Yanks behaving like human beings with a few exceptions.
February 28, 2005 8:52 PM Subscribe
Alice Williamson is bitterly resentful of the Union occupation. The diary of a 16 year old girl in Yankee-occupied Gallatin, Tennessee. Images of the actual diary and a text version with annotations.
Holy crap, I used to live there! (Between you and me, I think that some of Gallatin's residents are still a bit miffed about Yankee occupation.) Great find, Marxchivist, thanks!
posted by ChrisTN at 9:12 PM on February 28, 2005
posted by ChrisTN at 9:12 PM on February 28, 2005
"Stop horning in on my schtick, Williamson."
-- Mary Chestnut
posted by Hildago at 10:01 PM on February 28, 2005
-- Mary Chestnut
posted by Hildago at 10:01 PM on February 28, 2005
It's much better if you have that theme from the Civil War (Ken Burns documentary) playing wistfully in the background.
posted by antron at 11:00 PM on February 28, 2005
posted by antron at 11:00 PM on February 28, 2005
From page 2: "I suppose Payne's task is to furnish the contraband camp, i.e. the camp of his angels (colored)."
So she pretty much conforms to every stereotype about confederates except that she's literate.
posted by Mayor Curley at 3:40 AM on March 1, 2005
So she pretty much conforms to every stereotype about confederates except that she's literate.
posted by Mayor Curley at 3:40 AM on March 1, 2005
I'm surprised they dug into census records to learn more about the diarist, but never close the loop on her two brothers off fighting for the Rebs. Did they survive? I wish I knew.
Curley: War's over. Let it go.
d--n yank
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 4:36 AM on March 1, 2005
Curley: War's over. Let it go.
d--n yank
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 4:36 AM on March 1, 2005
If you're interested in this sort of thing, there's also the diary of Emma LeConte, who was a 16-year-old girl in Columbia, SC when Sherman burned the city.
(and she's my great great great aunt...)
posted by socratic at 5:22 AM on March 1, 2005
(and she's my great great great aunt...)
posted by socratic at 5:22 AM on March 1, 2005
Lovely.
Letters to and from B. Frank Hall during his time as a Confederate soldier, and his later recollections of the war and Reconstruction in Wilmington, North Carolina. [self-links, transcriptions only]
posted by IshmaelGraves at 6:34 AM on March 1, 2005
Letters to and from B. Frank Hall during his time as a Confederate soldier, and his later recollections of the war and Reconstruction in Wilmington, North Carolina. [self-links, transcriptions only]
posted by IshmaelGraves at 6:34 AM on March 1, 2005
Lots of commentary on the weather... what is it with human nature and talking about the weather?
March 12th Weather moderate; so is old Payne, but as weather is changeable our general is too.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 8:54 AM on March 1, 2005
March 12th Weather moderate; so is old Payne, but as weather is changeable our general is too.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 8:54 AM on March 1, 2005
Lots of commentary on the weather... what is it with human nature and talking about the weather?
All over the world, strangers talk only about the weather. All over the world, it's the same, it's the same.
In this case it looked like she was sometimes using the weather as a metaphor for Gen. Payne's mood, too. She didn't do it all the time, and she didn't make it subtle enough that you'd think it was a code. Not sure what she was doing.
posted by Hildago at 9:16 AM on March 1, 2005
I would guess that there are so many notes on the weather in part because that is the one thing she can talk about regularly from her own direct observation. Most of her entries have to be rumors -- how else would a schoolgirl know so much of the daily comings-and-goings of a general's family? And the entries from April 6th-9th sound like ore for folk song ( "Mount that horse and say no more . . ." and "have fine fun chasing the boy with fresh horses").
Thanks for the link. It's something like a livejournal dispatch from the Dixie triangle.
posted by eatitlive at 9:48 AM on March 1, 2005
Thanks for the link. It's something like a livejournal dispatch from the Dixie triangle.
posted by eatitlive at 9:48 AM on March 1, 2005
Nice link, Marx. One would think you do this sort of thing for a living...
posted by Pdubby at 10:08 AM on March 1, 2005
posted by Pdubby at 10:08 AM on March 1, 2005
Lots of commentary on the weather... what is it with human nature and talking about the weather?
What eatitlive said, also I think if you live somewhere with only dirt roads, you probably do the majority of your work outside, and have to walk or ride a horse anywhere you go, the weather becomes a lot more important.
Nice link, Marx. One would think you do this sort of thing for a living...
Thanks, I get to play with stuff like this at a place down the road from Duke, but I don't get to make nice web pages like they do.
posted by marxchivist at 10:41 AM on March 1, 2005
What eatitlive said, also I think if you live somewhere with only dirt roads, you probably do the majority of your work outside, and have to walk or ride a horse anywhere you go, the weather becomes a lot more important.
Nice link, Marx. One would think you do this sort of thing for a living...
Thanks, I get to play with stuff like this at a place down the road from Duke, but I don't get to make nice web pages like they do.
posted by marxchivist at 10:41 AM on March 1, 2005
Re the weather: And with no forecasting, direct observation also becomes that much more important.
And, Marx, we both know the place where you work is a real hole...
posted by Pdubby at 1:55 PM on March 1, 2005
And, Marx, we both know the place where you work is a real hole...
posted by Pdubby at 1:55 PM on March 1, 2005
when Sherman burned the city
Actually, the truth of what happened to Columbia is a little more complex than just "Sherman burned the city." As Marion B. Lucas notes, it was a attributable to a combination of burning cotton, whiskey, and wind.
posted by alumshubby at 2:18 PM on March 1, 2005
Actually, the truth of what happened to Columbia is a little more complex than just "Sherman burned the city." As Marion B. Lucas notes, it was a attributable to a combination of burning cotton, whiskey, and wind.
posted by alumshubby at 2:18 PM on March 1, 2005
I guess they didn't teach proper English conventions in Gallatin's schools.
That thing is painful to read.
posted by Target Practice at 3:07 PM on March 1, 2005
That thing is painful to read.
posted by Target Practice at 3:07 PM on March 1, 2005
I guess they didn't teach proper English conventions in Gallatin's schools.
Yeah, people sure were stupid in the 19th century, weren't they?
posted by marxchivist at 3:14 PM on March 1, 2005
Yeah, people sure were stupid in the 19th century, weren't they?
posted by marxchivist at 3:14 PM on March 1, 2005
« Older The TV Typewriter | Ivan Ho! Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by marxchivist at 8:54 PM on February 28, 2005