Listen¸ the Drum!: A Novel of Washingtons First Command
 |
Matt Burnett joins the militia when he hears of pending French and Indian attacks upon colonial settlers. He immediately finds himself regarded as a hero and at the same time a spy-suspect¸ both situations arising from a series of incidents involving the young Major George Washington. Matt and Chief¸ his elderly Indian accomplice¸ begin their adventure by foiling an ambush of Washington. Shortly afterward¸ Matt is part of the young Washington's first military command. The colonial militia¸ augmented by British regulars¸ sets out to intercept a French and Indian invasion. Washington is beset by the resentment of regular British officers at being subordinate to a colonist. He is also hampered by the lack of discipline in his militia¸ and by the nagging doubt about whether one of the colonials in his command is practicing treachery. The climax comes when the young colonel¸ abandoned by the British and outnumbered by the enemy¸ decides to erect a primitive defense which history remembers as Fort Necessity. "Alter has demonstrated that he has an interest in all manner of ancient history. His books have a ring of research thoroughly done." -The Independent Star-News Note: This digital edition includes the PDF¸ EPUB and MOBI (Kindle) versions of the book.