Confederate Sutlers and the Army of Northern Virginia

   The year 2020 was a challenging time for research. I was trying to finish Feeding Lee’s Army of Northern Virgina. Most libraries were shut down. While I have several Francis Lord books, I did not have his volume on sutlers, and I really did not want to buy a copy. A library just forty-five minutes away had a copy, but I was not able to view it, as the library was closed for an unknown time. So I ordered the book. I had been warned that the information regarding sutlers catering to Confederate regiments was slim. That was very true. Lord spends eighty-nine pages on Federal sutlers and just three on Confederate sutlers. “Records of Confederate sutlers are extremely fragmentary,” Lord writes, and states “most Confederate units never had sutlers.” Lord then takes the next two pages to talk about Southern patent medicines.[1]

   Lord does take about two-thirds of a page to list twenty-six sutlers attached to Confederate regiments, and even one gun boat. This is in comparison to over ten pages of sutlers attached to Federal regiments.[2]

   Confederate regulations stated that every military post could have one sutler, “appointed by the Secretary of War. . . and approved by the commanding officer.” Regiments not attached to a post were also allowed one sutler for every regiment, also appointed by the commanding officer, and subject to the approval of “the general or other officer in command.” Sutlers were not allowed to have “ardent spirits, or other intoxicating drinks,” let others operate their business, or lend on credit more than one-third of a soldier’s pay.[3] 

Federal sutler outside of Petersburg in 1864.

   Is Lord’s assertion, that most Confederate regiments never had sutlers, true? Maybe there is some type of register for Confederate regiments comparable to that which Lord found for Federal regiments, although he confessed that the Army of the Potomac and the Army of the James have good records, while the Army of the Tennessee and other western Federal regiments were not as well represented. To find mentions of those merchants who catered to Confederate regiments, we have to search their letters home.[4]

   Sutlers first made their appearance in soldiers’ letters, at least in the east, in the fall of 1861. A member of the 5^th Alabama Infantry noted that a brigade sutler was stationed nearby. The sutler was “crowded with men eager to buy.” However, the sutler “Charges double price for every thing he sells, yet is busy all the while.”[5] As inflation and scarcity rose, so did the prices that sutlers charged. Captain R.E. Parks, 12^th Alabama, noted that as the men were paid, the sutler’s wagons were being patronized. “Ginger cakes, porous and poor, cost 25 cents each. Vegetables and fruits are out of reach of the privates.”[6] In December 1863, Parks noted that after their sutler brought oysters for $20.00 a gallon, that he “couldn’t be a sutler. Their prices seem cruel and extortionate.”[7]

 

   Soldiers could buy a wide variety of items. A member of the 9^th Alabama recorded buying two chickens in November 1861; in July 1862, a member of the 15^th Georgia was purchasing fruit pies and loaves of bread; also in July 1862, a soldier in the 53^rd Georgia wrote of his regimental sutler having coffee, sugar, butter, chickens, and cabbage; right before the battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862, the regimental sutler of the 5^th Alabama arrived, and the men were able to get “some nice cakes & Candy. . . suag & coffey…” That sutler returned to the regiment on January 2, 1863, and the soldiers “hastened up to his wagons & bought a number of sugar cakes & ginger cakes which all hands pitched into, & I ate a good many before getting up. Our mess... invested $3 each in cakes principally & some apples."[8]

   While sutlers were forbidden to sell liquor, some did. A soldier in the 5^th Alabama noted in mid-January 1864 that they now had two sutlers in camp, “and one of them has gotten half the regiment drunk today.”[9] The hospital steward of the 4^th Virginia Infantry noted that the Provost Marshall had confiscated one sutler’s post when a search yielded twenty gallons of liquor hidden in sacks of rice and corn. The liquor was sent to the hospital for their use.[10]

Ralph H. McKim, 2^nd Virginia Cavalry, wrote that while on the Shenandoah Valley Campaign in 1864, he had to “rebuke the sutlers for selling their merchandise on the Lord’s Day.”[11] One member of the 17th Virginia Infantry recalled after the war that the regimental sutler once cleared $6,000 in one day.[12]

