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From the Pen of a She-Rebel: The Civil War Diary of Emilie Riley McKinley
written by Emilie Riley McKinley
Studio : University of South Carolina Press
by University of South Carolina Press
Publisher : University of South Carolina Press
Released : 2001-04
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9781570033568
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 2 reviews)
List Price : $24.95
Our Price : $5.78
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Product Description |
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SHORTLY AFTER SHE BEGAN her diary, Emilie Riley McKinley penned an entry to record the day she believed to be the saddest of her life. The date was July 4, 1863, and Federal troops had captured the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi. A teacher on a plantation near the city under siege, McKinley shared with others in her rural community an unwavering allegiance to the Confederate cause. What she did not share with her. Southern neighbors was her background: Emilie McKinley was a Yankee. McKinley's account, revealed through evocative diary entries, tells of a Northern woman who embodied sympathy for the Confederates. During the months that Federal troops occupied her hometown and county, she vented her feelings and opinions on the pages of her journal and articulated her support of the Confederate cause. Through sharply drawn vignettes, McKinley - never one to temper her beliefs - candidly depicted her confrontations with the men in blue along with observations of explosive interactions between soldiers and civilians. Maintaining a tone of wit and gaiety even as she encountered human pathos, she commented on major military events and reported on daily plantation life. An eyewitness account to a turning point in the Civil War, From the Pen of a She-Rebel chronicles not only a community's near destruction but also its endurance in the face of war. |
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Good Book for Novice Civil War Diary Readers |
Avid civil war women's diary readers may want to take a pass on this book. While Ms. McKinely is definitely a fiesty southern sympathizer with a Union heritage, I didn't find this book to present anything new or that much more interesting than other southern women's diary.
What draws me to diaries is not only the historical value of the diaries but the chance to become initimately involved in the lives of these women and their families. Whether it be the editing, Ms. McKinely's writing style or the sparse details of her background, I didn't connect with Ms. McKinely. In my opinion, the best diaries are those that have left me wanting to know more, wishing that the diary hadn't ended and feeling as though I know more about the writer and the plight of civil war women then when I started. From that standpoint, the book fell short.
That being said, I would recommend the book to someone who hasn't read any or only a few diaries. Ms. McKinely's fiestiness is typical of women in the south and much of what she goes through is similar to other women across the south. |
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Brings to life the travails of living under Union occupation |
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Historian Gordon Cotton's From The Pen Of A She-Rebel: The Civil War Diary Of Emilie Riley McKinly is the fascinating and informative story of Ms. McKinly, told in her own words, as she and her rural Southern neighbors witnessed the depredations of the Civil War. What made Ms. McKinly unique was that she was a Yankee by background, yet she personally embodied deep sympathy for her Confederate neighbors. Extensively annotated vignettes bring to life the travails of living under Union occupation, and paint a vivid picture of a corner of America that was uprooted and changed forever by the surge of history. An epilogue provides as much historical closure as is available concerning Ms. McKinly and her neighbors after the war. From The Pen Of A She-Rebel is a unique and welcome addition to the growing body of Civil War literature available for readers and students today. |
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