Wielding the Pen: Margaret Preston, Confederate Nationalistic Literature and the Expansion of a Woman's Place in the South

Abstract

"Would that I may be able to wield my sword when in battle, as you wield your pen!" Confederate lieutenant colonel John T. L. Preston wrote to his wife, Margaret Junkin Preston, on December 23, 1861. "Have you ever thought of the conquests you have made by your pen?" 1 Shortly after reading these words, Margaret Preston resumed a successful publishing career that she had abandoned five years before. The Northern-born Preston had ceased publishing because her new society, including her future husband, had disapproved of her violation of traditional norms. Beginning in 1861, however, the war reconfigured Southern notions about woman's proper place. John Preston realized that pens as well as swords could serve the Confederacy, and Margaret Preston began writing Confederate nationalistic works even though she was privately conflicted about the struggle. The Civil War provided Preston with the opportunity to become a published author, and she therefore created a public, professional life that was at odds with her personal feelings. Preston's private and public selves would eventually converge, with the trials of war causing her to identify herself as a Southerner and, eventually, to become devoted to the Confederate war effort.