Course Hero Logo

Cold Mountain | Study Guide

Charles Frazier

Get the eBook on Amazon to study offline.

Buy on Amazon Study Guide
Cite This Study Guide

How to Cite This Study Guide

quotation mark graphic
MLA

Bibliography

Course Hero. "Cold Mountain Study Guide." Course Hero. 27 Feb. 2017. Web. 29 May 2023. <https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Cold-Mountain/>.

In text

(Course Hero)

APA

Bibliography

Course Hero. (2017, February 27). Cold Mountain Study Guide. In Course Hero. Retrieved May 29, 2023, from https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Cold-Mountain/

In text

(Course Hero, 2017)

Chicago

Bibliography

Course Hero. "Cold Mountain Study Guide." February 27, 2017. Accessed May 29, 2023. https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Cold-Mountain/.

Footnote

Course Hero, "Cold Mountain Study Guide," February 27, 2017, accessed May 29, 2023, https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Cold-Mountain/.

Cold Mountain | Chapter Summaries

Share
Share
See Chapter Summaries Chart

Timeline of Events

  • 1859

    Ada and her father, Monroe, arrive in Cold Mountain.

    Chapter 2
  • December 1860

    Inman and Ada begin a relationship.

    Chapter 4
  • Spring 1861

    Inman leaves to fight in the Civil War.

    Chapter 10
  • May 1864

    Monroe suddenly dies, leaving Ada alone at Black Cove.

    Chapter 2
  • Summer 1864

    Inman is badly wounded at a battle near Petersburg.

    Chapter 1
  • Early fall 1864

    Inman begins walking home to Cold Mountain from the military hospital.

    Chapter 1
  • Around the same time

    Ruby comes to work and live at Black Cove.

    Chapter 2
  • Weeks later

    Inman survives being shot by the Home Guard and begins walking again.

    Chapter 9
  • Around the same time

    Ruby's father, Stobrod, reappears in her life.

    Chapter 12
  • Winter 1864

    Stobrod is shot by the Home Guard; Ruby and Ada find him alive on Cold Mountain.

    Chapter 17
  • The next day

    Inman arrives at Black Cove and leaves to follow Ruby and Ada up Cold Mountain.

    Chapter 18
  • The next day

    Inman and Ada are reunited.

    Chapter 18
  • Five days later

    Inman is killed by one of Teague's men.

    Chapter 20
  • Nine months later

    Ada gives birth to Inman's daughter.

    Epilogue
  • The next year

    Ruby marries Reid, the boy from Georgia.

    Epilogue
  • October 1874

    Ada and her daughter, Ruby, and Reid and their three sons, and Stobrod live happily at Black Cove.

    Epilogue

Chapter Summaries Chart

Chapter Summary
Chapter 1 The novel opens as Inman, a Confederate soldier, awakens in a military hospital on a hot summer morning. He has been in ... Read More
Chapter 2 At the beginning of the chapter, Ada is writing to Inman, but she throws the letter away. She is distracted, taking mise... Read More
Chapter 3 Inman has been walking through stormy, rainy weather for several days and is feeling out of sorts about his slow and pai... Read More
Chapter 4 Ruby wastes no time at all in sizing up the condition of the farm and deciding on the best course of action to bring it ... Read More
Chapter 5 Traveling on a particularly dark night and worrying about encountering the Home Guard, Inman comes upon a man whose desp... Read More
Chapter 6 As Ada and Ruby work in their winter garden, a wagon comes into their cove, the people having lost their way. The wagon ... Read More
Chapter 7 Inman's feeling of being alone in the world returns as he continues his journey, meeting few people and communicating wi... Read More
Chapter 8 Ada and Ruby are walking to town in a cold rain, and Ada's mood is as bleak as the weather. She aches from the hard work... Read More
Chapter 9 The contrast established between Inman and Veasey is clear again at the beginning of the chapter. The men come upon a la... Read More
Chapter 10 One fall morning, Ruby, Ada, and Ruby's horse, Ralph, are working hard building a new fence around the pasture. Soon the... Read More
Chapter 11 Since leaving the yellow slave man, Inman has been walking a week and a half. He can finally see the mountains, but trav... Read More
Chapter 12 One morning, Ruby sees a man has been caught by the trap she and Ada set. She grabs the shotgun and goes to investigate.... Read More
Chapter 13 A long stretch of bad weather—including fog and cold rain—once again has Inman feeling disconsolate. Having used all of ... Read More
Chapter 14 It is autumn and Ada and Ruby harvest apples. The cider they make has hardened enough that Ruby is ready to trade it, an... Read More
Chapter 15 Inman stops his travels for another errand of mercy. He comes upon a woman whose daughter has just died. He makes a coff... Read More
Chapter 16 Stobrod and Pangle have left the outliers in the cave to go to a different hiding place to live, near Shining Rocks. The... Read More
Chapter 17 The chapter opens as the boy from Georgia finishes narrating to Ada and Ruby the tale of what has happened up on the mou... Read More
Chapter 18 Inman arrives at the sight of the shooting, having tracked the women from Black Cove. He looks at every detail as he tri... Read More
Chapter 19 As Stobrod and Inman sleep and heal, Ada and Ruby prepare a second cabin and fix the turkeys to roast. All through the d... Read More
Chapter 20 After a third day and night in the Cherokee village, Inman and Ada have decided on a plan for the immediate future. Inma... Read More
Epilogue About 10 years after Inman's death, readers are returned to Black Cove. The boy from Georgia, whose name is Reid, never ... Read More
Cite This Study Guide

information icon Have study documents to share about Cold Mountain? Upload them to earn free Course Hero access!