historynut.info created by Tim Sheehan the self-proclaimed history nut Home >> About the Author

“Economy Rules the Day:”
The Civil War Sacrifices of Judith Walker McGuire
by Tim Sheehan

Table of Contents | Introduction | Conclusion | Endnotes | Printable HTML version | Images | Related Web Resources

Endnotes

⁽¹⁾ [Judith W. McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee During the War, Third edition (Richmond: J.W. Randolph & English, Publishers, 1889), 30 (contains all quotes); In 1867, Diary of a Southern Refugee During the War was first published by E.J. Hale & Son of New York. The same publisher produced a Second Edition in 1868. J.W. Randolph & English of Richmond, VA published a Third Edition in 1889. All three editions have the same pagination. All information and quotes I have cited are from the Third Edition. I prefer the Third Edition because it contains an appendix, titled “Corrections,” that lists most of the full names that were abbreviated or left blank in the text of the Diary. Return to Page 1

⁽²⁾ [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 6–7 (contains quote); In 1860, the McGuires resided in Howard, Fairfax County, Virginia. The 1860 U.S. Census for free inhabitants and slaveholders of Fairfax County does not list the McGuires, nor their slaveholdings. U.S. Census Office, Population Schedules of the Eight Census of the U.S. 1860. Roll 1343 Virginia, Volume 7 (579–993), Elizabeth City, Essex, and Fairfax Counties, National Archives Microfilm Publications, Microcopy 653, Roll 1343 (Washington D.C.: National Archives, National Archives and Record Service, General Services Administration, 1967); U.S. Census Office, Population Schedules of the Eight Census of the U.S. 1860. Roll 1389 Virginia (Slave Schedules), Volume 2 (279–532), … and Fairfax Counties, National Archives Microfilm Publications, Microcopy 653, Roll 1389 (Washington D.C.: National Archives, National Archives and Record Service, General Services Administration, 1967).The 1850 Essex County, Virginia Slave Census lists John McGuire, Judith's husband, as possessing 13 slaves (7 women, 6 male), ranging in ages between one and fifty-five. U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States, 1850, Slave Inhabitants, Virginia, National Archives Microfilm Publications, Microcopy 432, Roll 986 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives, National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration, 1964), 0286. Return to Page 1

⁽³⁾ For more information regarding slaveholding Southern women, their opinions regarding slavery, and their support for the Confederacy, see the following works: Mary Elizabeth Massey, The Bonnet Brigades (New York: A. A. Knopf, 1966; reprinted as Women in the Civil War, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1996); Anne Firor Scott, The Southern Lady. From Pedestal to Politics 1830–1930 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970; reprint, Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1995); Drew Gilpin Faust, Mothers of Invention: Women of the Slaveholding South in the American Civil War (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1996; New York: Vintage Books, 1997); George C. Rable, Civil Wars: Women and the Crisis of Southern Nationalism (Urbana IL: University of Chicago Press, 1991); Edna Susan Barber, “Sisters of the Capital:” White Women in Richmond, Virginia, 1860–1880 (PhD. diss., University of Maryland, 1997); Amy E. Murrel, Two Armies: Women’s Activism in Civil War Richmond, (honors thesis, Duke University, Spring 1993).
Return to Page 1

⁽⁴⁾ [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, [5]. Return to Page 1

⁽⁵⁾ In her article “Judith W. McGuire. A Lady of Virginia,” Willie T. Weathers states that a portion of the manuscript of the Diary was found in Tappahannock, Virginia decades after McGuire’s 1897 death and donated to the Museum of the Confederacy. The Museum of the Confederacy now reports this item as missing. Willie T. Weathers, “Judith W. McGuire: A Lady of Virginia,” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 82, no. 1 (1974): 100-113; Email, John M. Coski to Tim Sheehan, 14 June 1999. Return to Page 1

⁽⁶⁾ William Stanard, The McGuire Family in Virginia (Richmond: Old Dominion Press, 1926), 34–35; John P McGuire, Jr. and Joseph Bryan, “The Rev. John Peyton McGuire, Rector of the Parsonage School in Essex County., Va., from 1835 to 1852, and of the Episcopal High School of Va. From 1852 to 1861,” typescript of undated handwritten manuscript copy, Virginia Historical Society, Richmond (page 10 contains “the Apostle of the Rappahannock” quote); Edwards Adams listed as residing with McGuire in the 1850 Census. His occupation: “schoolmaster.” U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States. First Series, White and Free Colored Population, National Archives Microfilm Publications, Microcopy 432, Roll 942 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives, National Archives and Records Service, General Service Administration, 1964), 0190. In 1848, Rev. McGuire opened an “English and Classical School” at his home in Loretto, He may have employed Adams. James B. Slaughter, Settlers, Southerners, Americans: The History of Essex County, Virginia 1608–1984 (Salem, W.V.: Don Mills, Inc., 1985), 109,102; 85B. Return to Page 2

