He thought his battles were over. This one is for his soul.

Lummy Tullos has borne witness to the brutal toll of war. His harrowing journey has led him down paths he never intended, forced him to commit acts he never imagined.

Yet, in the crucible of conflict, it's often the noblest of men who must carry out the darkest deeds. Lummy faced the impossible because survival-and sanity-demanded it.

With the Civil War's echoes fading, Choctaw County, Mississippi, has known relative peace since Captain Tom Ford's notorious gang met its violent end two years ago. But the loss of kin and comrades presses heavily on Lummy's soul.

Now, all he yearns for is to be a devoted husband, a loving father, and to till the good soil of the family farm in peace. Lummy's story isn't finished, though.

His battles, he hoped, were over, but President Grant himself reaches out to deny him respite. The work of preserving freedom demands further sacrifice as a new specter looms on the horizon.

A former brother-in-arms, once bound by the shared crucible of Vicksburg's trenches, now reigns terror over central Louisiana. The call to arms reaches Lummy's ears once more, beckoning him to stand against the storm of terror so that others may know the peace he now craves.

Choctaw County's fields will have to wait as Lummy journeys back to Winn Parish, where the West-Kimbrell Gang's tyranny must be quelled and the clash of wills will decide the fate of a region held captive by fear and lawlessness. .