by Mary Deborah PetiteFrom the publisher:
In July 1864, Union General William T. Sherman ordered the arrest and deportation of over 400 women and children from the villages of Roswell and New Manchester, Georgia. Branded traitors for their work in the cotton mills which supplied much needed material to the Confederacy, these civilians were shipped to cities in the North (already crowded with refugees) and left to fend for themselves.
This work details the little known story of the hardships these women and children endured before and—most especially—after they were forcibly taken from their homes. Beginning with the founding of Roswell, it examines the prevalent atmosphere in the area and the pre-war circumstances that created this class of women. The main focus, however, is what befell the women at the hands of Sherman’s army and what they faced once they reached Northern states such as Illinois and Indiana. An appendix details the roll of political prisoners from Sweetwater (New Manchester).
Mary Deborah Petite lives in Foster City, California.
