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The Birth of a Nation Scene 13 Summary

  • As it happens, Ben ends up in the same military hospital where Elsie is working. And by "working" we mean walking around and playing a banjo—really.
  • She sits next to him and sings a song. Ben slowly wakes up and is overcome when he realizes that this is the woman whose picture he fell in love with.
  • She shows him a letter from Phil requesting the best possible treatment for his old friend.
  • Ben shows her the picture of her he's been carrying around this whole time. Oddly, she seems flattered by this rather than thinking that the dude's a crazy stalker. 
  • Mrs. Cameron arrives at the hospital to visit her son, but is barred at the door by a Union soldier. He eventually relents and lets her pass. Mother and son share a tender reunion.
  • Ben's surgeon arrives and says that somebody has been trying to get Ben hanged as an enemy combatant. Nobody's pleased with this news, obviously.
  • Mrs. Cameron and Elsie arrive at Abraham Lincoln's office, because apparently that's an easy thing to do during wartime. She wants a pardon—and she gets one.
  • Ben is psyched about this news. The celebrations can't last long, however, as Mrs. Cameron has to return to Piedmont to take care of her husband, who has fallen sick.
  • Despite this, the Cameron family is overjoyed when they learn that Ben will be a-okay.