Tim Meeker is a young boy who lives in the town of Redding, Connecticut around the time the American Revolution begins. Tim does not exactly care about politics, but his father is a loyalist to Great Britain, much like the rest of Redding. Tim's entire family welcomes his brave and head-strong teenage brother, Sam, when he returns from Yale. However, his father is outraged when he learns that Sam has joined the Continental Army to fight against the British.