From Flag to Flag: A Woman's Adventures and Experiences in the South During the War, in Mexico, and in Cuba
“Mrs. Ripley and her husband lived on a Mississippi River plantation four miles below Baton Rouge, Louisiana. After the fall of New Orleans and the fighting around Baton Rouge, the Ripley’s fled to Texas. Sending some of their slaves ahead, they set out across Louisiana late in 1862, crossed the Sabine, took a train at Beaumont for Houston, and after some time continued to Laredo, remained for a while, and finally settled in San Antonio. During the course of the war, they sought refuge in various parts of the state, often camping out on the prairie. Although this account was composed more than a quarter-century after the war, it is a valuable commentary on the trials of refugees and the destruction in and around Baton Rouge, on life, society, towns, and the countryside of Texas, and on the cotton trade out of Texas into Mexico.”