Although he misses Melinda, the girl he left behind, after his time as a homeless orphan on the streets of Paducah Jeter thinks being a groom in the White House stables, and life in general in the nation's capital, is all he'll ever want. His friend and mentor, Shakespeare-quoting Union Army Captain Joseph Emerson, is an advisor to President Lincoln. With the President just re-elected and the war with the Confederacy won, they all see bright days ahead.

But an assassin's bullet brings their world crashing down, and Jeter and the Captain see their own grief reflected in the mourning of millions of citizens as the captain commands an Honor Guard on the funeral train that bears Lincoln's remains on the long cross-country trip home to Illinois.

As Jeter explores the cities where the train stops enroute, he adds his own real-life stories and comes to appreciate the cultural mix that makes America one great nation.