Oberlin, Ohio - 1863 With the words of Fredrick Douglas' "Men of Color to Arms" burning inside him, Ephrem Morgan is set to marry his wife, Elizabeth. Although a runaway slave from Maryland Elizabeth does not agree with Ephrem's desire to join the war effort. The college educated farmhand accompanies Hayes Turner, a long-time abolitionist himself and father figure to Ephrem, on a trip to nearby Cleveland for a Unionist rally where Ephrem decides to enlist. He quickly earns battle experience in the Battle of Grimball's Landing and the Second Battle of Fort Wagner leading Ephrem to rise through the ranks from a green private to a member of a secret guerrilla unit under the command of disgraced General Benjamin Henry-Jacobs. As Ephrem's body count climbs he begins to question whether this war and covert operation is all worth the bloodshed and will the country actually be more whole 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.