Diary entries are sporadic. In the preface to A Rebel Came Home: The Diary and Letters of Floride Clemson, 1863-1866, editors Charles M. McGee, Jr. and Ernest M. Lander, Jr. note that "the diary contains three sustained narratives: Floride's trip to Niagara in the summer of 1863; the journey from Beltsville, Maryland, to Pendleton, South Carolina, that she and her mother made in the last days of 1864; and the final illness of Floride's grandmother, Mrs. John C. Calhoun, in July, 1866."

There are references to Floride's father, Thomas G. Clemson, and to her brother, John Calhoun Clemson. In addition, Floride describes relatives and friends with whom she visits, gives an account of the social life of a well-to-do young lady, and details various aspects of life in South Carolina during the last days of the Civil War.