This compendium summarizes and contextualizes the central action, characters and themes of the three-act drama presented, set in New Hampshire in 1777 amid the American Revolutionary War.

Setting and principal figures
The play opens in the austere farmhouse of Mrs. Annie Dudgeon, a stern, pious, and embittered matron, whose household includes two sons—Christy (a dull, self‑regarding younger son) and Richard Dudgeon (the attractive, rebellious elder son)—and Essie, an illegitimate child of the deceased Peter Dudgeon. Opposite them stands Anthony Anderson, the local Presbyterian minister, and his young wife Judith. The historical-political backdrop (Burgoyne’s campaign, martial law, town panic) is constantly present and decisive for the plot.

Act I — inheritance, family rancour, and Richard’s provocation
At a late‑night wake the family learns of Timothy Dudgeon’s death and an unexpected new will favoring his eldest son Richard. The reading inflames family tensions: Mrs Dudgeon feels robbed; Richard arrives flamboyant and provocative, scorns conventional piety, and declares himself the “Devil’s Disciple,” professing defiant allegiance to his own nature. He discovers Essie (his cousin by lineage) and, in a brusque protective gesture, becomes her champion. Richard’s satire and brazen behavior alienate the respectable relations but reveal his complex moral courage. The will contains conditional benevolences, including a charge to care for Peter’s child.

Act II — warning, mistake and arrest
Anderson visits Richard to warn him of military danger. A sequence of misunderstandings and deliberate decisions culminates in Richard being arrested while wearing Anderson’s coat—he has taken the minister’s place to protect Anderson. Judith, torn between religious duty and personal terror, faints after an intimate, sacrificial farewell to Richard. Anderson, realising events, mobilises urgently: he takes pistols, money, and mounts out to intervene.

Act III — court martial, exposure and last‑minute rescue
At the town court martial presided over by Major Swindon and General Burgoyne, Richard (presented as “Anthony Anderson”) is tried and condemned for rebellion. Judith reveals that the real minister has escaped and that the prisoner is not her husband; nevertheless the military intends to proceed. As the gallows are prepared, Anderson arrives with a safe‑conduct and has the condemned released. The climactic reversal reassigns roles: Anderson embraces active command, Richard survives (and accepts a measure of moral transformation), Burgoyne is portrayed as urbane, ironic, and politically compromised.

Themes and commentary
The drama interrogates honor, sacrifice, hypocrisy, and the collision of private loyalties with public duty under wartime exigency. Characters are sharply contrasted: Mrs Dudgeon’s moral self‑righteousness, Judith’s sentimental courage, Anderson’s pastoral ideal turned decisive action, and Richard’s provocative loyalty. The appended notes situate General Burgoyne historically (Saratoga; command failures), framing the play’s mixture of satire, tragicomedy and political reflection.