Stories from the War | Idella Bodie's S.C. Women - Episode 108

Mary Boykin Chesnut, Part 8 - Stories from the War

Mary's Diary Entries (1862) -   Mary relays the story of Willie Taylor who claims he saw an apparition of Albert Rhett, who foretold Willie would die in battle, as he later did. Mary tells other odd tales, and of her mother-in-law who is unable to accustom herself to the new modest living in wartime. Mary explains the devastation of loss during war. 

Backstory: The largest group of soldiers was 21 years old or younger. 300 soldiers were age 13 or under. 25 soldiers were age 10 years or under. Most served as drummer boys.

Standards

• 3-4 The student will demonstrate an understanding of life in the antebellum period, the causes and effects of the Civil War, and the impact of Reconstruction in South Carolina.
  • South Carolina played a key role in events that occurred before, during, and after the Civil War; and those events, in turn, greatly affected the state. To understand South Carolina’s experiences during this tumultuous time, the student will uti...
    • 3-4.4 Summarize the course of the Civil War in South Carolina, including the Secession Convention, the firing on Fort Sumter, the Union blockade of Charleston, the significance of the Hunley submarine; the exploits of Robert Smalls; and General William...
    • 3-4.5 Explain how the destruction caused by the Civil War affected the economy and daily lives of South Carolinians, including the scarcity of food, clothing, and living essentials and the continuing racial tensions.
• 4-6 The student will demonstrate an understanding of the causes, the course, and the effects of the American Civil War.
  • Regional economic interests led to social and political differences that seemed insurmountable by 1860. To understand why the United States was forced to settle sectional differences through civil war, the student will utilize the knowledge and skills...
    • 4-6.4 Summarize significant battles, strategies, and turning points of the Civil War, including the battles of Fort Sumter and Gettysburg, the Emancipation Proclamation, the role of African Americans in the war, the surrender at Appomattox, and the ass...
    • 4-6.5 Explain the social, economic, and political effects of the Civil War on the United States.
• 8-4 The student will demonstrate an understanding of the multiple events that led to the Civil War.
  • The outbreak of the Civil War was the culminating event in a decades-long series of regional issues that threatened American unity and South Carolina’s identity as one of the United States. To understand how South Carolina came to be at the cent...
    • 8-4.5 Compare the military strategies of the North and the South during the Civil War and the fulfillment of these strategies in South Carolina and in the South as a whole, including the attack on Fort Sumter, the Union blockade of Charleston and other...
    • 8-4.6 Compare the differing impact of the Civil War on South Carolinians in each of the various social classes, including those groups defined by race, gender, and age.

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