Catawba County, North Carolina

The Terrible War - Suffering on the Home Front

Although their pain was physically greater, Confederate soldiers did not bear all the suffering of the War Between the States. Wives, parents, grandparents and children at home were subjects of austere and even critical economies fashioned with the express purpose of promoting the interests of the Confederate cause. But history has never recorded a more graciously and willingly accepted period of sacrificial living. The home front was convinced that the fighting front was directly de-pendent on it for superb morale, material and blessing. Young boys gladly assumed men's posts in farming and the day's crude industries; little girls worked tenaciously at producing soldiers' clothing and medical supplies; grandparents and parents persistently watched the soldiers' food supply; and wives and sweethearts continuously wrote letters of encouragement.

Concerning the women, a Southerner wrote in 1861 that never "in any age or country, was there ever witnessed such an intense war spirit as that now prevailing among the women of the Confederate States. ..." A Federal writer in 1864 noted "that the South stands today quite as much indebted for a successful prolongation of this struggle to her women, as to her generals and soldiers in the field."

Immediately after the war began, women started making flags and presenting them in special ceremonies to military units; they shamed those young men who avoided fighting; they performed men's work to free those fit for uniform; they decorated Confederate graves as early as 1862; they made flags into aprons and wore conspicuous war badges; they entertained soldiers by playing pianos for them, and in captured areas they played "Dixie" when Federal soldiers asked for music; they early organized themselves into clubs and societies, especially to provide soldiers with warm clothing and other home sup-plies; and they conducted benefits at every turn of the hand. Perhaps their greatest evidence of interest, however, was their joyful giving of prized possessions to be employed in the war effort. In this connection, they gave jewelry, china sets, silver-ware, watches, vases, and almost anything in the household which could be spared. With many men at the front, the women were left to make a living as well as to take up many occupations primarily to aid the Confederacy. They managed farms and plantations; they made wine, pickles, catsup, and hats of straw, shucks, and various leaves.

An example of the women's determined efforts is afforded in a war edition of The Western Democrat, Hickory newspaper: "Good Idea—We observe the ladies in keeping with the fertility of resources in industry that has immortalized their sex during the war, are making socks from carpet ravellings. They are a little heterogeneous in color, but none the whit less warm for that, and will be acceptable to the soldiers, or those who wear them at home.

Children set about with great fervor to collect wild vegetation to supplement medical supplies at the front and at home.

Medicinal properties of many plants were found to be useful as substitutes drugs, which become scarce. These included dogwood, boneset, sweet gum, holly (taking the place of qui-nine), for fevers; sugar from watermelon juice, for colds and diarrhea; etc. Many herbs and barks were collected, such as wild-cherry bark, snakeroot, pokeroots, sassafras, persimmon bark, dandelions, etc. Every neighborhood was expected to garner its valuable materials. Families were encouraged to plant poppies from which to obtain opium.

Blast furnaces and rolling mills are believed to have provided Catawba county's only industrial contributions to the War for Southern Independence.

Upon the outbreak of hostilities, severe limitations were felt in all phases of community life. Schools suffered due both to the scarcity of pupils and teachers and lack of interest. Church services were sometimes held in private homes to conserve lights and fuel. Social events were permitted solely to benefit the war cause.

Yet, with these restrictions, it is said that cheeriness reigned— at least outwardly—-among the people. Doubtless due to determination, the Catawba Confederate homefront is recorded as having hidden very well its doubts about the outcome of the war until late in 1864.

But the business of war bore heavily. The mere business of living became enormously difficult. The South was sucked dry by war, strangled by blockade, dismembered by invasion. The breakdown was due to manufactures, transportation, and its medium of exchange.

The "little" things became so aggravating to the general population. White sugar disappeared entirely, sorghum syrup had to be accepted as a substitute. Disease outbreaks, particularly smallpox, were prevalent. Matches disappeared, and flint and steel relics had to be taken from, closets and returned to use. Soap was scarce, so the ash hopper was again put to use. As the blockades grew tighter, whale oil became scarce. Beef tallow was saved for greasing cartridges, and fat was needed for soap making, so it was difficult to make good candles.
Toothpowder was substituted by ground sassafras bark and chalk. Shoe polish was made by mixing lamp black with the ripe cortical pulp of chinaberry. Ink was made from oak balls arid burnt copperas. For tea, the people used sassafras roots. For coffee, they parched rye and wheat and browned sweet potatoes. Paper became so scarce that wallpaper was removed from homes. Bronze church bells were taken down to be melted and made into howitzers or gun caps. Food portions became small, and clothing became simple. Scraped lint was collected by everybody to be sent to Confederate hospitals for use as absorbent cotton. Communities were urged to collect human urine so that nitre could be procured.