⁽⁷⁾ Rev. McGuire attended the 1847 General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, held in New York, as a Clerical Deputy serving on The Committee on Cannons. Episcopal Church, General Convention, Journal of the Proceedings of the Bishops, Clergy, and Laity, of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, Assembled in a General Convention, held in St. John’s Chapel, in the City of New York, From October 6th, to October 28th, inclusive, in the Year of Our Lord 1847 (New York: Daniel Dana, Jr., 1847), 10, 15, 23–24; In 1850, Rev. McGuire oversaw the repair of St. Anne’s and the building of a new South Farnham Parish. Episcopal Church, Diocese of Virginia, Journal of the Fifty-Fifth Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Virginia; Held in St. Paul’s Church, Alexandria, on the 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th of May 1850 (Baltimore: Joseph Robinson, 1850), v, 69; Rev. McGuire is listed as attending the 1852 Virginia Diocese Episcopal Church Convention, and serving on the Board of Directors of the Theological Seminary of Virginia and Episcopal High School, as well as Chairing the Committee on the Widows’ and Orphans’ Fund. Episcopal Church, Diocese of Virginia, Journal of the Fifty-Seventh Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Virginia, Held in St. Paul’s Church, Richmond, on the 19th, 20th, 21st, and 22d of May 1852 (Washington: Jon. T. Towers, 1852), 4, 29-30, 49, [77]; Episcopal Church, Diocese of Virginia, A Digest of the Proceedings of the Conventions and Councils in the Diocese of Virginia by T. Grayson Dash ell. Rector of St Mary’s Church, Richmond, and Secretary of the Council (Richmond: Wm. Ellis Jones, Publisher and Printer, 1853), 244; Announcement of Rev. McGuire’s appointment to as Rector of the Episcopal High School can be found in the Alexandria Gazette & Virginia Advertiser, 13 August 1852; The Episcopal High School was reported as continuing “in a highly flourishing condition.” Episcopal Church, General Convention, Journal of the Proceedings of the Bishops, Clergy, and Laity of The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, Assembled in a General Convention, Held in St. Luke’s Church, in the City of Philadelphia, From October 1st, to October 21st, inclusive, in the Year of Our Lord 1856 (Philadelphia: King & Baird, Printers, 1857), 238; Secondary information on Rev. McGuire and the Episcopal High School may be found in Harold W. Hurst, Alexandria on the Potomac. The Portrait of an Antebellum Community (New York: University Press of America, 1991), 66, 68.
Return to Page 2

⁽⁸⁾ J.P. McGuire to J.E. Page, 14 January 1853, John Peyton McGuire Letterbook 1852–1854, Episcopal High School, Alexandria, Virginia (contains “indifference” quote). Return to Page 2

⁽⁹⁾ “Married- By Rev. Edward B. McGuire on Nov. 26, at Westwood, Hanover County, residence of Mrs. Judith R. Brockenbrough, Miss Judith W. Brockenbrough, dau. of the late Judge Wm. Brockenbrough, to Rev. John P. McGuire, of Essex County (p.1, c.6),” Richmond Whig & public advertiser (semiweekly), 4 December 1846, cited in Henley Marriage & Obituary Database, Library of Virginia at
http://ajax.lva.lib.va.us/F/?func=file&file_name=find-b-clas14&local_base=CLAS14 (accessed 16 October 2006); Although many secondary sources cite Judith McGuire’s middle name as White, which is her mother’s maiden name, the Brockenbrough Family Bible cites her middle name as Walker. Brockenbrough Family Bible Records 1178–1887 (photocopy), Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, VA. For brief biography of William Brockenbrough, see The National Cyclopedia of American Biography 19 (New York: James T. White & Co., 1926), 316–317; Also see “Brockenbrough, William” [entry], Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, ed. Lyon Gardiner Tyler (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1915), Vol. 2, 64–65; “Brockenbrough Family,” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 6, no. 1 (July 1898): 82; Willie T. Weathers, “Judith W. McGuire: A Lady of Virginia,” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 82, no. 1 (1974): 100–107, 111 (contains more background information about Judith McGuire). Return to Page 2

⁽¹⁰⁾ [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 250 (contains 3 January 1863 entry regarding her schooling); McGuire and Bryan, “The Rev. John Peyton McGuire,” 14 (states that Judith McGuire acted as the mother for John McGuire’s children); Richard Pardee Williams Jr., The High School, A Brief History of the Episcopal High School in Virginia at Alexandria (Boston: Vincent-Curtis, 1964), 102 (contains Garnett quote). Return to Page 2

⁽¹¹⁾ See “Local Items” section in Alexandria Gazette & Virginia Advertiser, 23 May 1861. Return to Page 3

⁽¹²⁾ Ibid., 22 April 1861. Return to Page 3

⁽¹³⁾ See “Local Items” section in Alexandria Gazette & Virginia Advertiser, 22, 24, 26 April 1861and 4, 22, 23 May 1861. Return to Page 3

⁽¹⁴⁾ [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 11–13 (quotes from page 12); For more information about Virginia’s path to secession, see Ernest B. Furgurson, Ashes of Glory. Richmond at War (New York: Vintage Civil War Library, Vintage Books, 1997), 1-48. Return to Page 3

