Neal E. Wixson - From Civility to Survival: Richmond Ladies During the Civil War: The Ladies Reveal Their Wartime Private Thoughts and Struggles in Compelling Diaries and Emotional Memories.

From Civility to
Survival: Richmond
Ladies
During the Civil War

The Ladies reveal their wartime private thoughts
and struggles in compelling diaries and emotional
memories.

Neal E. Wixson

iUniverse, Inc.

Bloomington

From Civility to Survival: Richmond Ladies During the Civil War

The Ladies reveal their wartime private thoughts and struggles in compelling diaries and emotional memories.

Copyright 2012 by Neal E. Wixson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

The print on the cover Richmond Ladies going to receive Government RationsDont you think that Yankee must feel like shrinking in his boots before such high-toned Southern Ladies as we? by A.R. Waud is courtesy of the Library of Congress.

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ISBN: 978-1-4620-6716-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4620-6717-6 (ebk)

Printed in the United States of America

iUniverse rev. date: 01/12/2012

Contents

Some historians feel that the role of women in the civil war has been vastly underrated. They clothed the soldiers, entertained the soldiers, cared for the soldiers and facilitated the end of the war by encouraging soldiers to desert their regiments since the cause was lost. In addition, they struggled to survive when their life in all aspects was turned upside down. In many cases, they were forced to abandon their homes as enemy troops approached, only to flee with a limited number of household goods and a small amount of clothing and personal items.

As they abandoned their homes, the refugees, as they were called, had no place to go and no idea as to how long they would be gone. They generally headed to their relatives homes, thinking that their displacement would only be of short duration. After becoming a burden to their relatives, they would move to cities to take advantage of their safety, more housing options, possible jobs and social activities offered. However, as resources became scare in terms of food, shelter, and jobs, the refugees became an increasing burden for the cities and sympathy for them by the citizens lessened.

In their past life, they may have been landowners of some wealth with slaves performing the cooking, cleaning, shopping and other necessary chores. Now, as refugees, they were renters focused on finding the basic necessities of life for themselves. They sacrificed their privacy in rooms renting for high sums of money. They were constantly on the move. Their faith, endurance and courage were tested to the highest degree. Those with children could not assure proper schooling for them. With their loved ones, husbands, sons, and brothers off to war, they became the decision-makers, a role that was new to them. In short, theirs was a life of constant stress, hardship and sacrifice.

What is most impressive is that, despite these circumstances, their focus was to support the war effort by volunteering in so many ways. Even after the war, the Ladies of Richmond focused their efforts on honoring the fallen soldiers and were instrumental in organizing Memorial Day to honor them. They were also instrumental in finding the bodies of their fallen soldiers and returning them to Virginia.

Many did not revert to their former status at the end of the war. They awaited the return of their loved ones. They went to find their plantations and farms ransacked with their crops trampled, and their valuables stolen. Needless to say, there was little money for seed since the confederate money was worthless.

During the war, several women in Richmond kept diaries or notes of their experiences. Their entries or memories provide us a valuable window into their lives. Initially, serving as a record of events, the diaries or notes increasingly served a therapeutic purpose by allowing women to record their feelings and emotions. The primary diarist in this book is Judith McGuire. She kept her diary for over three years in Richmond. Others who speak to us by their writings are Myrta Lockett Avary, Fanny Taylor Dickinson, Constance Cary Harrison, Mary Tucker Magill, Phoebe Yates Pember, and Sallie Brock Putnam. I have selected excerpts with minor edits from their diaries and writings and have not reproduced them in their entirety. My focus in such selecting and editing was their thoughts, emotions and reactions to the changes that they were courageously enduring. They are not the traditional mistresses of the plantation during the civil war. Others have told their stories. These writers are from all strata of society who are ultimately reduced to one. I have included other references for contextual purposes.

I am grateful for receiving assistance and guidance in developing this book. As the extensive research suggests, extraordinary assistance was required to acquire these books. Rebecca Mazzarella of the Staff in the Wolf Law Library at William & Mary Law School was of great help in securing numerous books from the William & Mary Swem Library and others. Donna Wixson, my wife, the consummate reviewer of manuscripts, provided me with her thoughts and guidance. In addition, John M. Coski, Historian and Director of Library and Research at the Museum of the Confederacy, and Frances Pollard, Chief Librarian of the Virginia Historical Society, were generous with their time and expertise in guiding me through their vast stores of archives. The picture of Judith McGuire is part of the archives of the Virginia Historical Society and was kindly made available to me. The Richmond pictures are courtesy of the United States National Archives and the United States Library of Congress. I must also note the extraordinary assistance given to me by Michael Chesson, Jeff Toalson, Will Molineux, and Carol Sheriff, all gifted civil war writers and lecturers in their own right. Their interest and support have guided me through the journey involved in this process.

Judith White Brockenbrough McGuire, Leading Lady

Constance Cary Harrison, Date and photographer unknown

Mary Tucker Magill, Date and photographer unknown

Phoebe Pember, Date and photographer unknown

View of Richmond, Virginia, 1865, Matthew Brady, photographer

Two Women in Black, April, 1865, Alexander Gardner, photographer

Residence of Jefferson Davis (1201 East Clay Street), April-June, 1865, Photographer unknown

St. Pauls Episcopal Church (Grace Street), April, 1865, John Reekie, photographer

Houses on Governor StreetApril 1865, Photographer unknown

St. Johns Church and Graveyard from the street, April-June 1865, Photographer unknown

Ruined Buildings in the Burned District, April-June 1865, Photographer unknown

General Edward O.C. Ord, wife and child at the Residence of Jefferson Davis. In the doorway is the table on which the surrender of General Robert E. Lee was signed, April 1865 Photographer unknown

Burnt District (horses hitched to iron fence in foreground), April 1865, John Reekie, photographer