   Some sutlers served as banks to soldiers. Ted Barclay, 4^th Virginia Infantry, wrote home that “Mr. Trenton, the sutler of the 27^th [Virginia] Reg.,” had lent him $20 in September 1862.[13] Sutlers could also help transport boxes for soldiers – probably for a fee. A member of the 26^th Virginia noted in January 1863 that his regimental sutler had brought his “old blank trunk” from Richmond to the regiment’s camp.[14] Other sutlers could be generous. Chaplain William E. Wiatt was able to get one sutler to donate $2.00 “for the Fred[ericksburg] sufferers.”[15]

   Where did sutlers get their wares that they sold to the soldiers? Usually, they came from merchants in Richmond. Chas. Bayne & Co ran an advertisement in August 1861, telling the public that they carried an assortment of cigars and manufactured tobacco, with “Special attention paid to orders from Sutlers and Merchants who are supplying the army.”[16] G.B. Stacy advertised that he was selling “The Confederate Mattress” to those soldiers opposed to sleeping on the hard floor.[17] Lee and Durham were selling not only tobacco, but soap, sugar, tea, raisins, matches, Mustard, paper, pencils, pens, and hair and tooth brushes.[18] Spense and Garey were selling waterproof items, like coats, blankets, leggings, haversacks and knapsacks.[19] L.D. Brigg’s Bakery sold Crackers, cakes, Gingerbread, and Spicenuts.[20] Johnson and White advertised that they were selling York River Oysters, in cans, or by the firkin or barrel.[21]

   Wagons were used to transport the wares close to the camps. At times, the sutlers would be set up close to their regiments. In November 1861, a correspondent for a Richmond newspaper noted that at Manassas, several “Board shanties roughly thrown together” were being used as sutler shops.[22]

   This article primarily deals with sutlers connected to the Army of Northern Virginia. Was the experience the same in the Army of Tennessee? 

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[1] Lord, Civil War Sutlers and Their Wares, 90.

[2] Lord, Civil War Sutlers and Their Wares, 131.

[3] Confederate Regulations (1862), 22-3.

[4] Lord, Civil War Sutlers and Their Wares, 95.

[5] Hubbs, Voices from Company D, 56.

[6] Parks, “War Diary of Captain R. E. Park,” SHSP 26:9.

[7] Parks, “Diary of Capt. R. E. Park,” SHSH 26:26.

[8] Carter, Welcome the Hour of Conflict, 107; Ivy W. Duggan Diary, UGA, 73; Ronald, ed. The Stilwell Letters, 21, 22; Hubbs, Voices from Company D, 123, 131.

[9] Hubbs, Voices from Company D, 139.

[10] Roper, Repairing the “March of Mars,” 419.

[11] McKin, A Soldier’s Recollection, 237.

[12] Glasgow, Northern Virginia’s Own, 111.

[13] Barclay, Ted Barclay, Liberty Hall Volunteers, 107.

[14] Fleet, Green Mount, 194.

[15] Wiatt, Confederate Chaplain, 21.

[16] Richmond Enquirer, August 20, 1861.

[17] Richmond Dispatch, November 15, 1861.

[18] Richmond Dispatch, November 26, 1861, January 11, 1862.

[19] Richmond Dispatch, January 1, 1862.

[20] Richmond Dispatch, January 10, 1862.

[21] Richmond Dispatch, January 17, 1862.

[22] Richmond Dispatch, November 1, 1861.

Circling the Wagons at Chancellorsville

    Thanks to the Westerns that many of us watched growing up, we are familiar with the idea of “circling the wagons.” In an effort to provide some security overnight, the wagons were formed in a circle, creating an ad hoc fort to ward off attacks. But did such an event occur during the war? According to an officer in the 12^th Alabama, yes it did.

   Forming a defensive formation was not an alien concept. The concept of the infantry square or hollow square went back two millennia and were used by Roman legions. In forming this large box, there would not be an exposed rear for enemy cavalry to slash through. If the fire coming from the soldiers in the square was staggered, then it might present a continuous wall of fire. Plus, the wall of bayonets might deter a rush of mounted men through the formations. Infantry squares had their zenith of popularity during the Napoleonic Wars and were used at battles like Quatre Bras and Waterloo.

