Oberlin, Ohio - 1863 With the words of Fredrick Douglas' "Men of Color to Arms" burning inside him, EphremMorgan is set to marry his wife, Elizabeth. Although a runaway slave from MarylandElizabeth does not agree with Ephrem's desire to join the war effort. The collegeeducated farmhand accompanies Hayes Turner, a long-time abolitionist himself andfather figure to Ephrem, on a trip to nearby Cleveland for a Unionist rally where Ephremdecides to enlist. He quickly earns battle experience in the Battle of Grimball's Landing and the SecondBattle of Fort Wagner leading Ephrem to rise through the ranks from a green private toa member of a secret guerrilla unit under the command of disgraced General BenjaminHenry-Jacobs. As Ephrem's body count climbs he begins to question whether this warand covert operation is all worth the bloodshed and will the country actually be morewhole on the other side of this conflict. Stuck between his ideals and the realities of war, Ephrem struggles with his positioning as born free Black soldier in the Union Army.