THE PATRIOT

A CHEER RISES from the Patriots... joyous in victory,

grateful for survival...

All cheer except Martin who, through the smoke-filled

chaos of the battlefield sees...

TAVINGTON, on a DISTANT RISE, on horseback, out of reach,

about to flee...

Tavington takes a final look at the battlefield, then

yanks his reins... his horse REARS UP as it turns...

Tavington spurs the animal and disappears over the rise...

EXTREME CLOSE SHOT:  Martin, surrounded by CHEERING MEN,

watches Tavington go...

Martin does not see the flag waving at his side, nor does

he hear the CHEERS all around him...

                                            DISSOLVE TO:

EXT.  YORKTOWN OVERLOOK - SUNSET

A hilltop road rises to an OVERLOOK.  A long bedraggled

line of Patriots trudges up the hill, stopping on the

crest, looking at something we can't yet see.

Martin and DeLancey, in the ragged line of Patriots, walk

to the top of the hill.  As they get to the crest they

stop, looking out, seeing:

A MAGNIFICENT TABLEAU laid out before them.  YORKTOWN.

The British are trapped on a pair of peninsulas, one

jutting out from land, the other jutting toward the land

from a large island.  In a semi-circle around the landward

peninsula, is a MASSIVE FORCE OF AMERICAN troops and...

THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF FRENCH TROOPS, flying SCORES OF

FRENCH FLAGS... the FRENCH FLEET is visible in the Harbor.

American and French CANNONS keep up a steady barrage on

the trapped British troops.

MARTIN AND DELANCEY look out at the grand and impressive

sight.  DeLancey smiles and speaks quietly.

                         DELANCEY

          Vive la France.

A COMMOTION.  The men on the crest of the hill excitedly

exchange whispers as they see a group of officers

approaching...

                         PATRIOT PRIVATE

          It's him...

                         ANOTHER PATRIOT

          Washington!

Patriots, both militia and Continentals hurry over to

catch a glimpse of:

GEORGE WASHINGTON, surrounded by staff officers, American

and French, including Lee, Morgan, LaFayette, trailed by

messengers, runners and aides.  Washington is tall and

powerfully-built, an imposing man, worthy of respect.

Washington and Lee stop in front of Martin and DeLancey,

who stand at the head of the remains of the South Carolina

militia, their tattered militia flag flying beside

Gabriel's tattered Old Glory.

WASHINGTON AND MARTIN

Stand face-to-face, looking each other in the eye.  Martin

smiles slightly and shakes his head.

                         MARTIN

          Your hair's gone gray.

                         WASHINGTON

          I've earned it.

Washington holds out a small bag to Martin who smiles in

recognition of some private ritual.  He reaches into the

bag and pulls out a walnut.

                         WASHINGTON

          I wanted to greet you and the South

          Carolina militia, myself.  This

          nation owes a lot to you.

                         MARTIN

          Thank you.

Washington takes a walnut.  They both CRUSH THE WALNUTS

SHELLS BETWEEN THEIR THUMBS AND FOREFINGERS, a prodigious

display of strength that both men take for granted.

As they eat the walnuts, Washington motions for Martin to

join him a bit away from all the soldiers and other

officers.

The two men step away, then speak quietly, looking out at

the tableau spread out before them.

                         WASHINGTON

          I was sorry to hear about your son.

                         MARTIN

          I lost another a year ago, Thomas.

          He was only fifteen.

                         WASHINGTON

          I've had no sons to lose, nor

          daughters.

                  (beat)

          I lose the sons of other men.

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

at the sons of thousands and thousands of other men.

                         WASHINGTON

          Life was easier when we only had

          ourselves to get killed.

Martin nods, then hardens a bit and turns to Washington.

                         MARTIN

          Where do you need us?

                         WASHINGTON

          We don't.  Their forward redoubts

          fell yesterday.  They can't survive

          our mortars and it's only

          Cornwallis' damned pride that's

          delaying the surrender.

                         MARTIN

          Then let us join the center until

          the surrender comes.

                         WASHINGTON

          No.  I want you and your men on the

          north peninsula to block the escape

          of secondary units.

                         MARTIN

          Sir, my men would rather be at the

          center for the surrender and...

                         WASHINGTON

                  (interrupting)

          You'll go where I tell you to go.

Martin nods, coolly respectful.

                         MARTIN

          Yes, sir.

Martin turns to rejoin his men.  Washington speaks after

him.

                         WASHINGTON

          Benjamin...

Martin stops.

                         WASHINGTON

          Tavington and the Green Dragoons are

          on the north peninsula.

                  (beat)

          Give him my regards.

Martin nods in thanks to Washington.

INT.  CORNWALLIS' HEADQUARTERS - YORKTOWN - PRE-DAWN

Cornwallis looks out from the third floor window of a

commandeered mansion.

OUT THE WINDOW he can see the battlefield with his

besieged troops cowering in shattered defensive-works as

HUGE AMERICAN MORTAR SHELLS EXPLODE within the Redcoat

lines...

CORNWALLIS stares, as much astonished as angry.  Behind

him, Colonel Huntington and Major Halbert nervously wait.

                         COLONEL HUNTINGTON

          Sir, I beseech you, you must order

          the surrender.  There is no other

          alternative.

Cornwallis, in anguish, hears the words but cannot bring

himself to move.

