On the night of May 23 1861 barely a month after the outbreak of the Civil War.

On the night of May 23 1861 barely a month after the outbreak of the Civil War, three young men made their way stealthily within the darkness toward the fort that guarded Hampton Roads, Virginia, near the chaps of the Chesapeake Bay. When they reached its exterior ramparts, they were spotted on a picket guard and taken into custody--an consequence they embraced willingly and with relief, nevertheless doubtless also with a virtuous deal of apprehension. Ahead of them lay an uncertain fate; behind them, sum of two units of the men had left wives and children whom they might in no degree see again. ...