Father and I Went Down To Camp Page 2

The plan goes awry when Jeremy is captured while attempting to leave the house to join his Society. "I couldn't sleep; I needed some air," he explains to his disbelieving captors, who are searching for members of the Yankee Doodle Society..    Waiting for him near the Coates' barn, Robert realizes that something has gone wrong.   Leaving the others, he goes alone to the house and sees the Redcoats through the window.  Spotted by a guard, he is captured and taken inside for interrogation.   Jeremy reacts impetuously when the treatment of their father gets rough, but is restrained by Robert.

"I believe there is treason in this room!" barks the Redcoat major. Knowing that the Redcoats will detain them until they get answers, Robert reaches a decision:  He makes a bargain with the major to free his family in exchange for information:   "For two days, you have been seeking a partisan leader -- I am that man." The mayor and Jeremy stare in surprise when Robert surrenders himself to the British under the pretense of being Yankee Doodle.  Believing that he has apprehended the Society leader, the major frees Jeremy and Mayor Larkin, but Robert is arrested.   Jeremy immediately devises a new plan to  recover the guns, and to free Robert.

Using makeshift cannons from Isak's forge, Henry and Isak execute a coordinated attack on the British forces in town while the American forces simultaneously recapture the guns from the Coates' barn.  Robert manages to escape through a hole blown in the side of the building in which he is being held prisoner.  Jeremy is waiting for him in the alley with horses, but a British soldier spots them and fires a shot, seriously wounding Robert.  The two brothers flee the town on horseback.

Jeremy and Robert ride to the rendesvous point on the other side of a tunnel, through which the recaptured cannons must be taken.  Henry and Isak have set up kegs of gunpowder inside the tunnel, and wait for the American forces to arrive. Jeremy helps his badly wounded brother a safe distance from the tunnel  where he can watch the operation, but agonizes over the necessity of leaving him to assist Henry and Isak as they detonate the gunpowder.

"Robert, I'm sorry . . . " Jeremy says, regretfully. "Fortunes of war, Captain," Robert replies.

At last, the American troops emerge from the tunnel with the recaptured cannons.  The tunnel explodes,  effectively blocking the British pursuit, but triumph turns to tragedy when Robert dies moments later.

At Robert's funeral, General Lafayette expresses his gratitude to Mayor Larkin for his son's sacrifice, and presents him with the flag of his country.  At last, Larkin understands the depth of his son's devotion to the fledgling nation, and regrets that Robert did not live long enough  to tell him. In private, Lafayette urges the grieving Jeremy to reveal his secret to his father, so that he may be proud of both his sons, but Jeremy declines:  "If we are to help you again, you know I can't."