A carefree day at a Civil War museum turns perilous as 14-year-old Jamie Henry, his older brother Rob, and their friend, Sarah Singleton, journey back in time to December of 1864, the final days of the war in Wilmington, North Carolina. Jamie hopes to save pretty Madeline Manon, daughter of a blockade-running captain, from certain death in a shipwreck. But he is thwarted in his efforts by the ship's first mate. Meanwhile, Sarah takes a job at nearby Fort Fisher as nanny to the small children of Colonel William Lamb and his wife, Daisy. The colonel is the fort's dashing young commander whose mighty cannons defend Wilmington and safeguard the blockade runners bringing in arms and supplies for the Confederate army. When Jamie's older brother Rob joins them in the past, he becomes an aide to Colonel Lamb, as the army at the fort frantically prepares for a massive Yankee invasion by land and by sea. When Jamie is drafted into the Junior Reserves, both brothers must fight for their lives in the terrifying Battle of Fort Fisher, as well as struggle against their common enemy, Gaston. Three modern teenagers travel back in time to North Carolina during the battle for Fort Fisher in the American Civil War.