In September 1862, Nathaniel Denham was almost 18 years old. Originally from Ohio, his parents had died of the ague along the Mississippi river near Memphis in 1853 while coming south seeking new opportunities. He and his brother, Lonnie, were taken in by the Henning family of Gainesboro, Tennessee and raised as their own. With the Union victory at Fort Donelson, Nate found his pastoral life displaced by the tragedies of the Civil War. A reluctant participant, he had initially planned to fight for the Confederacy, to appease his stepfather’s pro-southern philosophies and most of his friends. But through a series of self-realizations, he came to grips with his real allegiance ... and it wasn’t to be found with the South. Although the climax of this story involves the battle of Antietam, the bloodiest one-day battle of the war, it is not about the Civil War. But rather its importance relates to the conflicts and battles that raged between Nate’s ears, as he was forced into many new and uncomfortable situations and to be older than his years might have indicated. While suffering through the battle of Antietam, wherein he was severely wounded, he found himself thrust into prominence and recognized by General George B. McClelland and others as an indomitable fighter. For that display of skill, determination, and courage he was taken from the ranks of a common young foot soldier to that of a captain assigned to Gen. McClelland’s staff. His adoptive father had wanted him to learn more about “men and things.” But through the death of those adoptive parents, close friends, the burning of the family homestead, the attack on his way of life, and all that he held dear, he was forced to learn more about “men and things” than he was ready to learn.