The Civil War Shop: Civil War Memoirs, Letters & Diaries
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Browse this varied list of firsthand accounts by soldiers and folks on the Home Front.
Gideon LINCECUM's Sword: Civil War Letters from the Texas Home Front
1861 to 1865, by an Old Johnnie. Personal Reminiscences and Experiences in the Confederate Army
Confederate Memoirs: Alamance County Troops of the War Between the States, 1861-1865
By James DINKINS of BARKSDALE's Mississippi BrigadeJourney to Pleasant Hill: the Civil War Letters of Captain Elijah P. PETTY, Walker's Texas Division
C. S. S. Shenandoah: The Memoirs of Lieutenant Commanding James I. WADDELL
Lights and Shadows in the Recollections of a Youthful Volunteer in the Civil War.
by J.C. TAYLOR; 21st MI InfantryRecollections of Henry Watkins ALLEN
Fallen Leaves: The Civil War Letters of Major Henry Livermore ABBOTT
20th MA InfantryThe Memoirs of Allen Buckner: Colonel of the 79th Illinois Volunteer Regiment in the Civil War
This Infernal War- The Confederate Letters of Sgt. Edwin H. FAY
My Dear Nellie: The Civil War Letters of William L. NUGENT to Eleanor Smith NUGENT
War Reminiscences by the Surgeon of Mosby's Command
On to Atlanta: The Civil War Diaries of John Hill FERGUSON, Illinois Tenth Regiment of Volunteers
The Sixteenth Mississippi Infantry: Civil War Letters and Reminiscences
From the Pen of a She-Rebel: The Civil War Diary of Emilie Riley McKINLEY
A Very Violent Rebel: The Civil War Diary of Ellen Renshaw HOUSE
Myra INMAN: A Diary of the Civil War in East Tennessee
Civil War Letters of the TENURE Family: Rockland County, N.Y., 1862-1865
Cannon Smoke: The Letters of Captain John J. GOOD, GOOD - DOUGLAS Texas Battery, CSA
To See My Country Free: The Pocket Diaries of Ezekiel ARMSTRONG, Ezekiel P. MILLER and Joseph A. MILLER, "Magnolia Guards," Co. K, 17th Regiment Mississippi InfantryHurrah for the Texans: Civil War Letters of George W. INGRAM
Partisan Life with Col. John S. MOSBY
The Diary of Caroline SEABURY, 1854-1863
"In 1854 Caroline Seabury of Brooklyn, New York set out for Columbus, Mississippi to teach French at its institute for young ladies. She lived in Columbus until 1863. This diary is an illuminating account of southern plantation society and the "peculiar institution" of slavery on the eve of its destruction."The Journal of Julia LeGRAND, New Orleans 1862-1863
Pocock Pickle - Louisa's 1863 Journal Bolivar County, Mississippi
By Louisa BURRUSCivil War Letters: The ALLEN Family, Amherst County, Virginia
Journal of a Secesh Lady: the Diary of Catherine Ann Devereux EDMONDSTON 1860-1866Personal Recollections of Early Decatur, Abraham Lincoln, Richard J. Oglesby, and the Civil War
(1912) By Jane Martin JOHNS; Macon County, IllinoisAnnals of Augusta County, Virginia Or Diary of Civil War Home Life in Augusta County, Virginia
A Lost Heroine of the Confederacy: The Diaries and Letters of Belle EDMONDSON
The Diary of a Confederate Soldier, John Washington INZER, 1834-1928
The Civil War Diary of Cyrus F. BOYD: Fifteenth Iowa Infantry 1861-1863
Battle Field and Prison Pen, Or Through the War, and Thrice a Prisoner in Rebel Dungeons
Confederate Letters of John W. HAGAN
(1882) by John W. URBAN. 1st Regt. Pennsylvania Infantry, Co. D.Westward the Texans-the Civil War Journal of Private William Randolph HOWELL
Rebels on the Rio Grande: the Civil War Journal of A. B. PETICOLAS
The 16th Mississippi Infantry: Civil War Letters and Reminiscences
Reminiscences of Confederate Service 1861-1865
Kemper County Rebel: The Civil War Diary of Robert Masten HOLMES, C.S.A
by Francis DAWSON, a British subjectThe Civil War Diary of Allen Morgan GEER, Twentieth Regiment, Illinois Volunteers
For Country, Cause & Leader: the Civil War Journal of Charles B. HAYDON
The Civil War Diary of Clara SOLOMON: Growing Up in New Orleans, 1861-1862
Four Years in the First New York Light Artillery: the Papers of David F. RITCHIE
Memoirs of General William Henry Harrison BEADLE
(1906) He served with the First Michigan Sharpshooters.Three Years With WALLACE's Zouaves-the Civil War Memoirs of Thomas Wise DURHAM
Ebb Tide as Seen Through the Diary of Josephine Clay HABERSHAM, 1863The Boy in Gray: a Story of the War
