Sarah Morgan

The daughter of a Louisiana judge, Sarah Morgan witnessed the occupation of New Orleans by Union forces under the command of Admiral David Farragut, who had captured the city in a daring raid in April, 1862. A perceptive observer, Ms. Morgan soon realized that the Confederacy was fighting a losing battle, and that the defiant people of New Orleans, especially the women of New Orleans, were holding to a past that was being slowly but surely destroyed by the guns and infantry of the Union army. In her bittersweet diary pages, she describes the sentiments of friends and family, the hopes and despair of people under siege, and memories of better, more peaceful days of the past.

Monday June 16th 1862

. There is no use in trying to break off journalizing [diary writing], particularly in "these trying times." It...