Tim then decided on Buffington Island, an obscure battle fought in southeastern Ohio on July 19th, 1863. General John Hunt Morgan of the Confederacy had led his Calvary on a raid through southern Indiana and Ohio, which ended when Union forces pinched him off at Buffington Island as he attempted to cross into Virginia. The battle itself lasted only one day and Morgan lost, but he was able to retreat northward with some of his men until finally caught and imprisoned soon after . This battle provided a wonderful back drop for the story which is set against the political atmosphere of Copperheadism, (a movement of individuals in the north who were sympathetic to the southern cause) Such an individual was Clement Valladigham who ran for Ohio governor, but was arrested for treasonous utterances when Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ of Habeus Corpus and eventually escaped to Canada.

The two dedicated southern brothers in our story are allowed safe haven amongst the Copperheads of southern Ohio. General Morgan himself was attempting to rally the Copperhead cause in the north and stir those sympathetic to southern sentiments to his side. The Confederacy, however, by July 4th, 1863, with the end the battle of Gettysburg, had been in dire and desperate measures. The south resorted to spying, sabotage and Morgan himself was willing to take on many a disguise (even a physical one) to accomplish his ends. George Ellsworth, who was Morgan's telegrapher, would transmit false information to keep the northern armies off balance. No one ever knew where Morgan would show up next!

Kill The Messenger shows how deception became the motif of the day with characters of various masks and motivations during one of America's most difficult periods.