The spring of 1861 was a hopeful time in the South. Boyish, fresh-scrubbed young soldiers were eager to enlist and take to the battlefield in neat, colorful formations. Accomplished businessmen rubbed shoulders with the less educated masses, united in a common goal and in their romantic notions of war. Southerners everywhere spread rhetoric about building a new nation on the promise of personal freedom - yet, paradoxically, championed the cause of slavery.

Davis was glad to see such enthusiasm for the Southern cause, but he warned that the war might be long and bloody. His fears would be proven correct, as his soldiers’ dreams of heroism were replaced by the horrendous realities of the wrenching, gruesome conflict which would split families, and an entire nation of people, for four endless years.