(1894) George Gillman SMITH, Phillips' Legion, Georgia C. S. A.Reminiscences of the Civil War a Soldier in Hood's Texas Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia
A New Canaan Private in the Civil War; Letters of Justus M. SILLIAN, 17th Connecticut Volunteers
Personal Record of the Thirteenth Regiment, Tennessee Infantry
Thirty Years After: an Artist's Memoir of the Civil War
by Edwin FORBES
Recommended! Sarah MORGAN kept a wonderfully detailed diary of her experiences in Civil War Louisiana. This is a great firsthand account of their daily lives at home in Baton Rouge and in New Orleans, or on the road, fleeing Union troops and gunboats. One brother was a union sympathizer and another fought for the Confederacy. A third brother was killed tragically in a duel: his death haunts the diary throughout. Her father's untimely death early in the war also affects her profoundly and leaves her feeling especially vulnerable. The reader follows her emotions through great pride and righteous anger through the darkest depths. Sarah, her mother and sister had to leave their home in Baton Rouge and spent many days traveling from one place to another, and Sarah describes vividly the great variety of people and situations they encounter. She was both articulate and well-read.Sarah's diary is also a look at 19th century life in the South: relations with family, friends, and romantic interests. Entertainment and pastimes are described in detail.
One quote I especially like, because here she models that fierce patriotism that Southern women were often known for:
"If some few Southern women were in the ranks, they could set the men an example they would not blush to follow. Pshaw! there are no women here! We are all men!"
I bought this because Sarah Morgan (1842-1909) was 8 years older than my great-grandmother Mary Virginia Dowdy (1850-1921), who lived in West Tennessee (Fayette Co.). It was a way for me to get - perhaps - a glimpse into what the times were like for girls and young women in the occupied South. I'm sure Sarah's view is distinctly individual, as any one person's experience would be, but perhaps she speaks at least in part for her contemporaries who grew up in wartime.
NOTE: f you want to read Sarah's diary online for free, you will find it here, courtesy of Documenting the American South at the University of North Carolina.
On the Altar of Freedom: a Black Soldier's Civil War Letters From the Front
by James Henry GOODING of the 54th Massachusetts regimentTennessee's War, 1861-1865, Described By Participants
The Civil War Reminiscences of Major Silas T. GRISAMORE, C. S. A.
War Reminiscences of Columbus Mississippi and Elsewhere 1861-1865
Reminiscences of the Civil War
by General John Brown GORDONConfederate Women of Arkansas in the Civil War 1861-1865 Memorial Reminiscences
Destruction and Reconstruction: Personal Experiences of the Late War
by Confederate General Richard TAYLORCivil War Marine: a diary of the Red River expedition, 1864
The Story of a Cannoneer Under Stonewall Jackson, in Which is Told the Part Taken By the Rockbridge Artillery in the Army of Northern Virginia
Edward Alexander MOORE
Richmond During the War: War: Four Years of Personal Observation
Diary of a Yankee Engineer/1st New York Volunteer Engineer Corps
Siege Train: the Journal of a Confederate Artilleryman in the Defense of Charleston
At Alibris: Recollections of a Civil War Quartermaster. the Autobiography of William G. LeDUC
(Minnesota)A Life for the Confederacy, as Recorded in the Pocket Diaries of Pvt. Robert A. MOORE
Marshall County, MississippiTwo years on the Alabama
"A vibrant portrait the famous Confederate cruiser whose record during the Civil War made her the most successful raider of all time."Search Alibris for Experiences of a Georgia Boy in the Army of Northern Virginia 1861-1865
by Martin W. BRETTPersonal Recollections, 1849-1865
by Jane Martin JOHNSSearch Alibris for Dear Ones at Home; Letters from Contraband Camps
Kentucky Cavaliers in Dixie: Reminiscences of a Confederate Cavalryman
A Southern Boy in Blue: The Memoir of Marcus Woodcock, 9th Kentucky Infantry (U.S.A.)
