A DIFFERENCE OF PURPOSE is a civil war novel that tells the story of 12 year old Jonathan Berkeley, a Confederate drummer boy serving with the famous Orphan Brigade, and his uncle and Godfather, Alexander Wythe, an abolitionist lawyer and captain serving in the Union army. They wrestle with God and their own inner demons as they confront devastating personal tragedies and search desperately for faith, love and meaning in a torn and tragic world of civil war. Captain Wythe is forced to question his faith when confronted with the loss of loved ones, including his wife, Amanda Wythe, and with the human suffering, inhumanity, cruelty and chaos of the American Civil War. This story of loss, sorrow, faith, and redeeming love takes the reader on a fast-paced journey to the bloody battlefields of Fredericksburg, Stones River, and Chickamauga, and through a world of division and heartbreak. Also featured in this novel of love and war are Abraham Lincoln, Clara Barton, the abolition of slavery, the mistreatment of American Indians, and the largest mass execution in American history.