⁽¹⁵⁾ “Lord will provide” quotations found in [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 36, 70, 337; Benjamin Harrison McGuire to Francis Howe McGuire, 23 April 1861, Byrd Family Papers 1791–1867 (microfilm reel C238), Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, VA; [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 9–17 (EHS mentioned as being closed on page [9]; Specific reference to hopes that Alexandria will not be invaded on page 11). Return to Page 3

⁽¹⁶⁾ [Ibid.], 12–13 (first quote on page 12; second quote on page 13). Return to Page 3

⁽¹⁷⁾ [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 17 –21; The McGuires lived in the Howard House, an on-campus residence for the principals of the E.H.S. from 1839 to 1941. Eliza Parke Custis Law had this residence built in 1805. The building, now known as the Hoxton House, currently serves as an administrative building for the school. Author's pictures of Hoxton House may be viewed in the Images page. Email, Laura Vetter to Tim Sheehan, 19 June 2002; Carroll Taylor Johnson, Discovered – and Uncovered, n.p. , n.d. . Several unclear entries from McGuire’s Diary lead readers to conclude that Rev. McGuire took part in the Virginia Secession Convention. In her 16 May 1861 entry, McGuire wrote that Rev. McGuire went to Richmond “to the Convention.” The Secession Convention ended on 17 April 1861. The Virginia Diocese of the Protestant Episcopal Church held its annual convention in Richmond during this period in May. Having attended most conventions during the 1850’s, (see endnote 7) it's highly likely that Rev. McGuire attended this “Convention.” His vote for secession McGuire mentions was in the statewide election for ratification of the Secession Ordinance. [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 15–16, 18; See Alexandria Gazette and Virginia Advertiser, 18, 21, 23 May 1861 for accounts of Protestant Episcopal Church Convention. Rev. McGuire not mentioned in that newspaper as being in attendance. Return to Page 4

⁽¹⁸⁾ [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 22 (contains sewing machine quotes), 36–37 (contains “chief employment” quote), 68. Return to Page 4

⁽¹⁹⁾ [Ibid.], 26 (contains quotes by McGuire); Richmond Dispatch, 5 June 1861; See Amy E. Murrel, Two Armies: Women’s Activism in Civil War Richmond for more details regarding the patriotic contributions women of Richmond made for the Confederacy. Return to Page 4

⁽²⁰⁾ Because McGuire kept her authorship anonymous, she also kept others mentioned in the Diary anonymous. In the passage on her sister, McGuire wrote “my sister Mrs. C.” By the time the Third edition of the Diary appeared in print, McGuire’s identity as the author is known, even though her name does not appear as the author. As a result, an appendix in this edition, titled as “Corrections,” lists most of the names not mentioned in the text. [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 28–29, 368–372 (quote from page 28, correction listed on page 368); Sarah Jane Brockenbrough, Judith McGuire’s sister, married Col. Edward Colston in 1825. Their daughter, Mary White Colston, married William Leigh. William Stebbins Hubard, Descendants of William Brockenbrough (n.p., 1998), 22–23, 43; Virginia Republican 12 October 1861, cited in Doherty, William Thomas, Berkeley County, U.S.A.: A Bicentennial History of a Virginia and West Virginia County (Parsons, WV: McClain Printing Co., 1972), 147; The 1860 Census for Little Georgetown, Berkeley County, Virginia (now West Virginia) lists Sarah J. Colston, aged 55 as a farmer and the head of the household. Her real estate value at this time is listed at $90,000 and her personal wealth is listed at $6447. Her son Raleigh T. Colston, aged 26, is listed as a miller and her other son, William B., is listed as a farmer. Colston’s neighbor and son-in-law William Leigh is listed in the 1860 Census as a farmer with $21,000 in real estate and $10,600 in personal worth. U.S. Census Office, Population Schedules of the Eight Census of the U.S. 1860. Roll 1335 Virginia, Volume 3 (299–950), Bedford and Berkeley Counties. National Archives Microfilm Publications, Microcopy 653, Roll 1335 (Washington D.C.: National Archives, National Archives and Record Service, General Services Administration, 1967), 42–43. Return to Page 5

⁽²¹⁾ [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 40 (contains quote); Johnston moved his force from Winchester to Manassas during this period. Millwood was en route to Manassas. Craig L. Symonds, Joseph E. Johnston: A Civil War Biography (New York: WW Norton & Co., 1992), 109–115; Col. E.D. Townsend to R. Patterson 20 July 1861. U.S. War Dept., War of the Rebellion. A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Vol. 2 (Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880), 172. Return to Page 5

⁽²²⁾ [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 32 (contains quote), 159–161. Return to Page 5

⁽²³⁾ The McGuires stayed with their niece Mary Anna Claiborne, wife of Herbert Claiborne. Stanard, The McGuire Family, 34; [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 87–88. Return to Page 6

⁽²⁴⁾ J.P. McGuire to C.G. Memminger, 29 January 1862, Confederate Papers Relating to Citizens or Business Firms, National Archives Microfilm 346, Roll 631, (National Archives and Record Service. General Service Administration , Washington DC, 1961); At the time of his father’s death in 1819, John McGuire assumed his father’s post as paymaster of Harpers Ferry in order to support the family. He held that position until 1823, in which he entered the Episcopal Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. McGuire and Bryan, The Rev. John Peyton McGuire, 4. Return to Page 6