A War to Petrify the Heart: The Civil War Letters of a Dutchess County, N.Y. Volunteer
"Great eye-witness account of Hudson Valley recruits in the Civil War. Van Wyck's service included Gettysburg and Sherman's campaign. Almost 200 letters from the same soldier--with historical background, photos and editorial review."The ALFORD Brothers: "We all must dye sooner or later."
Daviess County; "The Alford Brothers contains a compelling story of three brothers from Alfordsville, Indiana, who serve -- and die -- in the American Civil War. The story is told with 196 family letters: letters written by five brothers, two sisters, a father, a mother, aunts, uncles, cousins, a doctor, and a commanding officer. The letters cover the period May 1861 to October 1862 -- the Civil War service of the oldest brother.
The Civil War, of course, is the central issue. The three oldest Alford brothers relate their daily experiences as soldiers, one brother in the east with the 14th Indiana Infantry and two in the west with the 6th Indiana Infantry. Their combined activities include service in four major military campaigns: western Virginia in 1861, then the Shenandoah Valley, Shiloh and Antietam in 1862.
...."Soldier Boy: The Civil War Letters of Charles O. Musser, 29th Iowa
Such Are the Trials: The Civil War Diaries of Jacob Gantz
4th Iowa CavalryFighting With the Eighteenth Massachusetts: The Civil War Memoir of Thomas H. Mann
Recommended! "The engaging memoir of an upper-class white man coming of age during the Civil War and surviving the major campaigns of Robert E. Lee in Northern Virginia. Holt speculates on the social customs of the ante- bellum south, including its agonized reaction to secession. However, it is his poignant, dramatic, and graphic accounts of the ordinary Confederate soldier in battle and camp which makes the memoir memorable and historically valuable. "Campbell Brown's Civil War: With EWELL and the Army of Northern Virginia
Under Custer's Command: The Civil War Journal of James Henry AVERY
Riding With Custer: Recollections of a Cavalryman in the Civil War
The Civil War Diary of Sarah Morgan
A Texas Cavalry Officer's Civil War: The Diary and Letters of James C. BATES
9th Texas CavalryThe Heart of a Soldier: Intimate Wartime Letters from General George E. Pickett C.S.A. to His Wife
Life in the Confederate Army, Being the Observations and Experiences of an Alien in the South During the American Civil War
Gunner With Stonewall: Reminiscences of William Thomas POAGUE
(William WATSON)The Civil War Letters of the Late 1st Lieut. James J. HARTLEY, 122nd Ohio Infantry Regiment
Doctor to the Front: The Recollections of Confederate Surgeon Thomas Fanning Wood, 1861-1865
Campaigning With Grant
Horace PORTER's Civil War MemoirTen Months in the 'Orphan Brigade:' Conrade Wise Chapman's Civil War Memoir
A Wisconsin Boy in Dixie: Civil War Letters of James K. Newton
Let Us Meet in Heaven: The Civil War Letters of James Michael Barr, 5th South Carolina Cavalry
Recommended! A personal favorite! By Arthur J. L. Fremantle
The best! If you have any interest in the Civil War, whether it's in Yankees or Rebs, read this book by Sam WATKINS!Advance and Retreat: Personal Experiences...
General John Bell Hood's memoir.From Manassas to Appomattox: Memoirs of the Civil War in America
General James Longstreet's memoir.
Recommended!Memoirs of the Confederate War for Independence by Heros Von Borcke
Berry Benson's Civil War Book: Memoirs of a Confederate Scout and Sharpshooter
Benson served as a scout for General Lee and spent time in Elmira Prison.
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