In 1864, Johnston County farmer William Rains Lee made a choice few dared—he walked away from the Confederate cause. Once a loyal soldier in North Carolina’s 24th Infantry, Lee saw the truth behind the slogans: a “poor man’s fight” fueling a planter’s empire.

With or Without You tells the untold story of a Confederate deserter who refused to die for slavery’s survival—and found courage in conscience. His quiet rebellion reveals the soul of a war North Carolina tried to forget.