"We must make this a war for freedom," the president said, "Gentlemen ... I have decided ... I will free the slaves!"

It's summer of 1862, and the war is going badly for the North. President Abraham Lincoln must take bold action to save the Union and elevate the war effort onto higher ground: a fight to end slavery! But Lincoln's efforts may come too late, as Robert E. Lee's unstoppable Confederate army marches into the North.

Evelyn Hanson sets out to steal General Lee's battle plans, but must once again place her vital intel into the untrustworthy hands of Union General George McClellan. Will McClellan finally achieve an elusive Union victory, or will his obsession with ruining the career of his hated rival, Nathaniel Chambers, distract him from his goal?

And in the midst of the chaos in the east, the Confederate army launches another major offensive into western Virginia's Kanawha Valley. Nathan Chambers, his men from Texas, and his battle-trained freemen are once again called upon to help thwart the rebel attack.

Nathan and Evelyn wage a thankless campaign against their enemies, and the Civil War reaches a new level of devastation as the horrific Battle of Antietam threatens to derail Lincoln's plans for Emancipation.