Frederick Funston watches the explosion and carnage of the Battleship Maine in real time

Pilot Clip 0 - Prologue and the Hunt for David Fagen

This is the true mystery of an American Hero turned Traitor. Over a hundred years ago, David Fagen fought side-by-side with Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders, only to be left for dead in the midst of a Yellow Fever contagion. 

David was then sent to the Philippines war-front, but he chose to defect rather than risk killing civilians. For nearly two years, Fagen organized a Filipino resistance unit and led raids against his former regiment. He personally searched for vengeance against his old officers as a unit of elite American Scouts and Sharpshooters hunted him down. 

On the eve of a presidential election, the New York Times published a front-page article about ‘General Fagen’ and David became America’s Most Wanted soldier. ‘American Traitor’ is a dramatic retelling of David Fagen’s escape from the US military and the mystery of his capture.