EXT.  YORKTOWN - DAWN

The BOMBARDMENT continues.  American cannons and mortars

rain death onto the British position.

The Patriots, regulars and militia, wait behind their

barricades.

Then, a single figure appears on one of the British

parapets.  A DRUMMER BOY, no more than ten-years-old.  He

begins to beat the drum, but it is unheard beneath the

SOUNDS OF THE BOMBARDMENT...

A British officer steps out next to the boy and raises a

white flag.

In the American lines, a few men see the white flag.  As

the artillery units notice, the bombardment slows, then

stops...

It gradually sinks in.  In the American lines, some cheer,

some laugh, many simply take a deep breath... then the

CHEERING GROWS LOUDER AND LOUDER AND LOUDER...

SPYGLASS IMAGE:  The British drummer boy and the Redcoat

officer with the white flag.  The spyglass is lowered,

revealing...

EXT.  NORTH PENINSULA - DRAGOON CAMP - YORKTOWN - DAWN

Tavington compresses the spyglass and turns to a couple of

his officers, standing next to him.

                         TAVINGTON

          Quickly, we can slip out to the

          north and make our way to our forces

          in New York.  This isn't over, yet.

They hurry off.

EXT.  WOODS - NORTH PENINSULA - YORKTOWN - DAWN

Dark.  Eerie.  A light rain falls through a heavy ground

fog in an old-growth forest.

The SOUND OF HORSES HOOVES on the soft ground.  TAVINGTON

and his two officers, appear out of the trees,

galloping...

A SUDDEN, UNSEEN MUSKET SHOT drops one of the officers.

Tavington and the other officer glance back and ride on.

ANOTHER MUSKET SHOT drops the other officer.  Tavington

looks back, sees that he's alone, scans the woods as he

rides, seeing no one.

Tavington SPURS HIS HORSE harder...

ANOTHER SHOT.  Tavington's HORSE FALLS... spilling

Tavington onto the ground...

SILENCE...

Tavington tries to get his bearing... struggles to his

feet.

Reaches for his pistol... it's not there... searches the

ground around him... can't find it...

A SLIGHT SOUND... Tavington turns quickly, sees nothing...

ANOTHER SOUND... he turns again... nothing...

Growing more nervous by the second, Tavington searches for

a weapon.  He sees his carbine on the other side of the

horse.

As he start for it, he hears something behind him, turns.

Again, nothing.

Turning back to the carbine, Tavington suddenly finds

himself...

FACE-TO-FACE WITH MARTIN...

Martin raises his pistol and coldly FIRES, shooting

Tavington in the shoulder...

Tavington spins and falls...

Martin calmly and grimly starts to reload, pulling one of

Thomas' lead soldier bullets out of his weapons pouch and

dropping it into the barrel...

Tavington struggles to his feet...

                         TAVINGTON

          I surrender...

Martin says nothing as he methodically reloads.

                         TAVINGTON

          Please, I beg of you, I'm wounded...

          I'm surrendering...

Martin finishes reloading, and without pause, raises the

pistol and FIRES, this time into Tavington's thigh...

Tavington falls, crying out in pain...

                         TAVINGTON

          Damn you!  Have you no honor?  I am

          surrendering...!

Martin pulls another of Thomas' bullets from his pouch and

starts reloading again...

Tavington's terror grows.  He struggles to his feet,

desperately searching for some escape...

He sees the carbine, but it's too far and on the other

side of Martin...

                         TAVINGTON

          Take pity!  I beg of you!

Tavington sees that Martin is almost finished loading...

                         TAVINGTON

          Please... do not fire... THE WAR IS

          OVER...!

Even as those words leave his mouth, Tavington remembers

Martin's cold promise... horrified, he realizes what he's

just said...

Martin raises the pistol and SHOOTS TAVINGTON IN THE

HEART...

Tavington falls back to the ground, dead.  Martin looks

down at him...

                         MARTIN

          Ugly business, doing one's duty.

MARTIN stands silently over Tavington's body and gives

himself a moment of bitter triumph.

EXT.  YORKTOWN FIELD - DAY

A massive ceremony, carefully orchestrated, laid out on

the cleaned up battlefield.  The French and American

armies, fifteen thousand men between them, stand in

perfect formation on either side of the field, forming an

avenue for the British army which marches out of it's

fortification.

At the head of the avenue, WASHINGTON AND HIS STAFF stand

waiting.

A musical band of Continentals, thirty men strong, loudly

plays a tune, "The World Turned Upside Down," a jaunty

British air with a melancholy undercurrent.

CORNWALLIS' ARMY marches between the assembled American

and French armies.  Cornwallis is nowhere to be seen.

As the Redcoats reach the head of the assembly, they

truculently fling their muskets and other arms into a

massive and growing pile of weapons.

MARTIN AND DELANCEY stand among the South Carolina militia

watching from a distance as...

THE BRITISH OFFICERS STEP UP TO WASHINGTON AND HIS

OFFICERS.  Hurried whispers are exchanged among staff

officers.  Then Redcoat Colonel Huntington, draws his

sword and offers it to Washington who declines, motioning

to General Lincoln instead...

As Colonel Huntington hands his sword to General Lincoln,

A MASSIVE SHEER RISES FROM THE AMERICAN AND FRENCH

RANKS...