A Diary from Dixie As written by Mary Boykin Chesnut, wife of James Chesnut, Jr., United States Senator from South Carolina, 1859-1861, and afterward an Aide to Jefferson Davis and a Brigadier-General in the Confederate Army

Once more at Bloomsbury—Surprising fidelity of negroes—Stories of escape—Federal soldiers who plundered old estates—Mulberry partly in ruins—Old Colonel Chesnut last of the gran...

Dissensions among Southern leaders—Uncle Tom’s Cabin—Conscription begins—Abuse of Jefferson Davis—The battle of Shiloh—Beauregard flanked at Nashville—Old Colonel Chesnut again—...

Mr. Davis visits Charleston—Adventures by rail—A winter of mad gaiety—Weddings, dinner-parties, and private theatricals—Battles around Chattanooga—Bragg in disfavor—General Hood...

The flight from Columbia—A corps of generals without troops—Broken-hearted and an exile—Taken for millionaires—A walk with Gen. Joseph E. Johnston—The burning of Columbia—Confed...

A soft-hearted slave-owner—Social gaiety in the midst of war talk—Beauregard a hero and a demigod—The first shot of the war—Anderson refuses to capitulate—The bombardment of For...

How to live without money—Keeping house once more—Other refugees tell stories of their flight—The Hood melodrama over—The exodus from Richmond—Passengers in a box car—A visit fr...

General Lee and Joe Johnston—The battle of Bull Run—Colonel Bartow’s death—Rejoicings and funerals—Anecdotes of the battle—An interview with Robert E. Lee—Treatment of prisoners...

Making the Confederate Constitution—Robert Toombs—Anecdote of General Scott—Lincoln’s trip through Baltimore—Howell Cobb and Benjamin H. Hill—Hoisting the Confederate flag—Mrs....

Gen. Joe Johnston superseded and the Alabama sunk—The author’s new home—Sherman at Atlanta—The battle of Mobile Bay—At the hospital in Columbia—Wade Hampton’s two sons shot—Hood...

Baltimore in a blaze—Anderson’s account of the surrender of Fort Sumter—A talk with Alexander H. Stephens—Reports from Washington—An unexpected reception—Southern leaders take h...

A journey from Columbia to Southern Alabama—The surrender of Vicksburg—A terrible night in a swamp on a riverside—A good pair of shoes—The author at her mother’s home—Anecdotes...

A bride’s dressing-table—Home once more at Mulberry—Longstreet’s army seen going West—Constance and Hetty Cary—At church during Stoneman’s raid—Richmond narrowly escapes capture...

A farewell to Richmond—“Little Joe’s” pathetic death and funeral—An old silk dress—The battle of the Wilderness—Spottsylvania Court House—At Mulberry once more—Old Colonel Chesn...

Waiting for a battle in Virginia—Ellsworth at Alexandria—Big Bethel—Moving forward to the battle-ground—Mr. Petigru against secession—Mr. Chesnut goes to the front—Russell’s let...

Arrival at the new capital—Criticism of Jefferson Davis—Soldiers everywhere—Mrs. Davis’s drawing-room—A day at the Champ de Mars—The armies assembling for Bull Run—Col. L. Q. C....

The author’s sister, Kate Williams—Old Colonel Chesnut—Roanoke Island surrenders—Up Country and Low Country—Family silver to be taken for war expenses—Mary McDuffie Hampton—The...