Action and Treachery in America's Civil War. Polarizing, fire-eating discourse, propaganda, and aversion to reason bred secession madness in Charleston, S.C. and sold rebellion to a population with virtually nothing to gain and everything to lose. Men who should have known better and had become inured to the abomination of human bondage failed to step up. As Southern nationalists raced into Civil War, blockade runner Jack Holmes and wealthy Charleston shipping magnate, George A. Trenholm, do what they can to sustain their city and the Confederacy. Their actions and experiences result in a sweeping adventure story played out on both the land and sea. With the outcome of the war obvious, Jack Holmes and George Trenholm conspire to steal the Confederate gold as Jefferson Davis flees a burning Richmond. The two men accept their responsibility for what proved to be a misguided and tragic rebellion and seek to adapt and redeem themselves in a post-slavery South.