In the present, Doctor Goldman meets Casca in a military museum in Washington and Casca begins telling Goldman of his time fighting for the Confederacy in the Civil War. Goldman is taken back to 1859 where an argument in the farmhouse is in full swing and Ann and Sean are at the centre of it. The question of slavery is broached but Ann is firmly against it while Sean, trying anything to avoid work, wants one. Casca is ambiguous and Patrick, Ann's brother, is also undecided. Casca wanders off and rereads a note from the Brotherhood of the Lamb he recieved a few years earlier warning him to remain at the farmhouse or else the Brady-McGuire family would be slaughtered.
As civil war looms closer, Casca comes up with a plan to destroy the local Brotherhood cell and leads one into a trap, gains information from him and then seeks out and kills the Virginia branch. By this time he's begun a close relationship with Ann's younger sister, Liz, which angers Ann. Patrick is also involved in a romance and intends to marry a local girl, Lucy. Casca's arguments with Ann compels him to leave the farmhouse with Liz and they settle in Richmond.
Shortly afterwards Casca gets a job with a local ironworker called Edward Siddeley and Casca befriends his son, Joe. Joe is enthusiastic about war and the Confederacy is formed with a number of states seceeding from the Union. As Virginia is undecided, so is Casca. Eventually war breaks out and Virginia joins the rebellion and Casca ponders on the chance of the south winning.
He meets up with Robert E. Lee in Richmond who persuades him to join a secret company under the 1st Virginia regiment and in training Casca begins to teach the raw recruits how to shoot. To his surprise the fifteen year old Billy Brady turns up having run away from home, and he has Casca's old Minie rifle from the Mexican war. At the same time, unknown to Casca, the Brotherhood sends a small group to Virginia to track him down. Their leader, John Smith, finds the drunken Sean Brady and pays him to come up with the information on where Casca is.
In Richmond Casca's unit has formed and most of the recruits are knuckling down except for the bullying giant Drew, so Casca asks Corporal Brodie to make sure he keeps in line. Brodie dislikes Casca and neglects to do so. Orders come to march north and they meet the Union army at Bull Run creek and stop their advance, much to the recruits' delight. Casca is nearly shot cold bloodedly by Drew and Brodie covers up so Casca can't prove anything. In the main battle which Casca's unit don't get involved, the South wins and the North withdraws.
In Lynchburg Sean Brady is captured by Smith and his men and marched to the farmhouse where he is murdered in front of Patrick and Lucy, and they are made prisoner while Ann has gone to Richmond so avoiding capture. Smith decides to wait for Ann's return as she alone knows the whereabouts of Casca. Lucy slips a message into a priest's pocket at the funeral of Sean addressed to Casca at Manassas and when he gets it, he and Billy return to Richmond and then Lynchburg to rescue the two. Smith escapes but his associates are killed. Pat and Lucy decide to leave the farmhouse and live nearby. Casca goes back to Richmond and persuades Ann who has turned up to remain with Liz until the war is over.
When Casca and Billy return to the army, Drew tries to kill Casca but fails and the bully deserts. Brodie is threatened by Casca to obey orders. Then they march back south and camp at a town called Fredericksburg. Billy falls in love with a barmaid called Rosie Hampton there and they vow to keep in touch. The army marches south east of Richmond to meet a large Union army and falls back towards the capital. At a place called Williamsburg they turn and fight and delay the Federal army long enough the allow the rest to reach safety.
Robert E. Lee takes over the army and in a series of battles saves Richmond. One of Casca's unit is killed and Billy realises the war is going to be tough and hard. Ann is becoming suspicious of Casca's unchanging appearance and then Smith arrives in Richmond and chances upon her and begins to weave a fantasy story about Casca being a demon. Ann's confused mind readily accepts this and when Smith saves Ann from being raped by Drew who also has come to exact revenge, Ann decides Smith is her saviour. Smith's injuries in the fight are nearly fatal and Ann tends his wounds.
Casca, Billy and the rest of the army move north to confront the Union army once more at Manassas and they win yet another victory. By this time losses have meant promotions and one of the more reliable men in the unit, Herman Munz, is now corporal instead of the ineffective Brodie. One of the unit, Michael White, is too badly hurt to continue and loses his leg.
In Richmond Smith seduces Ann and the two conspire to snare Casca. Ann does her part by tricking Liz into following her to Smith's house where she is imprisoned in the cellar. Smith now waits for his superior, a man known as the 'Colonel' who is part of the Union forces, to capture Casca. The Southern army marches into Federal territory but the plans are captured and when Lee realises this orders the unit Casca is in to come to the rescue. They march to the battle just in time.
Goldman wakes to find Casca gone but with a promise to continue the story in three weeks at Goldman's residence in Boston.
'I got the new book on Friday. Read it this weekend. Loved it! When will the sequel be out?' LH, California.
'The way the author described that scene made me believe I was standing right there....' AK, Utah
'Love the story, description about the battles....Casca's flashback to the battle against the Zulus...' TA, Alabama
'I found the story kept me enthralled and the pages flowed by.' GS, UK
'The battle scenes were extraordinary and I felt as if I were there.' GB, Texas
'A knockout from page one.' TR, Pennsylvania