Willie Lorimer is a young poetry student who forgot to resign his commission in the Canadian militia. When he is called up to join the fight against the Métis rebel leader, Louis Riel, Willie is scared, but bolstered by his own naïveté. The journey to the heart of the rebellion is long and full of anguish. When the militia reach the West, things go tragically wrong, and their once-heroic cause is marred by the cynical realities of politics, and the harsh realities of war.