Enjoying a few years of respite from war in the colonies of British North America, Casca becomes romantically involved with Rose Maplin, daughter of an ambitious merchant. So when the newly arrived Sir Richard Eley, a major in the army, falls for the same woman, trouble is not far away. Arrested on false charges, Casca escapes and becomes a fugitive, wanted by the British.
Sir Richard is determined to hunt Casca down, but as war between the colonists and the British government looms, Casca finds safety with a Minuteman company and when war does break out, Casca and Sir Richard end up on opposite sides, each intent on denying the other both victory, and the prize of Rose Maplin.
As the conflict switches from the killing slopes of Bunker Hill to New York, and to the frozen backdrop of Trenton and Princeton, Sir Richard’s ruthlessness imperils both Casca and Rose and finally culminates in a fatal confrontation.