I have just finished reading this book.  Usually diaries are a little dry and hard to keep my interest but this one was so detailed and interesting.  Cornelia McDonald lived in Winchester Virginia when the Civil War began. Her husband went into the service as did, I believe, three of her sons.  She was left with eight children to care for and feed with the burden of not knowing if she would ever see her husband again.  She writes of watching the troops march off in March of 1861, of the women sewing up the "stars and bars" and of the towns excitement as their sons, husbands and fathers went off to fight "the invaders".  Her experiences were severe at times.  Watching numerous battles nearby with the artillery shaking her house.  Having to care for grossly wounded soldiers.  Dealing with Federal occupation and of theft of property, of soldiers coming in and taking over her home, taking food meant for the family.  All this she managed to handle while taking care of her children and any others she could.  Her descriptions of the issues were particularly enlightening.  The justifications for slavery, the reasons they saw the need to break from the Union and how they viewed the intruding Federal troops.  It was as if the north were a foreign country to them.  As they discussed the firing on Fort Sumter she inquired"what if there is war and war means misery, deserted and desolate homes and the loss of all we hold dear."  Her husband replied  " there will be no war.....we will have the world on our side for the world will have cotton."  She refers to President Lincoln as "that vulgar rail-splitter" and writes about achieving their independence.   I found this first hand account of what it was like to live as a middle class wife and mother in the South to be very eye-opening and am glad I took the time to read it.