Eight thousand marines land in Vera Cruz bound for a war against the Mexican army, including Winfield Scott, a general who made history in the War of 1812, and Robert E. Lee, a forty-year-old engineer as yet untested in battle.

"Robert E. Lee seemed destined for greatness. His father was a Revolutionary War hero and at West Point he graduated second in his class! In 1861, when the Southern states seceded from the Union, Lee was offered the opportunity to command the Union forces. However, even though he was against the war, his loyalty to his home state of Virginia wouldn't let him fight for the North."--Amazon.com.

It's September 17, 1862 and President Abraham Lincoln needs a victory in order to issue the Emancipation Proclamation and end slavery in the south. But Robert E. Lee has other plans - invade the North. When Lee's strategy falls into the hands of the Union army, the result is the bloodiest day in American history at the Battle of Antietam in Sharpsburg, Maryland.