Hearts at Home: Hard Times at Home

	Shortly after the war began a Philadelphia school girl, Bettie Ann Graham, reluctantly returned to Wythe County, Virginia, and her dysfunctional family. Graham bitterly writes in her diary on May 5, 1861: "Tis as I expected, nothing but quarreling all the time. I pray that none I love may ever know the pangs inflicted by a drunken father & an insane mother." Bettie Ann Graham Collection, #10234



As much as possible Confederate women tried to live normal lives despite shortages of specific foods and goods. In her 1861 diary Charlotte Phipps of Rogersville, Tennessee, recorded her recipes for "Gold and Silver Cake" and "Sponge Cake." Phipps-Miller Papers, #10287



	The fact that the war took so many men from home was particularly worrisome to women left on the plantations and in towns, as Mrs. Roberts describes in this March, 1862 letter. "(S)hould the darkies trouble I assure you we would be in a bad way are (sic) men are thinned out so." However, hard times did bring about ingenuity. Mrs. Roberts describes her innovation of using rye as a substitute for coffee, which was in short supply due to the blockade. Harrison-Roberts Family Papers, #10207



A Henry County, Virginia, resident complains to her sister about hard times and high prices, August 23, 1862: "Times are very hard here every thing is scarce and high . . . corn is selling for ten dollars, bacon 45 cents per pound, brandy is selling about here from 4 to 5 dollars per gallon, in Danville it sells for eight dollars. We cannot get a yard of calico for less than one dollar we cannot get a pound of copperas [a sulfate used in making ink] for less than a dollar and 25 cents." White Family Papers, #9372	Page 2



	Southern women were determined to protect themselves against the "ultimate outrage" (rape). On February 21, 1863, in Fauquier County, Virginia, 63-year-old Lucy Johnston Ambler confided in her diary: "I intend to get Mr. Downs to show me how to shoot tomorrow and how to load." Lucy Johnston Ambler Diary Typescript, #5191



Dawson, Francis Warrington,Our Women in the War: An Address by Francis W. Dawson, Delivered February 22, 1887, at the Fifth Annual Re-Union of the Association of the Maryland Line, at the Academy of Music, Baltimore, Md.,,Charleston, South Carolina: Walker, Evans & Cogswell, 1887. The Confederate Congress, in a December 1863 resolution, denounces the Union army and discreetly complains "helpless women have been exposed to the most cruel outrages and to that dishonor which is infinitely worse than death."



Page 2	Mary Barr Wall of Winchester, Virginia, received this gloating March 6, 1863 letter from a Baltimore brother-in-law describing the good life in the North, latest fashions, parties and balls, museums, and churches. He offers to send her ribbons of any color she wants and urges her to "Come down and see for yourself." Mary Barr Wall Papers, #10482



There were hardships other than those directly connected with the war. Katherine Couse, a New Jersey Unionist who lived in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, noted on May 19, 1864: "Old Miss Sophia scares me every night; she sets up such a snoring we think the Johny Rebs have opened a battery on us." Katherine Couse Civil War Letter, #10441



	In this November 12, 1864 broadside General Jubal Early promises food supplies for soldiers' families' in the Virginia counties of Augusta and Rockbridge will be exempted from seizure by the army for other purposes. Early hoped his proclamation would reassure his troops and maintain civilian morale. James McDowell Papers, #1707



This January, 1865 letter from one sister in rural Virginia to another explains the toll the war had taken on the social interactions and social life of Southerners. "You can tell what ladies we have been all this year. I have nothing to do but sit in the house & sew all day." Papers of the Hill Family, #6548	Page 2



	In January 1865, Mary Ann Swann Minor confided to her diary about hardships in the South. "The country is destitute of food for man & beast. Much sickness and distress." A few months later, as the war was drawing to a close, this despair and war-weariness began to manifest itself as reckless revelry. "War still in our land & the people ful (sic) of exertion, gaity (sic) of every kind. Even the soldiers deserting the army the whole country seems demoralized. I believe we who profess to love God, are living far from Him! We do not pray as we did." Papers of the Minor Family, #6055



Calico was a favorite among women for a variety of clothing. This 1866 sample was used for a glove.



	Dannett, Sylvia and Jones, Katharine M., Our Women of the Sixties, Washington, D.C.: U. S. Civil War Centennial Commission, 1963. America did not forget the sacrifices and courage of women during the Civil War Centennial. This special publication provides many objective examples of Southern and Northern women's activities. Chapter VI, "The Federal Blockade and Women's Ingenuity," describes how Confederate women overcame food shortages.



Next Section Previous Section