A dangerous promise / Nixon, Joan Lowery

"It's 1861, and although Mike Kelly is far younger than the legal age of sixteen, he dreams of fighting with the Union Army. Mike and his best friend, Todd, secretly train to become army drummer boys and join up with the Second Kansas Infantry. Mike's dreams of glory end when he's wounded at the bloody Battle of Wilson's Creek and must begin a dangerous adventure behind enemy lines.

After being taken in by Captain Taylor and his wife in Kansas, twelve-year-old Mike Kelly and his friend Todd Blakely join the Union army as musicians and see the horrors of war firsthand in Missouri.

After being taken in by Captain Taylor and his wife in Kansas, twelve-year-old Mike Kelly and his friend Todd Blakely join the Union army as musicians and see the horrors of war firsthand in Missouri.

In 1861, while living with his foster parents at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, twelve-year-old Mike Kelly and his best friend Todd Blakely join the Union army as drummer boys but their dreams of glory end when they experience the full horrors of war at the Battle of Wilson's Creek in Missouri.