Queen of the Confederacy: The Innocent Deceits of Lucy Holcombe Pickens [Hardcover]

Elizabeth Wittenmyer Lewis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 29, 2002

“Submissiveness is not my role, but certain platitudes on certain occasions are among the innocent deceits of the sex.”

 

A strong character with a fervent belief in woman's changing place, Lucy Holcombe Pickens (1832-1899) was not content to live the life of a typical nineteenth-century Southern belle. Wife of Francis Wilkinson Pickens, the secessionist governor of South Carolina on the eve of the Civil War, Lucy was determined to make her mark in the world. She married “the right man,” feeling that “a woman with wealth or prestige garnered from her husband's position could attain great power.”

 

Lucy urged Pickens to accept a diplomatic mission to the court of Tsar Alexander II of Russia, and in St. Petersburg Lucy captivated the Tsar and his retinue with her beauty and charm. Upon returning to the states, she became First Lady of South Carolina just in time to encourage a Confederate unit named in her honor (The Holcombe Legion) off to war.

The only woman to have her image engraved on Confederacy paper currency. Heralded as the uncrowned “Queen of the Confederacy”.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An excellent book to read if one wants an inside picture of upper crust life in the great war." -- Jerry Turner, Mexia Daily News

About the Author

ELIZABETH WITTENMYER LEWIS, born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, attended Susquehanna University and Pennsylvania State College. She graduated from Jefferson Medical School with an RN and served as first lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps in World War II. She married a Southerner and spent most of her life in Virginia, Florida, Missouri, and Texas, with the exception of six years in London. She continued her education at Rice University in Houston.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: University of North Texas Press; 1 edition (May 29, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1574411462
• ISBN-13: 978-1574411461
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,475,100 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Significant Contribution to Confederate History, August 16, 2002

By 

Walter Woodman (Shreveport, Louisiana United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Queen of the Confederacy: The Innocent Deceits of Lucy Holcombe Pickens (Hardcover)

When I first learned a few months ago that a biography of Lucy Holcombe Pickens was going to be published I anxiously awaited its publication. I was not disappointed. This is a first class biography of a significant person in the history of the Confederacy that has been overlooked too long. Several years ago I wanted to learn more about this interesting lady; but I found the sources about her few and far between. She does not have her own separate entry in the Encyclopedia of the Confederacy. She is only passingly mentioned in John B. Edmonds, Jr.'s book "Francis W. Pickens and the Politics of Destruction" published in 1986 and this is only because she was Picken's third wife. I could not find much information about her life after Pickens death. He died in 1869 and Lucy lived until 1899. So what happended to Lucy from 1869-1899? This beautiful biography fills in the blanks and Elizabeth Wittenmyer Lewis deserves our thanks for writing it. It is carefully researched and well written. The photographs show Lucy in her later years as well as her younger years when she enjoyed the reputation as the most beautiful woman in the Confederacy. This book is a true treasure and one that I would put on the same level with Elizabeth Muhlenfeld's biography of Mary Boykin Chesnut first published in 1981. A superb work and a significant contribution to the history of Confederate women.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Southern Belle---: from Czars to Confederate soldiers and more., December 4, 2011

By 

T. L. Holcomb "satchmo" (So. California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Queen of the Confederacy: The Innocent Deceits of Lucy Holcombe Pickens (Paperback)

Lucy Holcomb(e) was born into a Southern Family of means. This book covers her life as a spoiled but spirited debutante to a woman who spent years with her husband as America's representatives to the Czar of Russia. But this fantasy life quickly changed as her husband returned to his native South to fight in the Civil War. This book does a good job of delving in to her work for the South that along with her beauty... led to her place on Confederate $100 bills. I found this a very interesting side view into life in the South before, during and after the Civil War. I recommend it to anyone interested in the Civil War... and also to anyone wanting to discover another strong woman in a time when women were not expected to be active in marriage and definetly not in war.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Especially recommended for American History and biography collections, December 9, 2010

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Queen of the Confederacy: The Innocent Deceits of Lucy Holcombe Pickens (Paperback)

Queen of the Confederacy: The Innocent Deceits of Lucy Holcombe Pickens is the aptly researched and enthrallingly presented biography of Lucy Holcombe Pickens (1832-1899), wife of Francis Wilkinson Pickens, the man who became the secessionist governor of South Carolina as America hurtled toward the Civil War. Lucy possessed a strong will, and the determination to aspire to greater heights than those of a typical Southern belle. She urged Pickens to undertake a diplomatic mission to the court of Tsar Alexander II of Russia, and hers was the only female face to appear upon Confederate paper currency. After the Civil War, she struggled with hard times as did many Southerners, yet her regal charm remained of great renown. The saga of a truly extraordinary woman, Queen of the Confederacy is especially recommended for American History and biography collections.