She and her biographer were both real-life Scarlett O'Haras. Born to privilege and wealth in antebellum Virginia, she married at seventeen and then was plunged into the events of the American Civil War. Myrta Lockett Avary was her biographer and though Avary does not give up her friend's identity, the story captured the imagination of the world when first published in 1903. Avary also wrote "Dixie After the War," which may have been the inspiration for Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind." She was also the original editor of "A Diary from Dixie as written by Mary Boykin Chestnut," featured very prominently in Ken Burns' documentary, The Civil War. A write for major periodicals during her day, Myrta Avary was a successful and well-known writer. We're fortunate that she chronicled the world that was left behind in the wake of the Civil War. "The narrative is one that both interests and charms. The beginning of the end of the long and desperate struggle is unusually well told, and now the survivors lived during the last days of the fading Confederacy forms a vivid picture of those distressful times.”—Baltimore Herald. “The style of the narrative is attractively informal and chatty. Its pathos is that of simplicity. It throws upon a cruel period of our national career a side-light, bringing out tender and softening interests too little visible in the pages of formal history.”—New York World. “This is a tale that will appeal to every Southern man and woman, and can not fail to be of interest to every reader. It is-as fresh and vivacious, even in dealing with dark days, as the young soul that underwent the hardships of a most cruel war."—Louisville Courier-Journal. “Taken at this time, when the years have buried all resentment, dulled all sorrows, and brought new generations to the scenes, a work of this kind can not fail of value just as it can not fail in interest. Official history moves with two great strides to permit of the smaller, more intimate events; fiction lacks the realistic, powerful appeal of actuality; such works as this must be depended upon to fill in the unoccupied interstices, to show us just what were the lives of those who were in this conflict or who lived in the midst of it without being able actively to participate in it. And of this type 'A Virginia Girl in the Civil War ' is a truly admirable example.”—Philadelphia Record.

He was the War Department intelligence chief during the American Civil War, a spy, and a colonel in the cavalry. He was put in charge of the investigation of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, was at the capture and death of John Wilkes Booth, and brought away the items in Booth's pockets...including Booth's diary. Lafayette C. Baker's name appears in over 150 New York Times articles between 1861 and 1868. His work was important, well-regarded,and of great interest to the public (at least what could be told publicly). He was in close contact with Abraham Lincoln, Edwin Stanton, and other high officials. When he was accused later of spying on the White House, he was dismissed and set about writing this memoir of his time in service during the Civil War. Conspiracy theories are completely unnecessary to make Lafayette Baker an important and fascinating figure in Civil War history. His writing is intelligent, thrilling, and clearly in earnest. Read him for what he offers to the history of the period and for the associations he had during his life and you’ll be more than rewarded for your time. Every memoir of the American Civil War provides us with another view of the catastrophe that changed the country forever. For the first time, this long out-of-print volume is available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers and smartphones. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE by clicking the cover above or download a sample.

This work is a retelling of stories once shared over tea cups, including what life meant to a young American woman during a vital and formative period of American history. While a true Virginian, the lady also speaks well of her experiences with Union soldiers and officers. Real names of the subjects were changed in deference to the wishes of living persons at the time.

When the Civil War began in 1861, Lucy Rebecca Buck was the eighteen-year-old daughter of a prosperous planter living on her family's plantation in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. On Christmas Day of that year Buck began the diary that she would keep for the duration of the war, during which time troops were quartered in her home and battles were literally waged in her front yard. The extraordinary chronicle mirrors the experience of many women torn between loyalty to the Confederate cause and dissatisfaction with the unrealistic ideology of white southern womanhood. In the environment of war, these women could not feign weakness, could not shrink from public gaze, and could not assume the presence of protection that was supposedly their right. This radical disjuncture, coming as it did during a period of extreme deprivation and loss, caused Buck and other so-called southern belles to question the very ideology with which they had been raised, often between the pages of private diaries. In powerful, unsentimental language, Buck's diary reveals her anger and ambivalence about the challenges thrust upon her after upheaval of her self, her family, and the world as she knew it. This document provides an extraordinary glimpse into the "shadows on the heart" of both Lucy Buck and the American South.

