In an alternate history where the Confederacy emerged victorious from the Civil War, the Stars and Bars have flown over the former Union for over three decades. But in 1900, the embers of resistance are stoked into flame as Theodore Roosevelt, the charismatic governor of New York, openly defies Confederate authority and secretly gathers allies to restore the Union. Spearheading the resistance is General John J. Pershing, a pragmatic military strategist who builds a modern army focused on defensive fortifications, machine guns, and coordinated firepower - a stark contrast to the Confederacy's reliance on traditional cavalry charges. As Pershing's forces clash with the Confederates, the war takes a heavy toll, with Clara Whitfield, a Boston nurse, tending to the wounded on both sides and bearing witness to the horrors of industrial-age warfare. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh steelworker Billy Keane and his worker militia fight to protect their city from Confederate sabotage, while Colonel Nathaniel Ashford, a Virginia-born Confederate officer, is torn between his duty and his growing moral crisis over the Confederacy's cruelty. The conflict escalates as the Confederacy clings to its waning power, resorting to brutal repression against civilian uprisings in the South and desperate attempts to break the Union's industrial might. But Roosevelt's government proves resilient, with the establishment of the Home Guard and Clara's medical brigades bolstering civilian resistance. The war becomes a battle for the soul of the nation, as the Confederacy's dreams of eternal domination crumble against the Union's vision of universal freedom. Pershing's campaign to seize control of the Mississippi River and isolate Texas marks a turning point, while the Siege of Richmond becomes a battle of attrition that slowly grinds down the Confederacy's last stronghold. As the Union armies close in, President John Tyler Morgan and Vice President Benjamin Tillman struggle to maintain control in the face of growing unrest and hunger within Richmond's walls.