There is romance and plenty of adventure in the thrilling story of young Jesse Holt of Maryland and the dashing cavalryman, J. E. B. Stuart, in the first year of the Civil War. Fourteen-year-old Jesse runs away from the farm to join his brother who is somewhere in Virginia with the Confederate troops.

As courier to Jeb Stuart, Jesse has many exciting experiences, and soon finds out that what his brother told his is true—war is a sad business and the death of friends the price of victory.

As a prisoner of General Grant, he is sent back to his Maryland home—with a new and more realistic perspective.

Gray Riders is in my opinion a notable achievement. The story, at times poignant, at times humorous, is absorbing from beginning to end. The hero, Jesse Holt, is a warm, lovable, flesh-and-blood boy. His experiences, while varied and colorful, are never incredible or impossible. Mr. Wellman knows the Civil War and the people who fought it. In Gray Riders he proves that an exciting story can . . . 

From the dust jacket