From the beginning of the war, the county government gave certain compensation to soldiers and made provision for their families.

Court records of June 17, 1861, point out that $10,000 was appropriated for the use of the volunteers "who have and may hereafter enter in duty to defend Southern Rites in payment for provisions in pursuance of Act of Assembly ratified, also for aid if necessary ... of families left behind, . . ." Jonas Bost made the motion, which was approved.

Dr. O. Campbell, John Wilfong, and George Setzer were named a committee to "borrow" the funds.

The school committee was at the same time authorized to "see to the suffering families of any person that has entered on duty as a volunteer, and certify the same to the above named committee. . . ."

M. L. Cline was named agent for the county in 1862 "to secure salt manufactured by the state authorities and to sell same" as he was directed.

Court records of April, 1862, explain: "Ordered by Court that application for 6,000 bushels of salt be made, it will take that amount for citizens of the county of Catawba until Jan. 1st, 1863. Justices appropriated $18,000 to pay for same/' Again, Dr. O. Campbell, John Wilfong, and George Setzer were named a committee to arrange for delivery and sale.

In January, 1863, the county court ordered that $500 be paid to D. B. Gaither "to distribute to needy families of soldiers, who are in actual need. . . . The money was to be distributed to "the captain in each District to use as needed."

The court ordered, in January, 1864, that 3,000 bushels of corn be purchased from the Confederate states. The record points out that the grain was to be distributed to wives and children of soldiers in need.

The corn was deposited at Alfred Ramsour's farm and district captains were called upon to distribute it.

Wounded and dying men were continually returned to the county. Their illnesses and deaths were not all attributable to explosives, for disease along the front lines and in prisons was alarming, it is estimated reliably that 20 percent of Catawba's dead were claimed by disease. A record held locally of certain men imprisoned on Johnson's Island points out that the soldiers died of illnesses such as "general disability," fever, consumption, bilious fever, eutietis, dysentery, typhoid fever, chronic diarrhea and phenumonia.

Although its "home guard" was unable to contribute services of magnitude to the Confederate government, Catawba was not without its civilian heroes. Large commissaries at both Newton and Hickory Tavern were stocked with food for the Confederate forces. The Hickory Tavern commissary was a headquarters unit, serving a wide area of Catawba and surrounding counties. Newton also was the site of a Confederate states depository. One of the first letters written by Secretary of the Treasury of the Confederate States George A. Treholm was received by Joseph Bost of Newton in September, 1864. (Treholm succeeded Christopher G. Memminger as Secretary of the Treasury after Memminger was forced to resign because of public clamor about the collapse of the Confederate currency, although he was not wholly to blame.) The letter is as follows:

"Sir: Your letter of the 17th instant, relative to the Old Currency remaining in your hands has been received.

"You will please forward the money immediately by ex-press...."Catawba Confederates distinguished themselves under fire. Many rose to responsible military positions. The most successful of these was Thomas Lafayette Lowe, who attained the rank of colonel. Serving in a Virginia campaign, Col. Lowe died of pneumonia while sleeping amidst his men in cold and rainy weather, it is told that, although officers were invited into Southern homes, Col. Lowe declined, to remain with his forces.

By the beginning of 1865, there was little room left for belief of any sort in the ultimate success of the Confederacy. The people's deep and tender, almost heart-breaking, solicitude for the noble soldiers seemingly turned to that sentiment which accompanies the realization of an ill-spent illusion. Still, they responded cheerfully again early in January, when an urgent and most pressing appeal was made in behalf of Lee's army. With this supreme effort, every available resource was taxed, every expedient of domestic economy was put in practice.

REF: A History of Catawba County, 1954, publ. by the Catawba County Historical Assn; edited by Charles J. Preslar, Jr.

Information on these pages is Copyrighted by Derick S. Hartshorn (c) 2001-2009 on behalf of the C.F. Connor Camp #849
Data NOT for sale or collection by any commercial or for-profit entity under any circumstances.

Derick S. Hartshorn - (C) 2009
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