⁽²⁵⁾ The Confederate States Post Office records at the National Archives do not contain any pay schedules or applications for employment relating to John P. McGuire. He is also not in the following items from the Confederate States of America Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington DC: Confederate States of America Post Office. Official Letterbooks, “Record Journal and Orders,” Container number 98, Microfilm Reel 52, and Container number 99, Microfilm Reel 52; Confederate States of America, Appointment Bureau Letterbooks, 1861–1862, Container number 94, Microfilm Reel 49, and 1862–1863, Container number 95, Microfilm Reel 50; [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 87 (contains quote). Return to Page 6

⁽²⁶⁾ For information on Richmond’s housing conditions during the War, see Ernest B. Furgurson’s Ashes of Glory, 106–107, 160–161. Return to Page 6

⁽²⁷⁾ [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 87–93 (quote contained in page 91); For other entries relating to housing, see [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 238–239, 240, 292–293, 298–302, 307, 309–310. Return to Page 6

⁽²⁸⁾ Although in September 1864 Judith McGuire was earning $330 a month as a War Department clerk and her husband was also working as a chaplain at the Officer’s Hospital, they could not afford to pay this amount for rent at a time when high inflation caused McGuire to spend “$1500 in about an hour” on necessities such as boots ($200/pair) and linen ($22/yard). C.S.A. Secretary of War. Requests for Funds or Salaries and Lists of Persons to be Paid 1861–1865. Lists of Officers & Employees for War Department [Dec. 1863–March 1865], RG 109, Chap IX Vol. 98, National Archives: Washington DC. [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 293 (contains first quote), 300 (contains second quote), 307 (contains third quote), 292 (contains prices cited in this footnote). Return to Page 7

⁽²⁹⁾ [Ibid.], 302. Return to Page 7

⁽³⁰⁾ [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 88. Return to Page 7

⁽³¹⁾ [Ibid.], 159. The cottage the McGuires rented was part of the Slash Cottage Resort. The Richmond, Fredericksburg, & Potomac Railroad built the mineral spring resort to attract tourists to the birthplace of Henry Clay and Patrick Henry. During the Civil War, the cottages were rented to refugees. Randolph-Macon College now occupies the site of Slash Cottage Resort. Rosanne Groat Shalf, Ashland, Ashland. The Story of a Turn-of-the Century Railroad Town (Lawrenceville, VA: Brunswick Publishing Co., 1994), 23–29, 49, 64–71. Return to Page 7

⁽³²⁾ For more information on women and the loss of their slaves, see Faust, Mothers of Invention, 74–79; Rable, Civil Wars, 118–119. Return to Page 7

⁽³³⁾ The household consisted of Bishop John and family (the in-laws of Mary Mercer, Rev. McGuire’s eldest daughter), a Mrs. Stuart and her daughter, both from Chantilly VA, Rev. and Judith McGuire and their two younger daughters. [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 168, 370. Return to Page 7

⁽³⁴⁾ Daily Richmond Dispatch, 21 May 1861. Return to Page 8

⁽³⁵⁾ Ibid., 1 June 1861. Return to Page 8

⁽³⁶⁾ The Dispatch estimated that no more than one fifth of those whom had operations died after surgery in Richmond hospitals, hospitals in which women were present. The paper compared this figure to that from the Battle of Shiloh in which the rate was four fifth of those whom had operations passed away in hospitals with no women to nurture the wounded. Ibid., 21 June 1862; Alexander Hunter reported in his Civil War memoir that spring of 1862 had heavy rains and mid-June of that year was very hot. As a result, camps around Richmond during this period encountered camp fever, which was a mixture of dysentery and diarrhea. Alexander Hunter, Johnny Reb and Billy Yank (New York: Neale Publishing Co., 1905), 128–129, 160, 162. For various accounts of the rainy weather conditions encountered during the Peninsular Campaign from 5 May up to 21 June 1862, see Robert E. Denney, Civil War Medicine: Care & Comfort of the Wounded (New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., 1994), 106–119. Return to Page 8

⁽³⁷⁾ [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 29 (contains first quote), 37 (contains remainder of quotes). Return to Page 8

⁽³⁸⁾ [Ibid.], 38–40 (quote located on page 40). Return to Page 9

⁽³⁹⁾ [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 96, 97–98 (page 97 contains first quote), 102, 104–106, 129 (contains last quote of this paragraph). Return to Page 9

⁽⁴⁰⁾ Daily Dispatch [Richmond, VA], 28 June 1862, “Scene in a Hospital,” 7 October 1862 (contains dialog between a lady and soldier); For an account of a matron’s experience in a Confederate hospital, see Phoebe Yates Pember, A Southern Woman’s Story. Life in Confederate Richmond, Edited by Bell Irvin Wiley (Jackson TN: McCowat-Merger Press, Inc, 1959); For overviews of women in hospitals during the Civil War, see the following sources: Faust, Mothers of Invention, 92–113; Rable, Civil Wars, 121–128; Massey, “All Our Women Are Florence Nightingales,” Chap. 3 in The Bonnet Brigades , 43–64; Barber, “Sisters of the Capital:” White Women in Richmond, Virginia, 1860–1880; Murrel, Two Armies: Women’s Activism in Civil War Richmond.
Return to Page 10

