Introduction / by Catherine Clinton -- Suggestions for further reading -- A note on the text -- Mary Chesnut's diary. Charleston, S.C., November 8, 1860-December 27, 1860. The news of Lincoln's election -- Raising the Palmetto flag -- The author's husband resigns as United States senator -- The Ordinance of Secession -- Anderson takes possession of Fort Sumter -- Montgomery, Ala., February 19, 1861-March 11, 1861. Making the Confederate Constitution -- Robert Toombs -- Anecdote of General Scott -- Lincoln's trip through Baltimore -- Howell Cobb and Benjamin H. Hill -- Hoisting the Confederate flag -- Mrs. Lincoln's economy in the White House -- Hopes for peace -- Despondent talk with anti-secession leaders -- The South unprepared -- Fort Sumter -- Charleston, S.C., March 26, 1861-April 15, 1861. A soft-hearted slave-owner -- Social gaiety in the midst of war talk -- Beauregard as hero and a demigod -- The first shot of the war -- Anderson refuses to capitulate -- The bombardment of Fort Sumter as seen from the housetops -- War steamers arrive in Charleston harbor -- "Bull Run" Russell -- Demeanor of the negroes -- Camden, S.C., April 20, 1861-April 22, 1861. After Sumter was taken -- the jeunesse dorée -- The story of Beaufort Watts -- Maria Whitaker's twins -- The inconsistencies of life -- Montgomery, Ala., April 27, 1861-May 20, 1861. Baltimore in a blaze -- Anderson's account of the surrender of Fort Sumter -- A talk with Alexander H. Stephens -- Reports from Washington -- An unexpected reception -- Southern leaders take hopeless views of the future -- Planning war measures -- Removal of the capital -- Charleston, S.C., May 25, 1861-June 24, 1861. Waiting for a battle in Virginia -- Ellsworth at Alexandria -- Big Bethel -- Moving forward to the battleground -- Mr. Petigru against secession -- Mr. Chesnut goes to the front -- Russell's letters to the London Times -- Richmond, Va., June 27, 1861-July 4, 1861. Arrival at the new capital -- Criticism of Jefferson Davis -- Solders everywhere -- Mrs. Davis's drawing-room -- A day at the Champ de Mars -- The armies assembling for Bull Run -- Col. L.Q.C. Lamar -- Fauquier White Sulphur Springs, Va., July 6, 1861-July 11, 1861. Cars crowded with soldiers -- A Yankee spy -- Anecdotes of Lincoln -- Gaiety in social life -- Listening for guns -- A horse for Beauregard -- Richmond, Va., July 13, 1861-September 2, 1861. General Lee and Joe Johnston -- The Battle of Bull Run -- Colonel Bartow's death -- Rejoicing and funerals -- Anecdotes of the battle -- An interview with Robert E. Lee -- Treatment of prisoners -- Toombs thrown from his horse -- Criticism of the administration -- Paying the soldiers -- Suspected women searched -- Mason and Slidell -- Camden, S.C., September 9, 1861-September 19, 1861. The author's sister Kate Williams -- Old Colonel Chesnut -- Roanoke Island surrenders -- Up Country and Low Country -- Family silver to be taken for war expenses -- Mary McDuffie Hampton -- The Merrimac and the Monitor -- Columbia, S.C., February 20, 1862-July 21, 1862. Dissensions among Southern leaders -- Uncle Tom's Cabin -- Conscription begins -- Abuse of Jefferson Davis -- The battle of Shiloh -- Beauregard flanked at Nashville -- Old Colonel Chesnut again -- New Orleans lost -- The battle of Williamsburg -- Dinners, teas, and breakfasts -- Wade Hampton at home wounded -- Battle of the Chickahominy -- Albert Sidney Johnston's death -- Richmond in sore straits -- A wedding and its tragic ending -- Malvern Hill -- Recognition of the Confederacy in Europe -- Flat Rock, N.C., August 1, 1862-August 8, 1862. A mountain summer resort -- George Cuthbert -- A disappointed cavalier -- Antietam and Chancellorsville -- General Chesnut's work for the army -- Portland, Ala., July 8, 1863-July 30, 1863. A journey from Columbia to southern Alabama -- The surrender of Vicksburg -- A terrible night in the swamp on a riverside -- A good pair of shoes -- The author at her mother's home -- Anecdotes of negroes -- A Federal cynic -- Richmond, Va., August 10, 1863-September 7, 1863. General Hood in Richmond -- A brigade marches through the town -- Rags and tatters -- Two love affairs and a wedding -- The battle of Brandy Station -- The Robert Barnwell tragedy -- Camden, S.C., September 10, 1863-November 5, 1863. A bride's dressing table -- Home once more at Mulberry -- Longstreet's army seen going West -- Constance and Hetty Cary -- At church during Stoneman's raid -- Richmond narrowly escapes capture -- A battle on the Chickahominy -- A picnic at Mulberry -- Richmond, Va., November 28, 1863-April 11, 1864. Mr Davis visits Charleston -- Adventures by rail -- A winter of mad gaiety -- Weddings, dinner-parties, and private theatricals -- Battles around Chattanooga -- Bragg in disfavor -- General Hood and his love affairs -- Some Kentucky generals -- Burton Harrison and Miss Constance Cary -- George Eliot -- Thackeray's death -- Mrs. R.E. Lee and her daughters -- Richmond almost lost -- Colonel Dahlgren's death -- General Grant -- Depreciated currency -- Fourteen generals at church -- Camden, S.C., May 8, 1864-June 1, 1864. A farewell to Richmond -- "Little Joe's" pathetic death and funeral -- An old silk dress -- The battle of the wilderness -- Spottsylvania Court House -- At Mulberry once more -- Old Colonel Chesnut's grief at his wife's death -- Columbia, S.C., July 6, 1864-January 17, 1865. Gen. Joe Johnston superseded and the Alabama sunk -- The author's new home -- Sherman at Atlanta -- The battle of Mobile Bay -- At the hospital in Columbia -- Wade Hampton's two sons shot -- Hood crushed at Nashville -- Farewell to Mulberry -- Sherman's advance eastward -- The end near -- Lincolnton, N.C., February 16, 1865-March 15, 1865. The flight from Columbia -- A corps of generals without troops -- Broken-hearted and an exile -- Taken for millionaires -- A walk with Gen. Joseph E. Johnston -- The burning of Columbia -- Confederate money refused in the shops -- Selling old clothes to obtain food -- Gen. Joe Johnston and President Davis again -- Braving it out -- Mulberry saved by a faithful negro -- Ordered to Chester, S.C. -- Chester, S.C., March 21, 1865-May 1, 1865. How to live without money -- Keeping house once more -- Other refugees tell stories of their flight -- The Hood melodrama over -- The exodus from Richmond -- Passengers in a box car -- A visit from General Hood -- The fall of Richmond -- Lee's surrender -- Yankees hovering around -- In pursuit of President Davis -- Camden, S.C., May 2, 1865-August 2, 1865. Once more at Bloomsbury -- Surprising fidelity of negroes -- Stories of escape -- Federal soldiers who plundered old estates -- Mulberry partly in ruins -- Old Colonel Chestnut last of the grand seigniors -- Two classes of sufferers -- A wedding and a funeral -- Blood not shed in vain.