It's July 4, 1861, and the featured speaker at this year's Independence
Day celebration at Concord, MA, is high-spirited and fiercely patriotic
Eloise Edwards. She rails against the South's attack on Fort Sumter and
the injustice of slavery. A newspaper article recounting the speech
inspires her brother Edward to enlist. The siblings' father, a War of
Independence veteran, dies, and Edward decides he doesn't want to join
the Union army after all and runs away. Heartbroken, Eloise returns to
the family telegraph office, committed to a life of boredom and
servitude. The disappointment in her brother devastates Eloise.
In a dramatic moment, she decides that she will take her brother's place
and fight for the honor of her family and the country. She joins the
Massachusetts 20th and lives through several horrific battles, including
the most devastating conflict in U.S. history, Gettysburg. General
George Custer discovers her talent as a telegraph operator, and she soon
rises through the ranks and to the war room at the White House, where
she works daily with President Abraham Lincoln. One night, as Eloise
sleeps at her post, Lincoln sees a copy of the newspaper article
featuring Eloise's speech. He reads it, is inspired by it, and borrows
key phrases for the most famous speech in American history, The
Gettysburg Address.
