Isaac Biggs (from a Press of Canvas) ships as 3rd mate on the Salem Privateer General Washington in February 1813. His former shipmates and friends find berths on the US Navy frigate USS Constellation, but through a series of events, all but Isaac wind up on USS Chesapeake in Boston in time for her disastrous meeting with HMS Shannon. When the surviving crew in incarcerated in Melville Is. (Halifax) prison, Isaac and his crew of privateersmen play an important role in gaining their freedom. A combination of historical fiction and non-fiction woven seamlessly together to tell the story of the 2nd year in the War of 1812.