Chris Babson, not quite twelve, hates the Yankees. The Union soldiers have stolen his prized deerskin shirt, taken his father's horse and made off with the provisions put by on the family's Tennessee farm. He does not understand his parents' refusal to take sides in the conflict nor his brother's decision to fight for the Union. Fueled by anger, hatred and heartbreak, Chris strikes out on his own to inform a Confederate spy of the approach of a Union supply train. But then he learns that his brother might be one of the wagon drivers on that train. Deeply-held feelings storm Chris's heart from all directions. Facing the possible consequences of his actions turns hatred toward compassion as he sees that the enemy is not the other, but a human being with a heart and a family and a life.

Fourteen-year-old Chris, bitterly hating the Yankees for invading his Tennessee mountain home, learns a difficult lesson about the waste of war and the meaning of tolerance and courage when he reports the approach of a Yankee supply troop to the Confederates, only to learn that his brother is probably part of that troop.