From the moment the Acadian exile, Henri Pitre, learns that England and Spain are at war, vengeance begins to consume him. Memories of his family’s forced deportation from Acadie by the British in 1755 reawaken the pain of the loss of his mother and younger brother and kindle his desire for retribution.

His Louisiana militia unit, the Opelousas Post, is ordered to join the Spanish Governor-General, Bernardo de Galvez, who, with his small army, is engaged in a desperate gamble to surprise and attack the British forces at Baton Rouge. The men of the Opelousas Post fight their way through the flooded Atchafalaya swamp, surging bayous, and poisonous snakes in the torrid heat of a Louisiana summer to rendezvous on time with Galvez.

Once there, and facing the hated English, Henri has to come to terms with a betrayal and a sacred promise he had made to his dying father.