Settings for March 

March begins on October 21, 1861, just after the battle of Ball’s Bluff in Loudon County, Virginia. 

Through a flashback we are propelled approximately 20 years earlier, around 1841, to March’s days as a 19-year-old Yankee peddler.   

The story switches back and forth between the two time periods.  It continues through the Civil War to Christmas of 1862. 

The story also continues from the flashback to the years after 1841.  March meets his wife at home and again in Concord where they marry. Their daughters are born.  March meets and supports John Brown.  Eventually he enlists in the Union Army as a chaplain, which brings him back to 1861. 

Time Frame 

Chapter One:  March’s first letter is dated October 21, 1861.  He describes the Battle of Ball’s Bluff in Loudon County, Virginia, and his journey to the Clement house. 

Chapter Two:  A flashback takes us approximately 20 years earlier to 1841.  March is at Clement’s house. 

Chapter Three:  This begins with a letter dated November 1, 1861.  Then a flashback shows us how March became a minister in approximately 1843.  We return to 1861 where March is reunited with Grace Clement. 

Chapter Four:  A letter is dated January 15, 1862.  The action is outside Harper’s Ferry.  A flashback takes us to 1844, when we hear the story of the Secretary of State, Abel Parker Upshur, who was accidentally killed when a gun exploded on the USS Princeton, a ship he was touring.  Five other men were killed in the explosion, including Upshur’s valet and slave, Armistead.  March then describes his meeting with Marmee.  We return to 1861 and March’s transfer to educate “contraband.” 

Chapter Five:  We begin circa 1844 with March’s meeting with Thoreau, March’s reunion with Marmee, and their marriage. 

Chapter Six:  A letter dated March 10, 1862, begins the chapter.  March is aboard the Hetty G on his way to the plantation at Oak Landing.    

Chapter Seven:  The chapter begins with a flashback to approximately 1845 and tells of March’s household with Marmee and the birth of his daughters.  We also learn of March’s association with John Brown. 

Chapter Eight.  The chapter begins with a letter dated March 30, 1862, and describes life at Oak Landing. 

Chapter Nine:  The chapter continues with a letter dated May 10, 1862, and further descriptions of life at Oak Landing. 

Chapter Ten:  We continue at Oak Landing.  March has saddleback fever.  We hear that Union soldiers (their protectors) are leaving nearby Waterbank. 

Chapter Eleven:  In a flashback to 1859 we learn of John Brown at Harper’s Ferry.  We also learn of the March family’s involvement with the Underground Railroad. 

Chapter Twelve:  It is 1862 at Oak Landing.  The Confederates raid the plantation. 

Chapter Thirteen:  It is 1862.  March ends up on a hospital ship. 

Chapter Fourteen:  It is 1862.  March is at a military hospital in Washington, DC.  The narrator switches from March to Marmee. 

Chapter Fifteen:  Marmee continues to narrate in Washington, DC, 1862. 

Chapter Sixteen:  It is 1862.  Marmee continues her story in Washington, DC. 

Chapter Seventeen:  Marmee continues her story in Washington, DC, in 1862. 

Chapter Eighteen:  It is still 1862 in Washington, DC.  The story switches back to March as the narrator. 

Chapter Nineteen:  The story draws to a close at Christmas 1862 in Concord.