Rose Cottage Chronicles: Civil War Letters of the Bryant-Stephens Families of North Florida [Hardcover]

Arch Fredric Blakey (Editor), Ann S. Lainhart (Editor), Winston B. Stephens Jr. (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 18, 1998

As fresh and poignant today as when they were written, these touching letters and diaries capture the heart of everyday life during the Civil War. Set both at home in north Florida and on the front, the letters were written from 1856 to mid-1865 by two generations of the Bryant and Stephens families, ordinary Confederate folk whose members included radical secessionists, moderates, and even a few Unionists. The domestic letters, written mostly by mothers and daughters from their homes near Welaka, Florida, describe their hatred of Yankee invaders, their emotions in dealing with slaves, and their flaming patriotism as well as their fear of being abandoned by the government. They offer a rare picture of the expanded roles of women as farm managers; their naive hopes for a quick victory; and their yearning for peace. From the military camps, soldiers and officers write about Abe Lincoln; "coloured troops"; endless marches; Florida's two best-known battles, Olustee and Natural Bridge; and all the skirmishes around Jacksonville and the St. Johns River as well as distant military events like the Battle of Gettysburg. For all of the letter writers, death has become as familiar as Spanish moss. Especially, though, the letters tell a love story. The courtship of Winston Stephens and Tivie Bryant was prolonged, erratic, and stormy; their married life at Rose Cottage was nearly perfect--and brief. Four years and three months after their wedding--during the final ticks of the Confederate clock--Winston was killed in battle. Days later their only son was born. Virtually all of the letters--more than one thousand exchanged between eight major and four minor correspondents--survive in this family saga, a riveting human and historical chronicle set in the foreground of the Civil War.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Just about everyone will be the richer for reading these letters. -- The Civil War Courier

About the Author

ARCH FREDRIC BLAKEY, retired military historian, has written several books and numerous articles on the Civil War and Florida history. He lives near Bell, Florida.

ANN SMITH LAINHART, a descendant of the Bryant-Stephens families, is a professional genealogist. She lives in Peabody, Massachusetts.

WINSTON BRYANT STEPHENS JR., also a descendant of the Bryant-Stephens families, is a retired businessman in Jupiter, Florida. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: University Press of Florida; 1st edition (April 18, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813015502
• ISBN-13: 978-0813015507
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,997,889 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Scarlett and Rhett- meet Tivie and Winston!!!!!, November 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Rose Cottage Chronicles: Civil War Letters of the Bryant-Stephens Families of North Florida (Hardcover)

Based on over 1000 letters still surviving from over 135 years ago. What we are given is a window through which we can look at life as it was for a young married couple almost 140 years ago. We share their joy and delight at their marriage; we rejoice at the birth of their first child. We share their pain and longing as the war separates them. We feel the terror and the horror of a young woman as the Yankees approach her home. We share her anguish as she learns of the death of her beloved husband. Seldom have I read a book that transported me so completely to another time and place as Rose Cottage Chronicles did- one feels like you are there peering over their shoulders as they struggle to survive the hardships caused by the Civil War. For its painstaking attention to detail,its historical accuracy, and its readability, this book is a TREASURE!! Anyone with an interest in the Civil War or what daily life was like back then would enjoy reading Rose Cottage Chronicles.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rare Look At Confederate Florida, March 23, 2000

By 

John Y. Roberts (Newport News, Va.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rose Cottage Chronicles: Civil War Letters of the Bryant-Stephens Families of North Florida (Hardcover)

Very good book about life in Florida during the War Between the States. Not the stuff of generals or other "important people", these are the chronicles of normal people during that period and gives an excellent insight into what life was really like in rural north Florida during the war. It is refreshing to see this aspect of the war published and it is invaluable to the serious student of the war who wishes to explore the conflict on the frontiers, far from the more researched and reported theaters closer to Washington and Richmond. By reading the letters of the participants and their families, you are almost transformed and taken back to live among them. An excellent book.

5.0 out of 5 stars It almost seems that I was there., March 18, 2011

By 

Harold - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rose Cottage Chronicles: Civil War Letters of the Bryant-Stephens Families of North Florida (Hardcover)

The Civil War wasn't about chubby re-enactors, it wasn't about abuse of slaves, and to the vast majority, it wasn't about economics. It was about ordinary people rising to fight for principles in which they strongly beieved: independence on one hand, and preservation on the Union on the other.

This book takes the reader to the time and place of their sacrifice, not through the imagination of a fiction writer, but through the perceptions of the folks who were there.

An excellent read.