In her diary, a ten-year-old girl writes about her family's experiences living in Washington, D. C., in 1864-5, during which time the Civil War comes to an end and President Lincoln is assassinated. Includes historical notes.

In 1863, as the Civil War approaches his home in Gettysburg and he realizes that a big battle is about to begin, a freed slave named Abraham decides to join the ambulance corps of the Union Army.