In the Days of Washington: A Story of the American Revolution

In Short

This historical novel follows seventeen-year-old Nathan Stanbury as he is thrust into the chaos of the Revolutionary War after his father, a Continental officer, is wounded. The plot revolves around a mysterious packet of papers sought by a ruthless British agent and a lawyer named Noah Waxpenny, who is hunting for an heir to a British earldom. Blending battlefield accounts with a classic adventure narrative, the book captures the fervor of 1778. It has remained a staple of juvenile historical fiction for its brisk pacing and its earnest, if traditional, depiction of wartime loyalty and duty.

The Story

The narrative opens in Philadelphia, where young Nathan Stanbury lives with his guardian, the retired merchant Cornelius De Vries. Their quiet life is interrupted by the arrival of Noah Waxpenny, a lawyer from England searching for information on Nathan’s father, Richard Stanbury. Suspicious of Waxpenny’s motives, Nathan finds himself drawn into a dangerous game of espionage. When his father is wounded in battle, Nathan enlists in the army, determined to protect his family’s honor and recover a secret packet of papers that Richard Stanbury hidden away—papers that apparently hold the key to a noble English inheritance.

As the war rages, Nathan experiences the realities of the conflict, from the freezing privations of camp life to the high-stakes maneuvering at the Battle of Monmouth. Throughout his journey, he is shadowed by the persistent threat of Major Gerald Langdon and the unscrupulous Tory agent Simon Glass, both of whom are desperate to seize the documents to secure their own interests. Nathan’s path frequently crosses with Godfrey Spencer, a young man who serves the British cause but discovers that his own loyalties are far more complicated than he initially understood.

The narrative shifts to the Wyoming Valley, where tensions between settlers, Tories, and indigenous forces reach a breaking point. Nathan, along with his steadfast guide Barnabas Otter, navigates a series of brushes with death, including being taken prisoner by Glass and surviving a perilous escape down the river. The tension culminates when the truth about the papers and the inheritance is finally revealed. It turns out that Richard Stanbury and Major Langdon are brothers, and Godfrey Spencer is the rightful heir to the title of the Earl of Ravenswood.

The story concludes with the resolution of these personal stakes. Major Langdon dies, allowing for a mournful end to the family feud. Godfrey, now confirmed as the Earl, eventually departs for England with his mother, while Nathan and his father return to their lives in a newly independent America. The bonds forged between the two cousins survive the war, and the "mysterious papers" are finally laid to rest, having served their purpose in defining the paths of the men who fought for them.

How It Unfolds

The introduction of the mystery Nathan overhears a suspicious lawyer named Noah Waxpenny questioning a tavern keeper about his father, Richard Stanbury. This encounter alerts the lad that his family’s past is being investigated by figures with dark intent.

Nathan joins the cause After his father is wounded during the skirmishes of the revolution, Nathan decides to trade his civilian life for the rigors of a soldier’s existence. He quickly earns the respect of his comrades, including the loyal woodsman Barnabas Otter, through his stoic endurance.

The pursuit of the papers Nathan realizes that his father’s hidden documents are the primary objective of his enemies. He must evade the persistent Simon Glass and the British intelligence officers who are determined to prevent those papers from being recovered.

Battle and capture Nathan participates in the heat of the Battle of Monmouth and later struggles to defend his home in the Wyoming Valley. He is eventually captured by his enemies and faces the threat of execution, only to be saved by the shifting loyalties of those around him.

The river escape To survive, Nathan and his companions execute a daring flight down the river. During this journey, Nathan manages a desperate, hand-to-hand struggle to secure a canoe, narrowly escaping the clutches of an adversary.

The final reckoning The narrative returns to the question of inheritance and identity, leading to the climactic realization that Godfrey Spencer and Nathan are cousins. With the legal claims settled and the war concluded, the surviving characters find a tenuous peace.

The People

Nathan Stanbury is the story's moral center, moving from a protected youth to a battle-hardened soldier. His primary desire is to protect his father’s reputation, and he grows through the realization that personal loyalty often transcends political allegiances. Barnabas Otter serves as his mentor and protector, a rugged, unwavering woodsman whose devotion to Nathan provides the young man with the stability he lacks. In contrast, Simon Glass acts as the personification of petty, opportunistic malice; he is a man driven entirely by greed and the desire to exploit the chaos of war for personal gain. Godfrey Spencer represents the more conflicted spirit of the age. Initially an outsider serving the British, he discovers his own heritage and ultimately breaks away from the corruption surrounding his uncle, Major Langdon. These characters find their fates intertwined through the legal machinations of Noah Waxpenny, whose cold, professional pursuit of the "majesty of the law" serves as the catalyst that drags the private lives of the Stanburys into the public eye of history.

In Its Own Voice

"The floor was white and sanded, and the walls were hung with a few paintings and colored prints."

Nathan’s comfortable, domestic life in Philadelphia is established with this description of his guardian’s sitting-room.

"He was a very stately old gentleman of sixty, with a clean-shaven and wrinkled face."

Cornelius De Vries is introduced as the calm, traditional figurehead of the household who offers Nathan safety before the war demands his departure.

"The lad's musket fell with a crash, and he struggled hard to break loose."

In the midst of his desperate mission, Nathan is ambushed by enemies, highlighting the constant physical danger he faces throughout his journey.

What It's Really About

At its heart, the book explores the tension between inherited identity and the choices made under fire. While the characters are caught up in the great movements of the American Revolution, their individual motivations are deeply personal—revolving around legitimacy, the preservation of family history, and the struggle to prove one's worth when the structures of society are crumbling. It questions how a man defines himself when his father's past is a dangerous enigma and when the law—represented by the legalistic Waxpenny—becomes a weapon of power rather than a vessel of justice. The story argues that true honor is found not in titles or bloodlines, but in the steadfastness one shows to friends and the courage required to survive in an era of violent, unpredictable change.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate the earnest, adventurous tone of historical fiction written in the late 19th and early 20th centuries will find much to admire here. The pacing is relentless, constantly pushing the protagonist from one narrow escape to the next, which makes for an engaging, if fast-moving, experience. It reads with the sincerity of a story meant to inspire, focusing on the virtues of grit and loyalty.

However, a modern reader must be prepared for the stylistic conventions of its time. The prose often favors dramatic declarations over psychological depth, and the dialogue can lean into the stilted, formal patterns typical of the genre’s era. The book also reflects the period's attitudes toward the conflict, presenting a very clear, binary divide between the "patriot" cause and its enemies, with little room for the nuance modern history often demands. The portrayal of the indigenous Senecas and the various skirmishes in the Wyoming Valley reflects the Eurocentric, often biased, perspectives common to the literature of that generation. If you can appreciate the book as a relic of its own time—a spirited, straightforward adventure story that views the Revolution through a lens of high-stakes melodrama—you will find it a compelling, if occasionally archaic, window into how the past was once mythologized for young readers.