On this Sunday, ten days have passed since the commencement of the war between North and South. Mary Beckley Bristow, an active member of Sardis Baptist Church in Union, Kentucky (a Calvinist congregation), in the pages of her diary writes of her loyalty to the South:
I was at Union yesterday; every person I saw was more or less excited, some troubled to the very heart. The fraticidal [sic] war has already commenced, and where or when it will be stopped is known to God alone. The War commenced between the North and South, but East and West is also rising. The worst passions of men are aroused. Brother has arisen against brother; Fathers against children. And how soon may the lovely, quiet scenery that even now inspires a deep feeling of sweet yet bitter sadness, be torn and trampled by war’s devastating hand. My every feeling is with the South. Their interest is ours. With them we should stand or fall. O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, Thou knowest we are by far the weakest. But if Thou be for us, we care not who is against us. . . .
Bristow’s sentiments represent only a portion of Kentucky’s residents. The state is sharply divided between Unionists and Confederates, and does not side with the Confederacy during the war. However, numerous battles take place on Kentucky soil.
Source: Bristow’s 1861 diary (link)
