Chapter 1 Summary

The novel begins on a rainy evening in April. Dinner at the Meeker tavern is interrupted by the arrival of Sam Meeker. Sam has been away since Christmas, and his sudden arrival and scarlet uniform are a complete surprise to his family. The narrator, Tim Meeker, can see how proud and excited his brother is, as Sam immediately begins to recount the defeat of the British in Massachusetts. He describes how the "Lobsterbacks" went to Lexington to look for Adams and Hancock and then to Concord to take ammunitions stores. After leaving Concord, they were attacked by Patriot soldiers hiding in the trees and "massacred" all the way back to Boston. At first Tim and Sam's father does not believe that the British could have been defeated by a group of rebels, but Sam heard the news from Captain Benedict Arnold, the captain...