Envision 10,000 mounted men of one of the best cavalries the world has ever produced strung out along 13 miles, marching around Robert E. Lee's right flank, taunting J.E.B. Stuart to come out and fight. In one of the most thrilling and detailed accounts of one of the most important battles of the American Civil War that most people know nothing of, James Kidd tells this story and much more of the Michigan Wolverine Cavalry under the command of George Armstrong Custer. The popular image of General Custer, James Kidd wrote in 1908, is incorrect. He was not reckless or wasteful of men. The battle was Yellow Tavern, part of the Spottslyvania fight, and Phil Sheridan later said he believed it was the greatest cavalry engagement of the Civil War. J.E.B. Stuart was fatally wounded in the fight. At Gettysburg, Brandy Station, the Trevillian Raid, Kilpatrick's Richmond raid, and the Shennandoah Valley, the Wolverines played a crucial role in the Union victory. Kidd also provides wonderful details about the movement of large cavalry units, especially when they must be turned in battle. In one of the best-written memoirs of the Civil War, Kidd has presented a picture of the Michigan Cavalry and its unforgettable leader that helps complete the image of Custer as a soldier. For less than you'd spend on gas going to the library, this long out-of-print volume is available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers and smartphones. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE by clicking the cover above or download a sample.

Emilie Davis was a free African American woman who lived in Philadelphia during the Civil War. She worked as a seamstress, attended the Institute for Colored Youth, and was an active member of her community. She lived an average life in her day, but what sets her apart is that she kept a diary. Her daily entries from 1863 to 1865 touch on the momentous and the mundane: she discusses her own and her community’s reactions to events of the war, such as the Battle of Gettysburg, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the assassination of President Lincoln, as well as the minutiae of social life in Philadelphia’s black community. Her diaries allow the reader to experience the Civil War in “real time” and are a counterpoint to more widely known diaries of the period. Judith Giesberg has written an accessible introduction, situating Davis and her diaries within the historical, cultural, and political context of wartime Philadelphia. In addition to furnishing a new window through which to view the war’s major events, Davis’s diaries give us a rare look at how the war was experienced as a part of everyday life—how its dramatic turns and lulls and its pervasive, agonizing uncertainty affected a northern city with a vibrant black community.

Myrta Lockett Avary was born in Virginia in 1857. She married Dr. James Corbin Avary of Atlanta, and the couple moved to New York City, where she worked on the editorial boards of several prominent magazines. Her interest in sociological and historical work about the South led her to collect and edit the memories of a Southern woman and her husband, who had been a Confederate officer. The collection, A Virginia Girl in the Civil War, was published in 1903. Although Avary attests to the truth of the narrative, A Virginia Girl, and relates the story in the woman's own words, she uses aliases to protect the privacy of the couple. The narrator, called Nellie, was born to a banker in Norfolk, Virginia, and she married Dan Grey when she was seventeen. When the Civil War began shortly after their marriage, Nellie frequently accompanied her husband in his travels around the South. In her tale, Nellie describes the behavior of Confederate officers and soldiers away from the battlefield. Nellie's account includes descriptions of her friendship with General J.E.B. Stuart. Separated from each other on occasion, the narrative closes with Dan and Nellie's reunion as the Confederacy surrendered.

The first reference work to draw together the stories and studies of women in the American Civil War, this annotated bibliography offers access to the literature that documents the history of women who experienced the war, changed it, and were changed by it. Offering nearly 800 entries, it lists both primary and secondary sources, classic and current works, and items in print and available on the Internet. Drawing together over one hundred years of writings, Women in the American Civil War: An Annotated Bibliography is an invaluable resource for readers and researchers interested in this neglected topic. During the American Civil War women played a highly significant role, yet modern writers often overlook their experiences and contributions. Women in the American Civil War: An Annotated Bibliography is the first reference work to focus exclusively on women in the war. Sections list sources on such diverse topics as women as nurses and medical relief workers, women's changing economic roles, their lives as refugees, as spies and scouts, or in military camps. It also looks at the literature on the miscellaneous topics of women in public, wives of politicians and military commanders, family life, and women on the wrong side of the law.