Word Count: 537The story I read took place mostly at the Battle of Gettysburg. Tom and Jeff Majors had just enrolled in the Confederate army. Tom enrolled as a private and Jeff as a drummer boy. Their dad, Nelson Majors, who had been in the army for quite some time, had just been promoted to Major.
Tom and Jeff were appointed to their father’s unit. They fought in the Battle of Gettysburg which was the worst battle of the Civil War. The death total for the battle was great. The Union and the Confederates lost a total of 18,000 men each. During the worst part of the battle, a shell hit Tom’s leg. Jeff immediately carried him to the field doctor.
The doctor told Tom that his leg would have to be cut off. The Confederate army was being beaten back by the Union and they had to retreat. That meant that Tom was put on a wagon and carried away. Tom knew there was little chance of him surviving the ride.
Jeff had an idea to take Tom to the Poteets’ house. They had eatenwith them before the battle. The Poteets gladly agreed to keep Tom for a short while at their house. Jeff and Nelson Majors were very happy that Tom could stay with them. When Tom’s leg was healed, he and Jeff went back to Kentucky where their family was from.
When they got home there was a big welcome dinner. A letter came a few days later telling Jeff that he would need to go back to the army. When Jeff got back, he and his dad talked about how Tom was doing and the rest of the family. After that, the story ends just as they were about to go fight another battle.
The predominate conflict inoccurred when Tom was hit by a shell from the Union army. Jeff turned and saw Tom rolling and rolling on the ground. When Jeff got there, he saw that it had struck Tom’s leg. He quickly tied a bandage on it to stop the bleeding.
Jeff told Tom that he would have to instantly see a field doctor. The doctor told Tom that his leg would have to be taken off. When Jeff and Tom arrived at their home in Kentucky, Sarah, Tom’s girlfriend, saw what had happened to his leg. Tom thought that Sarah would not like him because he had lost his leg. Sarah tried to tell him that it did not matter that he had lost his leg, but Tom did not listen.
Sarah asked Mr. Springer, who had recently lost his leg, to come and talk to Tom. Mr. Springer told Tom that he should get an artificial leg. Mr. Springer said that he felt as good as new with his artificial leg.
The story ends shortly after they finished talking. I concluded that Tom would eventually get an artificial leg.