⁽⁴¹⁾ [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 82; William Brockenbrough Phelps is the son of Elizabeth White “Eliza” Brockenbrough , Judith McGuire’s sister, and Jefferson Phelps Esquire. Hubard, Descendants of William Brockenbrough, 24; Phelps’ service record states he was wounded in the left wrist joint during the Battle of Drainesville, VA 20 December 1862. He died 9 January 1862 from infection of that wound at the age of 27. U. S. National Archives and Record Service, Compiled Service Record of Confederate Soldier’s Who Served in Organizations from the State of Kentucky, 1st Infantry, National Archives Microfilm Publications, Microcopy 319, Roll 78 (Washington: National Archives, National Archives and Record Services, General Services Administration, 1960).
Return to Page 10

⁽⁴²⁾ [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 132; Lynchburg Hospital Association [broadside], Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville VA; Secondary sources relating to Civil War Lynchburg, Virginia history fail to mention the Lynchburg Hospital Association. All focus on the Ladies’ Relief Hospital. George G. Morris and Susan L. Foutz, Lynchburg in the Civil War. The City, the People, the Battle, 2nd ed., (Lynchburg, VA: H.E. Howard Inc., 1984), 15–17; Peter W. Houck, A Prototype of a Confederate Hospital Center in Lynchburg, Virginia {Lynchburg, VA: Warwick House Publishing, 1986). Return to Page 10

⁽⁴³⁾ [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 132–133 (contains quotes); Mary Elizabeth Massey’s research on refugees in the Confederacy found several instances in Lynchburg in which refugees were not embraced in the community. During the war, Lynchburg churches required refugees to sit in the balcony, regarded as coach seating in houses of worship. Mary Elizabeth Massey, Refugee Life in the Confederacy (Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University Press, 1964), 77, 150. Return to Page 11

⁽⁴⁴⁾ [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 163 (contains quotes); Ervin L. Jordan Jr., Charlottesville and the University of Virginia in the Civil War (Lynchburg, VA: H.E. Howard, Inc., 1988), 31, 36, 45–60, 116–118. Return to Page 11

⁽⁴⁵⁾ John McGuire listed as receiving this appointment 15 July 1863. He reported to General Winder. See CSA War Department, Adjunct and Inspector General’s Office. Register of Chaplains 1861–1865, RG 109, Chap 1, Vol. 132, No. 327, page 20, National Archives and Records Service, Washington DC; Because McGuire published her Diary anonymously, John McGuire is referred as “Mr. M_____.” For entries pertaining to the Officer’s Hospital, see [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 233, 242, 261,307 (contains 18 September 1864 entry), 310, 311–314, 314–315, 316–317. Return to Page 11

⁽⁴⁶⁾ Elizabeth Dabney Coleman, “The Captain Was a Lady,” Virginia Cavalcade 6, no. 1 (summer, 1956): 35–41; Commission from L.P. Walker, Secretary of War, to Sally Tompkins, September 9, 1861. Hospital and Medical Collection, Museum of the Confederacy, Richmond, VA. Return to Page 12

⁽⁴⁷⁾ [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 96, 213–214 (contains “Under my care” quote), 281, 311. Return to Page 12

⁽⁴⁸⁾ Alexander Hunter served as a private for the “Black Horse Cavalry,” a part of the Virginia 4th Cavalry. He recovered from injuries at the Robertson Hospital twice during the war. An injury received from being kicked by a horse put him in the Robertson from 11 September 1863 to 14 October 1963, which is not mentioned in his wartime memoir Johnny Reb and Billy Yank. He does mention the gunshot wound he received during the Wilderness Campaign. To recover, he transferred to the Robertson from Chimborazzo Hospital on 18 May 1864, where he remained until he received a sixty-day furlough. Hunter complained about the crowded and unsanitary conditions of Chimborazzo, along with the careless attitude of the staff. He praised Sally Tompkins for the care and healthy climate she and her staff maintained at the Robertson. Hunter did not mention Judith McGuire in his book. Hunter, Johnny Reb and Billy Yank, 424, 561–567; Robertson Hospital Register, Sally Louisa Tompkins and Robertson Hospital Collection, Medical and Hospital Collection, Eleanor Brockenbrough Library of the Museum of the Confederacy, Richmond, VA. The Robertson Hospital Register is available online at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Civil War Hospitals in Richmond: A Joint Project with the Museum of the Confederacy (Richmond: VCU Libraries - Special Collections & Archives Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences) http://www.vcu.edu/dl/civilwar/index.html (accessed 16 October 2005). Return to Page 12

