Trial by Fire

On the eve of Bunker Hill, Doctor Isaac Brent, a loyal Tory physician, rides home through a countryside suddenly alive with armed men and secret purpose. Shut out by neighbors who still need his skill but distrust his politics, he learns that Prescott and fifteen hundred provincials have crossed Charlestown Neck to fortify Breed's Hill. Angered by the patriots' silence and convinced rebellion is reckless folly, Brent argues with his old friend Caleb Gorham, then reluctantly gathers his medical supplies and rides toward the coming fight, knowing the wounded will need him. At Bunker Hill, Brent enters a battlefield of smoke, cannon fire, and desperate resolve. He tends the wounded as the British launch repeated assaults against the redoubt and rail fence, while Prescott, Putnam, and the exhausted defenders hold fast under thirst, bombardment, and dwindling ammunition. Charlestown burns, the British press forward, and the redoubt begins to collapse. Forced at last to take up a fallen musket to survive, Brent discovers an unexpected courage amid the carnage. By nightfall, battered and transformed, he returns home admitting he has misjudged the patriots—and resolves to join the provincial army himself. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.