Mary Boykin Chesnut

Mary Boykin Chesnut is one of the most important voices of the American Civil War with her unique perspective from inside Confederate halls of power. Her husband James Chesnut, Jr, served in the South Carolina legislature, and in 1858 was elected to the U.S. Senate. He resigned from office after Lincoln's 1860 win, then returned south to help draft the ordinance of secession and attend the First Confederate Congress. He was a close aide to Jefferson Davis for much of the war as history unfolded.

Thursday, September 3, 2015

20 November 1861

"England is patting both sides on the back. She loves to see a Kilkenny cat fight. After all, she is not denying for the want of our cotton. She is prospering and pampering her Indian cotton and will magnanimously accept any apology for the Mason and Slidell affair that smart Yankee [Secretary of State William Henry] Seward will tender her."