Name/Title
Civil War Times IllustratedEntry/Object ID
LIB665Description
The article "An Army of Devils: The Diary of Ella Washington" edited by James O. Hall is relevant to the history of Jefferson County. Late in the bloody spring of 1864 Federal troops under General Philip H. Sheridan invaded Hanover County, Virginia. Among the citizens of the area who ran afoul of marauding Union soldiers was Mrs. Ella More Basset Washington. Mistress of "Beall Air" plantation, descendant of Virginia bluebloods, and the wife of Lewis Washington, Mrs. Washington along with her two children found herself in a war-ravaged landscape. Leaving Beall Air" in the care of its overseer, she fled to what she hoped was the relative safety of her parents' estate "Clover Lea " But roving bands of Federal stragglers kept them on the verge of starvation and finally brought war to their doorstep.
On May 27, 1864, Mrs. Washington began recording her experiences in a journal. Like many other diaries of Southern civilians who crossed paths with the Union forces, Mrs. Washington's is a chronicle of depredations, outrages and degradations. However, her journal shares the same literacy and perception as the diaries of Mary Boykin Chesnut and Phoebe Pember. Through those qualities she gives the reader a vivid portrait of life in the war-torn Virginia countryside.
Contents:
The Kilpatrick-Dahlgren Raid- Part 1 by Emory M. Thomas
Dr. Samuel A Mudd's Escape Attempt by Peggy Robbins
An Army of Devils: The Diary of Ella Washington edited by James O. Hall
Union Fizzle At Atlanta: The Battle of Utoy Creek by Albert Castel
SImon Bolivar Buckner: A Profile by Lowell Harrison
The War in Words by James I. Robertson
Mail CallAcquisition
Accession
482Source or Donor
O'Connor, RobertAcquisition Method
GiftCredit Line
*No deeds of gift on file as of 6/27/14Publication Details
Publisher
Historical Times, IncPlace Published
* Untyped Place Published
Gettysburg, PANotes
Date: 1978 February