Ransom J. Powell, a boy who lives in Frostburg, Maryland, decides to join the Union Army against his parents' will.

At first, he is excited and proud, but he soon realizes the brutal, bloody horror of war.

Danny Hayes - the other drummer boy in Ransom's company and his best friend for some time.

Oliver "Ollie" Wilson - One of R.J's best friends before he joins the union army.

He leaves to join the Fourth Maryland, United States forces.

They have two daughters (Mary and Nancy), a little boy Jamie, R.J, and his father has an apprentice named Johny McDonald.

This article on a novel about the American Civil War is a stub.