they can, caught in the CHAOS OF BUCKING AND FALLING HORSES and WOUNDED AND DISMOUNTED MEN... They remount, doubling-up with the wounded... MARION sees an unaided wounded man. LEAPS FROM HIS HORSE, heaves him onto his horse, slaps it... Marion's men head off both sides of the road into the swamp, struggling with their mounts as they hit the knee- deep water... Marion on foot with four men, only three horses... A DRAGOON, aiming his pistol, THUNDERS down on Marion... MARION FIRES, killing the Dragoon... Marion's men mount, one motions to Marion... MARION GO! Marion's men ride off, leaving him ALONE... a Dragoon is almost on him, SWORD RAISED. Marion, his weapon spent, sees a thick branch on the ground, two feet long... grabs it... The sword flashes and SINKS DEEPLY INTO THE WOOD... Marion YANKS, brings the rider off his horse, grabs the reins and SWINGS HIMSELF UP INTO THE EMPTY SADDLE. Marion rides down the embankment... The Dragoons rein back, slowed by the dead horses and men. They spur their reluctant mounts over the bodies and follow Marion and his men into the swamp... EXT. BLACK SWAMP - DAY MARION RIDES HARD, galloping along a circuitous, barely visible dry trail... A MOMENT LATER, Tarleton and Green Dragoons follow... EXT. DEEP IN THE SWAMPS - EVENING MARION CATCHES UP to a dozen of his men, including Gabriel and Billings. Several of the men are badly wounded, barely clinging to their saddles... They ride through the shallow water, get to a fork, SPLIT UP. As they disappear into the swamp, the sounds of their horses are swallowed up in the LOUD BUZZING OF SWAMP INSECTS and the CRIES OF THE SWAMP BIRDS... A moment later, Tarleton and the vanguard of Dragoons ride up. Tarleton signals stop at the fork... Looks... nothing. Listens... nothing. Chooses a path, the one Marion took. Rides off, the Dragoons following... EXT. DEEPER IN THE SWAMPS - NIGHT Darker still. Tarleton and his men come to a dead end, blocked by a heavy tangle of huge swamp ferns and thorn bushes. They rein back their horses, stopping in a confused mess. Tarleton calls to Gaskins and the Loyalist scouts. TARLETON Which way? GASKINS This way... no this... I think... Tarleton makes his own choice... rides off... the Green Dragoons follow, the Loyalists bring up the rear. EXT. SWAMP MORASS - NIGHT Tarleton and his mounted Dragoons struggle through a nearly impassable morass of swamp-grass, reeds and swarming mosquitoes... The exhausted Dragoons are wet, covered with mud, and bleeding from swamp briars. The horses are spent and foaming... Tarleton struggles harder than any, but finally even he has had enough. He reins back his horse. TARLETON HALT! Tarleton glares into the impenetrable darkness of plant- choked water and swamp... TARLETON Enough of this. There are other ways to run down a fox. Tarleton yanks on his reins, turns his horse and starts back the way they came. His grateful men turn their horses and follow. IN THE UNDERGROWTH, Marion, Gabriel, Billings and three badly wounded men, with only four horses between them, calm their mounts... They can hear, but not see the Dragoons. Then, through the thick undergrowth, MARION CATCHES A GLIMPSE OF TARLETON... Gabriel, tending the wounded men, sees his father lock his eyes on Tarleton... Marion quickly opens his weapons pouch and pulls out one of the bullets he made from Thomas' lead soldiers. Walking to his horse, Marion loads... Marion mounts, scanning the terrain, planning a route... GABRIEL Father, no... As Marion spurs his horse to ride after Tarleton, Gabriel grabs the bridle. He YANKS HARD, stopping Marion's horse dead. THE HORSE BUCKS, nearly throwing Marion... MARION That's him. Tarleton. MARION SPURS THE HORSE which tries to respond but is JERKED BACK AGAIN by Gabriel. Marion angrily turns on his son... MARION Damn you! Let go! Gabriel looks up at his father, never loosening his iron grip on the bridles but speaking softly, almost pleadingly: GABRIEL Father, please... Marion looks down at Gabriel. Then Marion looks over at Billings and