In early 1862 the Civil War comes within view of the Brannon family farm
in Culpeper County, Virginia. The din of drilling soldiers sweeps over
the quiet county seat, and another Brannon son, Mac, answers the call to
arms.
The long-anticipated spring offensive pitches the Union and Confederate
armies against each other on the Virginia Peninsula, and it appears that
Richmond and the fledgling Confederacy are doomed. As the Southerners
fall back before the slowly advancing Northern army, Mac is reunited
with his older brother, Will, when Stonewall Jackson's triumphant troops
arrive from the Shenandoah Valley to blunt the Federal onslaught. The
fortunes of the Southern army change dramatically when Robert E. Lee is
made commander.
Lee's army strikes a stunning blow to the Northern army as his legions
cross the Potomac River into Maryland. When the Federals intercept the
Rebels near Antietam Creek, the two brothers are brought together in the
bloodiest trial of the war thus far. The air is thick with shot and
shell as wave after wave of Northern soldiers are hurled upon the
Southern lines grouped near the town of Sharpsburg and a river of death.
Antietam is the third book in this ten-volume series, spanning the Civil
War and describing one Southern family. As the Brannon brothers answer
the call to arms the family finds itself struggling with dilemmas it had
never imagined.
