Orry and Charles, now officers in the Confederate Army, leave the Main family plantation for the war in Virginia. Orry, despite having been against secession, accepts a commission to brigadier general and begins to serve as military aide to Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Richmond. Meanwhile, George and Billy are in Washington, D.C., where they are officers in the U.S. Army. Billy joins the U.S. Sharpshooters regiment, while George also accepts a commission, though only to colonel, and becomes a military aide to U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.