The Private Mary Chestnut

by Mary Boykin Chesnut, C. Vann Woodward (Editor), Elisabeth Muhlenfeld (Editor)

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian C. Vann Woodward and Chesnut's biographer Elisabeth Muhlenfeld present here the previously unpublished Civil War diaries of Mary Boykin Chesnut. The ideal diarist, Mary Chesnut was at the right place at the right time with the right connections. Daughter of one senator from South Carolina and wife of another, she had kin and friends all over the Confederacy and knew intimately its political and military leaders. At Montgomery when the new nation was founded, at Charleston when the war started, and at Richmond during many crises, she traveled extensively during the war. She watched a world "literally kicked to pieces" and left the most vivid account we have of the death throes of a society. The diaries, filled with personal revelations and indiscretions, are indispensable to an appreciation of our most famous Southern literary insight into the Civil War experience.

Genres: History, Civil War, Nonfiction, Diary, Biography, American Civil War, American History

320 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 1984

About the author

Mary Boykin Miller Chesnut

Reviews

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the actual 1860's diary not the 1880's work of fiction. The majority of the book is little more than a record of the dinner parties, the witty conversation, the callers, and the petty jealousies and rivalries of the pre-war oligarchy that MBC moved in. But how else can you get a flavor of the charmed life they lived? It makes the pathos of 1865 so palpable, when MBC emerges to find a destroyed county, a defeated people, a decimated economy and a general pall of poverty, death and hopelessness.

Just as poignant is the struggle one has with the country one lives in. MBC certainly loves and is proud of her country. She despises the United States of America for invading her country, but at the same time she writes passionately for the day slavery can be abolished.

[Debbie Colson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this for a book talk and didn't like it for neither a historical account of the Civil War nor for a book talk kind of book. I like Chesnut's spirit and sense of self, and her views not only on slavery, but also on the people she encounters. Don't read this if you're looking for a historical first person experience of the Civil War because you'll read more about Chesnut's social life during this time than the war. I will admit my knowledge of Civil War history is not in-depth, so I wasn't impressed with the names of Chesnut's many social acquaintances. The editors, Woodward and Muhlenfeld, provide excellent footnotes identifying the many people Chesnut mentions. Because it's a journal, the Chesnut's train of thought is hard to keep up with, which is true to an autobiographical format, but for me, it had a whiplash effect. I'm not sure why she's hailed as a Civil War writer, other than she coincidentally lived through that time and kept a journal. The title is misleading as well-there is very little 'private' about Chesnut.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is it just me or do we mostly hear about lower class during war? This book gave us a glimpse of what life was like for rich politicians (or at their wives).

This is a diary. It can be rather boring at times because a lot of it reads like this "I had dinner with ____ and __ and ___ and ___. We discussed the secession of this state and then talked about something else." But isn't this what people write in their diaries? I guess I expected to read more about the actual war, but it seemed the war didn't affect her as much as it did others. This is probably because she was wealthy and her husband held some position in the government, so rather than discuss the battles she mostly discusses the politics of war. But it was still interesting to read about the war from this point of view. I think anyone intersted in the Civil War would find this interesting.

[False · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last of my current Civil War reading for now. Mrs. Chestnut has been quotes in the Ken Burns series on the Civil War. Mainly her diaries are what you would expect diaries to be--day to day activites, a surprisingly busy social life during a war. Apparently people went calling on a regular basis, often throughout the day. We are all so busy now, locked into our technologies, I marvelled at the human contact. Lots of pettiness between the women in her circle. I wish this book had a bibliography. I also wish the footnotes had traced what happened to a lot of these people after the war, rather than just cite who they were. Photographs would have been nice, as well.

One thing she covers for a period of time is the fear the South started having, that their slaves would turn and murder them. It did happen, and Mrs. Chestnut reports some incidents of smothering and poisoning. Some owners cast all of their slaves out and burned their shacks. Not something often discussed.

[ML · Rating 4 out of 5]

Famously quoted, this volume contains Mary Chestnut's observations about the politics of the Confederacy and her conflicting loyalties as a Southern woman. Before the war, she acknowledged more than once her discomfort as she watched black women slaves sold in the market, but her allegiance to her kind hardened into the bitterest of hatreds for anyone who expressed sympathies with the Union or Lincoln by the end of the war. She was well-read and could be articulate. I found her snobbery tiresome, however. And in the end, her hatred was so off-putting that it was difficult to finish the book.

[Donna Brooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting.

[William P.]

Mere words will never truly describe this book.\
I LOVED IT!!!!! Anyone who reads anything about the Civil War must have a copy of this book!!!!!
Thru Mrs. Boykin's book we can step into the daily lives of those who were in charge of the Confederate . These people were at the top of the government in Richmond. Just as important we get a glimpse of what life was like in the South for the aristocrats of the plantation society. Just as important we see the relationship between southern women and their men.

[Connie]

This Book is a family treasure, because her full name was Mary Boykin Chestnut. She was a relative of my husband. Her relatives lived at Mount Aventine in Bryans Road,MD. The house is still standing and on certain Sundays you can visit the home. This book is taken from her diary and is very interesting.

[Evelyn Pecht · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was not an historical account of the Civil War as I thought. It was Mary C.'s private diary of her day-to-day life during those times ... who she visited, etc. Many footnotes which were very distracting.

[Liz V.]

Original diaries, of undoubted use to historians but lacking the cohesion that presumably Chesnut added to her edited product.

[Cheryl · Rating 1 out of 5]

had to let this one go back to the library.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read but I got distracted a lot having to keep referring to the footnotes. Lots of good information of the the social life in Richmond during the Civil War.