The Irish participation in the Crimean War and the Charge of the Light Brigade is told through the adventures of Irish teen Dick Donigan. As Dick lies injured, trapped under his dead horse on a Crimean battlefield, he reflects on the dramatic events that brought him to this pass. Orphaned by the potato famine, Dick and his sister Kathleen work sixteen-hour days to earn passage to the U.S. On the eve of their departure, a British sympathizer has Dick arrested which prompts a violent protest by local patriots. Dick and Kathleen escape to England where Dick is recruited to participate in the Crimean War. Spies, bureaucracy and incompetent leadership complicate Dick's mission. What will be his destiny?