Setting

South-West England, 1812. England is at war with America and when two hundred and fifty American prisoners-of-war arrive at Dartmoor prison, it is already overcrowded with French prisoners.

Main Characters

Among the newcomers is Lieutenant Pilgrim Penn, an American merchant seaman, who soon falls in love with a local girl at a market held inside the prison walls.

Conflict

The inmates fight amongst themselves, despite their common enemy and the Americans are a particularly troublesome group. When the governor's daughter becomes romantically involved with one of them, he orders his soldiers to open fire during a minor disturbance, even though the war has ended and personal revenge is suspected as his true motivation.