   It was a tactic taught to new regiments being formed in the 1860s, both Gray and Blue, but was seldom used. Those handful of times include the Battle of Rowlett’s Station and the battle of Valverde, both in Texas; and the first day at Gettysburg and at Chickamauga.[1]

   Those early training camps were probably where Robert E. Park learned of the formation. Born in Troop County, Georgia, in 1843, Park was a student at the East Alabama Male College (now Auburn University) when he received word that the last twelve-month company being accepted by the Secretary of War was being formed. Park joined that company, the “Macon Confederates,” and was sent to Richmond where the company, joined by other Alabama companies, became the 12^th Alabama Infantry. He was mustered in as a private. When the regiment was reorganized for three years or the war in the spring of 1862, Park was elected second lieutenant of Company F. The 12^th Alabama was in Robert Rodes’ Brigade, and was active in the campaigns at Williamsburg, Seven Pines, Seven Days, Boonsboro, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville Gettysburg, the Overland Campaign, the Valley Campaign, and ended the war at Appomattox.[2]

   In January 1863, Park, now a first lieutenant, was assigned to duty as acting quartermaster of the 12^th Alabama. Park was instructed to “report to the wagon yard, take charge of the wagons with the horses and mules, teamsters, and such baggage as I might find.” The role of the “wagon corps” on a regimental level is not one that gets much press, and his descriptions of his duty are fairly significant for the study of history.[3]

   During the battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863, Park was with his regimental wagons at Hamilton’s Crossing when he was told by a member of JEB Stuart’s command that Federal cavalry was approaching (see this post on Stoneman). At this time, they were in O’Neal’s Brigade, Rodes’ Division. The division quartermaster placed Park in command of the division’s wagons, “composed of quartermasters, wagon masters, cooks and stragglers.” Maybe Park’s prior combat experience led to the division quartermaster’s faith in Park’s abilities. Park then armed the band, “about ninety men,” from the ordnance wagon, “and gave them directions how to meet the cavalry when they approached. I had the wagons parked in a square, with the horses and men within the square, and the guns were stacked and ready for use, one man being on guard to each wagon and on the lookout.” To defend themselves against Federal cavalry, Park “circled the wagons.”[4]

   “Fortunately, the cavalry did not attack us,” Park wrote, “as it was very probable my entire crowd . . . would have fled without delay, upon hearing the first gun.” Are there other examples of the wagons forming a square on the approach of a possible cavalry attack? That would be great to know. Following the battle of Chancellorsville, Park transferred back to his company. He was captured at Boonsboro, wounded in the hip at Gettysburg, wounded in the leg at Winchester and captured. Park survived the war and returned to Georgia, becoming the state treasurer. He passed in May 1909 and is buried in Riverside Cemetery, Bibb County.[5]

   Park’s accounts of his war-time service originally appeared in the Southern Historical Society Papers. They were published in 1906. In 2022, they were reissued by Scuppernong Press and are available at https://www.scuppernongpress.com/

   You can check out additional articles on wagon trains here and here .

 

[1] Nofi, “Form Square! North & South, Vol. 14, No. 1, pg 7-11 (2012).

[2] Park, Sketch of the Twelfth Alabama Infantry, 1.

[3] Park, Sketch of the Twelfth Alabama Infantry, 36.

[4] Park, Sketch of the Twelfth Alabama Infantry, 38.

[5] The Newnan Herald, May 14, 1909.

Confederate Coffee

   I think we can all agree that coffee played a crucial role in the lives of Confederate soldiers. And, as it has become apparent to me recently, in reading articles and watching podcasts, some scholars really don’t grasp the usage of coffee in the Army of Northern Virginia. We hear the stories about how the Confederates in Virginia had to make do with no coffee and relied on plenty of coffee substitutes, like chicory, acorns, sweet potatoes, etc. But my research into Confederate foodstuffs while working on Feeding the Army of Northern Virginia over the past two years has led to some different conclusions. (The following is based upon 200 sets of letters and diaries, with a few reminiscences added in.)

