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Laura Elizabeth Lee Battle and Bryan Burnes
Forget-me-nots of the Civil War; A Romance, Containing Reminiscences and Original Letters of Two Confederate Soldiers
St. Louis, Mo.: Press A. R. Fleming Printing Co., c1909.

Summary

Laura Elizabeth Lee was born in Clayton, North Carolina in 1855. She was the youngest child of Charles Lee and Candace Hawkins Turley. She grew up during a time of great unrest in the South and lost three siblings during the Civil War. After the war ended, she and her family struggled to support themselves. She married Jesse Mercer Battle, son of Baptist minister Amos Johnston Battle of Wilson, North Carolina, when she was eighteen. The two moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where her husband manufactured medicines.

Forget-Me-Nots of the Civil War; A Romance, Containing Reminiscences and Original Letters of Two Confederate Soldiers (1909) is a collection of Battle's papers and memories. It begins with the story of her birth and family history and continues with her half-brothers' decision to join the Confederate army despite their father's open support of the abolitionist movement. She also includes the letters her half-brothers sent to her mother during the war. In the final section of the narrative, Battle describes her family's struggle to survive after the war. The narrative closes with her marriage to Jesse Mercer Battle and their move to St. Louis.

Harris Henderson

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