COWPENS - the final battle | William Tavington

2 - Buying a Horse

William - who hated being called Will or Willie by all chances - was 33 years old and much to his mother's dismay not married yet. After his father died when he was 19 he quickly noticed that most of the money he was promised was gone. Simply gambled away by his idiot of a father who wasn't good at anything but beating his mother, his sisters and him. The money was spent on cheap harlots and lost in dice games instead of given to his family. The little inheritance being left has been put aside for his younger sisters' dowries so they could marry a proper English gentleman - 500 pounds per girl - and William was gifted with 2000 pounds due to being the oldest and only male offspring. Marriage was not an option yet so he took his opportunity and bought a commission in cavalry at the mere age of 20 years and joined the British Army. A fast career upwards made him a Captain at the age of 25, a Major at 30 and a Colonel  at 32, still remaining unmarried to this very day. Of course mama and both (meanwhile already married) sisters were proud of their son and older brother when they constantly received letters on how well he did, how he got promoted frequently and how he actually could live from what he was doing. He could still find a pretty little wife over there in New England, right? Or after the war was won back here once he has moved back. Perhaps he even married a young lady during this now for years ongoing war and she followed him like so many others did with their husbands to camps? William would clearly let them know in his next letters if something like this would happen. But unfortunately nothing happened. 

No more letter's arrived at the Tavington household from 1780 on and after almost a year of waiting finally a letter of Lord General Cornwallis himself arrived, telling his dearest mother that her only son most likely died on the battlefield of Cowpens like so many others did with him. In fact so many died that day that they were put into unmarked graves and therefore William's body could't be sent home. A medal and a pension of 1190 pounds, the exact amount William's commission would have cost, came with the letter and made his mother cry out in pain.

Damn that man Cornwallis. Tavington shot to death on the battlefield of Cowpens? He didn't even fight in that damn carnage! Though he did want to of course. He even showed Cornwallis his cavalry plans the night before Cowpens but the General had other plans and sent him off to the party where he should rather have a drink or two instead of worrying about an already won battle. 

William was angry, he barely couldn't hold it back. The brothel - he needed to get rid of some anger and who could take it better than some ladies who you actually pay for? The night before battles always were the busiest in such establishments, as if the men knew it could be their last climax to reach on earth they spent all of their last month's salary on women and drinks. It was William's plan too and he already got awaited by his comrades so he decided to not even have a drink at the Sterling's garden party but rush directly towards the harbor. The shortest way would lead him through the woods. He hurried through the garden, reached the far end of it and eventually stopped. Someone was following him, he could hear someone breathing behind him! A woman, it was definitely a woman's breath! 

The rest was... well... history.

Months later he was still stuck with this woman in a different time, wondering if he'd ever get back to his own time period. It was not because he missed mommy or sisters and wanted to go home and cry. It was simply because he couldn't bear the fact that the British lost this war! He had the best of all plans, his dragoons would slaughter those continentals to death, the could've taken the North and further - oh, shoot it! He'd better spend his time on continuing the book in front of him. 

"Do you really think this is healthy? I am not a specialist but... you know... if a girl keeps reading books about the same topic all the time... you know what they call her? Obsessed. Maybe read something else, look. They even went to the moon! Who would've thought we'd be able to do something li-" - "They also invented carriages that don't need horses, put their food in cans and catch energy in littler butteries." - "Batteries." William shot her an annoyed glance when she once again corrected him. "Whatever. This here... this is history. It is important."