Sarah Wadley was a young woman in Monroe, Louisiana. Her father was an official with the Vicksburg, Shreveport, and Texas Railroad, and her position in Monroe society, and its distance from the battlefields, insulated her from the war for a time. Then, in May 1863, Sarah’s family had unexpected houseguests. Kate Stone and her family (“from the swamp” Sarah said) came to Monroe as refugees, having fled their home, Brokenburn, near Milliken’s Bend, a few weeks before.

Kate and Sarah, about the same age, quickly became friends. Kate remained moody about having to flee her home, but the two women soon had ample distraction. Gen. John G. Walker’s Texas Division arrived in Monroe in mid-May, and the Wadley’s home was not far from the soldiers’ camps. The two women would watch military parades from their doorstep.  Officers and generals came calling, often staying for meals.

Almost a month later, the men of Walker’s Texas Division would return; this time many of them were bloody and wounded. Some had been in the fighting at Milliken’s Bend, and community resources were quickly overwhelmed.  Many businesses were pressed into service as hospitals, and Kate and Sarah set about making bandages, cooking, and providing as they could for the men.

When Sarah heard the news of Milliken’s Bend, she had difficulty believing it was true. Surely the former slaves would not fight against a Confederate attack. But the men streaming into Monroe proved just how stubborn and violent the fight had been.

Sarah’s diary contains a wealth of detail about life in Monroe during the Civil War. It is fortuitous that both Sarah and Kate’s diaries have survived, and are readily available. Sarah’s is online; Kate’s was published in the 1950s by LSU Press, and is still in print today.