Major Elder Byrch Stuart, just returned from witnessing the surrender of Fort Sumter, is sent to Virginia by General Samuel Cooper to do an independent report of that state’s assets and readiness to join the Confederate States. On his way, he and Sergeant Major Jesse Thompkins are ordered by President Jefferson Davis to investigate a very strange incident that happened in the sky over South Carolina. While investigating that, Stuart enlists the aid of a slave, Big Jim Porche, that he knew from his time as a teacher at the Arsenal. Investigation complete, the three men continue on to complete the original mission. Once in Virginia, they meet with Major General Robert E Lee and then set out across the entire state of Virginia, from the rebellious western part of the state in the Appalachian Mountains to the Atlantic Coast; from the outskirts of Washington DC south to the North Carolina Border. They visit the Tredegar Iron Works, Harpers Ferry Arsenal and the Gosport Navy Yard. They return to Montgomery, Alabama just in time to assist with moving the entire Government, including President Davis and his Cabinet, to the new Capital of Richmond, Virginia as the Confederate States of America continues to grow and prepare for war…..