Sentence:  Whatever we felt about the redcoats , we respected them in terms of their trade , which was killing ; and I know that I , myself , was nauseated with apprehension and fear and that my hands <WSD>were</WSD> soaking wet where they held my gun . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)