After beginning his life in western Virginia on the south side of the Ohio River, Thomas Stonewall Jackson had no idea that one day he would wear gray while battling to defend his home state. As Ulysses S. Grant took his first breath in southern Ohio on the north side of the Ohio River, he also did not know of the life that would eventually unfold for him as he donned blue and fought to save the Union.
In a collection of historical folktales inspired by an Appalachian grandmother's retelling of her own grandfather's stories of the American Civil War, others are provided with a glimpse into the lives of Jackson and Grant from a different perspective. While growing up on opposite sides of the Ohio River, the folktales reveal how Jackson and Grant slowly transformed into military leaders who bravely guided their troops through a tumultuous time in American history. One Wore Gray: One Wore Blue shares a grandmother's retelling of the lives of two of the most significant generals of the Civil War who fought on opposite sides of the battlefield.