This is a fictional treatment of a trial of the "Raiders," thugs in the notorious Andersonville Prison in Georgia, in 1864 during the Civil War. A lawyer-turned-sergeant in the Union Army, now a prisoner himself at Andersonville, becomes defense attorney for the Raider thugs, believing that all defendants regardless of the accusation, require a spirited defense. During the trial, the Sergeant-Lawyer's efforts are complicated by (a) his failed romance of the past, (b) a secret letter from Confederate General Lee to General Jubal Early ordering a secret attack on Washington, D. C., and (c) the Sergeant's past run-ins with the trial Judge. The sergeant grapples with his past doubts about ending slavery, but resolves these doubts near the end of the trial. He seeks redemption while trying desperately to get the secret letter contents to General Grant and the Union forces.