The Civil War

The Union already had lost two battles while trying to conquer confederate capital (Battle of Bull Run, Second Battle of Bull Run) by the time summer of 1862 arrived. And was about to get its first major win at the Battle of Antietam. It is difficult to say as to what motivated 18-year-old Shepherd to take part in the battle. Was it his youthful enthusiasm and the excitement to see the country for the first time or moral that was not very much popular in the North during those times? In the first part of December, his unit made its march towards the nation’s capital, and it is from there Shepherd developed the habit of writing.