Sarah is a young bride, newly married, filled with happiness and joy, and she fills Seven Oaks with that same exuberant and bright spirit. But her marriage to dashing cavalry officer Malcolm Beckett Scott does not stop the Civil War. Soon the spring of 1863 has come, the rain showers of winter have ended, the roads have dried, and Union and Confederate armies are on the move. And that means her young husband, and her beloved uncle General Stonewall Jackson, are on the move as well. Sarah can only go to her knees and pray they will be spared as the fighting spreads through Virginia once again. Will this be the year the South gains her independence? What does the new year have in store for Sarah Nunley Ross and the Confederate States of America? She can only hope and dream - and be strong.