The Library of Congress has organized a new exhibition on “The Civil War in America,” which includes diaries and other writings by participants in and observers of the American Civil War of 1861-1865.

One of the objects featured in the exhibition is a manuscript diary by LeRoy Gresham, a teenager from Macon, Georgia, who recorded his observations on the Civil War. When he received news of the fall of Fort Sumter, he wrote: “War! Thou demon that ravishes fair countries, stay thy mad career.” LeRoy went on to chronicle his life as an invalid, news of the war, and Sherman’s march, leaving historians with a fascinating window on life during the Civil War.

The Library of Congress has information on its “The Civil Wars in America” exhibition.

The Washington Post reviews the exhibition online.