Grisly battles of epic proportions continue during the spring and summer of 1863. At Chancellorsville, a Union Army with "greatly superior numbers" is defeated by a much smaller Confederate force led by Robert E. Lee. Seventeen thousand Union soldiers are either killed or imprisoned, and the Creightons, knowing that Shadrach Yale has likely been involved in the fighting there, anxiously wonder if he has been numbered among the casualties. Finally a letter arrives: Shad is all right, but he is weary and angry at the inept leadership his general, Joseph Hooker, had exhibited at Chancellorsville. He is also maddened at the "massive waste of life" he witnessed in this latest battle, as well as at Antietam and Fredricksburg. Reflecting on the gloom hanging over the North at this time, Shad admonishes Jenny that she should prepare herself for the possibility of heartbreak, because her love for him is "no more sacred than the loves for which thousands upon thousands of women are weeping today."

A letter which comes from John is a little more hopeful. He is serving under General Rosecrans, waiting to engage the Confederates in battle in Tennessee. Eb writes to Jethro from Mississippi, near Vicksburg, where he has been reinstated with his regiment. As a punishment for his desertion, he is assigned the harshest of duties; but he accepts his condition with humility, taking full responsibility for his situation.

While the Union struggles with its inexplicably inept military leadership, the Confederates under Lee begin to make inroads into the North, penetrating into the state of Pennsylvania. In July, a battle more terrible than any that has occurred so far takes place at Gettysburg; the Union Army emerges victorious, but imprudently allows the opposing forces to withdraw and prepare to fight again without pursuit. A second Union victory at Vicksburg is also achieved around this time, under General Grant. 

Tragically, as he had predicted, Shadrach Yale is grievously wounded at Gettysburg; the Creightons receive a letter from his aunt in Washington, advising them of her nephew's condition and urgently requesting that they allow Jenny to come to him, as the young man "calls for her constantly in his delirium." Ross Milton, who has delivered the letter, tells Matt Creighton that if he will consent to allow his daughter to go, he will personally see her safely to Washington. Although Matt has opposed Jenny's relationship with Shad because of her age, he reconsiders, in light of circumstance and his deep love for his daughter. Although there is "only one chance in a hundred that [her] trip will have a happy ending," Jenny leaves with Milton for Washington in the morning.

The family lives "through many dreary days of waiting" for news of Shad's condition. Finally, a letter arrives from Ross Milton, telling them that, against all odds, it appears that the young man will live. Milton writes that though Shad is still "desperately ill," it is Jenny's presence that has enabled the wounded soldier to pull through. Milton says:

...if ever a lad seized life and held onto it with both hands, it was young Yale...when he opened his eyes and saw that little girl you had sent to him.

In a later correspondence, Matt and Ellen Creighton extend their permission for Jenny to marry Shad, with Ross Milton as witness. In her next letter to the family, Jenny asks Jethro to inscribe the date of her marriage, August 14, 1863, in the family Bible, and tells about her life as "a young bride in Washington." Jenny works in the hospital everyday, tending to Shad and the others around him. She reports that she now faces "things...[which] would have made [her] faint a year ago," but she does all she can to alleviate the suffering all around her because she is so thankful to God "that Shad is going to get well." Jenny misses the clean, open spaces of home, and describes squalor of city life. She concludes, however, with unbridled joy:

But this is where my husband is and I wouldn't want to be anywhere in this world except close by his side.

Jethro writes back to Jenny, telling her how glad the family is that Shad is getting well. He says that it is lonesome working in the fields without her, but that it is better for her to be with Shad. Jethro echoes the sentiment of a nation in wishing that the war will soon be over and the young couple can return home. He closes by asking if she has seen "Mr. Lincoln." Jethro would dearly love to see President Lincoln to thank him for "the letter he wrote to me."