"Son, do not speak so harshly to our company?" Mary pleaded.

John went to her and put his hands on her shoulders, "Do forgive me, Mother, I did not mean it upset you. But in this room are some of the richest and finest men in all of Virginia. If I . . . if we do not make at least part of them understand the ur­gency, many a boy from Virginia will lose his life for naught. Even these fine men would have run had they been faced with the anguish at Camden."

"Aye, they would'a," Abraham put in.

"General Gates ran," George added, his voice cracking.

Matthew nodded to the servers standing motionless along the wall, "I was just entertaining thoughts of refilling my glass. I believe a drink all round might ease the situa­tion considerably. Do you agree, my dear Caleb?"

"I do," Caleb answered. One of the servers filled a glass and handed it to George, but the other servers stayed where they were.

"You say we Virginian's willfully neglect our sons at the front." Ed­ward Foster grumbled. "May I remind you we are not the sole Colony engaged."

"No, we are not," John agreed "However, most of the other Colonies have little left to give. Their land has been ravaged, their sons killed and their funds depleted. Yet worse than the lack of supplies is our neglect to take a firm stand either for or against the war."