By Gould Hagler The fourth of a series on shor ages of consumer goods in the Confederacy.
“Melanie, by rare luck, had come into possession of enough gray broadcloth to make a coat — a rather short coat but a coat just the same… It was a beautifu piece of material, thick and warm and with a dull sheen to it, undoubtedly blockade goods and undoubtedly very expensive. It was now in the hands of the tailor and Melanie was hurrying him to have it ready by Christma morning.” Gone with the Wind, Chapter 15
After his Christmas furlough, Ashley Wilkes returned to battle dressed in this fine new coat. I time it was surely as worn and patched as the old one, and he probably spent the rest of the w in this same garment. Cloth was hard to come by, as were all the other materials needed to make and mend clothing and other fabrics. Confederate soldiers an civilians suffered from shortage of these goods, just as they lac the other necessities of life. All that cotton was of little us without the means to process it. The story of needles, pins, yarn and buttons is similar to stories of other everyday items discussed in this series’ previous articles—soap, coffee, and oil and gas for lighting.
Port Royal Island, S.C., African Confederate territory all this c
We Have Cotton The blockade, together with the absence of local manufacturing and the priority of military use over scarce resources led to dire shortages and escalating prices. Historians focus more on the leaders than those they led, but through newspapers we can learn how ordinary people managed their day-to-day lives. Immediately before the war and in its early days, Southern newspapers advertised shipments of such things as buttons, needles, thread, and spool cotton. These notices slackened as the blockade tightened. We can discern a worsening situation from an item in the Augusta [Ga.] Chronicle and Sentinel (May 26, 1862) in which a merchant offered to ship a dozen spools of cotton “to any part of the Confederacy to ladies making soldiers’ clothing on receipt of five dollars.” A limit o one package per person was imposed. Cash up front of course, but he took the good ladies’ word that the cotton would be used for the soldiers. The Southern Watchman in Athens, Ga., informed us of risin prices. The Oct. 22, 1863, editio conveyed the troubling news that factories were charging five times the pre-war price for threa and those weaving cloth were charging eight times the old rate for their homespun. “Talk about extortion!” exclaimed the editors Extortion? Well, maybe, but I would wager the factory owners and the weavers were having to
cans preparing cotton for the gin was of little use without the mea
t… pay much more for every raw resource they bought. Blockade restricting imports. Shortages. Rising prices. What’s next? Entrepreneurs will find ways of meeting the demand. The papers tell of new local factories in which the people to great pride. The Natchez Daily Courier (Oct. 19, 1861) boasted of the Sweet Water Factory in Georgia, making excellent thread “The ladies will undoubtedly fin it preferable to the cheating Ya kee spools with which they have been supplied.” A year later the Savannah Republican (Nov. 1, 1862) advised its readers that there were 30 factories in Georgia making cotton and woolen goods. Even more were spinning yarn. In LaGrange, Ga., a savvy gentleman invented a machine to make needles for sewing machines (Daily Chronicle and Sentinel, [Augusta, Ga.] Mar. 11, 1862). A clever blacksmith in Wilkes County, N.C., started turning out sewing needles that same month (Charleston Mercury, Mar. 6, 1862). North Carolina’s Wachovia Steam Mills was spinning cotton thread. “This ar ticle is now scarce in the Confe eracy, the North being our whole dependence heretofore,” (Austin State Gazette, Mar. 22, 1862). Alabama’s Clarke County Journal (Mar. 3, 1864) reported that a local entrepreneur had begun to manufacture horn buttons. “They are greatly neede now, and we hope he will continu
to make them.” A button factory opened in Macon, Ga., making the much-needed buttons of bone and horn at the impressive rate o 30,000 to 40,000 per day. Even more impressive was the local mechanic who designed and built the necessary machinery (Savannah Republican, Apr. 29 and May 14, 1863). From the Charleston Mercury (June 6, 1864) we learn that another button factory had opened in Columbus, Ga. Even with this eruption of entrepreneurial activity, shortages persisted. The Athens Southern Banner (Oct. 22, 1862) paints a picture of peoples’ frantic effor to get scarce goods. A local fac-
