Kate Cumming was one of the first women to offer her services for the care of the South's wounded soldiers. Her journal provides a look behind the lines of Civil War action in depicting civilian attitudes, army medical practices, and the administrative workings of the Confederate hospital system.

Informed me somewhat of the role of a nurse in that war, but also conveyed to me, for the first time in all I've read about the Civil War, the extreme dislike for the North by Southerners. Since she was originally from Scotland where there was no slavery, I was surprised by her strong antipathy for the north. Since the south was represented in Congress before the War and therefore I thought were equal partners, I have failed to understand why the South felt so strongly, enough to engage in such a War with the North. I need to read more on the subject to find some understanding. ( )