Hardship and Hardtack follows the 126th New York Volunteer's first year of service in the Union Army and is based on the letters the very real Richard Bassett sent home to his wife, Mary. He details life as a prisoner on parole, their subsequent return to active service and the painful waiting as their names are dragged through the mud and their reputations unduly tarnished. It is not until nearly a year has passed that redemption comes in the form of another battle at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.