Johnny Lincoln Clem was a small boy from Newark, Ohio living during a troubled time in the American Civil War. Shortly after his mother was killed while crossing a railroad track, Johnny ran away from home to join the 22nd Michigan Volunteer Infantry. Initially turned away by the officers, the boy followed the regiment into Kentucky and down south, and was looked after by the men. Finally accepted into their ranks, he fought with them at the battle of Chickamauga, where to save his life he was forced to shoot down a charging Confederate Colonel who had him in his sights.