Title: Eleanora Williams Diary

Date/Date Range :   1862 October 1-1869 November 9

Extent: 0.1 linear feet

Abstract:

This collection consists of the Confederate diary of Eleanora Williams, of Dickson County, Tennessee, written between October 1, 1862 and November 9, 1869.

Call number: MS-2940

Repository: University of Tennessee Special Collections Library, Knoxville, TN

Aquisition Information:

Purchased by Special Collections, September 25, 2006.

Access Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Copyright:

The copyright interests in this collection remain with the creator. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library.

Preferred Citation:

[Identification of Item], Eleanora Williams Diary, MS-2940. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Special Collections Library.

This collection consists of one folder.

Eleanora Williams lived in Cumberland Furnace, Tennessee, during the Civil War. She wrote this diary primarily between the ages of 18 and 23.

This collection consists of the Confederate diary of Eleanora Williams, of Dickson County, Tennessee, written between October 1, 1862 and November 9, 1869. The diary offers an account of civilian life in the area and of events concerning the Civil War as well as reflections on Williams' personal feelings and emotions during the period.

Williams refers to numerous military leaders, for example meeting General Nathan Bedford Forrest on January 20, 1863. She describes him as "tall and large (not very) and I think very fine looking."

On February 5, 1863, Williams writes of a battle at Ft. Donelson: "To think of a hundred of our brave Southerners being sacrificed for nothing...the carelessness of some commander - where the blame rests I know not. But blame there is. Is Bragg a - traitor?"

Following the end of the war, on July 9, 1865, Williams states "Hope is dead and Liberty is in her grave!....A brother in the Federal army and perhaps dead in a Southern prison - the South overpowered - conquered - subjugated!"

On December 3, 1865, Williams writes "The negroes have most of them been sent away from here and the few that remain are going soon. The Captain believes in white labor." Then she adds an entry following that for April, 1866, noting only that "They have negroes at the Furnace now and are going into operation as soon as possible."

• Tennessee -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.
• Tennessee -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives, Confederate.
• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Women.
• Women -- Tennessee -- Diaries.