MARY BOYKIN CHESNUT 1823 1886 CIVIL WAR DIARIST CHESNUT MARY BOYKIN 1823 1886 ARTS SOUTH CIVIL WAR AMERICAN CULTURE MARY CHESNUT MARY BOYKIN MILLER WAS BORN ON A PLANTATION NEAR PLEASANT HILL SOUTH CAROLINA SHE ATTENDED PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN SOUTH CAROLINA WHERE SHE STUDIED HISTORY LITERATURE AND SCIENCE IN 1840 SHE MARRIED JAMES CHESNUT WHO BECAME A LEADING FIGURE IN SOUTH CAROLINA POLITICS MARY CHESNUT KEPT A JOURNAL BUT HER NOTES WERE USUALLY BRIEF ABOUT 1861 AT THE OUTSET OF THE CIVIL WAR SHE BEGAN TO EXPAND HER NOTES INTO A DIARY TO RECORD HER DAILY CONVERSATIONS THOUGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS SHE CLOSED HER DIARY ON AUGUST 2 1865 AFTER WRITING SOME 400000 WORDS THE DIARY REVEALS CHESNUT'S CONDEMNATION OF SLAVERY AS WELL AS HER FIERCE LOYALTY TO THE SOUTH AND ITS TRADITIONS THE BOOK ALSO DESCRIBES THE SOUTHERN ARISTOCRACY AND CONFEDERATE POLITICIANS AND MILITARY LEADERS AFTER THE WAR SHE WORKED TO TURN HER DIARY INTO A BOOK MANUSCRIPT A DIARY FROM DIXIE WAS PUBLISHED IN 1905 ALMOST 10 YEARS AFTER CHESNUT'S DEATH
