Life in Dixie during the War, 1861-1862-1863-1864-1865

by Mary Ann Harris Gay

LIFE IN DIXIE DURING THE WAR.

The following deserved complimentary notice of the book, “Life in Dixie During the War,” written by Miss Mary A. H. Gay, of Georgia, we clip from the New York Times: “Joel Chandler Harris’ brief introduction to Miss Gay’s reminiscences of the civil war tells of the authenticity of this simple story, and how a book of this character is of that kind from whence ‘history will get its supplies.’ The dark days are described with absolute fidelity, and this is a quality we may look for in vain ‘in more elaborate and ambitious publications.’ Think of the strangeness of things, the breaks in families, when the author tells how, at the presentation of a flag, the banner was made for a company of Confederate soldiers by Miss Ella Todd and Mrs. White, of Lexington, Kentucky, the sisters of Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, the wife of the great President.

It was in and around Decatur, Georgia, where the author now lives, that, in the storm and heat of the war, heroically and unflinchingly the women of the South did their duty in helping those in the field. You will find no incidents of the war which do not show the colored man in the South at his best. Miss Gay describes their devotion and what true friends they were. The author tells how more than once she was near starvation. It happened that the house in which she lived became the headquarters of a troop of United States Cavalry. Very possibly bureau drawers became convenient feed troughs for horses. After the cavalry had left there was not a morsel to eat. The famished children, white and black, were crying for food. The day was spent by the women picking up grains of corn from the cracks and crevices in bureau drawers, and other improvised troughs for Federal horses. In this way, by diligent and persevering work, about a half bushel of corn was obtained. The corn, having been thoroughly washed and dried, was taken to a small mill and coarsely ground, and served to give the hungry ones their bread. The utter destitution of the people after the fall of Atlanta is shown in this way: Lead was in demand, and on the battlefields around Atlanta it could be picked up, pellet by pellet. Delicately nurtured women dug up the spent minie balls from the frozen clods and exchanged them for bread.—The Mechanicsburg, Pa., Free Press, February, 20, 1896.

LIFE IN DIXIE DURING THE WAR.

BY MARY A. H. GAY, DECATUR, GA.

Of the numerous stories which have had as their basis the war between the States, there are few truer pictures, in our opinion, than that presented by a Southern woman in this volume, with a telling preface by Joel Chandler Harris. The writer’s home was in Decatur, but the stories include the history of the entire section, and give much very interesting information relative to life in Atlanta, particularly during the war era. Miss Gay was in the very heart of the strife, and she describes with the vigorous pen of one to whom the matter is a vital reality.—The Southern Churchman, Richmond, Va., March 12, 1896.

LIFE IN DIXIE DURING THE WAR.

The volume written and published by Miss Mary A. H. Gay, of Georgia, entitled “Life in Dixie During the War,” is one of the few books in the flood tide of literature on the great civil conflict that many will read with interest, because it is a woman’s story of actual life in Dixie from the beginning to the close of the great conflict. We have volumes in abundance which tell of the great battles of the war, of the achievement of heroes and the sacrifices which attended the victories, but the story of the home life of Southern people during the war must ever be of absorbing interest to every American. They are our people, our countrymen, sharing the common inheritance of heroism in all the conflicts of the Republic, and that part of the history of the war of the rebellion that is least understood is the extraordinary sufferings and sacrifices of the Southern women, who heroically aided their fathers, husbands, sons and brothers in the unequal contest. Miss Gay gives a plain unvarnished story of life in Georgia during the war, and of the many sad sacrifices to which the families of Southern people were subjected. One of the noticeable features of this story, commencing with the expression of confident hope for the success of the Confederacy and ending in the starless midnight of gloom that attended the surrender of Lee and his legions, is given in the description of a presentation of a silken banner to the Magnolia Cadets when the war began. The banner was prepared and finished by Mrs. Dr. White, of Lexington, Kentucky, and her sister Miss Todd, sisters of Mrs. President Lincoln, and they were presented to the enthusiastic audience by Captain Dawson, who subsequently married Miss Todd.

Miss Gay’s volume is full of interesting incidents, showing the heroism and sublime faith and endurance of the women of the South during the terrible ordeal. Like all Southern women, she was intensely devoted to the Southern Cause, and often exposed herself to great peril to serve the Confederacy. More than once she took her life into her hand to aid the hopeless cause in which the Southern armies had engaged. It was principally by her efforts that money was raised to entomb the Confederates that fell at the bloody battle of Franklin, Tennessee. Her name is engraved on a silver plate that is mounted on the entrance gate of the cemetery, and there are few who will not become readers of her book. It is in every way interesting to people both North and South, and should have a very wide circulation.—From The Times, Philadelphia, Pa., May 27, 1896.