It is 1863 and the Civil War continues to rage. Reuben Cole, soon twenty years of age, is a scout for the Union forces.

Based in the sprawling Fort Nelson, he finds himself embroiled in the murder of his Native scout friend, Given Sky. Unearthing who was responsible is not easy, and Cole must deal with a surly bunch of miscreants as well as a commanding officer embroiled in the whole grizzly affair.

Setting out to capture a group of Confederate renegades, Cole, together with a group of Union Sharpshooters, is drawn into a series of deadly encounters as he tracks the Rebs all the way to the Texas border. By the end, he will not only have encountered the renegades and discovered the identity of Given Sky's killers, but a good deal more about himself as well.

A gritty adventure set in the mid-19th century American frontier, Baptism Of Fire is the third book in Stuart G. Yates's series of western novels.