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Set of 3 Confederate memoirs - Reprints of rare Civil War books
1.Richmond During the War by Sallie B.Putnam: Four years of personal observation by a Richmond lady
One historian has noted that Sallie Putnam’s work, while notas well-known as Mary Boykin Chestunut’s A Diary from Dixie,is a more realistic memoir. “Sober, and frequently more perceptive, thanMrs. Chestnut’s celebrated diary; in many ways, this is a source just asvaluable for events, observations, and impressions of wartime Richmond.” CivilWar Books: A Critical Bibliograph, Vol. 2, p. 200.
Sallie Ann Brock Putnam was a 16-year-old Richmond, Virginiaresident who lived through the entire Civil War in the Confederate capital. Shewas educated, well‑read, and attentive to both local events and the wider war,producing a narrative that reads as both a memoir and a historical record.
She makes poignant observations about social changes,military events, daily life, pollical and personal anecdotes. This is awonderful reprint of her 1867 work.Because she published it so soon after the war, it makes considerablymore reliable. 389 pages.
2.Four Years in Rebel Capitals by ThomasCooper DeLeon
The subtitle of DeLeon’s work notes that this is “…in insideview of life in the southern Confederacy, from birth to death. From originalnotes collated in the years 1861 to 1865.” Civil War Books, wrote of DeLeon’swork, “Despite is journalist style, DeLeon showed perceptiveness and maturityof judgement. This is one of thefrequently cited of Confederate studies.” Civil War Books: A CriticalBibliograph, Vol. 2, p. 213.
Thomas Cooper De Leon was an American journalist, author,playwright, and cultural figure known for his works on the American Civil Warand his role in Southern literary and social life'
Born May 21, 1839, in Columbia, South Carolina, De Leon wasthe youngest of six children of Dr. Mordecai Hendricks De Leon and RebeccaLopez. He was educated at Rugby Academy in Washington, D.C., Portland Academyin Maine, and Georgetown College (now Georgetown University) Before the CivilWar, he worked as an audit clerk in the U.S. Topographical Engineers’ bureau inWashington, D.C. De Leon served in the Confederate army from 1861 to 1865,working as a civil servant in Montgomery and Richmond. This is a reprint of his 1890 work. 376 pages
3.Memoirs by Fannie A. Beers: Often calledthe ‘Florence Nightingale of the South.”
Fannie A. Beers (1830s–1900s) was an American Civil Warnurse and author, often called the “Florence Nightingale of the South”for her humanitarian work among Confederate soldiers. She was born in the Northand grew up in Connecticut. She met her future husband, A. P. Beers, while hewas a student at Yale University; they married young. The couple moved to NewOrleans, Louisiana, where Beers came to appreciate the South and its people.
When the Civil War began in 1861, A. P. Beers enlisted inthe Confederate Army as a sergeant in Fenner’s Louisiana Light Artillery(Company A, Crescent Rifles) Fannie returned to her family home in Connecticut,pregnant with her second child, during the war’s early months. She kept a smallConfederate flag her husband sent her, which she famously pasted over her heartas a symbol of loyalty. Her stay in the North was not without controversy. Whileher mother was tolerant to her “Rebel” leanings, the town’s people wherehostile toward her which cause her to travel south and pass through the Unionlines near Richmond where she spent two years.
Beers worked as a nurse in Virginia, Georgia, and Alabama. InRichmond, she first assisted in a private hospital run by local ladies, thenbecame matron-in-charge of the Second Alabama Hospital (her husband’s regimenthad been transferred to the Army of Tennessee.)
Beers is remembered for risking her life during the shellingof Atlanta to deliver provisions to her husband and other soldiers. She also continued nursing duties during asmallpox epidemic at Fort Valley, when others fled. Her courage and dedicationearned her the “Florence Nightingale of the South” title.
Her memoirs are delightful and full of comments aboutbattles and Confederate personalities and what hospital work was like. This isa wonderful reprint of the 1888 edition. It includes the 1885 Confederate Reunion inDallas, Texas. 336 pages.
