On September 2, 1862, the Army of Northern Virginia camps in Northern Virginia. It is an army that has tasted victory for the past three months as it has defended southern soil. General Robert E. Lee, the victorious southern commander, has decided to take this ragtag army, cross the Potomac River, and invade the North. He hopes that a decisive victory on northern soil will speed European recognition of the southern states, and bring a hasty conclusion to the conflict. On the 17th of that September, the armies of the North and South met one another on the banks of Antietam Creek, just outside the town of Sharpsburg in Maryland, and proceeded to tear one another apart. That day marks the bloodiest day in American history, with nearly 4000 killed outright, and some 25,000 casualties. Though the battle is tactically a draw, Lee withdraws back into Virginia, and President Lincoln is given enough of a Union victory to give his Emancipation Proclamation. This novel tells the battle’s story through the eyes of the people who fought there, with an emphasis on those who led, and the critical decisions they made that shaped the battle, the war, and ultimately the destiny of the nation.