sentences:  British general Robert Ross is a viewpoint character in the novel, and much time is devoted to his place as a "gentleman soldier" leading the British forces.Another strong theme in the book is that of Indian rights.During the early part of the 19th century, westward expansion was squeezing the Cherokee and other Indian tribes out of lands they occupied east of the Mississippi River, which culminated in the infamous Trail of Tears, as the forced relocation of the Cherokee in 1838 came to be called.