This is the essential value of A Virginia Girl in the Civil War: it shows us simply, sincerely, and unconsciously what life meant to an American woman during the vital and formative period of American history. That this American woman was also a Virginian with all a Virginian’s love for Virginia and loyalty to the South, gives to her record of those days that are still “the very fiber of us” a fidelity rarely found in studies of local color. Meanwhile, her grateful affection for the Union soldiers, officers and men, who served and shielded her, should lift this story to a place beyond the pale of sectional prejudice. MYRTA LOCKETT AVARY. NEW YORK, _November 1, 1902_. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I.--HOME LIFE IN A SOUTHERN HARBOR 1 II.--HOW I MET DAN GREY 12 III.--THE FIRST DAYS OF THE CONFEDERACY 22 IV.--THE REALITIES OF WAR 38 V.--I MEET BELLE BOYD AND SEE DICK IN A NEW LIGHT 51 VI.--A FAITHFUL SLAVE AND A HOSPITAL WARD 59 VII.--TRAVELING THROUGH DIXIE IN WAR TIMES 69 VIII.--BY FLAG OF TRUCE 83 IX.--I MAKE UP MY MIND TO RUN THE BLOCKADE 91 X.--I CROSS THE COUNTRY IN AN AMBULANCE AND THE PAMUNKEY ON A LIGHTER 101 XI.--THE OLD ORDER 113 XII.--A DANGEROUS MASQUERADE 124 XIII.--A LAST FAREWELL 139 XIV.--THE LITTLE JEW BOY AND THE PROVOST’S DEPUTY 144 XV.--I FALL INTO THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY 150 XVI.--THE FLOWER OF CHIVALRY 172 XVII.--PRISONERS OF THE UNITED STATES 188 XVIII.--WITHIN OUR LINES 211 XIX.--MY COMRADE GENERAL JEB STUART 230 XX.--“WHOSE BUSINESS ’TIS TO DIE” 244 XXI.--RESCUED BY THE FOE 263 XXII.--WITH DAN AT CHARLOTTESVILLE 285 XXIII.--“INTO THE JAWS OF DEATH” 297 XXIV.--BY THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH 315 XXV.--THE BEGINNING OF THE END 330 XXVI.--HOW WE LIVED IN THE LAST DAYS OF THE CONFEDERACY 349 XXVII.--UNDER THE STARS AND STRIPES 365 A VIRGINIA GIRL IN THE CIVIL WAR CHAPTER I HOME LIFE IN A SOUTHERN HARBOR