Catherine Mary Powell Noland Cochran and America’s civil war as told through her Diary and Memoir
Catherine Mary Powell Noland Cochran (1814-1898) was a daughter of two prominent Virginia families, the Powells and the Nolands. She was active in support of the Confederacy. Presenting her diary for reading and study in no way implies an agreement with her archaic social or cultural opinions, of course, quite the opposite. However, reading history allows us to understand our nation’s complicated past and complicated present.
Catherine Noland married Dr. William Cochran and lived her in the village of Middleburg, Loudoun County, Virginia, 45 miles west of the nation’s capital of Washington. The family also had homes in the Confederate capital of Richmond, as well as a nearby farm. She traveled back and forth through the Shenandoah Valley during active time of war. Catherine wrote of her war experiences from all these locations.
Catherine’s historic collection of personal documents may be viewed the Virginia Museum of History and Culture, Richmond, VA. The collection was generously donated by family descendants, allowing historians and researchers to continue the study of our nation’s violent dissolution leading to war. Photos, documents and family genealogy can be seen here. The diary link is at the top of the page and also found here.
“I laugh now when I think of some of my conversations but I was too mad then. I couldn’t help quarreling with them. One fellow said, “Got any bread?” “No.” “Got any pies?” “No.” A pause. “Got any milk?” “No.” “Got any aigs?” “No.” A pause. “Got any apples?” “No.” “No?” He looked bemused and said, “Waal, you sure must be poor off.”
Catherine Cochran writing of an encounter with hungry Union XI Corps men at her door in Middleburg, September 1862, after Antietam
Catherine's War 