Set near the end of the Civil War in the mountainous farm country of North Carolina, this story centres on Madison Curtis and his wife Sarah, whose mansion lies in the path of a gang of Union partisans. They are hiding their oldest son, Andy, who was wounded in the Confederate Army, risking torture and death to protect him. We meet also the Curtis' younger sons, who are caught up in the great battle of Chickamauga in Georgia, and we are offered a unique glimpse of war as the common soldier saw it-confusing, monotonous and terrifying by turns.