While desperate to stem the encroaching tide of Napoleon's French Empire in Europe, the British government in 1811 is equally anxious to avert war with the emerging power of the United States. Yet the Americans, who have their own ambitions in Canada and in trade with France, are becoming increasingly outraged at the forcible boarding and searching of their ships by British naval officers. In this tense atmosphere of international acrimony, Capt. Nathaniel Drinkwater is ordered to the Chesapeake Bay in a last-ditch effort to heal the rift between London and Washington. Quite by chance, on the banks of the Potomac, he discovers the first clue to a bold plan by which the United States could defeat the Royal Navy, collapse the British government and utterly destroy the British cause. When Drinkwater, amid personal crises, takes command of a squadron sent against the Americans, he risks his reputation and commission with the audacity of his actions. Finally, during a climactic confrontation in the South Atlantic, he comes face to face with the unmitigated horror of an interminable war.