Reunited with Captain Marshalton and Johnny Applebee following the battle at Gettysburg, in town for the dedication of the new cemetery, Duane journeys with them to become part of General David Birney's division of the Army of the Potomac. As the army prepares to begin the spring campaigns, Duane is told he must leave the army due to his blindness when wounded at Gettysburg. But the spring campaigns begin and a decision is put on hold. TOWARD THE END OF THE SEARCH follows Duane's experiences through the horrible slaughter during the weeks from The Wilderness, to Spotsylvania Court House, to Cold Harbor. There events and a letter about his pa send him from the war to return homeward in the company of Jonah Christopher, the young son of a Yankee sutler.