This is the true story of a young Kentucky woman whose husband joins the Union Army in the Civil War but finds she cannot manage their little farm without him. She learns he has been wounded and decides to travel nearly 200 miles on foot and horseback through primitive country to try to rescue him from the war. She takes her 3-year-old daughter with her and finds several serious obstacles on her long journey, including trying to swim across a flooded river, warding off a bear attack and dealing with soldiers who try to commandeer her horse and goods. The story speaks from the point of view of both her and her husband, who is embroiled in serious war battles at his Cumberland Gap, Tn., military post.