The Civil War saga of the Brannon family of Culpeper, Virginia, continues with this volume. While the oldest son of Abigail fights in Virginia, another son struggles for his life in New Madrid, Missouri. Before the war, Cory Brannon had gone west to seek his fortune. But the riverfront is a dangerous place, and the young Virginian is barely eking out a livelihood as a wharf rat. Somehow, none of that finds expression in his letters back to Culpeper.

As the war comes to the river, Cory finds himself choosing sides and discovering a new way of life aboard a riverboat. He also notices that the captain's daughter is quite beautiful and possibly interested in him.

The captain keeps Cory close at hand, but he also disappears for suspicious meetings whenever the boat docks and takes on cargo. In due time, Cory learns that he's not the only man aboard the vessel with strong sympathies for the South.

After an encounter with a Union gunboat, Cory and the rest of the riverboat crew find themselves swept into the fighting at Forts Henry and Donelson. He experiences the confusion of battle, and he eventually becomes a prisoner. But not all prisoners get sent to prison camps, and Cory ventures on toward Nashville and then Shiloh. The carnage of the deadliest battle of the war thus far lies before him.