In 1861, Union soldier and Episcopal seminarian Private Krieger Andrewes is severely wounded at the Battle of Wilson's Creek in southwest Missouri. Facing surgical amputation of his leg and probable death at the hands of a field surgeon, Krieger is spirited away from the battlefield by a mysterious backwoods woman who calls herself a healer. She saves Andrewes and nurses him back to health until Krieg returns to Saint Louis to resume his studies...