A 13-year-old New Jersey boy named Jonathan is impatient to join the Revolutionary War. His father used to help him train, but now after returning from a battle with a wound in his leg, Jonathan's father is fearful and does not want Jonathan to leave. However, when the war bell rings on 3 April 1778, Jonathan leaves anyway. He borrows a tavern owner's gun and joins a morning-long march to battle the German Hessians, who are allied with the British. Jonathan ends up being taken prisoner. Three Hessians take him to an old house where they bury a murdered couple, and Jonathan finds a small boy, a son of the buried couple, in the barn. He develops some degree of Stockholm Syndrome, before escaping in the night back to the American army camp. The Corporal, who turns out to be the one who murdered the boy's parents, knows where the house is. As the Corporal leads the American military to the house, they force Jonathan to see if the Hessians are awake or asleep. Out of compassion, Jonathan slips away and tries to help the Hessians escape, but he fails, and the Hessians lose their lives.
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