⁽⁴⁹⁾ [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 267 (contains quote); Listing of “Ladies of Robertson Hospital” at end of Robertson Hospital Register, Sally Louisa Tompkins and Robertson Hospital Collection, Medical and Hospital Collection, Eleanor Brockenbrough Library of the Museum of the Confederacy, Richmond, VA. Return to Page 12

⁽⁵⁰⁾ [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 330 (contains all quotes); The verse McGuire provided was actually a misquote of Thomas Moore’s “Oh! Remember the Time.” The actual lines are “For't is always the spirit most gallant in war / That is fondest and truest in love!” “Oh! Remember the Time” in The Poetical Works of Thomas Moore (Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, 18-?), 374. In this entry, dated 8 January 1865, McGuire did not provide the name of the patient mentioned. Robert Stringfellow is the only soldier listed in the Robertson Hospital Register during January 1865 with an injury resembling a “disabled limb,” as stated in the Diary. The Robertson Register lists Stringfellow’s injury as “V.S. of left leg & fracture.” He was a scout in Virginia’s 39th Battalion Cavalry (Richardson’s Battalion of Scouts, Guides and Couriers, 13th Battalion Cavalry), also known as Lee’s scouts. Stringfellow first came to the Robertson Hospital 21 June 1864 for the same injury, being released on the same day. Throughout 1864 and through the remainder of the war, his attempt to recover brought him to hospitals in Danville, Charlottesville, General Hospital #9 in Richmond, and twice to the Robertson Hospital from 11 October 1864 to 24 January 1865, returning again in March and staying until Federal troops took over Richmond in April. The Robertson Register lists him as escaping from the “Yankees” but his service record indicates that he came to terms with Federal troops on 24 April 1865 in Ashland, Virginia, where he received a Parole of Honor, allowing him to return to his home in San Antonio, Texas. It is not known if McGuire’s suggestion resulted in a marriage. See Civil War Hospitals in Richmond http://www.vcu.edu/dl/civilwar/index.html (accessed 16 October 2006) for Stringfellow’s entries dated 21 June 1864, 11 October 1864 to 24 January 1865, and 7 March to 2 April 1865. The original Register was also consulted. Stringfellow listed on pages 75 and 81. Pages 71 through 81 were searched for other soldiers with a “disabled limb,” but no others were found matching McGuire’s entry. Robertson Hospital Register, Sally Louisa Tompkins and Robertson Hospital Collection, Medical and Hospital Collection, Eleanor Brockenbrough Library of the Museum of the Confederacy, Richmond, VA.. Service record for Robert (S. or R.) Stringfellow in U. S. National Archives and Record Service, Compiled Service Record of Confederate Soldier’s Who Served in Organizations from Virginia, 39th Battalion Cavalry (Richardson’s Battalion of Scouts, Guides, and Couriers, 13th Battalion Cavalry), National Archives Microfilm Publications, Microcopy 324, Roll 199 (Washington, DC: National Archives, National Archives and Record Services, General Services Administration, 1957).
Return to Page 12

⁽⁵¹⁾ Nathan Newton listed as being 11 in 1860 Census dated 16 June 1860, which would make him 13 in April 1862. U.S. Census Office, Population Schedules of the Eighth Census of the US 1860: Vol. 5 (1-536) DeKalb & Fayette County Alabama, National Archives Microfilm Publications, Microcopy 653, Roll 9 (Washington, DC: The National Archives Microfilm Publications, 1967), 0424; However, Newton’s father states Nathan was 14 in a “Descriptive List of pay and clothing of Nathan G. Newton of Co. C. 26th Ala. Regt.,” a statement found in Nathan Newton’s service record. The date Nathan Newton was admitted to the Robertson Hospital is also in question. The Robertson Register lists Newton’s admission date as 21 March 1861. According to McGuire’s Diary, first mention of Newton as “our little soldier boy” made 23 February 1862. The next reference to “our little Alabamian” made 7 March. In the 10 April entry regarding his death, McGuire states Newton was at the Hospital for 6 weeks. Nathan’s father, Elkanah Bazallel Newton, asked for and received a resignation from his post as Captain, most likely due to Nathan’s death. Entries pertaining to Newton in [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 96, 97,104–106; See page 17, entry number 272 of Robertson Hospital Register, Sally Louisa Tompkins and Robertson Hospital Collection, Medical and Hospital Collection, Eleanor Brockenbrough Library of the Museum of the Confederacy, Richmond, VA; The Register is online at Civil War Hospitals in Richmond http://www.vcu.edu/dl/civilwar/index.html (Accessed 16 October 2005); For Nathan Newton’s and Elkanah Bazallel Newton’s service records, see U. S. National Archives and Record Service, Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers who Served in Organizations from the State of Alabama, Twenty-Sixth (O’Neils) Infantry, National Archives Microfilm Publications, Microcopy 374, Roll 33 (Washington DC: National Archives, National Archives and Record Services, General Services Administration, 1960) . McGuire copied the “Jacket of Grey” in the Diary, but missed a pair of quotation marks. For the accurate version of the poem, see The Columbia Book of Civil War Poetry, Edited by Richard Marius (New York: Columbia University Press, 1994), 399–401. Return to Page 13

