Sal and Amanda Take Morgan's Victory March to the Battle of Cowpens Read Free

to Charles Town in 1780. This time, they seized it.
    â€œThis victory started the Southern Campaign. General Cornwallis, commander of the British in the South, defeated the Patriots at Camden. After this, the British thought they could take over the whole colony of South Carolina and then go on to take North Carolina and Virginia.”
    â€œWhoa! How could that have happened? Grammy said we turned the tide of the war right here at the Battle of Cowpens. That’s why we celebrate this Morgan Victory March. I’m supposed to write a speech and tell my cousins about it when they come. And it is complicated!” Ben, frustrated with how much information he was getting at once, worried that this history would never make sense to him.
    Just then, the door slammed, and Grammy May came toward them. “Ben, who are you and Jen talking to? I’ve been watching you out the window. What’s going on?”
    Sal and Amanda quickly disappeared under the nearest rotten log.
    â€œWe’re just reenacting some of the history Jen’s telling me about,” Ben fibbed.
    Grammy smiled, happy that he had been working on his assignment. “You can practice for the reenactment. Jen, of course, we want you to come too. We’re going to invite Ben’s three cousins. It will be such a great time!”
    Ben and Jen breathed a sigh of relief when Grammy walked back into the house. They began frantically looking for their friends under the log.
    Jen paused to look at Ben in amazement. “Liar, liar, pants on fire!” she whispered.
    â€œWell…I didn’t hear you offering any explanations!” As the search for Sal and Amanda became harder, Ben expressed worry that the salamanders wouldn’t come back and finish the story.
    â€œWhere are our buddies? They weren’t finished telling the tale!” Ben exclaimed.
    â€œYou scared them away!” Jen pointed out.
    â€œAll this commotion and I still don’t have my notes about Morgan’s March written!” Ben said nervously. “And now the two friends we had that could help us are gone!”
    â€œI’m sure they’ll be back!” Jen sighed. “I have to go home now. Call me if you see them, OK?” Ben, feeling quite defeated, slowly began his walk back to the house.
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Chapter 2
    The Southern Campaign
    Later that night, Grammy sat down with Ben and said, “I think you better send an e-mail to your cousins about the march so they can remind their parents to put the date on the calendar. You know how busy everyone gets, and I sure wouldn’t want them to miss this.”
    â€œI thought you wanted me to finish the speech first,” Ben replied.
    â€œWell, you’re coming along with it, so I think it’s OK. And besides, it looked like you got a bunch of work done today,” Grammy answered, confident in her grandson.
    As Ben sat down to send reminders, he could picture each one of his cousins as their e-mail addresses popped up on the screen. There was Sam in Cheraw, Tonya in Columbia and Kara in Charleston. They were all about the same age and had spent every holiday at their grandparents’ home in Pacolet since they were born. Sometimes Ben went to visit them. He especially liked to visit Kara because she lived near the beach.
    Grammy thought about her grands. Even though they were close in age, they were all different in interests and personality. Tonya was her bookworm, always carrying a book and a journal for taking notes. Kara was her social butterfly, always making plans. Sam was her entertainer, on stage at all times. Sometimes his actions got him in trouble. And Ben was her thinker who didn’t see the need for reading and writing, just thinking and doing. Grammy loved spending time with them. She had tons of pictures all over her house and office showing their adventures.
    Grammy looked over at Ben as he wrote:
    Dear Cousins,
    I am inviting you to come to Grammy’s