Originally published: Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, 1961. Includes index.

1. The changing faces of war -- 2. The reminiscences of Berry Greenwood Benson -- 3. War as it came to wives and families at home -- 4. Colonel L. L. Polk's wartime letters to his wife -- 5. War when soldiers were not fighting -- 6. Diary of a soldier's wife on Looking Glass Plantation -- 7. Some kindness lightened even prisons -- 8. Diary of a refugee in Richmond -- 9. Slaves cheered and helped their masters -- 10. Confusion and chaos at the Confederacy's capital -- 11. A prodigal soldier's return -- The enduring glory of their courage.