⁽⁵²⁾ For entries in which Judith McGuire was distressed by hospital situation, see [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 216, 231, 328 (contains 8 January 1865 entry), 231 (contains paragraph’s final quote). Return to Page 13

⁽⁵³⁾ John Bowyer Brockenbrough is the son of John White Brockenbrough, Judith McGuire’s brother, and Mary Colwell Bowyer. Brockenbrough was the Captain and Acting Chief of Artillery for the Second Maryland Battery. Brockenbrough appears on a register of the Medical Directors Office, being listed as hospitalized in Private Quarters 4 April 1863. He officially retired from service 23 March 1864. Hubard, Descendants of William Brockenbrough, 23, 43–44; U. S. National Archives and Record Service, Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers who Served in Organizations from the State of Maryland, 2nd Battery, Artillery, National Archives Microfilm Publications, Microcopy 321, Roll 10 (Washington, DC: National Archives, National Archives and Record Services, General Services Administration, 1960); For the Diary's entries pertaining to John Bowyer Brockenbrough, see [McGuire}, Diary of a Southern Refugee, 178–181 (quote contained in page 179), 183, 186–187, 187–188, 191, 194, 204–205. Return to Page 14

⁽⁵⁴⁾ [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 246, 248 (contains quote), 249–250; As mentioned in endnote 15, Raleight T. Colston is the son of Sarah Jane Colston, McGuire’s sister. Hubard, Descendants of William Brockenbrough, 23; For reports regarding the Battle of Mine Run, which occurred 27 November 1863, and with mention of Colston, see U.S. War Dept., War of the Rebellion. A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Vol. 29, Part I (Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1890), 846–851; For Colston’s service record, see U. S. National Archives and Record Service, Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Virginia, Second Infantry. Company E, Microcopy 324, Roll 373 (Washington DC: National Archives, National Archives and Record Services, General Services Administration, 1960). Return to Page 14

⁽⁵⁵⁾ McGuire reported on 12 May 1963 that many women brought flowers and wreaths to the train carrying the body of General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson to Richmond. [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 212; On 8 September 1863, McGuire writes that those gathered at the Ashland station only had water to supply to troops bound to Chattanooga from Fredericksburg. [Ibid.], 176–177 (contains all the quotes), 211–212, 237. Author's picture of Ashland may be viewed in the Images page. Return to Page 15

⁽⁵⁶⁾ Prices are quoted from Diary's 29 November 1863 entry. [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 166, 173 (contains first quote), 185 (contains “genteel” quote), 186, 195 (contains quote regarding basket of clothes for repair), 177 (contains setting colors quote). Return to Page 16

⁽⁵⁷⁾ For more information regarding the means Southern women used to obtain clothing, see Faust, Mothers of Invention, 48–49, 51; Rable, Civil Wars, 92–95; [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 186 (contains quotes). Return to Page 16

⁽⁵⁸⁾ [Ibid.], 196 (contains first quote), 205 (contains quotes from 9 April 1863 entry); McGuire did not say so but may have obtained recipe for soap from Sally Tompkins. See back of Robertson Register for Sally’s recipe for soap. Register of the Robertson Hospital, Sally Louisa Tompkins and Robertson Hospital Collection, Medical and Hospital Collection, Eleanor Brockenbrough Library of the Museum of the Confederacy, Richmond, VA. Return to Page 16

⁽⁵⁹⁾ No Primrose listed in the following: W. Eugene Ferslew, Second Annual Directory for the City of Richmond, To Which is Added a Business Directory for 1860 (Richmond: W. Eugene Ferslew, 1860), 183. [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 196 (contains quote), 238–239 (contains an observation of young women plaiting and selling straw hats). Return to Page 16

⁽⁶⁰⁾ Quote contained in C.G. Memminger to T. S. Bocock, 10 January 1863, U.S. War Dept., War of the Rebellion, Series 4, Vol. 2 (Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1900), 322; For sources on the employment of Southern women during the Civil War, see Faust, “We Must Go to Work, Too,” Chap. 8 in Mothers of Invention, 80–113; Rable, Civil Wars, 128–135; Massey, The Bonnet Brigades; Barber, “Sisters of the Capital:” White Women in Richmond, Virginia,1860–1880 . Return to Page 17

⁽⁶¹⁾ [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 87, 196, 238 (contains 24 September 1863 entry); No letter from Judith McGuire to Memminger was found in the following collections: Applications for Positions in the Treasury of the Confederate States of America, Civil War Collection, 1861–1868, American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA; Register of Applications for Appointments in the Treasury Department (presumably 1862) (CSA), RG 109, Chap. X, Vol. 156, National Archives, Washington, DC; Register of Applications for Clerkship in the Treasury Department 1861–1865 (CSA), RG 109, Chap. X, Vol. 156 1/2, National Archives, Washington, DC. Return to Page 17

⁽⁶²⁾ J.W. McGuire to J.M. Bennet, 4 March 1863 and John W. Brockenbrough to J.M. Bennet (back of McGuire’s letter to Bennet) both located in Virginia, Auditor of Public Accounts (1776–1928), Applications of ladies for clerkships on Virginia treasury notes, 1861–1864, Library of Virginia, Richmond, VA; John W. Brockenbrough (1806–1877) was a federal judge for the western District of Virginia before the Civil War. He represented the western part of Virginia in the CSA Congress in the early years of the War. In 1863, he was appointed CSA Judge for the Western District of Virginia. After the War, he served as president of the Lexington Law School. Stewart Sifakis, Who Was Who in the Civil War (New York, Facts on File Publication, 1988), 75. Return to Page 17

⁽⁶³⁾ [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 196 (contains “If I fail, . . . ” quote), 174, 233, 240 (contains “Oh, that we could . . . ” quote), 198 (contains “they are better off than usual ”), 204. Return to Page 17

⁽⁶⁴⁾ R.S. Ewell to John H. Reagan, 29 December 1864, U.S. War Dept., War of the Rebellion, Series 4 – Vol. 3 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1900): 974 (contains quote); C.S.A. Secretary of War, Requests for Funds or Salaries and Lists of Persons to be Paid 1861–1865. Lists of Officers & Employees for War Department [Dec. 1863–March 1865], RG 109, Chap 1X Vol. 98 National Archives: Washington DC (contains figures stated). Return to Page 18

⁽⁶⁵⁾ [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 244 (contains quote “us to say that we are really in want of the office - . . .”), 298 (contains quote “was obtained without the least effort on my part”); McGuire states in her 11 November 1863 entry that she wrote to Colonel Lucius Northrop Commissary General (see [Ibid]). I’ve searched the following collections at the National Archives Washington DC and did not locate any reference to McGuire’s letter: Index. Applications for Appointments in the War Department (C.S.A.), Chapter IX, Vol. 90, RG 109; Boxes 1–2 of War Department (C.S.A.) Miscellaneous Records RG 109; Letters Received by the Confederate Secretary of War 1861–1865. The Lucius B. Northrop Papers at the Virginia Historical Society also do not contain McGuire’s letter. Michala Biondi, a Manuscripts Specialist at the New York Public Library Manuscripts and Archives Division, found no letter from McGuire in the NYPL’s collection of Lucius Northrop papers. Email, Michala Biondi to Tim Sheehan, 23 August 2002. Return to Page 18

⁽⁶⁶⁾ [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 244 (contains quotes), 245, 247, The War Department employee register lists McGuire as “Mrs. J.P. McGuire” with a monthly salary of $125.00. All female clerks were paid the same as male clerks. List of Officers and Employees for War Department for January 1864 in C.S.A. Secretary of War, Requests for Funds or Salaries and Lists of Persons to be Paid 1861–1865. Lists of Officers & Employees for War Department [Dec. 1863–March 1865], RG 109, Chap 1X Vol. 98 National Archives: Washington DC. Return to Page 18

⁽⁶⁷⁾ [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 250–251. Return to Page 19

⁽⁶⁸⁾ [Ibid.], 251; A pay-raise mentioned 15 February 1864, 252; Diary neglected due to job, hospital work, and housework, 257; Need coffee in order to work, 257; “labour” at work mentioned, 261; Time office job office job spent at hospital, 266; Typical day: 6 hours in office and rest in “various ways,” 311; Office closed for Christmas 1864, 323; Major Brewer provided hot coffee for employees during first business day of 1865, 327; Possible evacuation of Richmond and the War Office, 334. Return to Page 19

⁽⁶⁹⁾ [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 251–252; In March of 1864, McGuire’s salary for the month was $255.48. By March 1865, McGuire’s monthly salary was $475.83. See March 1864 and March 1865 listings in C.S.A. Secretary of War, Requests for Funds or Salaries and Lists of Persons to be Paid 1861–1865. Lists of Officers & Employees for War Department [Dec. 1863–March 1865], RG 109, Chap 1X Vol. 98 National Archives: Washington DC; Ladies gaiter boot prices from G. Heller & Co’s advertisement listed in [Richmond] Daily Dispatch, 6 February 1861 and Joseph Strause advertisement listed in Daily Dispatch, 22 February 1861. Return to Page 20

⁽⁷⁰⁾ [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 298 (contains quotes); In the Diary, McGuire does not mention her daughter’s name for the 1 September 1864 entry. G.F.W. McGuire is listed as an employee of the Surgeon General’s Office from September 1864 to March 1865, the initials for Grace Fenton Walker McGuire. C.S.A. Secretary of War, Requests for Funds or Salaries and Lists of Persons to be Paid 1861–1865. Lists of Officers & Employees for War Department [Dec. 1863–March 1865], RG 109, Chap 1X Vol. 98 National Archives: Washington DC.; Stanard, The McGuire Family, 34.
Return to Page 20

⁽⁷¹⁾ [McGuire], Diary of a Southern Refugee, 247, 323–324 (26 December 1864 entry), 325 (contains “country friends”); J.B. Jones, A Rebel War Clerk’s Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Edited by Howard Swiggett (New York: Old Hickory Bookshop, 1935), Vol. 2, page 7. Return to Page 20

⁽⁷²⁾