A Union Woman in Civil War Kentucky: The Diary of Frances Peter

by John David Smith (Editor), Frances Dallam Peter, William Cooper Jr. (Editor)

Frances Peter was one of the eleven children of Dr. Robert Peter, a surgeon for the Union army. The Peter family lived on Gratz Park near downtown Lexington, where nineteen-year-old Frances began recording her impressions of the Civil War. Because of illness, she did not often venture outside her home but was able to gather a remarkable amount of information from friends, neighbors, and newspapers.

Peter's candid diary chronicles Kentucky's invasion by Confederates under Gen. Braxton Bragg in 1862, Lexington's month-long occupation by Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith, and changes in attitude among the slave population following the Emancipation Proclamation. As troops from both North and South took turns holding the city, she repeatedly emphasized the rightness of the Union cause and minced no words in expressing her disdain for the hated "secesh."

Her writings articulate many concerns common to Kentucky Unionists. Though she was an ardent supporter of the war against the Confederacy, Peter also worried that Lincoln's use of authority exceeded his constitutional rights. Her own attitudes towards blacks were ambiguous, as was the case with many people in that time. Peter's descriptions of daily events in an occupied city provide valuable insights and a unique feminine perspective on an underappreciated aspect of the war.

Until her death by epileptic seizure in August 1864, Peter conscientiously recorded the position and deportment of both Union and Confederate soldiers, incidents at the military hospitals, and stories from the countryside. Her account of a torn and divided region is a window to the war through the gaze of a young woman of intelligence and substance.

Genres: Civil War

258 pages, Paperback

First published May 12, 2000

About the author

JOHN DAVID SMITH is Graduate Alumni Distinguished Professor of History and Director of M.A. Program in Public History at North Carolina State University. He is the author or editor of more than a dozen books and in 1998-99 he served as the Fulbright Professor of American Studies at the Amerika Institut, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat, Munich, Germany

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ms. Peters' journal offers rich historical insight into the Civil War in Kentucky. The impact of the war in Kentucky is not much discussed in many of the works on the subject. The annotations and the introduction were essential context for her entries. The extreme animosity she had toward black people caught me off guard, and in reading this, I learned that so many Unionists had openly racist and pro slavery views. The Emancipation Proclamation was not well received even by Unionists, including Ms. Peter. It was illuminating to see how the writer comes around to reluctant acceptance of emancipation.

[Lisa Poor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Having grown up just south of Lexington and being very familiar with the area, I had no trouble envisioning Frances’s life by reading her diary and the authors’ additional commentary. I found the development and change of her opinions about slavery over time most compelling. If/when another edition should ever be written, I hope photos of the actual handmade diary will be included. A fascinating read to this Kentucky woman!

[Fran · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like this one as much as I did Josie Underwood's diary but it is still good. I really shows the impact the war had on friendships and families.