FROM FLAG TO FLAG; A WOMAN'S ADVENTURES AND EXPERIENCES IN THE SOUTH DURING THE WAR, IN MEXICO, AND IN CUBA... by Ripley, Eliza Moore McHatton - 1889

N.Y. : Appleton, 1889. First edition. 296pp. Original pictorial 12 mo cloth, some soiling to covers, spine fading, a few nicks at edges, three small tears on spine affecting one letter of text Nevins Vol. 2: pp.220. Howes R307. Coulter 393: "Long family association material on inside front cover and front endpaper. Mrs. Ripley and her husband lived on a Mississippi River plantation four miles below Baton Rouge, Louisiana. After the fall of New Orleans and the fighting around Baton Rouge, the Ripleys fled to Texas with whatever they could take in a wagon and hack. Sending some of their slaves ahead, they set out across Louisiana late in 1862, crossed the Sabine, took a train at Beaumont for Houston, and after some time continued to Laredo. Then they went up the Rio Grande on the Mexican side to Piedras Negras, remained for a while and finally settled in San Antonio. During the course of the war they sought refuge in various parts of the state, often camping out on the prairie. Near its end they returned to Laredo, crossed the river and continued down the Mexican side to Matamoras, remained for a period, took a boat to Havana, and eventually returned to the United States. Although this account was composed more than a quarter century after the war, it is a valuable commentary on the trials of refugees and the destruction in and around Baton Rouge, on life, society, towns, and the countryside of Texas, and on the cotton trade which passed out of Texas into Mexico..