Setting the Scene

It is 1863, the height of the Civil War. A dozen wealthy New York businessmen have hired a mercenary to help them carry out a deadly plot — one so grand that it will shape the country's future, and so far reaching that its secrets will still be surfacing in 2003, when a long-delayed letter arrives at the home of a black family in Savannah, Georgia.

The Family's Journey

Spurred by a personal interest in the letter, the family travels to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to search for a mysterious buried object containing historic information — only to discover that others are racing to find it first.