Events spiral out of control for a young family just making ends meet on a small farm in rural Michigan. Civil War erupts. Reluctantly, Will Hodkins finds peer pressure and pride in country irresistible, causing him to volunteer as foot soldier in the Union army. Answering an inner call to duty, he leaves wife Maria and two toddler sons behind. Can a simple brown leather-covered journal, a parting gift from Maria, become Will's lifeline? Or, tender exchange of letters between two lovers documenting travails? Through brutal winter in army camp, Will and seven friends bond to become 'surrogate family' helping each other survive ...even as tragedy and loss strike. Meanwhile, back home Maria struggles to keep farm and children ...family loyalty ultimately tested by dramatic twists of irony. Whether ambushed in Kentucky by regaled Confederate John Morgan's raiders, or awaiting epic battle alongside Chickamauga creek in Tennessee/Georgia, fear, bravery and heroics, honor and fortitude collide with weakness and treachery ...lives changed forever, even destroyed. Can Will Hodkins survive? After all, it is a promise made to Maria ...to get back home.