Our Women in the War: the Lives They Lived, the Deaths they Died, Annotated

As Americans were approaching the twentieth anniversary of the end of what is commonly called the American Civil War, The Weekly News and Courier, a Charleston, South Carolina, newspaper issued an invitation to women of the former Confederate States of America to write articles recollecting their foremost wartime experiences. A host of women responded and their personal stories were printed in a series of articles. The vignettes describing life in a war-torn Confederacy cover just about every aspect of life on the home-front. Naturally there are accounts of privations, sacrifices, fear, and grief. There are stories of maltreatment at the hands of an invading army, but these women are surprisingly objective in their essays, giving credit, when due, to those individual “Yankees” from whom they received unexpected kindness.
These accounts are fascinating to those who enjoy reading merely as a leisure activity, for the historian in need of primary resource material, and for the “Civil War Buff.” The descriptions of the clothing of the time will certainly aid the civilian re-enactor in creating a better period impression.
While many of the incidences are sad, some categorically pitiable and heart rendering, some are humorous; illustrating that during the worst of times a merry heart is the best medicine. The story of the fat old lady refugeeing from a battle in Georgia will evoke a chuckle and perhaps remind the reader of the “Aunt Pittypat” character in Margaret Mitchell’s inimitable novel, "Gone With the Wind." The difference is that while “Aunt Pittypat” was a fictional character, the “fat old lady gossip refugee” was a real person. As a final point, the narratives inspire the reader to value the attribute of mercy and compassion for others, whether in war time or in peace.