Lachlan McIntosh (1728-1806) was a prominent Georgia planter, patriarch of his Highland Scots clan in America, and the ranking general from Georgia in the Continental army. Often, however, he is known simply as the man who, in a duel, mortally wounded Button Gwinnett, one of Georgia's signers of the Declaration of Independence. This biography fleshes out McIntosh considerably and, just as important, uses his life as a springboard for discussing the rapidly shifting political, social, and economic forces at work during a crucial period of Georgia's history.

This is the story of the lives and political careers of three men - Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, and George Walton - who attained prominence within that struggle and who acquired undying fame by representing Georgia in the congress that adopted the Declaration of Independence.