Summary

Chapter 18 takes place the morning of December 19th, 1866, as Michael resumes his journal entries. He describes how he and Tom came from Ireland and enlisted in the Army in Philadelphia. They hoped to save both their wages to buy a plot of land to farm after the war. Once Tom was hit in the mouth with a musket ball, they spent all their savings on his recovery and lost their faith in the Army as a just entity. After Tom was shot at Chickamauga, Michael took him to a nearby creek to wash his wounds where they were found by a Provost Marshal and taken in as cowards and deserters. Captain Molloy, however, saw the two in chains and ordered their release. Michael then recounts being one of the people who carried Molloy into Fort Phil Kearny on the stretcher and thinking that...