18thVirginia
Major
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2012
The New York Times published an article about a food riot near Raleigh, NC on April 19, 1863 about MOBS OF FAMISHED WOMEN HELPING THEMSELVES TO FOOD.
The Raleigh, N.C., Standard of March 25, gives an account of a bread riot that has just taken place near that city. A company of women, most of them soldiers' wives, went to the store of WILLIAM WELSH, at High Point, rolled out several barrels of molasses and divided it. The Standard remarks on this occurrence: "WELSH is a great war man, and favors general impressment of supplies by the army." http://www.nytimes.com/1863/04/19/news/bread-riot-in-raleigh-nc.html.
The article goes on to give details about the bread riot in Salisbury, NC as well. The Times stated that the women garnered 10 barrels of flour at the Railroad Depot, where it had been stored by a speculator. The story repeats the allegation that the women chopped down the door of one flour speculator with a hatchet, which led him to part with 10 free barrels of floor. It notes that a Dr. Enniss gave the women 3 barrels of flour and that Sprague and Company provided them with half a barrel of molasses.
Zebulon Vance, Governor of North Carolina during the food riot period. The soldiers' wives saw Vance as their champion and wrote him numerous letters and petitions requesting that he act on their behalf. In 1863, Governor Vance tried to convince Jefferson Davis to change the conscription rules to allow married men who were the sole support of their families to be exempt, although Davis was not able to make that change. Vance remained sensitive to the needs and demands of the wives throughout the rest of the war.
The Raleigh, N.C., Standard of March 25, gives an account of a bread riot that has just taken place near that city. A company of women, most of them soldiers' wives, went to the store of WILLIAM WELSH, at High Point, rolled out several barrels of molasses and divided it. The Standard remarks on this occurrence: "WELSH is a great war man, and favors general impressment of supplies by the army." http://www.nytimes.com/1863/04/19/news/bread-riot-in-raleigh-nc.html.
The article goes on to give details about the bread riot in Salisbury, NC as well. The Times stated that the women garnered 10 barrels of flour at the Railroad Depot, where it had been stored by a speculator. The story repeats the allegation that the women chopped down the door of one flour speculator with a hatchet, which led him to part with 10 free barrels of floor. It notes that a Dr. Enniss gave the women 3 barrels of flour and that Sprague and Company provided them with half a barrel of molasses.
Zebulon Vance, Governor of North Carolina during the food riot period. The soldiers' wives saw Vance as their champion and wrote him numerous letters and petitions requesting that he act on their behalf. In 1863, Governor Vance tried to convince Jefferson Davis to change the conscription rules to allow married men who were the sole support of their families to be exempt, although Davis was not able to make that change. Vance remained sensitive to the needs and demands of the wives throughout the rest of the war.
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