It describes the heroic story of the events during the American Revolutionary War, in which filmmaker D. W. Griffith created a film adaptation of Robert W. Chambers' 1905 novel The Reckoning.

The plot mainly centers on the Northern theatre of the war in New York, with romance spliced into individual movie scenes.

[5] Captain Walter Butler (Lionel Barrymore), a ruthless Loyalist officer, leads the Iroquois in viciously barraging attacks against American settlers, including the massacre of women and children who are siding with the Patriots.

In Lexington, Massachusetts, Nathan Holden (Neil Hamilton) works as an express rider and minuteman for the Boston Committee of Public Safety.

A separate group of militia and Native Americans chase down and kill Butler, putting a stop to his plan.

The film concludes with the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at the Siege of Yorktown in 1781 and the first inauguration of George Washington as president of the United States in 1789.

[8] Griffith used many popular movie actors at the time, but he felt that there was no need for them to play the roles in his films, and could not afford most of them anyway, after they began to consume nearly all of his money in expensive productions.

[9] During the filming of a recreation of the Battle of Bunker Hill at Somers, a 19-year-old soldier's arm was blown off while reloading a cannon.

"[9] The film was screened to President Calvin Coolidge before its release, and the United States Army used it for recruitment purposes.

The film was not completely useless to Griffith, but he was still in debt with massive amounts of money and did not receive that boost of attention he was hoping for.