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

• 4.3.CX Contextualize South Carolina’s role in the development of sectionalism during the antebellum period.
• 4.4.CO Compare the economic and political causes of the Civil War.
• 4.4.CX Contextualize South Carolina’s experience during the Civil War.
• This indicator was developed to encourage inquiry Ito the relationship between the Civil War and the experiences of women, African Americans, and the planter class in South Carolina.
• 4.4.CE Explain the effects of military strategies utilized by the Union and the Confederacy.
• 4.4.E Analyze the economic, political, and social divisions during the Civil War.
• 8.3.CO Compare the debates between South Carolina and the federal government regarding slavery, federalism, and the Constitution.
• This indicator was developed to encourage inquiry into the debates, heightened by Westward Expansion, over federal and state power concerning slavery, and the government's role in protecting and securing natural rights.
• 8.3.CC Analyze debates and efforts to recognize the natural rights of marginalized groups during the period of expansion and sectionalism.
• This indicator was designed to encourage inquiry into the continuities and changes of the experiences of marginalized groups such as African Americans, Native Americans and women, as the U.S. expanded westward and grappled with the development of new states.
• 8.3.E Utilize a variety of primary and secondary sources to analyze multiple perspectives on the effects of the Civil War within South Carolina and the United States.

Resources