Abraham's Battle

"Four score and seven seven years ago..." Before Abraham Lincoln uttered these immortal words, Union and Confederate soldiers met in the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. The year was 1863, and the men that fought on both sides were not just nameless faces, they were individuals. Abraham Small is a free black man -- an ex-slave -- who is now the caretaker of a Gettysburg estate and its owner's spirited young daughter. Private Lamar Cooper is a white Confederate soldier, a poor boy who has never known a slave and barely understands the cause he is fighting for. The two meet by chance before the battle -- only long enough to establish that they both miss their homeland, and to crystallize for Abraham that he should be fighting for what he believes in: the end of slavery. Their paths cross one more time, on the battlefield of Gettysburg. Abraham is now a member of the Union ambulance corps; Lamar a critically wounded soldier. Should Abraham aid this boy who is his enemy? Are there moments when differences vanish and we are all simply human beings with a duty to help one another? In Sara Harrell Banks's powerful novel -- culminating in a moving encounter between Abraham Small and Abraham Lincoln -- this difficult question is eloquently