author
Cora Mitchel
A firsthand Civil War memoir brings readers into the everyday upheaval of wartime life, from a once-thriving Florida port to the strain of separation, scarcity, and survival. Its voice feels immediate and personal, offering history through family memory rather than battlefield legend.
1 Audiobook
Reminiscences of the Civil War
by Cora Mitchel
About the author
Cora Mitchel is known for Reminiscences of the Civil War, a memoir published in 1916 about her experiences as a young woman during the American Civil War. The book looks back on life in Apalachicola, Florida, where her father, Thomas Leeds Mitchel of Groton, Connecticut, worked as a cotton merchant.
Rather than focusing on generals and campaigns, her writing centers on what war felt like for families and communities. She describes the disruption of ordinary life, the pressures of blockade and shortage, and the emotional strain of a conflict that reached deep into the home front.
A surviving 1907 photograph places her among suffrage activists Letitia Lawton and Emeline Eldredge, suggesting that her public life extended beyond memoir into the reform movements of her time. Even with limited biographical details available, her book endures as a vivid personal account of the Civil War era.