This work is a retelling of stories once shared over tea cups, including what life meant to a young American woman during a vital and formative period of American history. While a true Virginian, the lady also speaks well of her experiences with Union soldiers and officers. Real names of the subjects were changed in deference to the wishes of living persons at the time.

A Record of the Actual Experiences of the Wife of a Confederate Officer. First published in 1903.

Myrta Lockett Avary was born in Virginia in 1857. She married Dr. James Corbin Avary of Atlanta, and the couple moved to New York City, where she worked on the editorial boards of several prominent magazines. Her interest in sociological and historical work about the South led her to collect and edit the memories of a Southern woman and her husband, who had been a Confederate officer. The collection, A Virginia Girl in the Civil War, was published in 1903. Although Avary attests to the truth of the narrative, A Virginia Girl, and relates the story in the woman's own words, she uses aliases to protect the privacy of the couple. The narrator, called Nellie, was born to a banker in Norfolk, Virginia, and she married Dan Grey when she was seventeen. When the Civil War began shortly after their marriage, Nellie frequently accompanied her husband in his travels around the South. In her tale, Nellie describes the behavior of Confederate officers and soldiers away from the battlefield. Nellie's account includes descriptions of her friendship with General J.E.B. Stuart. Separated from each other on occasion, the narrative closes with Dan and Nellie's reunion as the Confederacy surrendered.

Excerpt from A Virginia Girl in the Civil War, 1861-1865: Being a Record of the Actual Experiences of the Wife of a Confederate Officer This history was told over the tea-cups. One winter, in the South, I had for my neighbor a gentle, little brown-haired lady, who spent many evenings at my fireside, as I at hers, where with bits of needlework in our hands we gossiped away as women will. I discovered in her an unconscious heroine, and her Civil War experiences made ever an interesting topic. Wishing to share with others the reminiscences she gave me, I seek to present them here in her own words. Just as they stand, they are, I believe, unique, possessing at once the charm of romance and the veracity of history. They supply a graphic, if artless, picture of the social life of one of the most interesting and dramatic periods of our national existence. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This work is a retelling of stories once shared over tea cups, including what life meant to a young American woman during a vital and formative period of American history. While a true Virginian, the lady also speaks well of her experiences with Union soldiers and officers. Real names of the subjects were changed in deference to the wishes of living persons at the time.

The exploration of the history of Virginia women through the lives of exemplary and remarkable individuals. Seventeen essays written by established and emerging scholars recover the stories and voices of a diverse group of women.