Through the pages of this meticulously researched epic march the heroes of both great armies. We share their triumphs, feel their pain, and sense their vulnerability. This gripping page-turner, set in the most marched across county of the Civil War, is sure to please lovers of history, romance, and adventure. Spirited eighteen-year-old Constance Armstrong, younger of two daughters, has been raised by her elderly judge father as a free thinking intellectual. She shares his love of politics and harbors literary aspirations. At a picnic, Constance meets West Point graduate Robert Beckam whose quiet maturity attracts her. Virginia secedes and troops flood into Culpeper for training. Constance's surrogate brother, Frank Stringfellow, is rejected by the cavalry due to his sparse size. Undeterred, he captures the pickets of one cavalry unit, and gains acceptance due to his daring. He becomes a scout and spy and undertakes countless hair-raising adventures, frequently entangling Constance. Constance is enthralled while watching John Pelham train recruits for J. E. B. Stuart's Horse Artillery. During a blizzard, Judge Armstrong invites Pelham's Alabamians to the shelter of his home, thus beginning Constance's fascination with the dashing officer. After the Confederate Army marches towards Richmond, three Union cavalrymen pilfer the Armstrong farm and kill an elderly free servant. Days later a company of Union infantry commanded by recent Harvard graduate Aaron Ames approach the farm. Constance brazenly marches out to confront them and bitterly complains about the pilfering and murder. Her spirit and beauty impress Ames. Beckam, Pelham, and Ames vie for her affection as she struggles to survive the swirling chaos of war. We watch this unpredictable heroine nurture, heal, kill, spy, hate bitterly, and ultimately love passionately

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