In 1836 a young boy travels with his family to East Tennessee. They settle near the famed frontier town and stagecoach stop of Bean Station where they find both fertile pasture and imposing mountains. In this rugged landscape the boy, Bartlet Yancy Harris, and his siblings mature and begin lives of promise. B.Y., as he soon becomes known, falls in love with and eventually marries Lucretia Gray, whom he has known since childhood. He and his father-in-law begin a business together, and two of his brothers marry Lucretia's sisters. But there is not always agreement between the two families: the Grays own slaves while the Harrises are against slavery. As the Civil War draws near, difficult choices will have to be made. When the country goes to battle against itself, it becomes clear that East Tennessee isn't a place where families will be able to wait out the war, worried about individual solders but safe themselves. As a Union-leaning area within a Confederate state, the region will suffer extensively for four years. When both the Confederacy and the Federals send armies into East Tennessee, the forces not only battle each other but confiscate so much food and livestock that citizens become desperate. Although they hate leaving their families in this turmoil, B.Y. and his brothers eventually enlist with the Union, joining the Eighth Tennessee Volunteer Regiment. At first, to their great frustration, the regiment prepares defenses in Kentucky and Knoxville, Tennessee, instead of fighting. But as the war drags on, more soldiers are needed on the battlefield, and the brothers experience true carnage at battles such as Utoy Creek, near Atlanta, and at Franklin, Tennessee. They also have varying war experiences, and individually endure disease, the infamous Andersonville Prison and various Civil War hospitals. Not all of them survive. Meanwhile their families in Bean Station are suffering also. A battle occurs in the middle of town, and Lucretia faces a group o