Bond of Brothers is the result of persistent curiosity about an ancestor, WNR Beall, who led a remarkable life during the 19th Century. When his wealthy father went bankrupt in 1840, the family left Kentucky for Arkansas -- Beall was suddenly orphaned at 15. Accepted to West Point in 1844, he was posted to frontier duty with Ulysses Grant and later Fred Dent and served there until he resigned in 1861 to join the Confederate Army. By 1862 he was a commander at the besieged Port Hudson on the Mississippi, while his former friend, Grant, laid siege to Vicksburg to the north. When both bastions fell in July 1863, Beall was sent to a prison island in Lake Erie, while Grant rose to command the Union armies. In December 1864, Beall was paroled and named Cotton Agent, tasked to sell cotton in New York City in order to purchase much needed supplies for fellow Confederate POWs in northern prisons. Following the lives of these men, the story of Beall's release is revealed. This work covers the Western Theater of the Civil War, Grant's presidency and Reconstructions through 1885 -- the most tumultuous times in the history of our country.