JPK Huson 1863
Brev. Brig. Gen'l
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2012
- Location
- Central Pennsylvania
From Frank Leslie's, Blockade runner Wando, first named " Let Her Rip " was finally captured by Union forced in 1864. " About 8 o'clock she opened on her at long range with the 100-pounder rifle and forward 30-pounder, and continued firing until 10:30 -- firing 98 shells -when the Wando surrendered. She is a splendid iron steamer of about 600 tons, and very fast. The value of the steamer and her cargo is about $500,000. " 500,000? That's over 7 million today. But who needed a blockade? Goods allowed in the country were pretty limited.
Disclaimer here is I'm not posting this to cause contention or to ' make ' anyone around 150 look ' bad '. Both governments instituted policies that impacted civilians poorly and those who were made wealthy by the war owed allegiance to their bank, first. We hear a lot about the Blockade making life not only more primitive during a barbaric war but , as with vital goods like medicine, cruel. I'm always fascinated by the various creative and ingenius ways women especially took on the challenge of life with pretty much nothing. Herbs and nuts instead of medicine and coffee became a way of life. That darn Blockade- but wait.
A few items were exempt, thankfully anything for medicinal purposes but also " gallons, laces, tresses ( I thought tresses were hair ), wings of gold and silver, knots and stars. " Also thankfully, soap. War gets smelly.
Dolls and toys! You could have a fur hat from elsewhere- muffs? No. Also the whole hearth rug thing is a little amazing. And clocks ' and parts of clocks '.
Posting these are risky when you're not exactly conversant with era governments and what was and was not instituted by either. From Hathitrust, this both puzzles me and is a little delightful because the whole thing is so comprehensive. Goods we know were in short supply inside the Confederacy because there was a blockade weren't allowed in anyway? Again, being puzzled isn't the same thing as being critical. Love to know which men sat around a table one day and came up with the list.
Who could enforce any of this? Where were the luxury goods police capable of tracking down where anyone's cameo brooch originated? I don't know. Seems to me a blue print for speculators, and a shopping list for anyone financing one of those ships running the Blockade. There's more to The Act, all along the same lines, you get the point with these few snips. Happy to link the whole thing.