Chesnut, Mary Boykin

Mary Boykin Chesnut (nee Miller) was an American diarist and author who is best known for her Civil-War memoir, A Diary from Dixie. Born to a prominent southern family, she was married James Chesnut, a U.S. Senator and later aide to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and it was this association that afforded Chesnut a unique perspective on events leading up to and throughout the American Civil War. In addition to her diary, Chesnut wrote two novels, The Captain and the Colonel, and Two Years of My Life, both of which were published posthumously. Chesnut died in 1886.