Civil War Home Fronts

Welcome to Civics and Coffee. My name is Alycia and I am a self-professed history nerd. Each week, I am going to chat about a topic on U.S history and give you both the highlights and occasionally break down some of the complexities in history; and share stories you may not remember learning in high school. All in the time it takes to enjoy a cup of coffee. 

INTRO MUSIC

Hey everyone. Welcome back. 

We are still in the midst of covering Civil War topics - can you believe it? I hope you have been enjoying the journey so far. I know I have had a lot of fun diving into some of your suggestions as I put together these episodes, including the one I posted last week about Secretary of War Edwin Staton. 

Another one of your requests was to discuss what the home front looked like during the war. I have to admit when I first got the request, I was unsure of exactly how I was going to cover this. But I was pleasantly surprised with what I found. 

So this week, I am diving into how the Civil War impacted the home front. How did families deal with war just outside their door? How did military occupation impact people’s living situation? And how did experiences differ between the North and the South?

Grab your cup of coffee, peeps. Let’s do this. 

Writing for the American Battlefield Trust, Paige Gibbons Backus defines total war as quote: “a war that is unrestricted in terms of the weapons used, the territory or combatants involved, or the objectives pursued,” end quote. For Americans living in the South, the Civil War may have felt like it met the definition of total war as thousands of Americans watched helplessly as their property was destroyed and homes commandeered to create makeshift hospitals to care for the wounded.

While both Northern and Southern residents were forced to deal with the reality of war, it was distinctly and perhaps more tangibly felt by southern residents. A majority of the war took place in the southern half of the United States and as a result, it was southern families and the southern economy most impacted by war. For example, while four out of five southern men joined the fight, less than half of northern men did so. This translated to a higher death rate for southern men, which stood around 18%, compared to their northern counterparts, which was roughly 6%.

The lack of men in the south meant that women had to take on jobs and responsibilities historically reserved for their fathers, husbands, and sons. As historian Drew Gilpin Faust wrote quote, “the war’s economic demands and the departure of nearly a million white men from productive labor into the military created hardships keenly felt by yeoman and planter families alike,” end quote. In the south, women took on quote unquote “man’s work” by overseeing family farms, including managing and providing directions to the thousands of still enslaved men and women and by entering the waged labor workforce. 

Several southern women sought employment with the Confederate Clothing Bureau where they sewed shirts in exchange for a small fee. Women entering the workforce challenged long established gender roles as they moved from the private, domestic sphere of the home to the outside, public sphere of the workforce. Women performed work as nurses, teachers, and seamstresses - performing whatever work they could to help ensure their family’s survival. In 1862, the Confederate government officially approved women to work in confederate hospitals as they had demonstrated that wards managed by women claimed lower mortality rates. Many southern women had to learn household skills, such as sewing and weaving, for the first time, unable to rely on their enslaved labor to perform the work.

However, even their efforts were not enough to fully combat the pervasive problems and shortages in the south. Families faced food insecurity and lacked access to clothes as clothing production came pretty much to a halt. This lack of material combined with the increased demands caused by the way, created rampant inflation and residents had to contend with price gouging, bringing to the surface some of the underlying class issues thus far ignored throughout the south. The issue got so bad that the Confederate government tried to pass laws to prevent price gouging, however their efforts were in vain. In North Carolina, for example, nearly 40% of white women received some form of government support to relieve hunger. 

In the north, women used the war to further their place in society. Like their southern counterparts, women of the north entered into waged labor throughout the conflict, however unlike southern women who saw their work as a necessary, temporary measure to ensure survival during the war, northern women used the experience as a quote “catalyst” to enter into new professions, including medicine and nursing. However, northern women were not immune to the impacts of war. They too dealt with issues of inflation and required government assistance. The city of Philadelphia alone paid out over two million dollars in support of soldiers’ families, further demonstrating the economic impact felt throughout the country. Northern soldiers were usually comprised of industrial workers and it was not uncommon for children to be brought in to replace the manpower lost to the Union. 

Inflation and lack of supplies were directly tied to the increasing demands of the soldiers on the battlefield. Throughout the south, families had to contend with army officials confiscating material and commandeering homes to reuse as army hospitals. It was common for military leaders to take livestock to feed their men, and destroy fencing to use the wood to build fires to keep troops warm. In Virginia one woman, Judith Henry, could do little more than watch as her home was confiscated by confederate troops. The estate, which was located in the middle of union and confederate lines near the battle of Manassas, was used by confederates both to provide cover and to place sharpshooters in a strategic position against union forces. In response, Union leaders ordered their men to fire upon the house, hoping to move the sharpshooters out of their post. Homes were also frequently used as hospitals, military encampments or as a headquarters, providing a place out of the elements to discuss strategy and plan their next line of attack.

