In April 1865, just after the Civil War ended and President Lincoln was assassinated, General Sherman’s army occupied Chapel Hill. General Smith Atkins of Illinois soon met Ella Swain, daughter of University of North Carolina president and former governor David Swain. Despite coming from opposing sides—Atkins a staunch Unionist, Ella a Confederate supporter—they fell in love at first sight.

Their romance scandalized the community, but in Undaunted Heart: The True Story of a Southern Belle and a Yankee General, author and descendant Suzy Barile shares their story, weaving in Ella’s unpublished letters that reveal a marriage rooted in love, resilience, and defiance of convention.