Enlisting in the Union Army, a seventeen-year-old from Michigan ends up in the cavalry under "Fighting Phil" Sheridan headed for Virginia.

The magic glass -- I had to stay behind -- The road to war -- New store clothes -- The making of a trooper -- We've got to be tough -- We wished we'd stayed at home -- Sheridan's way -- Sword of the Lord and of Gideon -- To carry the flag -- The end of a quarrel -- The girl in the valley -- The fight on the mountain -- Sheridan moves east -- I could feel myself falling -- Sheridan's new army -- A letter from Lavinia -- A night ride to Winchester -- The one thing I remembered -- The general pays a call -- The faraway guns -- And the sixth corps cheered -- It's just beginning.