Sweetgrass - Patricia Ann Kuess

Johnathan Traver, a Master Sergeant in the Union Army, has a death wish-- one of glory awash in crimson. Such a death would free him from the pain of his abusive boyhood. Such a death for such an honorable cause would mean that his life was worth the price of surviving abuse.

Esher Coley is a Private in Johnathan's squad. He has a dream-- to own land on the Prairie and farm it with his wife and children. This dream has sustained him throughout his lonely boyhood as an orphan.

Amidst this blood-thirsty war they fall in love.

CRIMSON is a love story.

But it is also a war story. Johnathan has a mission to train as many squads, Companies, and Regiments as he can in the battle tactics he devised, modern war strategies that utilize the modern weapons of the day, Springfield rifles, capable of firing three rounds a minute. Army trains recruits as though they still had muskets. In 1862 and 63, the casualties are enormous.

The men in Johnathan's squad help him teach these tactics. They are colorful, memorable characters, and each of them have interesting backstories, each contribute a remarkable understanding of soldiers serving in the Civil War.