As he returns home from gathering supplies with his father, fourteen-year-old Isaiah is looking forward to showing off his new symbol of manhood to his mother and sisters. What he doesn’t expect to find is his home burned and pillaged, his barn up in flames, and his family dead at his feet.

Equipped with nothing but a description of the man who led the raid and the few items the raiders left behind, Isaiah and his father take to the road with one goal in mind: justice. When it is clear justice cannot be obtained without bloodshed, they go to meet General Washington and join the American Revolution.

With his father forming a cavalry of riflemen, Isaiah learns the ways of the wilderness, hunting, and combat from men with their own reasons for joining the war. Realizing he is now a part of a cause bigger than himself, Isaiah gradually finds out what it means to be a man.