Austin Peay State University faculty edits Diary that provides glimpse of Clarksville during Civil War
August 5, 2020
Clarksville, TN – In the mid-1980s, an old store ledger was found inside a local smokehouse. At first glance, it seemed like little more than trash, but then someone opened the yellowed, water-stained pages and read surreal accounts of Clarksville during the Civil War.
“Clarksville is almost depopulated,” the ledger recorded. “All the escaped soldiers have been ordered to the main army via Clarksville before the Yankees get in. I ripped the stripes off a young man’s coat over at Uncle W’m’s this evening that he might not be detected on his journey. Once I enjoyed sewing them, but now I take them off as willingly.”
Austin Peay State University professor of history Dr. Minoa Uffelman holds the Diary of Serepta Jordan. (APSU)
