Overview

In the smoke and mud of the Southern Campaign, survival is only the beginning. Elias has marched through defeat and victory, from the blood-soaked fields of Guilford Courthouse to the brutal siege works at Ninety Six, from the pine-shadowed High Hills of the Santee to the blazing fury of Eutaw Springs. Under General Nathanael Greene's relentless strategy, the Continental Army fights not to hold ground, but to bleed the British into retreat; one garrison, one river crossing, one exhausting mile at a time. Through Elias's eyes, the final year of the Revolution in the South comes alive: the desperate marches, the ingenious tactics, the unflinching courage of soldiers and militia, and the thin line between hope and despair in a war that has dragged on too long. When news of Yorktown reaches the Carolinas, Elias must reckon with what victory truly means; because some battles don't end when the guns fall silent. Rich in historical detail and alive with the grit of lived experience, this novel brings the last, decisive year of America's fight for independence into vivid, unforgettable focus.