per bunch. The sale was set for just one hour per day. Long lines formed well before the appointed time, and “the scene was occasionally enlivened by rough and tumble fights.” In Arkansas things were even worse. “People anxiously flock to purchase [cotton yarn] from a hundred miles distant, and that in such numbers as to render it impossible to sup ply the demand” (Washington Telegraph, May 5, 1862). People unwilling or unable to fight for a place in line or trek miles could make some goods at home. The Memphis Daily Appeal (Nov. 13, 1862) told of a lady who, with “an axe, a saw, a chisel and an augur, made herself a loom out of oak rails.” Th sturdy woman made eight yards of coarse cloth per day for the army. Some trade was still carried on, even with the North. The Charleston Mercury (July 23, 1862) reported that the ladies of Baltimore had given sewing machine needles to the Soldiers’ Relief Association “to be used fo the Confederate soldiers.” Perhaps Mr. Lincoln locked them up, for we see no subsequent stories of this kind. As we have seen, much of the need for these materials was related to clothing soldiers, whose activities quite obviously caused their garments to wear out rapidly. Ashley Wilkes was not alone in needing new clothes to replace those worn and tattered by hard campaigning. Government demands were great and volunteers like Melanie helped out; however, there was a limit to what these ladies could do when materials were scarce and prices high. A letter to the Savannah Republican stated that “the ladies are not weary of sewing for the soldiers, but the materials have risen beyond our means” (Mobile Register and Advertiser, Jan. 1, 1864). rary of Congress)
Sentinel (Dec. 16, 1862) reported that a textile mill in Columbu contracted to sell four-fifths of production to the government, “with the balance going to consumers in small quantities, favor ing as far as possible the famili of soldiers.” A mill in Athens, Ga., advised its customers in lat 1863 that it had taken in 25,000 pairs of pants to dye for the gov ernment and therefore could no longer “dye any more yarns and garments for our customers (Athens Southern Banner, Dec. 9, 1863). It is no surprise that the war was especially hard on poor families. Those more fortunate did what they could to help out. Several papers reported in the fall of 1862 that the Roswell Manufacturing Co. in Georgia made a “gratuitous distribution” of 1,000 bunches of yarn to the “needy poor.” The yarn was sent to the inferior court judges in each county for distribution. The Athens Southern Banner (Nov. 18, 1863) reported that a local firm was to sell “a limited suppl of cloth and yarns” to area clergymen. The recipients had to be ordained ministers whose “only means of support was preaching the gospel.” The shortages and high prices led to demands for government action, even early in the war. Th Austin State Gazette (Sept. 3, 1863) took the side of the farmers who had to pay exorbitant prices to get their supplies from the “shylocks and extortionists” in town. “If these things require the strong arm of martial law to regulate them, let the remedy first apply to the merchants and mechanics so farmers’ prices can return to previous levels.” A writer to another newspaper saw things differently. Georgia’s Governor Brown had proposed heavy-handed governmen action. In response, one irate citizen minced no words. “Let the Governor of Georgia mind his own business, and the manufacturers theirs,” (Savannah Republican, Oct. 30, 1862). This advice was not heeded. Soon afterwards the governor prohibited shipment out of state of shoes, cloth, clothing, and leather and was authorized by the legislature to seize factories an tanneries (Columbus Enquirer, Dec. 9, 1862). The manufacturers sometimes made common cause to address the crisis. North Carolina cotton factories agreed to limit their profits, give preference to order from the state, and to discourage speculation by limiting quantitie sold to agents (Athens Southern Banner, Dec. 17, 1862).Two facusta Chronicle and tor
Georgia’s cotton yarn spinners made an agreement “to arrange a united effort…to supply destitute families of soldiers with yarns,” (Columbus Enquirer, May 12, 1863). Not everybody was so public-spirited. The Columbus Enquirer (Nov. 4, 1863) reported that, in return for agreeing to limit their profits, manufactur-
ers were allowed workers by the government (i.e., these men were granted exemptions from the
draft). Retailers were willing to pay higher prices under the table
to stock their stores, and two manufacturers were suspected of
selling at the market rate despit their agreement with the gov-
ernment. The retailers got their goods “with their promise to say nothing about it.” As the war dragged on, conditions were such that people resorted to bartering. Cook and
Brother traded several items, including thread, for corn so tha the armory workers’ families could be fed (Athens Southern Banner, Feb. 24, 1864). Georgia’s
and wood—necessities for the company’s hard pressed workers (Southern Watchman, Feb. 15, 1865). Everybody was in need. The money was worthless. The end was near. Sources: The newspaper accounts used for this article were compiled by Vicki Betts, a librarian at
University of Texas at Tyler. Betts, Vicki “Lighting: Candles Lamps, and Matches” and “But-
tons” (2016). Special Topics. P pers 1 and 14. They can be foun
online at http://scholarworks.u tyler.edu/cw_newstopics/.
Georgia’s Confederate Monuments: In Honor of a Fallen Nation (Mercer University Press, 2014), available from Mercer
University Press, retail outlet online sellers, and directly fr
com). His new book on Alabama’s Confederate monuments is to be published by Indiana University Press.
