The story begins in 1861. Jacob Colley-a 46-year-old man, father of three children, two daughters and one son, with whom he lives on a farm in the state of Wisconsin-has been seriously ill for some time. However, due to the outbreak of the Civil War, he receives a draft into the army. Despite his illness, he is forced to join the Union army and take part in the conflict with the hostile Confederacy. His son-17-year-old Johnny, however, does not want to let his father due to his terrible health, so he decides to join the army for him. When he talks to his parents about it, an argument initially ensues between them. However, the boy eventually convinces them that he will manage and promises them that he will definitely return, and not in a coffin. At the military commission he raises his age(he must be 18) and goes off to the war from which he promised to return alive.
