In early 1862 the war comes within view of the Brannon family farm in Culpeper County, Virginia. The din of drilling soldiers sweeps over the quiet countyside, and another son of Abigail and John Brannon answers the call to arms. A gifted horseman, Mac, joins Jeb Stuart's cavalry and soon finds himself on one of the greatest adventures of the war.

The anticipated spring offensive pitches the Union and Confederate Armies against each other on the Virginia Peninsula, and it appears that Richmond and the fledgling Confederacy are doomed. As the Southerners fall back before the slowly advancing Northern army, Mac is reunited with his older brother, Will, when Stonewall Jackson's triumphant troops arrive from the Shenandoah Valley to blunt the Federal onslaught. Following the fighting at Seven Pines, the brothers witness firsthand the reversal of Confederate fortunes when Robert E. Lee is made commander of the Southern army.

While love blossoms on the Brannon homestead, Lee's army strikes a stunning blow to the Northern army on the peninsula then crosses the Potomac River into Maryland. When the Federals intercept the Rebels near Antietam Creek, the two brothers are brought together in the bloodiest trial of the war thus far. The air is thick with shot and shell as wave after wave of the Northern soldiers are hurled upon the Southern lines grouped near the town of Sharpsburg and a river of death.