My Brother Sam is Dead by SparkNotes

Author:SparkNotes [SparkNotes]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapters Ten–Eleven

Summary

Chapter Ten

With neither Mr. Meeker nor Sam at home, Tim and his mother must work overtime to keep up the tavern. Mrs. Meeker tells Tim not to worry, that God will forgive them for working Sundays. Tim thinks to himself that he was not worried. Business at the tavern is good, but because money is short, many people pay in commissary notes that will only have any value if the Rebels win the war. Mrs. Meeker has a discussion with Colonel Read, who has lost hope in the Rebel cause. Colonel Read mentions that Sam might not even be allowed to return home. Tim finds that since returning from Verplancks Point, he has felt a new responsibility for the tavern, a drive to do chores well, and an unwillingness to postpone work. He excitedly imagines showing off his knowledge of the tavern and its upkeep to Sam. Still, Tim misses his father and resents Sam's willingness to shirk family responsibility.

Winter passes, and on April 26, 1777, Tim hears an alarming thundering noise. He overhears a local black man named Ned telling Captain Betts that the noise is British troops marching in. Captain Betts sends Jerry Sanford to alert Mr. Rogers, another local Rebel. Tim notes how impressive the British army is, uniformed and spanning a mile on the little dirt road. He watches several officers go into Mr. Heron's house. Tim talks to an Irish member of the British army, and when the soldier asks why Tim is not afraid of him, Tim replies that his town is mostly Tories. Tim realizes as he speaks that he counts himself a Tory after watching Father's kidnap by Rebel cow-boys.

Events speed up and grow more violent. The officers break into Captain Betts' house as Tim watches in fear. The British seem organized and ready to move on when a Rebel messenger appears at the top of a hill and is shot down by the British. Colonel Read helps carry the bleeding men into the tavern and sends Tim to Dr. Hobart's house. Tim runs the two miles there through the woods. He is almost there when he hears gunshots, and drops into the woods to hide. From his hiding place, he observes the British army surrounding Captain Starr's house, where Starr and several other rebels, including Ned, are firing at the army. As Tim watches, the British enter the house and massacre the Rebels. Tim vomits when he sees Ned's head jumping in the air, sliced off by a British sword. The British soldiers burn the house and bodies, and as Tim continues to Dr. Hobart's house, he loses his sympathy for the British side and the Tories.

Chapter Eleven

Back in the tavern, Dr. Hobart removes the bullet, and the wounded Rebel messenger seems all right. Before passing out from all the rum he drank as an anesthetic, the wounded messenger tells the people in the tavern that Captain Benedict Arnold was preparing to bring his army through Redding in pursuit of the British.

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