Father and I Went Down to Camp Episode 1

September, 1777.  Battle of Brandywine. The Colonial Army has just suffered a devastating defeat on the battlefield, plus the loss of 18 cannons.  In chaos, they retreat from the battlefield.  Captain Robert Larkin has retreated with his men, and with his father, the mayor, watches as the retreat passes through the streets of Chester.  A Tory, Mayor Larkin loves his son, but disagrees with his willingness to commit treason against the Crown.

No one, including his own family, is aware that Robert's younger brother, Jeremy, has formed a secret society, the Yankee Doodle Society, and he and his friends Henry and Isak are still on the battlefield to cover the army's retreat and turn back pursuers.  Their plan is briefly in jeopardy when a wounded soldier and his aid pass into the line of fire.   Jeremy intercepts the two men and escorts them under cover. Using one of his many experimental devises, Henry sets off explosions in the creek and the rebels open fire with their muskets, startling the redcoats and forcing them back to the other bank.  The commanding major is unseated from his white stallion in the creek, but soon recovers his mount and acknowledges that he has met a force to be reckoned with. "What gallant command is this?" the Major shouts. "Why, Pennsylvania's finest!" Jeremy shouts back.  "The command of Captain Yankee Doodle!"

To the astonishment of the Society, the wounded soldier turns out to be General Lafayette! His uniform has been covered by his aid's coat, concealing his rank.

With the British backing off their pursuit, Jeremy, Henry, and Isak take Lafayette to the barn belonging to the uncle of Jeremy's girlfriend, Elizabeth Coates, and conceal him there while Henry dresses his wound. Lafayette confides that the rebellion is in trouble, and could not afford the loss of the guns.  While still in the barn, the Redcoats arrive to conduct a search.  They find only Jeremy and Elizabeth kissing on a haystack, while the others hide behind supplies in the corner.  Outraged by her shameful behavior, Elizabeth's uncle, her guardian, sends her to the house and the amused soldiers escort Jeremy home.  Protected by the others in a corner of the barn, Lafayette mutters, "Mon Dieu, Mon Dieu, Mon Dieu!" Returning home, Jeremy receives a tongue lashing by his father.  Though relieved that his son is home safely, Mayor Larkin expresses shame in Jeremy's conduct with Elizabeth.

Jeremy is shocked to learn that the British major he encountered at Brandywine Creek has been quartered in the house he shares with his father!  Fortunately, the officer does not recognize him.

When the major is summoned outside to view the captured cannons, he decides to use them as bait to capture Captain Yankee Doodle, the man who had humiliated him at the creek, unaware that he is sharing a house with that very man!

Elizabeth reports that her uncle, an outspoken Tory,  has allowed the British to conceal the stolen cannons inside his barn.   Outnumbered and outgunned, they watch somberly from the hill overlooking the farm as the American weapons are rolled inside the large barn and guards placed on duty to protect them, knowing that without those guns, Lafayette's troops cannot fight.

Jeremy has a plan to recover the stolen cannons, and he takes his idea directly to Lafayette, who commissions him a captain in the Continental Army, authenticatiing the Society and giving Jeremy the authority to command troops.  Lafayette approves Jeremy's plan, and assigns the soldiers in Robert's company to join the Society  in carrying out the assignment.  The operation will be carried out at four o'clock in the morning, when there is minimal risk of detection.

Lafayette is pleased that his troops will soon have their guns back, and Robert is proud that his little brother is not the neutralist he had been pretending to be.