Mary Chesnut starts her famous Civil War diary.
On February 18, 1861, Mary Boykin Chesnut began the diary that would become her most well-known work. Writing from the vantage point of the Confederate elite, her diary offers a detailed social and political history of the American South during the Civil War. Chesnut's writings provide a unique perspective on the struggles, ideologies, and daily life within the Confederacy. Her candid observations and detailed recordings make her diary one of the most insightful accounts of the time.