Brokenburn: The Journal of Kate Stone, 1861-1868 (Library of Southern Civilization)

I'm a Yankee and never had much sympathy for the Confederacy. I still believe their Cause was completely wrong, but I came away with a better understanding of what it was like to lose everything and become a refugee in your own country. Kate's family belonged to the Louisiana planter class, and her descriptions bring to life the beauty of the south. But the family was forced to flee to Texas and so their way of life was lost forever. It was also revealing how scared these white people were of their slaves, as if they knew deep down that slavery was wrong and repercussions were just a matter of time. If you're interested at all in the Civil War (which never really ended) this book is a must.

Kate Stone was 20yrs old when the war began. She was a very well educated young woman living on a plantation called Brokenburn in NE Louisiana with her widowed mother, younger sister and five brothers. Their fortune lay in 1260 acres of land, a large cotton crop and about 150 slaves. Kate began her journal in May 1861, when many young men were rushing to join the fighting before the war was over and they might "miss all the fightin". In the beginning, Kate's life was little affected by the war. It was not until fabric for her fancy dresses and things like tea, coffee and sugar became scarce that she was personally affected. But, life would become much harder than Kate could ever imagine. Not only were she and her family forced to leave the plantation, they were faced with having almost all of their slaves "running North", but they stole everything they could get their hands on from the old family home. ONE faithful old Negro servant knew where the family silver was buried and he guarded as much as he could and remained with the old homeplace until the end. On the run, Kate and her family went west - passing through Minden, La., my childhood home, and then on to Texas. It was in Texas that the real hardships were endured. Kate's writings are plain, honest and true. She freely expresses her feelings about the war and about slavery. Like many Christians, Kate was forced to taken an honest look at slavery as opposed to what she reads in the Bible - the two just did not mesh. Brokenburn is a great read. I found it difficult to put down and I couldn't wait to get right back to it. Kate is another journaler who should have been a "real" writer. Thankfully, the editors resisted the urge to change Kate's diary. It is presented as close to its original form as possible. I, personally, hate it when editors change grammar, spelling, etc., with the idea of making it easier for the reader. As "the reader" I much prefer the original text whenever possible. A GREAT READ!!!

I found this book a very good read. I am very interested in the Civil War and seeing the war through the eyes of 1)a civilian and 2)a southern woman has add greatly to my knowledge base of this topic. I am currently reading non-fiction women's journals/diaries to do a comparison between how they are being presented to the reader in comparison to Lillian's Diaries: Whispers From Galena's Past which I had transcribed and had published through BookSurge earlier this year. I have several more years of diaries to transcribed and am looking for different ways to do that. I really liked the way Brokenburn took a grouping of days and combined them into a "short story" format. I don't know if Kate Stone actually wrote her journals that way, or if editor John Q. Anderson has just presented them that way but it t is a very good way to take out the repetitious statements that appear in almost all diaries such as "No news today." or "The weather is warm." which can take up so much space and usually are not of interest to the everyday reader. I also liked the footnotes added to Kate's journals which clarified a name, an event or a word that is no longer used today. This is a technique that I found very educating, make the journals an educational experience as well as an entertaining read. Despite the differences in time periods - 1861-1868{Kate's journals} and 1913-1919 {Lillian's diaries} I found the writing personalities and even some of the experiences of the two women similar. Brokenburn was easy and enjoyable to read....but leaves you with an desire to find her next journals.

Wonderful Journal, you can't put it down. Wondering what's going to happen next..... Well worth the money!

Interesting. After having read Mary Chesnut's Diary, this "journal" relates another story of a family of the Planter class and their problems and travails during the Civil War. While Mary Chesnut was a member of the upper level of the social class, pre-Civil War, her best friend was the wife of Jefferson Davis, Kate Stone's social standing was her regional community and not as wealthy. Miss Stone's family suffered a number of tragedies due both to war wound and disease during the period she is recording. Her plantation was right on the Mississippi. I've found this book to be as fascinating as the Chesnut book. This is the 1st time I've ever read about the actual working structure on a slave plantation and who was responsible for what chores and who actually supervised whom. Not all slaves reported directly to the salve master or the "Massr" on the plantation. This book is valuable to me for the differences between the two cultures in the same class and their reactions to the Yankees and the Civil War..