Short answers, pulled from the story.
Ray and Thomas McCall abandoned their post near the Chattahoochee River in August 1864. They fled into the night with their younger brother William after finding their mother dead and their house partially destroyed by Union troops.
Ray McCall wears a cuirass that allows him to take more damage while moving slower than his sibling. Thomas McCall moves faster and quieter allowing him to sneak up on enemies without detection using a bow for slow-motion precision aiming.
Lead product manager Pawel Kopinski announced the game would use Chrome Engine 4 in January 2009. This engine enabled true multi-platform support for PlayStation 3, Windows, and Xbox 360.
Co-writer Haris Orkin stated they wanted to address racism and slavery without pretending those truths did not exist. The script modeled themes after the psychological effects of the American Civil War on soldiers who fought it.
By September 2009 the game had reached 900,000 units sold across all systems making it one of Ubisoft's best-selling titles. It sold 24,000 units on Xbox 360 and 20,000 units on PlayStation 3 within its first four days.