Diary of a Southern Refugee during the War

Judith Brockenbrough McGuire's Diary of a Southern Refugee during the War is among the first of such works published after the War of Northern Aggression. It is one of the most-quoted memoirs by a Confederate woman, with …

Judith Brockenbrough McGuire's Diary of a Southern Refugee during the War is among the first of such works published after the War of Northern Aggression. It is one of the most-quoted memoirs by a Confederate woman, with vivid, human, and emotionally charged firsthand accounts to come out of the Confederacy. Written by a Virginia lady who found herself uprooted and thrust into the chaos of the War, this diary captures the daily struggles and fierce resilience of Southern civilians as armies swept through their homeland.

McGuire records everything with sharp detail—food shortages, battles rumbling in the distance, the constant anxiety of invasion, and the heartbreaking reality of friends and family scattered by war.

More than a historical document, this book reads like a personal window into the soul of the wartime South. For anyone interested in Confederate history, women’s perspectives during the Civil War, or raw primary sources that bring the past to life, Diary of a Southern Refugee During the War remains one of the most compelling and essential works of its kind.