Those who could, decided to relocate. In Virginia, a state hit particularly hard in terms of battlefields and troop movements, it is estimated that roughly 200,000 individuals fled their homes during the war. However this was not a viable option for individuals without extensive personal wealth. Again from Paige Gibbons Backus quote: “leaving home was a risky and expensive endeavor and not everyone had the luxury to do so,” end quote. There were significant challenges with deciding to vacate your home, such as where would you and your family relocate to? What should and, more importantly, could you pack? These logistical and expensive issues meant that fleeing remained an option mostly to the upper crust of southern society. For those who were able to leave temporarily often discovered their property in dire straits and had to deal with quote “destroyed crops, ransacked homes, and beleaguered communities,” end quote. So much property was destroyed in the midst of the way that the federal government provided a mechanism for individuals to submit claims for reimbursement. While thousands of individuals submitted claims, few payments were actually distributed as those requesting funds had to prove their continued loyalty to the United States.

As I mentioned, food shortages were yet another issue facing civilians during the Civil War. As the problem came to a critical mass, the government tried to intervene and impress, or forcibly collect, food. Farmers responded by trying to hide their crops and livestock, essentially mitigating the government’s attempts at impressment. Hyper-inflation made access to food unattainable for many residents in the south, where flour got to an incredibly expensive $275 dollars a barrel. This prompted some to engage in foot riots including the Richmond bread riots in April of 1863. The riots became so intense and aggressive that Confederate President Jefferson Davis even authorized the firing upon women if they refused to disperse and go home. Food scarcity meant many individuals had to go without otherwise common items such as coffee, meat, and sugar - or find acceptable alternatives. One woman, Dorra Miller, wrote how she was quote “so tired of corn-bread, which I never liked, which I eat with tears in my eyes,” end quote. 

Rioting also occurred in the north, such as the New York City draft riots in July 1863. Much like the food riots, the massive demonstrations by individuals uncovered some underlying class issues. Part of the inspiration for the riots in New York was the frustration some felt over the policy permitting individuals to pay a fee to avoid serving in the war. This all but guaranteed that upper class, elite individuals could avoid military conscription, leaving the war to be carried on the backs of those in a lower socioeconomic standing. As noted by historian Drew Gilpin Faust quote, “in draft riots in the north, food riots in the south, in the erupting tensions of a disintegrating slave system, hostilities and violent confrontation moved beyond the battlefield both to enlist and victimize civilians,” end quote.    

Of course, this review of home front experiences neglects to consider the hardships and difficulties faced by indigenous and black americans. Both enslaved and free Black Americans faced ongoing hostility, with individuals questioning their loyalty and legal status. Unlike their white counterparts, Black Americans had a long history with family separation. For them, the Civil War served to further intensify those situations, as the demands for free labor increased as the war dragged on. Treated as contraband or property, Black men remained without agency in how and where they worked, and were frequently pulled from their families to provide support for both the Confederate and Union armies. Free Black men living in the south also faced an increasingly hostile environment as residents questioned Black support of the Confederacy. Some Black Americans who remained enslaved attempted to take advantage of the chaos and lack of men in the area. They sometimes refused to work on Sundays or significantly slowed their pace, understanding that the mistress of the house was unprepared to administer any significant punishment. 

And as I discussed briefly in my coverage of indigenous americans experience in the Civil War, they were left mainly to fend for themselves. A majority of tribal nations had been forcefully relocated to the Oklahoma territory by the United States government and, when the sparks of war ignited between the Union and the Confederacy, the territory was left unprotected as soldiers were reassigned to other strategic locations. This, of course, prompted a division amongst the tribal nations and prompted some to form tenuous alliances with the confederate government. As I also mentioned in my prior episode, both the union and the confederate armies understood the potential benefits of curating favor with native americans who had a long and well earned reputation as being effective warriors. 

The impacts to the quote unquote home front varied depending on a variety of factors. It was different for men and women; adults and children; the rich and poor; black and white; north and south. But regardless of where one called home, the impact of the Civil War was felt throughout the country. From trying to figure out how to deal with rampant inflation to acquiring new skills in order to keep the home afloat, no American went without feeling what a quote unquote total war could do to a community. 

Americans would still have to contend with the aftermath of putting their communities back together, bit by bit, after the hostilities stopped and the federal government threw themselves into rebuilding the union in a newer, hopefully freer and more democratic, fashion. Of course, as I will cover in a future episode, the realities of a rebuilt nation under reconstruction did not necessarily match the hopes and dreams so many had. 

Before I sign off for today, I want to give my sincere thanks to Apple Podcast user AWP who recently left a review for the podcast. And Lisa who contributed to the podcast through her donation on Buy Me a Coffee. Both the review and the donation help make Civics and Coffee what it is - your reviews help spread the word so more people can enjoy the show and the donations go toward things like books and hosting fees. Speaking of supporting the show, I recently updated the website to make it easier for you to show your love. In addition to links to places you can leave a review and make a donation, I also included a link to my wish list through amazon. You can peruse through my ever growing list of books and help support the research by making a purchase on amazon. You can learn more about the various ways to support the show, and get access to transcripts and source material, by visiting my website at www dot civics and coffee dot com. 

Thanks, peeps. I’ll see you next week.

Thanks for tuning and I hope you enjoyed this episode of Civics & Coffee. If you want to hear more small snippets from american history, be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening and I look forward to our next cup of coffee together. 

OUTRO MUSIC