Where Has My Father Gone

I was 9 years old and I didn't know where my father was? One day he was here, then a man on a white horse came up to our house. That night, my Father said to my younger sisters and I that he would be going away tomorrow. He had to go and help fight with the Army of the Potomac. I was so young that I couldn't understand this. My Father is gone now, he was teaching me how to hunt & fish; now he isn't. He had gone off to serve in the army. I miss him so! I have to help my Mother with the chores. She told me that now I am the man of the house. Why, does it have to be me? Why can't my Father come home? After, a few months had passed, a letter had come from the general. My beloved Father had been killed. I won't forget how my Mother clung to me and cried. I couldn't understand why my Father had been taken away from me. Now, I have taught myself to hunt and fish & do the chores around the farm. I don't go to school, because I have to help with all of the farm work. My Mother still cries at night. I know because, I sit with her and tell her it will be okay. Even though our Father has gone away.