   Coffee was a staple of life in the Old South. It was imported from Central and South America. In the early days of the war, it was issued to Confederate soldiers in Virginia. It was mentioned in letters home from Portsmouth and Ashland in May 1861. It was also issued green. “You would see much to amuse you especially about cooktime. Just imagine Charly Palmore standing over a hot fire parching coffee in a pan stirring with a big camp knife,” chronicled a soldier in the 3^rd Virginia Cavalry in June 1862, from Ashland.[1] Coffee continued to be issued through August. However, many soldiers speculated that this “treat” might be coming to an end. From Vienna, Virginia, a soldier in the 2^nd South Carolina Infantry wrote on August 3 that "We soldiers still get coffee for night and morning, but I do not doubt but that this luxury will soon be denied us. I say luxury. Coffee is the luxury in a soldier's life. A cup of hot coffee can be better appreciated in camp than anywhere else...”[2] By September 1, an Alabama soldier stationed near Fairfax Court House reported that they were out of coffee and sugar, yet reported on September 10 that they had coffee, but no sugar.[3] A member of the 4^th Georgia reported in October that they were drawing whiskey in leu of coffee.[4] This continued through October, although some soldiers who did not drink would sell their whiskey rations to soldiers who did, leaving a few tipsy men in the ranks.  On November 28 came the first mention of rye coffee. A Virginia soldier stationed near Huntersville, wrote home that "We are living well at present on venison, beef, corn and wheat bread, rye coffee & sweetened with maple sugar.”[5] Considering the soldier was stationed in present-day West Virginia, it could simply have been a problem of getting coffee that great distance.

   Coffee was being issued in early 1862. A Tarheel Heel soldier reported small issues of coffee and sugar at camp near Union Mills on January 18, and an Alabama soldier stationed at Louisa Court House wrote of a weekly coffee ration, without sugar.[6] Coffee then disappears from the letters. A member of the 3^rd South Carolina wrote at the end of April, while stationed on the Peninsula, that they never saw coffee being issued.[7] This holds true through May and the spring campaigns. There are sporadic mentions of coffee through October. Some soldiers reported having coffee, but it is unclear if they were being issued, or captured. (This is another topic for a future post.) Coffee was available for purchase. A Tar Heel officer, near Winchester in mid-November 1862, wrote that coffee was selling for $3.00 a pound.[8]

   By early 1863, coffee seemed to be in short supply. A member of the 45^th Georgia wrote of wheat coffee in January, while a Virginia officer made mention of “rye coffee well sugared.”[9] In March, a South Carolinian mentioned living on nothing but coffee and bread: “We buy the coffee from sutlers in one pound papers already ground for one dollar. It is Confederate coffee made of I dont know what. It is a rather poor substitute , but we make out very well with it.”[10] There are other mentions of “coffee” in various letters through the spring of 1863, but it is unclear if it was real coffee, or Confederate coffee. One Georgia soldier did make note in April 1863, while stationed near Hamilton Crossing, that “pure Rio coffee” was selling for $6.00 per pound.”[11] There are more mentions of rye coffee following the battle of Gettysburg. Charles Blackford, serving on James Longstreet’s staff, mentions rye coffee in letters dated July 16 from Bunker Hill, and July 30 from Culpeper.[12] This seems to carry true through the end of 1864. Capt. R. E. Park, 12^th Alabama, makes mentions of a sutler selling Confederate coffee for $1.00 per pound. The coffee was made of rye.[13]

   The coffee shortage changed in early January 1864 (maybe even late December). Thomas Lupton, 39^th Battalion Virginia Cavalry, wrote that that were drawing coffee “real coffee, none of your confederate compounds with rice, potatoes and lard..."[14] Coffee was coming through the blockade, mostly through the port of Wilmington. While the Commissary General wanted this coffee reserved for sick and wounded men in the hospitals, coffee was making its way to the men in winter camps. A member of the 7^th Virginia Cavalry wrote on February 6 that they were being issued “a little real coffee and sugar.”[15] A member of the 44^th Georgia wrote on February 17: “We get genuine coffee occasionally.”[16] An officer in the 44^th North Carolina wrote of “genuine coffee” on February 19, and a member of the 48^th North Carolina mentioned “good old Rio coffee” on February 20.[17] This issue of real coffee continues through march and April, 1864.[18]

