Cora Mitchel was born in Apalachicola, Florida to a wealthy cotton farmer, Thomas Leeds Mitchel. At the onset of the Civil War, her father, a Northern sympathizer from Connecticut, initially chose to remain in the South, where his economic interests were concentrated. However, the Mitchel family later relocated to Rhode Island in order to escape the difficult living conditions brought on by the war.

Cora Mitchel's short memoir, Reminiscences of the Civil War (1916), recounts her family's struggles during the war years. Shortly after the Civil War began, Apalachicola was shut down by blockades. Mitchel and her brother-in-law moved to Columbus, Georgia, so that she could attend school. Her brother was conscripted into the Confederate army, and when he became extremely ill with malaria, he escaped with their father to Rhode Island. After Cora's mother retrieved her from Columbus, the remaining family members left Apalachicola and began their journey north. Mitchel concludes her narrative by describing how Northern naval officers agreed to assist them in their travels, making it possible for the family to reunite in Rhode Island.

Harris Henderson
Armistead Lemon