Distant Drums is not a tale of great generals, glorious campaigns, or of distinguished statesmen. It is the story of the people of Herkimer County, New York; people not unlike their brethren of the North or their enemies of the South, caught up in the cataclysm that was the Civil War. It is a story best told by that community of common folk and therefore it relies most heavily on personal letters, regimental histories and articles from the county's major newspaper, the Herkimer County Journal.