The story revolves around Vincent Wingfield, young farmer who lost his father and whose mother is in charge of an estate called the Orangery. Vincent is preparing to take over the reins when he came of age but the war starts and he joins the fights for the Confederate States of America, even though he is against slavery. Vincent leaves the overseer Jonas Pearson, notorious for being the tyrant, in charge of the Orangery. Vincent gets to taste of action at Bull Run and from that point he works his way up through many adventures, meeting all the major Southern figures of that time such as Stonewall Jackson, Jeb Stuart and finally Robert E. Lee. Vincent gets wounded twice, involved in a variety of chases, and been captured twice, the second time being treated as a spy and coming across Pearson, who had thrown in his lot with the North.
About the author
George Alfred Henty (1832-1902) was a prolific English novelist and war correspondent. He is best known for his historical adventure stories for boys that were popular in the late nineteenth century.