Miss Mary Margaret Marries a Yankee is based on a true story of the last Union General at Van Buren, Arkansas who eloped with the daughter of a prominent Confederate family. Their love story is told against the background of the last year of the Civil War in Arkansas. Mary Margaret, known as Maggie to her friends is conflicted between the love for this man, who was considered by most to be an enemy, and her belief in the Confederacy. Maggie tells their story in the first person with humor and insight after forty years of marriage.