In April 1865, the American Civil War was winding down. On April 3rd, Union forces captured Richmond and the Confederate government becomes a Government on the run. On April 9th, the main Confederate Army surrendered but there were still lots of loose ends to wrap up. The Confederacy still had two active armies in the field, their president and cabinet are still on the run and they still hold a major chunk of western Alabama and all of Texas.
During the chaotic years preceding the outbreak of war, thirteen year old Bill Cheever and his parents moved west to avoid the turmoil that was engulfing the area along the Mason-Dixon line. The Cheevers settled in southwestern Minnesota near the upper Sioux Indian agency at Morton/Redwood Falls, Minnesota. Life was peaceful and prosperous. Bill made friends with three Sioux boys and they became close friends as they learned woodland lore and Indian ways together. Eventually the bond between them became so strong they went through the ceremony and became blood brothers.
On April 12, 1861 South Carolina Militia fired on the Federal Fort in Charleston Bay. The civil war was on. A wave of volunteerism swept across the North. Bill would have volunteered then, but he was only seventeen. Immediately after his eighteen birthday he joined the newly forming 6th Minnesota Regiment. Before he left for duty, his blood brothers promised him they would take care of his parents if the need should arise.
Nine months later they made good on their promise as they led his parents to safety at the start of the August 1862 Sioux uprising.
My novel picks up Bill's story in Atlanta, Georgia In April 1865. The American Civil war is winding down. The Confederate capital fell to Union troops on April 3rd and Jefferson Davis with his entourage are on the run. On April 9th, C.S.A. General Lee surrendered the whole Army of North Virginia to Grant's Army of the Potomac. The largest Reb army was done.
However, some fighting continued. In North Carolina, Union General Sherman was closing in on C.S.A. Army of the Tennessee under General Johnston. Its surrender would take the South's second largest army out of the fight. Out west the Rebs still held Texas and western Alabama in what was called Kirby-Smith's Fiefdom. No one was paying any attention to him at the moment.
The war was over in the belly of the beast where Bill is stationed, so the Union armies were starting the process of disbanding and sending people home. Bill was one of the earliest to receive such orders. He was given a mission to deliver a package and then to proceed home to St. Paul to be mustard out of the army. Easy right?
The action starts immediately as Bill foils an attempted robbery and sets the stage for future events. As part of this portion of his trip his time in the military is revealed by flashbacks and conversations.
