When Richmond landowner Washington Faulconer snatches young Nate Starbuck from the grip of a Yankee-hating mob, Nate is both grateful and awed by his idealistic rescuer. Turning his back forever on the life he left in Boston, Nate agrees to join the newly formed Faulconer's Legion, even though it means fighting against his native North.

But Nate's dilemma is only one of many within the Legion. Faulconer's own son cannot bring himself to fight, while his daughter's cheating fiancee plots for control of the Faulconer family fortune. As they come together to march into battle, the men are prepared to start a war.but they aren't ready for how they-and the nation-will be forever changed by the oaths they have sworn for their beloved South.