Josie Underwood’s Civil War Diary
In many ways, Johanna Louisa (Josie) Underwood was a typical young lady of the 19th century. She faithfully kept a diary in which she recorded her daily activities, including trips, letter writing, balls, horseback rides and visits from friends and relatives, along with her feelings about her siblings, parents and neighbors. But Josie was far from ordinary. Articulate, well-read and outspoken, this daughter of a former state legislator and U.S. Congressman was born and raised in Bowling Green, Ky. By late 1860, the 20-year-old began noting ominous signs in her diary, evidence of the country’s drift toward civil war and the corresponding tension in her border-state community. “The all absorbing question here,” she noted on Feb. 5, 1861, “is the breaking up of the Union and it seems no longer a question but a fact.” Despite Kentucky’s supposed neutrality, she recorded that the state’s residents were quickly taking sides. Josie stood with her pro-Union father, who, although he opposed Lincoln’s election, believed that secession meant ruin to the South and a terrible war. Only “unthinking hot-heads,” she believed, were for secession. Throughout the spring of 1861, Josie watched as Kentucky’s sense of neutrality continued to disappear. Conditions only worsened after the firing on Fort Sumter. By mid-summer, the people of Bowling Green were living in “a state of nervous tension,” with everyone “excited and restless” and fights constantly occurring between increasingly bitter neighbors. Josie’s younger brother, in fact, engaged in a brawl with pro-secessionist youths after being called an “abolitionist.” In late September 1861, Josie’s world changed radically when Confederate troops occupied Bowling Green. Although some of the soldiers were well-behaved, Josie noted that some of their comrades wasted no time in liberating the family home of foodstuffs and firewood and making life difficult for the pro-Union family. Despite these hardships and her own political convictions, Josie’s mother still found time to make soup for sick Confederate soldiers in the city’s hospitals. The family’s trials were only beginning, however. On New Year’s Day, 1862, Confederate authorities ordered the Underwoods to vacate their home. While adjusting to life in a nearby cabin, the displaced Kentuckians received word that Josie’s father would soon be arrested for his pro-Union sympathies, and Warner Underwood quickly headed for Union lines. Finally, with the Confederate evacuation of Bowling Green in February 1862, Josie and her family returned home, only to find that the Rebels had torched the house in a final act of vengeance. Despite all the hardships and challenges, the Underwood family’s loyalty to the Union paid off. I don’t want to spoil the rest of the book, but let’s just say Warner Underwood’s faithful adherence to the “old flag” resulted in a fairly prestigious job offer and an encounter with a very famous American. Even though the provenance of the Underwood diary is a bit murky, it remains a fascinating and unique record of the experiences of a border-state Unionist during the first year and a half of the Civil War. Those interested in reading a wonderful account of a Kentuckian’s hardships will thoroughly enjoy the saga of Josie Underwood. Reviewer: Jeff Patrick
Jeff Patrick is an interpretive specialist with the National Park Service at Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield in Republic, Mo. He holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in American history from Purdue University.
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Illustrated, maps, index, 256 pp., 2009, University Press of Kentucky, 1-800-537-5487,