Fighting Under the Bars and Stars 

 Everyone is certain this "little rebellion" will be over in less than a year. But it's not long before 18-year-old Caleb Lewis begins to fear that just might not be the case. While attending the Virginia Military Institute under the tutelage of Colonel Jackson, the man who would become known as Stonewall Jackson, Caleb and some of the other cadets take to the field as what would come to be known as the Stonewall Brigade.

 They are pushed beyond their limits, and battle after battle, they are plagued by exhaustion, hunger, lack of shelter to camp, and ragged clothes to protect against the elements. But their fierce loyalty to their leader, and their belief in succession, drives them on. When a great tragedy strikes, will they have what it takes to carry on? 

The following is an excerpt from Fighting Under the Bars and Stars 

CHAPTER ONE 

Virginia Military Institute
Mid-April, 1861 

     A low drumbeat rolled along the hills of the misty hollow while Thom and I hunted for wild turkey. I had slung the two we had bagged earlier over my shoulder as Thomas lowered his sights on another. My hound sat, alert and still except for the twitching of his nose. The heavy dew hung from the bushes, even dripping from the tip of my nose. I wiped it away with my sleeve as the large gobbler strutted among some low brush. I glanced over at grinning Thom as he lowered the musket once more and shot. As the turkey dropped, my hound bounded toward it for retrieval.
Everything went black and the dream disappeared. The drumming became louder and more insistent. I became aware that the pounding was not from the drummer of my dream but outside my head. I shook awake and watched the door shake and rattle as the banging continued. My lifelong friend and current roommate Thomas Nelson, was still asleep, sprawled across his bunk, and the realization came to me that I would have to answer the door.
    I looked at the mist-covered window, and rolling out of bed, prepared for the shock of the cold pine floor on the soles of my feet. I scrambled over and opened the door. A few more seconds and that door would have busted right off its hinges.
    “Caleb! Thom! Sinclair is knocking on our doors. Colonel Jackson has ordered us to assemble in the courtyard tomorrow at 5:00 am in preparation for moving out!” a red-raced cadet named Jones screamed.
    I looked over at Thom who was now miraculously and instantly awake. Both of us wondered what the hell was happening and where we’d go as Jones scampered down the hall.