Fourteen-year old Eli Campbell buried his family one by one in late winter of 1861. They'd all died of smallpox, but by some miracle Eli didn't contract the deadly disease. When spring came he made a new friend in Henry Dillon, a local tailor. Then the winds of war begin to blow as the south talks of seceding from the Union. Dillon organizes an artillery battery since he'd had such experience as a boy from New York State in the Mexican/American War. Eli wanted to go, but at fourteen, the army would only allow a boy his age to join as a musician to play drum, bugle or fife. Eli jumped at the chance to participate in this grand adventure, although he had no idea what he was getting into.