War came to Crooked Creek Valley, shattering the calm and summoning the men to battle. J.M. Bailey answered the call - fighting at Oak Hills, Elkhorn Tavern and Corinth. After Confederate troops surrendered at Port Hudson, Bailey returned home to discover that the conflict had ravaged the region. He took up arms once more to defend the elderly and helpless against the Federal troops who waged war without mercy on the once peaceful Valley. The Memoirs of Captain J.M. Bailey is an account of the cruel fighting on the Arkansas-Missouri border, where loyalties shifted according to which military force held power and old scores were settled with impunity.