Outlander Book Club: The Fiery Cross Chapter 56 breakdown

Just the Outlander chapter

The chapter starts with a breakdown of recent events. It’s about a case involving the Regulators. Someone was taken hostage by the Regulators, and this is the story of what happened.

This chapter is all about setting the tone of what the Regulators want. It also sets the tone of what they’re willing to do. We’ve heard a little about it with Hillsborough, but things are escalating.

It’s clear that something bigger is coming. And it’s clear that Tryon needs to do something to create order in the colony again. That means calling on the militia.

He’d already done that with the previous letter. The chapter includes another letter from Tryon. He writes to General Thomas Gage with what he plans to do. The letter is dated March 1771. The Battle of Alamance in May 1771. We know it’s all coming soon. This is what Tryon is leading the men to.

One thing I want to note, which I haven’t done with other letters in the book, is the style of writing. Not only is it formal as it would be, but the odd word is capitalized in a way that we don’t do anymore. This was the writing of the time, capitalizing important words. This was common back then, as there wasn’t really a uniform way of writing at the time. After all, a lot of people weren’t even literate!

I love that Diana includes this in the letters. It can look odd at first, but it reminds you of the time period of the story.