Arthur Peronneau Ford was a South Carolina native. After the Civil War, he and his wife, Marion Johnstone Ford, nee Porcher, lived in Charleston. Together they wrote Life in the Confederate Army and Some Experiences and Sketches of Southern Life, which was published in1905. Arthur's memoir describes how he joined the Confederate army's Palmetto Brigade just after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861. Although he was not yet eighteen years old, he was appointed to a position in the post office. After he turned eighteen in 1862, he volunteered for military duty and fought on the battlefield for the remainder of the war.

Marion's "Some Experiences" includes three anecdotes about southern life. Two of the three narratives recount the stories of slaves who remained faithful throughout the war, while the third describes Marion's wartime experiences. Marion begins by telling the story of a slave who rejected freedom in the North and returned to his master's family. Next she includes a humorous sketch about three wealthy sisters and their management of a large plantation. The final story contains recollections of her former nursemaid and slave, "Tay." Marion's final section contains her wartime recollections. She also includes several letters she sent to her husband during the last months of the war.

Work Consulted: Knight, Lucian Lamar, comp., Biographical Dictionary of Southern Authors, Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1978.

Harris Henderson