Diary of Anna Maria Green, November 25, 1864

Anna Green, a 20-year-old woman in Milledgeville, Georgia, grew up in an elite Georgia family. Her father was the first superintendent and resident physician of the Georgia Lunatic Asylum. The account of horrors that General Sherman’s men caused in Milledgeville occurred after Sherman had introduced Special Field Orders No. 120, which allowed Union soldiers to forage more liberally, along with destroying property. The invasion caused some despair among citizens, but ultimately caused some citizens in Milledgeville to increase their support for the Confederate cause. Even Anna Green increased her support for the Confederacy, although Union soldiers had protected her home from the infamous “bummers,” and were relatively kind.  Her account demonstrated how Sherman’s March did not always psychologically defeat the enemy on the Confederate home front.  The main photo is of the Executive Mansion of Georgia that was used during the Civil War in Milledgeville, Georgia.

. . . . This morning the last of the vandals left our city and burned the bridge after them - and leaving suffering and desolation behind them, and embittering every heart. The worst of their acts was committed to poor Mrs. Nichols. Violence done, and atrocity committed that ought to make her husband an enemy unto death. Poor woman I fear she has been driven crazy Nearly every family have [lost] all their provisions and the poor are left I fear to perish -

        But we were despondent our heads bowed and our hearts crushed – The Yankees in possession of Milledgeville. The yankee flag waved from the Capitol – Our degradation was bitter, but we knew it could not be long, and we never desponded, our trust was still strong. No, we went through the house singing, “We live and die with Davis.” How can they hope to subjugate the South. The people are firmer than ever before . . . .