the three wounded men... One bleeds from an ugly neck wound... their shared mounts are nearly spent... Marion takes a last look in the direction of the departing Tarleton. Then he dismounts and hurries over to help the wounded. Gabriel watches his father for a moment, then joins him with the wounded. EXT. WOODED GLEN - NIGHT Dark. Marion and his battered men gather, taking stock. Men drift in, mounted and on foot in ones and twos, past wary sentries. GABRIEL RIDES UP, dismounts and reports to Marion, out of earshot of the other men. GABRIEL Fourteen dead, eleven wounded, eighteen captured. MARION I should have killed him when I had the chance? GABRIEL When was that? In the swamp at the expense of your men? Or when he killed Thomas at the expense of your family? MARION No... GABRIEL Or perhaps tomorrow at the expense of our cause. Marion is silent. GABRIEL There will be a time and a place for revenge but killing Tarleton at the expense of your duty serves no one but yourself. (beat) Stay the course. The parental-sounding formality of Gabriel's words brings a thin smile to Marion's face. MARION Stay the course... your mother used to say that to me when I'd get drunk or lose my temper. GABRIEL She'd say it to me when I picked on Thomas or Nathan. MARION You learned her lessons better than I. GABRIEL She got me at a more impressionable age. Marion smiles, nods a silent thanks to his son and heads over to help with the wounded. EXT. MARION'S ENCAMPMENT - NIGHT A cold, winter rain falls. Most of Marion's grim men are huddled in lean-to's and around campfires. Green and several other Pembroke townspeople unload a wagon of supplies while Marion, Scott and Fielding stow the provisions. Gabriel and Anne sit at a fire, under the cover of a lean- to, taking quietly. He's troubled. She tries to be hopeful. ANNE Next time we'll bring more blankets. GABRIEL That would be nice. ANNE Maybe we'll be lucky this winter and have just rain, no snow. GABRIEL That would be nice, too. She takes a pot off the campfire and pours him a cup of tea. ANNE Just because the French didn't come this fall, doesn't mean they're never going to come. He nods and takes a drink of the tea. She smiles. Gabriel smiles back to her, revealing a mouthful of ink- stained, black teeth. Before she has time to laugh... ROLLINS RIDES HARD INTO CAMP. Marion hurries over, accompanied by the Great Danes. The other men gather around. ROLLINS They're to be hung! GABRIEL But they're prisoners-of-war! Marion isn't as surprised as Gabriel. He is, however, taken aback by Gabriel's black teeth. Gabriel notices everyone looking at his mouth. Anne is embarrassed and regretful, seeing her joke fly in the face of the troubling news. EXT. FORT CAROLINA - DAY A REDCOAT SENTRY sees a lone figure on horseback ride out of distant woods. It's Rev. Oliver, carrying a white flag with one hand, holding a dispatch case in the other. The sentry calls to the Commander of the Watch. REDCOAT SENTRY Sir. INT. CORNWALLIS' HEADQUARTERS - FORT CAROLINA - DAY A temporary HQ has been set up in a commandeered farmhouse. Cornwallis stands uncomfortably while a tailor measures him and marks alterations on a partially completed uniform. Tarleton enters. TARLETON General, a message from the commander of the rebel militia. Cornwallis reads the message. CORNWALLIS It seems our Swamp Fox wants to have a formal parley. TARLETON Are you going to meet with him? CORNWALLIS Most certainly. Arrange it. EXT. CAROLINA ROAD - DAY Marion rides, trailed by Cornwallis' Great Danes. Behind him, two dozen heavily armed Patriots, including Rev. Oliver who carries a white flag. A detachment of Redcoat Cavalry, lead by Major Halbert, waits. The Redcoats fall in on either side. They ride on. EXT. FORT CAROLINA - DAY Redcoat sentries see the approaching Patriots and Redcoats and open the gates. Billings and the other Patriots stop, a hundred yards outside the barricades. MARION alone rides through the gates, flanked by the British cavalry, the Great Danes following closely b