In the beginning of the story, Jethro Creighton is a nine year old who lives on a quiet Southern Illinois farm just before the Civil War. He has always been a hard worker, and he helps out a lot around the farm. However, when a good friend of his (Shadrach Yale) returns from town with the news that the Civil War has officially begun, Jethro’s world turns upside-down.
Having four brothers, Jethro is quick to discover that they all are eager to fight… But Jethro must then struggle with the split between them, as two go to the Union Army and one goes to the Confederacy.
Later one, his good friend Shad and his brother John also joins the Union. As the battle heats up, so do the townspeople that live near Jethro. A gang of rowdy men led by Guy Wortman are strongly apposed to the fact that Jethro’s brother joined the Rebel cause. Jethro travels to town, and overhears the men talking about how traitorous Jethro’s brother is. However, though Jethro is frightened by the men, he thinks nothing of it. While Jethro is riding back, however, he is warned that the men are up to no good. His helper is one of the Creighton’s enemies, because his son is the one that killed their daughter Mary. The man saves Jethro from disaster that night, but that is not the end of the gangsters.
After a few months, the men are at it again. The gangsters sabotage the Creighton’s property by burning down the farmhouse and then contaminating the water in the well with oil. However, Jethro does not have a lot of time to lament over this. When he finds out that his cousin Eb is a deserter of the Union Army, Jethro faces the hard decision whether or not he should help his cousin and perhaps pay the penalty, or if he should ignore him completely.
Finally, Jethro makes up his mind to help his cousin Eb,with some help from Abraham Lincoln, but soon encounters problems. He soon gets himself and his brother out of them. Although his brother Tom never makes it home and Shad almost dies, soon the family is almost all together again, as the Civil War comes to a close.
