The Red Cockade

The year is 1776. British soldiers occupy Long Island and struggle begins for the Patriot farmers of Cow Neck. Fourteen year old Joseph Onderdonk yearns to join the Continental army with his best friend, Martin Freer, but his father refuses to allow it. Martin was like an older brother to Joseph before the Freer family moved to New York Island and the Revolution set the two friends on different paths. Vignettes of Martin's soldiering life are interspersed with Joseph's struggles at home to help the patriot cause. Joseph's loyalty is tested when his father, Adrian, is arrested and imprisoned for tyranny against the crown. A great fire rages in New York and Uncle Hendrick brings Joseph to the provost jail to atempt to rescue his father.The rescue proves Joseph's courage and wit. Martin is wounded in battle at White Plains and sent back to new york as a prisoner. When joseph's uncle reveals his membership in a group called Friends of Freedom, Joseph joins him in a daring scheme to spy on the British barracks as a wagoner. His exciting adventures bring real people and events to life during the first year of the American revolution.