Southern Civilians and Life on the Confederate Home

Southern Civilians and Life on the Confederate Home Front hg “The Yankees say they won a glorious victory in Ten[nessee] but we know who won the victory for them being so crabbed. The citizens dare not smile for fear of being thrust into jail ‘for rejoicing’…. The country is overrun with Yanks: they are camped in the woods in front of us and have already paid us several visits [and] killed sheep, goats and chickens. Our new Yankees are very neighborly…some came today and demanded their dinner at two o’clock but did not get it. They went off cursing us for being d__n rebels. ”

Questions for Today • What challenges did Southern civilians face on a daily basis? • How did those challenges affect the Confederate war effort more broadly?

Clausewitz’s Trinity of War

Challenges 1. Shortages (food, supplies, etc. )

Union Blockade

Sample of “Eatin’ Goober Peas” http: //www. folkways. si. edu/tomglazer/goober-peas/american-folkamerican-history-historicalsong/music/track/smithsonian

“Eatin’ Goober Peas” Verse 3: Just before the battle, the General hears a row He says, “The Yanks are coming, I hear their rifles now” He turns around in wonder, and what d’ya think he sees? The Georgia militia, eating goober peas. Verse 4: I think my song has lasted almost long enough. The subject’s interesting, but rhymes are mighty rough. I wish the war was over, so free from rags and fleas We’d kiss our wives and sweethearts, and gobble

Challenges 1. Shortages (food, supplies, etc. ) 2. Concern for loved ones

Letters from the Home Front “I know my country needs all her children and I had thought I could submit to her requisitions. I have given her cause my prayers, my time, my means and my children but now the last lamb of the fold is to be taken, the mother and helpless woman triumph over the patriot” (Mary Scales, 1862)

Letters from the Home Front “I know my country needs all her children and I had thought I could submit to her requisitions. I have given her cause my prayers, my time, my means and my children but now the last lamb of the fold is to be taken, the mother and helpless woman triumph over the patriot” (Mary Scales, 1862) “What do you think of going back into the Union? Don’t you think it would be better than to have all our men killed? I often think if I could make peace how soon I would have you and all my loved ones with me” (Sal Mabry, 1864)

Challenges 1. Shortages (food, supplies, etc. ) 2. Concern for loved ones 3. Slavery

Escaped Slaves, c. 1862 -1865

South’s Gender Assumptions “Recourse to physical force in support of male honor and white supremacy was regarded as the right, even the responsibility, of each white man, [but] no gendered code of honor celebrated women’s physical power or dominance…. As slaves grew more assertive in anticipation of their freedom, their female managers regarded physical coercion as at once more essential and more impossible. ”

Challenges 1. 2. 3. 4. Shortages (food, supplies, etc. ) Concern for loved ones Slavery Government policies

Conscriptio n. Exemption Form, 1864

Confederate Currency

Richmond Bread Riot, 1863

Frank Leslie’s Illustrated, 1863

Challenges 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Shortages (food, supplies, etc. ) Concern for loved ones Slavery Government policies Occupation by the Union

Interview with Alecia Long, history professor at LSU, about General Butler’s “Woman Order” (5: 03) https: //www. youtub e. com/watch? v=tm 2 NZCMz. TQI

Challenges 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Shortages (food, supplies, etc. ) Concern for loved ones Slavery Government policies Occupation by the Union Displacement

Sarah Morgan Diary Entry, 1862 “Three miles from town we began to overtake the fugitives. Hundreds of women and children were walking along, some bareheaded and in all costumes. Little girls of twelve and fourteen were wandering on alone. I called to one I knew and asked her where her mother was; she didn't know; she would walk on until she found out. . . it was a heart-rending scene. Women searching for their babies along the road, where they had been lost; others sitting in the dust crying and wringing their hands. "

Conclusions • Those who lived in the South—whether white or black, male or female, Confederate or Unionist—faced many challenges including food shortages, displacement, violence, and the after effects of government policies • In their own way each challenge contributed to the success or failure of the Confederate war effort, since the home front and military operations were