   Coffee rations (real coffee), seem to continue at a regular pace into mid-1864. A soldier in the 53^rd Georgia wrote from Petersburg on July 4 that he was drawing coffee and sugar. “We draw plenty of coffee. I am getting so I can't drink more than three or four cups of coffee for breakfast."[19] From the trenches, the same month, a member of the 27^th North Carolina thanked his family back home for not sending any coffee: “I am now and have been for the last 3 or 4 weeks having as much as I can use.”[20] This continued into early August, but by mid-August, there started to be mentions in the letter that they were not drawing any coffee and sugar.[21] Yet in October, a member of the 45^th Georgia wrote from Petersburg that they were getting “some coffee.”[22] Also from Petersburg on October 14, a member of the 18^th North Carolina wrote of receiving “pure coffee well sweetened.”[23] Likewise, a member of the 54^th North Carolina wrote in December that they were getting “pure coffee.”[24]

   There are sporadic mentions of coffee into 1865. Of course, by this time, a lot of soldiers were gone, either dead, deserted, or prisoners. Sources are limited. A soldier in the 5^th Alabama wrote of being issued sugar and coffee on February 26, and on March 2, and April 1. He does not indicate if it is real coffee, or Confederate coffee.[25]

   This is a topic that really seems to be misunderstood, and really needs some deeper scholarship. Was the issue of coffee the same for soldiers in the Army of Tennessee? Was it ever an issue for soldiers on garrison duty in Wilmington, or Mobile? How about the issue of coffee in hospitals? And then there is the issue of swapping Southern tobacco for yankee coffee in the many informal truces that occurred during the war. Did Southern tobacco rise in “price” during the trading when the North went through its tobacco crunch? Was coffee, or caffeine withdrawal, an impediment during battle? It seems that many times it is easier to fall back on the oft-repeated anecdotes that all Confederates were cut off from imported coffee for the duration of the war. That is simply not true. It is also interesting to note that Confederate soldiers, in the 200 or so letter and diary sets that I am using to write Feeding the Army of Northern Virginia, never mention making coffee from chicory, burnt corn, peas, or sweet potatoes. I’m not going to say that it did not happen, but the members of my test group are not writing about it. Maybe it occurred primarily in the civilian population, and not in the Army of Northern Virginia. Once again, this topic, on the Confederate side, needs much more research. 

   

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[1] Corson, My Dear Jennie, 2, 10; Wiggins, My Dearest Friend, 3-4.

[2] Wyckoff, The Civil War Letters of Alexander McNeill, 77-78.

[3] Hubbs, Voices from Company D, 42, 46.

[4] Allen and Bohannon, "Campaigning with 'Old Stonewall',"  28.

[5] Driver, 1st Battalion Virginia Infantry, 6-7.

[6] Monroe, “The Road to Gettysburg,” NCHR, 489; Carter, Welcome the Hour of Conflict, 130.

[7] Everson, Far, Far from Home, 117-118.

[8] Taylor, The Cry is War, War, War, 128.

[9]  McCrea, Red Dirt and Isinglass, 392; Welsh "A House Divided," 410.

[10] Wyckoff, The Civil War Letters of Alexander McNeill, 249.

[11] Allen and Bohannon, "Campaigning with 'Old Stonewall', 228.

[12] Blackford, Letters from Lee's Army, 198.

[13] Park, “Diary of Capt. R. E. Park,” SHSH 26:23.

[14] Driver, 1st Battalion Virginia Infantry, 62.

[15] Williams, Rebel Brothers, 187.

[16]  Burnett, “Letters of a Confederate Surgeon, McGarity,” 2:187.

[17] Wright, The Confederate Letters of Benjamin H. Freeman, 34; Dear Aunt, February 21, 1864, "Taking Care of Madison W. Richardson," 42.

[18] Hancok, Four Brothers in Gray, 253; McCrea, Red Dirt and Isinglass, 469; Hubbs, Voices from Company D, 232; Mellon, "A Florida Soldier," 270; Wright, The Confederate Letters of Benjamin H. Freeman, 35.

[19] Ronald, ed. The Stilwell Letters, 272

[20] Wagstaff, “Letters of Thomas Jackson Strayhorn,” NCHR, 323.

[21] Blackford, Letters from Lee's Army, 272; Wiggins, My Dearest Friend, 147.

[22] McCrea, Red Dirt and Isinglass, 518.

[23] Hancock, Four Brothers in Gray, 283.

[24] Henry, Pen in Hand, 136.

[25] Hubbs, Voices from Company D, 357, 365.