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Thank you. It's September 20th, 1863, on a battlefield near Chickamauga Creek in northwest Georgia, two years into the American Civil War.

18-year-old Thomas Cole wipes sweat from his brow as he sets down the last cannon in a group pointing downhill.

Though he's from the South, Thomas is a black Union soldier.

Just days ago, he escaped his Alabama slaveholder.

But before he could cross over to the North on his own, he ran into two Union spies who

helped him enlist with the Union army.

Now Thomas happily assists his fellow troops prepare for battle against the Confederates in Georgia.

As he surveys the line of cannons he helped arrange, Thomas breathes a sigh of relief.

It's been a hard day's work, but his job is done, and he can finally take a break.

He begins to walk away from the cannon and head back to camp,

but the sound of gunfire suddenly halts him in his tracks.

He looks around frantically until down the hill he spots the soldiers of the Confederate Army marching toward the Union line.

The cannons around Thomas boom as the soldiers tried to stop the advance.

And with bullets flying from every direction, Thomas drops to the ground, trying to keep himself safe.

But one of the Union soldiers orders him to get back to work, loading the cannons.

Thomas pulls himself up, summons all his bravery, and tries to keep his stomach as men all around him fall,

sometimes in hideous explosions of gunpowder and blood. The hill is littered with pieces of what

once were whole men, and Thomas can't help but wonder if he escaped to freedom just so he could die on the battlefield.

...