Ellen Renshaw House was 19 years old in 1863 when she began keeping a detailed journal of her experiences in Knoxville, Tennessee, amid the turmoil of the War between the States. Her diary has recently been published as A Very Violent Rebel: The Civil War Diary of Ellen Renshaw House edited by Daniel E. Sutherland, which may be purchased from our chapter.

            The diary presents a remarkable documentation of the divided loyalties that were so pronounced in East Tennessee and of the daily effects the war had on civilians. A member of a middle-class family that had moved to Knoxville in 1860 from Georgia, Ellen House became, like her parents and siblings, a fervent Confederate—or, as she called herself, “a very violent Rebel.” When Knoxville fell to Federal forces in September 1863, Ellen’s resentments ran deep, and she filled her diary with scornful words for the occupying Yankees. She eagerly followed the news of military actions that might mean the recapture of the city and became an eyewitness to the war’s dangers when Confederate General James Longstreet launched an ill-fated attack on Knoxville late in 1863. Despite her own privations, Ellen gave much of her time providing relief to Confederate prisoners of war in the city. She gathered food, clothing, blankets, and other supplied from friends and neighbors and made daily visits to the prison, at risk to her personal well-being. Since she made no secret of where her sympathies lay, Federal military authorities eventually suspected her of spying and expelled her to Georgia, where she continued to record her thoughts and observations.

             Ellen’s descendants, who discovered the diary, worked with Daniel Sutherland, Professor of History at the University of Arkansas, to edit and publish it in book form in 1997. It is a wonderful firsthand testimony to Ellen’s courage and willingness to help the Confederate Cause in spite of the great danger she faced for her efforts.

             Miss House is a wonderful example of the courageous women who supported the Confederacy in their day-to-day lives. The organizing members this chapter felt it most appropriate that she be honored by having a new chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, Tennessee Division, chartered in the city where she lived and wrote her diary, named in her honor and memory.