1861: While visiting family friends in Savannah, Luke fell in love with a girl named Julia Branch. Chester Baker, a local young man about town, was a bitter rival for her time and attention. Unfortunately for Luke, her banker father rejected him; it seems Luke's family back in Pennsylvania wasn't wealthy enough. Then the war started.

December 1864: Sherman's army is camped outside Savannah and Luke is back. He was crippled in July at Peachtree Creek, but is a Yankee spy and has been tasked with gaining information about Fort McCallister which is Sherman's next target. Chester lost a leg at Antietam in '62 and is now a bartender in a broken down saloon in a blockaded cotton port named Coffee Bluff.