A collection of linked short stories set during and after the great engagement at Gettysburg, portraying battle scenes, retreats, and the communal aftermath through the perspectives of soldiers, their families, and town residents. Episodes move between the front and domestic spaces, following figures such as a fifer's wife, a gunner, a wartime substitute, and other villagers as they confront sudden violence, loss, and the burdens of care. The narratives emphasize small, intimate moments—homecomings, funerals, daily labor—and trace how duty, grief, and memory reshape community ties and ordinary life in the wake of conflict.
