Drawing from the primary resource of George Judson's diaries from 1863 and 1864, Stewart Petrie incorporates other information concerning the Union VI Corps to paint this picture of Civil War life. The unending problems of long marches, heat exhaustion, poor food, and illness are punctuated with episodes of brutal warfare and stark terror. The Union VI Corps participated in such hard-fought battles as the Wilderness, North Anna River, the slaughter at Cold Harbor, and most notably at Cedar Creek.

The battle of Cedar Creek is described in great detail with movements and tactics of both armies as a background to the accounts offered by George Judson's diary entries. The fact that an apparent overwhelming victory by the forces of Jubal Early was later that day turned into a resounding victory by Union forces that included the VI Corps is well known because of Thomas Buchanan's poem "Sheridan’s Ride." The Union VI Corps would continue the struggle to their final destiny at Appomattox Court House.