During the War Between the States, James McCormick, an Irish-Catholic immigrant in Potsdam, New York, works for a carriage manufacturer and wants to marry Annie Cutting, the boss's daughter. Cutting hires James to take his place in the war, promising that James and Annie can marry when James returns. The conflict between the Irish-Catholic wheelwright and the upper class English-Anglican Cuttings continues to develop as the story follows James in the 60th New York State Volunteer Regiment. Tensions build when it appears Cutting will not keep his word, James becomes jealous of another man, typhoid fever strikes James's regiment, and the battles rage on. Can love survive one of the country's greatest upheavals? The actual history of the 60th New York State Volunteer Regiment and accounts of its battles at Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Lookout Mountain weave through the words of a soldier from Company A in this wartime love saga.