Sweetgrass: Book I: Johnathan & Esher

Book I provides an intimate glimpse of camp life in the Union Army during the Civil War.

There's a memorable cast of characters, the most being Sergeant Johnathan Traver, a man laden with memories of his abusive boyhood,

and Private Esher Coley, a young man also burdened with a painful and lonely boyhood.

Johnathan is convinced that his misery will end while serving in this bloody war, but before he dies he wants to modernize training methods taught to recruits. He is regarded as a traitor by Army Command. He does not fear becoming an outlaw in the Army, all he fears is being discharged, still alive!

Esher dearly wants to stay alive so he can raise a family on his farm on the Prairie. He is convinced that having a family will be the end of his loneliness.

They fall in love. How can this be?

Book I brings a surprisingly different perspective to our collective understanding of Army life during the Civil War.