In 1861, passage of the secession ordnance at Richmond, the hatred and scorn of secessionists and the prospect of bitter civil war in their section compelled pro-Union people of the Northwestern Counties of Virginia to take up questions of sovereignty and national identity. Union people of the Northwestern Counties responded to Virginia's secession from the Union by seceding from Virginia. It was an audacious move, signaling that they took seriously the idea that Americans were entitled to freedom from tyranny and oppression; that they belonged to themselves and were not merely creatures of the government.

With this volume begins the story of the Thirteenth Regiment West Virginia Infantry Volunteers, a set of men drawn from all walks of life who found common purpose and had tremendous grit and resilience-"the gamest set of fellows." They looked to themselves and time and again stood their ground with unflinching courage. These men sacrificed for their love of freedom and their country.

Theirs is a story of the purest patriots, men whose intentions from first to last were tried in no ordinary crucible and by no ordinary fire. "May their experience and example remind us of our higher natures, the value of steadfastness, the necessity of courage and the great gift that is love of liberty. Indeed, may these virtues Abe engraved upon the hearts of the American people in letters of fire."