Fade In
EXT. DEVOE FARM -
DAY
Open countryside, an American farm in the early 19th century. Stone walls and rail fences separate fields of rye and corn. A
dirt road looms ahead, lined by a split-rail fence, behind which is a large stand of trees.
We see two figures; an old woman dressed in simple garb, and young boy of about age ten; pudgy and doting on the older
woman. We see them walking through the fields of the large farm.
REBECCA DEVOE and THOMAS DEVOE are walking along the pathway bordered by a stone
wall. SUDDENLY we hear echoes of GUN SHOTS and WAR WHOOPS and the images of MOCCASINED
FEET running along the same path.
OLD THOMAS DEVOE (VO)
When I was a lad of nine or ten years of age, my paternal grandmother,
who had been but a girl herself during the War for Independence some fifty years before, was the world to me.
We would often walk along the farm lanes and through what was still called in my youth, Cortlandt's Woods.
REBECCA and THOMAS stop to pick strawberries that grow on a rock-strewn field.
OLD THOMAS DEVOE con’t
On the old DeVoe farm grew the sweetest strawberries I've ever tasted.
My grandmother once told me that the red strawberries were a reminder of times past; when young men, and some old as
well, fought and died on this farm and
the land hereabout. It was
here, on the last day of
August 1778, that this
part
of the Bronx would forever
be known as Indian Field.
EXT.
VALLEY FORGE
Scene morphs into winter, we see a group of small cabins closely huddled together on a windswept hill. Snow is swirling around.
OLD THOMAS DEVOE
What came to pass at Indian Field that day, like all histories, began some time before. It was at the winter encampment of General Washington's army at Valley Forge where the story of what happened
on my family's farm actually began.
INT.
SOLDIERS CABIN DAY
Men in varying degrees
of uniforms are close to one man lying on a bunk. Among the soldiers, some are
white, some are Indian and one or two are black. They are quiet and solicitous of his condition. The man is dying of tuberculosis; he is a Pequot Indian soldier from Connecticut and some of his fellow-Indian
soldiers are there with him.
JOHN CHOPS
Joshua, Joshua - can you hear me?
JOSHUA GEORGE
John, my friend. How goes it with you?
JOHN CHOPS
Joshua, we are all here to be with you. Rest and get better and we will all smoke tobacco soon enough.
JOSHUA GEORGE
No, no more smoking for me... I think I shall soon see my brother
Moses again. You see how the creator works?
We joined the army together, and we shall depart the army together.
SIMON HOBART
Joshua, be strong. Your journey will soon be at an end. Our brother, you are not alone.
EXT.
VALLEY FORGE SAME
Smoke billows from the chimney and we see some other soldiers going about their camp
duties. We hear soft wailing from inside the cabin - it is a native death song. The door opens up and a group of soldiers are bringing out Joshua's body wrapped in
a blanket, four men carrying it. The other soldiers from the cabin are following
behind, and other men from surrounding huts join in the procession. A group of
Indian soldiers approach from another part of the camp; they are the Stockbridge Mohicans, along with some other Massachusetts
Indian soldiers. We see Captain Abraham Nimham among their number.
They carry the body away
from the encampment. In the distance we see a group of officers, one of whom
is of commanding presence: he is General Washington. He observes the funeral procession and notes the obvious Indian overtones.
One of the subordinate officers makes a comment.
BRADLEY
That is Private George, sir.
From the Pequot tribe in the eastern part of our home state. His brother
died last week.
WASHINGTON
What a loss to his family and to his people. I am always amazed by the willingness of them to enter the service and bear the burden of an uncertain
military life.
HUNTINGTON
Sir, I know you are quite familiar with our western Indians, but those
who still remain here in the east show a remarkable degree of civilization.
WASHINGTON
(observing the black soldiers amongst his army):
This war has brought many new views to mind gentlemen. I am never ceased to be amazed at the willingness of Indians and Negroes to attach themselves to our cause
of Independence. Admirable, quite admirable.
WEBB
True enough your Excellency, but our native troops still retain their
woodland skills. As scouts and spies, they are quite formidable. All of my Indian soldiers still carry the tommyhawk into battle.
OFFICERS
Aye.
WEBB
What was it the French called them in the last war? Loups? Yes, they are like wolves in the forest.
INT.
WASHINGTONS HEADQUARTERS NIGHT
The parlor of the house,
a large table with five representatives of Congress seated around it. General
Washington is standing at the head of the table. To his side is Alexander Hamilton,
his aide.
WASHINGTON
Gentlemen, the enemy has set every engine at work against us, and
has actually called savages and even our own slaves to their assistance.
Would it not be well, to employ two or three hundred Indians against
General Howe's army the ensuing campaign? Such a body of Indians, joined by some
of our woodsmen under Colonel Morgan, would strike no small terror into the British and foreign troops.
CONGRESSMAN MORRIS
General, are you suggesting we use wild Indians as part of our army? Don't we run the risk of what Burgoyne experienced in New York’s wilderness
when he lost control of his Indian auxiliaries?
WASHINGTON
The difference sir is this; Burgoyne's use of Indian warriors was
flawed from the start. Not only was he engaged in a wilderness where there was
no degree of restraint in their use, he also completely lacked any moral or military authority over them.
In our case, we shall employ missionaries such as Mr. Kirkland with
the Oneida's to imbue their service with a moral restraint. In our theater of
operations, there are no chances of war parties setting out on their own volition. Our
Indians shan’t have the opportunity to raid isolated frontier settlements, but rather use their unique skills in a more
confined theater of operations in conjunction with our own woodsmen under Colonel Morgan.
CONGRESSMAN
I would also conjecture that there is great reason to believe the
novelty of their appearance in the field, that is the circumstances of horror and affright which attend their attack, will
have a great effect upon the minds of men wholly unacquainted with such an enemy.
WASHINGTON
It is well to also recall that just recently two companies of Indian
scouts served with great success with our Northern Army under Generals Schuyler and Gates.
The Oneidas served not only along the upper Hudson, but also fought with General Herkimer against the Tories and their
fellow Iroquois kinsmen at Oriskany.
CONGRESSMAN
It would serve our interests to keep the Oneida, and the other Iroquois
friendly. We cannot risk losing all of northern New York to the enemy. If the entire Confederacy were to unite under the British flag, the fruits of our victory at Saratoga would
be lost.
WASHINGTON
Then gentlemen, I humbly beseech your consideration of my proposal,
and if you are so inclined, to pass it on to Congress with your recommendation.
CONGRESSMAN MORRIS
General, I think that I may say with a high degree of certainty, that your request
meets with our approbation.
