The French Drum, a three-book story about a boy coming of age

The French Drum is a trilogy. I decided to split it up into three books because of its length, and because there were three logical places to make the splits.

The first book starts with the night the British leave Boston and march out to Lexington and Concord. The book ends when Tad Wheeler, the drummer boy, and the Continental army march into the newly liberated city of Boston. The second book covers the march down to New York and the Battle for New York. This book ends with the retreat from New York. The third book is about the awful period that followed and comes to an end with the Battle of Trenton.

The three books are essentially a boy’s story. So was Huck Finn. The French Drum is about a boy coming of age. In 1776, Tad turns thirteen. In that same year, the thirteen colonies become states. Tad is smart, though very naïve. He believes Boston is the center of the universe. He learns from his experiences.

When Tad was an infant, his parents died of smallpox. He was taken in by an older couple, Mr. and Mrs. Stelle. They had no children. Mr. Stelle owned a print shop in Boston. Back in 1763, he served with the militia in the war against the French. He found a French drum on the battlefield. It was an old drum, though not quite an antique. He brought the drum home when he returned. The drum became a toy for the young Tad. He played with the drum and over a period of time, he could make some sense of it. Sometimes when he was out of the shop delivering a printing order, Tad stopped at the commons where British solders drilled. He listened closely to the work of the British drummer.

Then one day in the spring of 1775, he met a British soldier who was a drummer. He took the soldier back to the print shop and the Stelles were kind to the soldier, whose name was Packie.

Bringing the soldier back to the print shop was a dangerous thing to do. Mr. Stelle printed pamphlets for the Sons of Liberty. There was no problem, though. Packie showed Tad how to play the most commonly used drum signals.

Tad had a friend named David, who was almost seventeen. He was an apprentice leather worker. David was known to be unhappy about his position, as were many apprentices at the time. Mr. Stelle thought David was too quick to act sometimes.

One night, David came to the Stelles’ print shop and wanted Tad to come with him. Everyone knew the British were going out that night on a raid. Everyone was needed to keep track of the British movements. Mr. Stelle did not like the idea. David assured him that nothing would happen. They would be careful. Of course, the venture goes badly. Tad is caught, and David escapes.

Tad is interrogated. The British officer uses a belt on him. In desperation, Tad throws a lantern at the officer and then escapes. The officer is badly burned, and Tad is now a fugitive. He must get out of Boston.

Tad and David escape in a small boat. They would not have been able to escape without the help of Packie, the British drummer, who risks his life to help.

Tad takes the French drum and an old, but expensive leather bag, and a small gold coin given to him by Mr. Stelle. They safely cross the water and join the American forces besieging Boston.

There were patriots in this American militia army, but there were also some thieves. Someone steals the gold coin and the leather bag. Tad never recovers the stolen property.

Tad and David are separated once they are in camp. Tad is assigned to the headquarters, mainly as a messenger. David is assigned to a regiment which one fine evening is sent out to Bunker Hill. The regiment goes forward to Breed’s Hill where the men dig a redoubt.

In the battle that follows, Tad is used as a drummer boy for Stark’s New Hampshire regiment. Stark’s regiment is tasked with holding a beach flank against thrusts by the British light infantry seeking to turn the flank.

After the battle, Tad cannot find David. Many of the men who survived being in the redoubt think David was killed. Tad learns much later that David was captured and was being held a prisoner in Boston. Much of the rest of the book concerns the effort to rescue David.

 

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