Director Jason Urban tells the incredible true story of Anna Ella Carroll, an American lobbyist and journalist who became an informal member of President Abraham Lincoln's cabinet after helping Union forces win the Civil War as mastermind of the ingenious Tennessee River Plan. Unusually adept in law and politics in an era where women's involvement in such matters were often frowned upon, Carroll helped to played a pivotal role in the birth of the American Party and fought to keep Maryland in the Union when the Civil War erupted. Later, while visiting St. Louis, she noticed that the Tennessee River could offer the Union a clear strategic advantage in the bloody battle, and recommended General Ulysses S. Grant as the man best suited to execute the plan. Recognizing the role that Carroll's plan played in securing a Union victory, Lincoln planned to make her a major general until fate intervened.