Robert lies against the stone boulder partially conscious. He thinks, dreams or sees a vision: ‘that is my family, little Thomas is my father and he stood on that wooden bench his ears receptive to the secret Pappy John told him, I...I... am a part of them.’ He resolves himself to the fact that he is dying, but life he realizes is nothing but a short journey with death as its final destination, a destination, which he is about to reach.
Even though Robert’s family once embraced, bravely, the young United States of America. Robert along with his sons Luke and Matthew are now fighting against this very flag for which his forefathers fought, bled and died. How can this be? ‘This cannot be real,’ he thinks, but quickly realizing how true it is as another Yankee bullet ricochets off the rock against which he is leaning.
This is not a dream - The Battle of Gettysburg is indeed real, very real.