William Battle was born about 1758, most likely at Northampton County, North Carolina, a son of William Battle and Mary.  His parents lived first at Edgecombe County, later moved to Northampton County, and returned to Nash County about the time of the American Revolution, where William Battle, the elder, died about 1785.

The service of William Battle during the Revolution is documented in pay vouchers dated between 1781 and 1783, which reimbursed him for services.

William Battle married Mary Ann Williams of Halifax County, North Carolina, about 1785.  She is a daughter of John Williams.  They were the parents of nine children:  Thomas, Lawrence, William, Frederick, Larkin, Elizabeth Washington, Martha Williams, Alfred and Mary Ann.

During his lifetime, William Battle accumulated more than 900 acres of land on Swift Creek at Nash County, which eventually was owned by his nine children.  According to an early published genealogy of the Battle family, he died in December 1802 as “the result of an innocent joke,” however; the exact details of his death are not specified.

Because Battle’s children were under age at the time of his death, the settlement of his estate required many years, and the estate was still open as late as 1817.  Complicating matters was the second marriage of Battle’s widow to General William Arrington in 1804, by whom she had two additional children.  Arrington at assumed the administration duties of William Battle’s estate, but he died in 1812, before the estate could be completely settled.