Civil Unrest

In April 1861, Americans took up arms as war loomed in unsettling times. Fifteen-year-old Emma, the daughter of a Baptist preacher, watched over her younger brother, David, having lost their family months prior in a tragic house fire. Shortly after, the church’s heartbroken congregation, unable to provide for the children, sent them to a makeshift orphanage on the outskirts of Washington County. There, they faced their difficulties together. However, when a tall, soft-spoken, middle-aged man named Michael stopped by to take them home, new challenges emerged. As conflict led them to the war front, all three confronted the horrors of war, both in camp and on the battlefield. They joined the 37th Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment.