The author of this diary was the wife of a well known New York City judge. Given his position, she was able to meet a lot of key figures involved in the civil war. She had a lot of opinions on Mary Todd Lincoln, Dorothea Dix, and a lot of military leadership. She also spoke about the hardships that the soldiers experienced. Warfare, even in modern times, is expressly difficult, especially when it carries on for years. Soldiers during this time experienced more disease, lack of food supply, inadequate supplies, and the travel took much longer. I appreciated that she made mention of this, despite her being set up with a life of plenty, even during war times.

I did not expect to like this book at all. I am not really into Civil War history, but I bought a bunch of books on sale a while back to learn more. Diaries like this are usually either amazing or very dull. I assumed this one would be terribly dull. It was the exact opposite. This diary was really readable. This woman was PETTY. She was witty and sarcastic, and I really enjoyed her personality. You really get a sense of someone's personality through their writing. I will say that some of her information is incorrect, but her observations are really great for gaining insight into life during the Civil War.