Prior to the Civil War, the tranquil village of Academia, located in mid-western Juniata County of Central Pennysylvania encompassed the Tuscarora Academy, the Tuscarora Female Seminary, and the Lower Tuscarora Presbyterian Church.
David Evans, a local resident of Half Moon, attended the academy where he met Abigail Volkner, a southern belle from Strasburg, Virginia, located in the Shenandoah Valley. As they fell in love, the world around them escalated into a deepening split between the North and the South.
The young couple observed in awe the reaction of the South to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President and the creation of the Confederacy. The young lovers' dreams were shattered, and they faced a real test of their love as Abbey returned home to Strasburg, and they were separated by five valleys: the Tuscarora, the Path, the Conococheague, the Potomac, and the Shenandoah.
With flags, bands, speeches, and songs a whole generation of Americans
went off to war to fight each other; one exception at first was David Evans. Due to parental opposition because of his age, he didn't join Company A of the 49th Pennsylvania Volunteers until the fall of 1863 after he had completed his schooling, This allowed David to observe fellow Tuscarora Academy graduate Stephen Pomeroy, formerly of the 126th regiment, as he rode from Chambersburg to Perrysville (Port Royal) to deliver the message that Lee was moving towards Gettysburg.
Meanwhile, in the Shenandoah Valley, Abbey observed the movement by horse-drawn wagons of Thomas Jackson's bounty of locomotives and railroad cars from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad as they were hauled down the Valley Turnpike to her home of Strasburg. She was perplexed by the constant movement of troops of both armies through her beloved lower Shenandoah Valley, but she was most concerned about the impact that her family's pacifistic Dunker beliefs would have on their safety.
In the beginning of the year of 1864, David learned of the death of his beloved pastor, the Reverend Thompson. The Presbyterian minister had gone to Gettysburg immediately after the battle to administer to the wounded of both armies and had been afflicted by a battlefield disease, thus losing his life in playing the role of the Good Samaritan.
David Evan's regiment was part of the Sixth Corps that participated in Grant's thrust towards Richmond beginning in May of 1864 The Sixth fought in the Battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and many of the skirmishes and battles leading up to the siege of Petersburg
The Sixth Corps was shifted to the Shenandoah Valley to confront Early and Mosby; therefore they were involved in "The Burning". Circumstances allowed David to renew his relationship with Abbey as the war in the valley wound down. Later the Sixth would be returned to the Richmond campaign where it finished out the war.
How would peace affect the Abbey-David relationship?