Savage Wilderness is a historical novel of the French and Indian War, recounting a time when British forces, joined by colonial militias, fought the French and their Indian allies for possession of the untamed heart of North American. It is also a story of the people who fought it.
Ian McPherson, a young Scott who first saw battle during the Jacobite Rising of 1745 is exiled to Virginia. There, after serving as an apprentice to a wheelwright, he joins a campaign led by a 23 year-old colonel of militia named Washington to claim the Forks of the Ohio for Virginia.
Anton de Chevalier, the bastard son of a French nobleman and an artillery officer is an impressionable young man who is an adherent to Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s philosophy concerning the natural man. In time, his experience in the Americas and dealings with both the French Canadians and Native Americans cause him to see the world as it is, a place where the stunning, unspoiled beauty of the land hides a savagery unlike anything he ever thought possible.
Thomas Shields, the second son of a minor English baronet and dedicated soldier of the King sells his commission in the Coldstream Guards for a captaincy in the 44th Regiment of Foot, one of two regiments being sent to America under General Edward Braddock.
A Caughnawaga brave by the name of Toolah rejects efforts by French priests to ‘civilize’ his people, choosing instead to follows the ways of his warrior ancestors in order to rid his peoples’ land of the Europeans and their ways.
A red haired Irish immigrant by the name of Megan O’Reilly who came to America as an indentured servant dreams of starting a new life in America with Ian McPherson, whom she meets and falls in love with.
Against the backdrop of a war fought on the fringes of civilization, each is face with challenges they must overcome. In doing so, they set in motion forces that, in time, give rise to a revolution and the birth of a new nation.
