Mary Chesnut
Mary Boykin Chesnut , née Miller (born March 31, 1823 near Stateburg , South Carolina ; † November 2, 1886 in Camden , South Carolina), was an author and one of the most famous contemporary witnesses of the American Civil War .
As the wife of Senator and Brigadier General James Chesnut Jr. , Mary Chesnut had access to the highest social circles in the southern states and was thus able to witness the most important events and decisions of the civil war. From February 18, 1861 to June 26, 1865, she recorded these impressions in a diary, which is highly regarded today. This is mentioned, among other things, in the film series The American Civil War by Ken Burns and in the standard work on the Civil War, Die für die Freiheit , by James M. McPherson, which won the Pulitzer Prize .
Between 1881 and 1884, Chesnut worked on a final version of her book, which was published in 1905. Further publications, including that of C. Vann Woodward, followed. Woodward received the Pulitzer Prize for History for this in 1981.
Mary Chesnut died in 1886, one year after her husband, and was buried by his side in Knights Hill Cemetery in Camden, South Carolina.
literature
- Comer Vann Woodward (Ed.): Mary Chesnut's Civil War . Yale University Press, New Haven 1981 (received the Pulitzer Prize)
- James M. McPherson : Dying for Freedom - The Story of the American Civil War . Anaconda Verlag, Cologne 2008, ISBN 978-3-86647-267-9
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Chesnut, Mary |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Chesnut, Mary Boykin (full name); Miller, Mary Boykin (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American author and contemporary witness of the American Civil War |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 31, 1823 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | near Stateburg , South Carolina |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 2, 1886 |
| Place of death | Camden , South Carolina |