Customer Reviews

REQUIEM FOR LOST CITY (Civil War Georgia)

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I edited this work for publication. It should appeal to anyone interested in real Civil War experiences. Sallie Conley Clayton came from one of the most prominent families in Georgia and she survived Atlanta at the same time and age as the fictional Scarlett O'Hara. Her account spans from pre war slave revolt scares in Kingston, Georgia; to a visit to General Bragg's headquarters during the Battle of Chattanooga; to the shelling of Atlanta; to a preposterous Yankee plantation in Montgomery, Alabama; to riots in Augusta and Athens, with many other stories in between. However, Sallie's adventures actualy happened and are told from a real human heart.

All memoirs are prejudiced and all the more so for white former slave owners. In the introduction, I have tried to balance her extraordinary account with the details of what she did not say and, in some instances, did not know. Today Sallie lies in Atlanta's Oakland Cemetery and only a few feet from the grave of GONE WITH THE WIND author Margaret Mitchell. Sallie's grave is part of the Oakland Tour.

I found this work fascinating! Sallie Clayton's account was so descriptive as to make day by day life in war time Atlanta come alive. Her account of Sherman's seige was particularly engrossing. A must read along with other such biographical accounts of the period.

This is a wonderful story based on the true life of a young girl. The author has taken Sallie Clayton's diary and turned it into an account of life before, during, and after the Civil War.

The only problem is the long footnotes. Some of these notes take up most of the page and tell boring historical information. Sometimes, it helps set up the plot. At other times, it's annoying and makes me want to throw the book against the wall...

I say you should read this book if you want to look inside the life of a Civil War woman, or if you just want to learn more about life during the Civil War...either way, it's a wonderful book.

An interesting and provocitive account of the attacks on the civilian population of Ante-bellum Georgia by Federal forces under command of William (kerosene) Sherman. This book substanciates that the "Lincoln-Sherman Plan" to make Georgia "howl" was an unpresedented reaction to propaganda and political gain. The sacking and burning of Atlanta and its long term effect on the state are sobering. Another book related to this topic that fully illustrates this unlawful and evil destruction is "The War-Time Journal of a Georgia Girl," by Eliza Francis Andrews.

The "Hounds of War" destroyed Georgia's economy well into the 20th Century.