"I was the son of a slave, as was my father before me, but I shall die a free man . . ."

Thus begins the poignant story of Samuel Washburn, born a slave in 1850. Unfortunate circumstances cause him and his cousin to be the butt of a young master's cruelty. Eventually they fight back and have to flee North for their freedom, only to return South to fight for the larger cause that they hunger and thirst for: freedom.

Though still a boy, Sam becomes a regimental drummer with a "colored regiment." He sees action in the Wilderness campaign, Fredericksburg, and Petersburg, as well as at the bloody Battle of the Crater in July of 1864, offering a unique perspective on the carnage of the political disagreement that was known as the War Between the States.