Part One, Chapter One: Virginia Is a Hard Road Summary

The novel opens with a letter written by the protagonist, Mr. March, father of the infamous March sisters of Louisa May Alcott's classic novel, Little Women. March is serving as a chaplain during the American Civil War, writing letters home to his wife in Concord. As March writes, he watches a burial party wading into the river to pull snagged bodies down from the tree branches. This sight makes March recall a soldier he recently called to help him collect bodies, a young soldier named Silas Stone. As they searched for bodies, enemy fire erupted around them. Rushing to escape, the men leapt from a cliff into the river below even though Stone could not swim. Other soldiers jumped around them, many forgetting to remove their heavy boots and ammunition, sinking...