Synopsis
Shadow Patriot is a gripping, six-part Civil War spy thriller that tells the remarkable true story of Abraham Galloway, a slave whose daring escape from bondage thrusts him into the covert world of espionage for the Union army, risking his life infiltrating enemy lines to enlist over 5,000 freed and former slaves to form the core of the Union Colored Troops out of New Bern, North Carolina.
We will put the audience right at the heart of Galloway’s internal and external war, traveling by ship, on foot, and by underground railroad from North Carolina up to the freedom of Canada, down to the revolutionary ideals of Haiti and back across the tumultuous expanse of a fledgling United States on the brink of Civil War, risking everything to fight for black civil rights, justice, and freedom.
With a pistol in his belt, he will use charm, guile, manipulation, oratory elegance, stealth, and violence as he battles the Ku Klux Klan, negotiates black civil rights with President Abraham Lincoln, and cements his legacy with election to State Senator for North Carolina.
Episode 1
1855 | New Bern NC | Galloway’s Great Escape
In Smithville, North Carolina, eighteen-year-old Abraham Galloway saves his friend Robert Eden from being brutally whipped. They stow away in the cellar of Mary Starkey, a free Black woman who owns a boarding house and helps them escape. She introduces Galloway to an old waterman, Pilot Peter, who helps get the young men on a ship heading North. They must evade slave catchers and navigate treacherous terrain and deadly situations while all over the fledgling United States, the Civil War is building.
Episode 2
1858 | Free Love in Canada | Death in Boston
After escaping to Canada West's freedom, Galloway and Robert part ways. A quiet life tempts Galloway as a free man and the love of a good woman, Abigail Johnson, who is a free Black and staunch abolitionist, but he cannot ignore his true calling: The emancipation of all enslaved people. Consumed with raw, revolutionary ideals, Galloway travels with a band of militant escaped slaves, risking his life moving between the free states of Ohio and Massachusetts.
But tragedy strikes as the enemy ambushes them during a secret abolitionist meeting at Tremont Temple Church in Boston. They capture Abigail, who had been planning to travel with Galloway to Haiti. Devastated by his loss, Galloway is even more inspired to visit Haiti, the only place where a slaves' led revolution succeeded.
Episode 3
1861 - 1863 | Haiti and New Bern | Galloway is revolutionized
Galloway returns to the US on the eve of the war and is approached to spy for the Union. Using his extensive knowledge of the South and his skills in disguise and deception, he is to infiltrate the Confederate territory and gather intel. Traveling to Vicksburg with the Union Army, Galloway sees firsthand the brutality and horrors of slave plantation life.
After a lucky escape at the hands of the Confederacy and a perilous journey, battered and beaten, through the Mississippi, he returns to New Bern, North Carolina, to begin plotting how to bring about the downfall of the Confederacy for good.
Episode 4
1864 | New Bern NC | Recruited as spy | Frees mother
With the Civil War raging across America, Galloway arrives back in New Bern to become the leader of the abolitionist movement. But first, he must free his mother, which he does through cunning and guile. He brings his mother to stay safely in the house of Mary Ann Starkey. After reuniting, Starkey then introduces Galloway to Edward Kingsley, an emissary from President Lincoln, with a bold request: Kingsley asks Galloway to help create a Colored Regiment that is willing to fight for the Union.
Galloway agrees in principle but refuses to become a puppet controlled by white politicians. When his demands are met, he starts recruiting former slaves into the Union Army. Galloway's spy craft is tested, working deep behind enemy lines and leading slaves to freedom. No obstacles appear. Before the black regiments can turn into an effective fighting force, Galloway must fight against the institutionalized racism and discrimination deeply rooted within the Union army.
Episode 5
1865 | Washington DC | Meets with Lincoln
With his army taking shape, Galloway turns his attention to voting rights and political equality for his soldiers. With a pistol in his belt, he leads an all-black contingent to Washington to meet with President Lincoln directly.
While treated with respect, Galloway is not given the assurances he demands. He returns to New Bern, to fight for their citizenship by ballot box or cartridge box, but an evil new enemy is about to reveal itself.
Episode 6
1868 | Wilmington, NC | Elected to State Senate | Fights the Klan
As the Civil War rages across America, back in New Bern, Galloway must also confront a new enemy: the Ku Klux Klan. As Galloway's army and the Klan face off, he leads a clandestine mission to capture the Klan's leader, risking his life and the safety of his loved ones to keep his community safe in an explosive final episode.
Characters
