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Let Battle Commence - cover.jpg

Writing my great-grandfather - Wendy Klein

Just over five years ago, my cousin, the artist Ippy Patterson, sent me 175 pages of letters written by my great-grandfather, Robert Melvin Tarleton Jr, to his mother and to his fiancée, later his wife, Sallie Lightfoot while he was serving as a Confederate soldier. Although I’ve never been much interested in genealogy, I was intrigued with this slave-owning gentleman who had the same name as my paternal grandfather and my own father. As I browsed through the many pages of typewritten text, painstakingly copied from the handwritten originals, I brooded over whether there might be some poems from them. Little did I know how difficult it would be to extract them, to do justice to the many passionate, articulate letters written by my ancestor over that time period, whose beliefs could not have been more different from my own.  

Reviews of Let Battle Commence  

A fascinating insight into the civil war - described with clarity and sensitivity. Not an easy read, but neither should it be. The poet's personal struggle between natural family affection for ancestors and what she knows to be 'right' creates a tension that is compelling to read .... pulled off with honesty and great poetic skill    -  Jenny McRobert                                                                             

Wendy Klein's very personal response to the American Civil War offers us a multitude of viewpoints; honest, brutal even, but always laced with an understanding of the frailty of mankind when in combat.  A brilliant piece of work - Jonathan Davidson                                       

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