Reviews of Ste An Auto Tour and a Good Overview A Field Guide to Gettysburg, Second Edition. By Carol Reardon & Tom Vossler. Illustrations maps, notes, index, 488 pp., 2017, University of North Caroli
A Field Guide to Gettysburg was originally published in 2013 It garnered the Bachelder-Coddington Award as the best book on Gettysburg published that year. The University of North Carolina Press has published a Second Edition to the book this year. This updated edition makes the book even more valuable than its earlier version. The authors are Caron Reardon and Tom Vossler, and they are eminently qualified to write this guide. Reardon is a distinguished professor of histo at Pennsylvania State University and she has written several book on the Civil War. Vossler is a
better appreciate this pivotal engagement “from
War Books vide our readers with timely analy Battle There are those damn green perspectives of both the senior leaders and the privates in the ranks.” The authors succeed in doing so by applying a unique analysis to the battle. A Field Guide to Gettysburg is separated into 36 stops on the battlefield, divided among the three days of battle action. A thirty-seventh stop explores the Soldiers’ National Cemetery. Each stop starts with a concise orientation of the area. This information is helpful for novices as well as seasoned Gettysburg aficionados alike in setting the stage for what is to come. The authors provide a detailed analysis for each of the stops by answering six questions at each site what happened; who fought here; who commanded here; who fell here; who lived here; and what did they say about it later? These questions enable readers to obtain a clear understanding of the action that occurred at the stop, well as insight into who the participants were and what they had to say about it. The two extra stops in this edition add important information for visitors to the battlefie Stop 4 describes the fight on the Harmon farm. The site is located west of Willoughby Run and housed the Gettysburg Country Club golf course until a few years ago. Off the beaten path, this are saw fighting on the first day of the battle. It is also where Confederate Brigadier General James Archer was captured, the first of Robert E. Lee’s generals to be captured in the war. Stop 30 is th other addition to this edition. It is located at Powers Hill, another site that is rarely visited. Th
authors have included this as a new stop to allow visitors a bette
again! understanding of how this terrain served as a Federal artillery position. The addition of both stops is an excellent reason for people to pick up this book, even if they already have the first edition. The book does not have a bibliography, which is perhaps its only minor drawback. However, the footnotes to each stop supply readers with additional sources of research material for further study. The authors have also provided photographs for each stop that aid in establishing the reader’s orientation at the particular site. This is a helpful featur that authors of other guidebooks would be wise in following. There are a number of guidebooks for the Battle of Gettysburg Among the better of them are The Complete Gettysburg Guide by J. David Petruzzi and Steven Stanley, Gettysburg: A Battlefield Guide by Mark Grimsley and Brooks D. Simpson, and Guide to the Battle of Gettysburg by Jay Luvaas and Harold Nelson. Reardon and Vossler’s A Field Guide to Gettysburg deserves a place alongside those works. It is written as an auto tour, with driving directions provided from stop to stop. Yet the book is equally valu able as an important resource for readers to obtain an overview of the battle in general, and specifi areas of interest in particular.
Jay Jorgensen is a judge in New Jersey. He has written several books on Gettysburg. He is the editor and co-author of the recent released Top Ten at Gettysburg
Fighting Irish in the American Civil War and the Invasion of Mexico. Edited by Arthur H. Mitchell. Notes, bibliography, index, 272 pp., 2017. McFarland,
This collection of essays contains sixteen entries devoted to the participation of the Irish i the Civil War, preceded by two chapters which review their less er-known role in the Mexican War. The editor penned two of the entries himself; sixteen oth writers contributing one each. The essays on the Civil War cover Irish contributions to both North and South. The most interesting are the minibiographies of prominent Irish American military and civilian leaders. Of particular note is t entry on the Bishop of Charlesto Patrick Lynch. David Heisser gives an informative account of the bishop’s career, with an
on Patrick Cleburne. A chapter by Ann Caraway Ivins tells of Texas Irishman Dick Dowling and gives a solid account of the battle of Sabine Pass. Four entries examine the Irish immigrant communities in major Northern cities, communities that produced tens of thousands of recruits for the Union army. recurring theme in these essays the way military service provide a path for immigrants to prove their American bona fides and
overcome nativist anti-Irish and anti-Catholic prejudice.
Another theme is the role which Irish opposition to English rule affected their attitude toward t war. These are well written and carefully documented; however, in places they seem at once both too much and too little. They read like abridgements of longer articles, proceeding from one topic to the next without providing sufficient details on one left behind. Moreover, they are sometimes repetitious, as th story of the Irish in New York i not dissimilar from the story of the Irish in Boston, Philadelphi or Chicago. There is also a chapter on Irish women, and considerable discussion of Irish attitudes towards blacks and the instituti of slavery. One of the essays on the Mexican conflict contains an account of the San Patricios, Catholic Irishmen who deserted the U.S. Army and joined their co-religionists on the other sid These men fought with great determination to the very end, knowing their fate should they surrender. Desertion is a major offense; going to the other side during a war magnifies the crime. Those who were captured suffered brutal treatment and were executed by the army they deserted. However, villains to o side can be heroes to the other. To this day the San Patricios ar honored in Mexico. Fighting Irish covers one of numberless aspects of the Civil War worthy of study, the contributions a major immigrant population made to strengthen the armies of both the United States
facing the division commanded by Ireland’s Patrick Cleburne surely felt the same way.
Gould Hagler is the author of Georgia’s Confederate Monuments: In Honor of a Fallen Nation (Mercer University Press, 2014). His new book on Alabama’s Confederate monuments is to be published by Indiana University Press.