"Soldiers everywhere. They seem to be in the air—certainly filled all space....
It had a lively effect. To show they were wide awake and sympathizing enthusiastically, every woman from every window of every house we passed waved a handkerchief, if she had one. This fluttering of white flags from every side never ceased, from Camden to Richmond. Another new symptom—parties of girls came to every station simply to look at the troops passing. They always stood (the girls, I mean) in solid phalanx, and as the sun was generally in their eyes, they made faces. Mary Hammy* never tired of laughing at this peculiarity of her sister patriots."
*"Mary Hammy" was Mary Chesnut's nickname for her first cousin Mary Whitaker Boykin, daughter of Alexander Hamilton Boykin (hence the "Hammy").
