Journalist and author Frye Gaillard wades into the heritage-vs-hate debate about how we view the Confederacy. He reflects on his own family's 250-year history of membership in the Southern aristocracy which included owning hundreds of slaves. Through his letters, the film follows the war through the eyes of Gaillard's great-uncle Franklin, a Confederate officer who fought with Robert E. Lee through every major battle from Bull Run to The Wilderness.