Food Prices in the Gettysburg Campaign – Price Gouging or just Supply and Demand?

Tom Elmore

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A basic economic principle holds that the price and quantity of goods sold in the market are a function of both supply and demand. When supply decreases, the price of a good increases. When demand increases, again the price of the good increases. Price gouging occurs when prices lead to unfair levels. But how do we define the moment when fluctuating prices caused by supply and demand cross the line into unfairness? We still struggle with the question today, after every natural disaster. Soldiers who encountered this phenomenon during the Gettysburg campaign formed their own opinions based upon personal experience operating in both enemy and friendly territory, and when passing through the border state of Maryland where loyalties were divided.

Although a soldier might not comprehend or accept it, the sudden entrance of a large army into a sparsely populated region represented a massive increase in demand. Local citizens were also slow to recognize it, but they caught on quickly, and prices subsequently soared. Soldiers complained about a mean-spirited populace when prices doubled, without realizing they were still getting a bargain. But their argument gained merit as prices continued to rise, tripling or quadrupling or attaining even higher multiples of the “normal” price.

Of course, individual soldiers in enemy territory would often take what they wanted from the locals without paying, despite official policy. Confederate army officials issued receipts for the items they confiscated, but they generally proved worthless to northern merchants. As John T. McMahon of the 136th New York succinctly put it, “I had rather be in Virginia where I can get things without buying them.”

A perusal of diaries, journals, letters and newspapers yielded sufficient information on food prices to make interesting comparisons. Bear in mind the monthly base pay of a Union private at this time was $13 in U.S. currency (greenbacks), while a Confederate private was paid $11 in Confederate currency. So here we introduce another factor in the form of two different currencies, which permits a glimpse of the inflation and scarcity within the Confederacy.

Let’s examine individual staples with examples to illustrate these points.

BREAD:
I am selecting 25 cents as a standard price for an average loaf of bread in a Pennsylvania community prior to the invasion, relying upon a description of a Pennsylvania militiaman presumed to have just been mobilized from his community.

Date / Place / Cost [soldier, unit, army]
After 4 July / near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (PA) / 50 cents per loaf [Bowen, 37 MA, USA]
After 4 July / near Gettysburg, PA / 50 cents per loaf [Dunn, 109 PA, USA]
After 4 July / near Gettysburg, PA / $1 per loaf [Marvin, 1 MN, USA]
After 4 July / Gettysburg, PA / $1 and $1.50 per loaf [civilian at Eagle Hotel, USA]
6 July / PA / 10 cents per loaf [Peterson, 12 NJ, USA]
6 July / PA / $2 per loaf [Haley, 17 ME, USA]
6 July / PA / 25 cents per slice (12 slices per loaf) [Haley, 17 ME, USA]
7 July / Maryland (MD) / 10 cents per slice [Stacey, 111 NY, USA]
8 July / Williamsport, MD / 50 cents per loaf [John White, 83 NY, USA, while a prisoner]
23 July / near Greencastle, PA / 50 cents per loaf [38 PA militia, USA]

EGGS
Egg prices were remarkably consistent at 10 cents per dozen in PA and MD, but compare it to the cost in Virginia (VA).

1 June / Hanover Junction, VA / $2.00 per dozen [Burge, 18 VA, CSA]
June / VA / 50 or 60 cents per dozen [Edes, 33 MA, USA]
28 June / Chambersburg, PA / 10 cents per dozen [Maxwell, 2 FL, CSA]
28 June / Monterrey, MD / 10 cents per dozen [Edes, 33 MA]
30 June / near Cashtown, PA / 16 cents per dozen [Walters / Grandy’s Battery, CSA]
1 July / Coudersport, PA / 10 cents per dozen [The Potter Journal, market price, USA]

MILK
Milk averaged about 7 cents per quart in PA and MD, but costs at least ten times that much in VA for a Confederate soldier.

1 June / Hanover Junction, VA / 75 cents per quart [Burge, 18 VA, CSA]
6 June / near Falmouth, VA / 30 cents per quart [Johnson, 16 MA, USA]
June / VA / 25 cents per quart [Edes, 33 MA, USA]
28 June / Monterrey, MD / 5 cents per quart [Edes, 33 MA, USA]
30 June / Chambersburg, PA / 5 and 10 cents per quart [Fleming, 2 FL, CSA]
After 4 July / near Gettysburg, PA / 20 cents per quart [Marvin, 1 MN, USA]
After 4 July / Gettysburg, PA / 10 and 15 cents per quart [civilian at Eagle Hotel, USA]
After 4 July / near Gettysburg, PA / 15-20 cents per three pints [Wainwright, 1 Corps, USA]
26 July / Culpeper, VA / $1 per quart (but unavailable) [Nixon, 8 FL, CSA]
June or July / MD / 25 cents per three pints [McMahon, 136 NY, USA]

BUTTER

1 June / Hanover Junction, VA / $2.50 per pound [Burge, 18 VA, CSA]
June / VA / $1 per pound [Prescott, 32 MA, USA]
13 June / near Shepherdstown, VA / 25 cents per pound [Edwards, 12 VA, CSA]
28 June / Monterrey, MD / 15 cents per pound [Edes, 33 MA, USA]
28 June / near Chambersburg, PA / 20 cents per pound [Aylett, 53 VA, CSA]
30 June / Chambersburg, PA / 12.5 cents per pound [Fleming, 2 FL, CSA]
30 June / near Fayetteville, PA / 75 cents per pound [Tesh, 28 NC, CSA]
30 June / near Cashtown, PA / 18 cents per pound (prime) [Walters, Grandy’s Battery, CSA]
1 July / Coudersport, PA / 12.5 cents/pound [The Potter Journal, market price, USA]
July / PA / 10 cents per pound [John Bedingfield, 60 GA, CSA]

CHICKENS
Lieutenant Joel C. Blake of the 5th Florida confirms that in a border region a chicken (weighing perhaps three pounds) sold for 10 U.S. cents, or ten times that amount in Confederate currency.

Ca. 22 June / (northwest) VA / 10 cents apiece Union, $1 apiece Confederate [Blake, 5 FL, CSA]
28 June / Chambersburg, PA / 15 cents apiece [Maxwell, 2 FL, CSA]
30 June / Chambersburg, PA / 15 cents apiece [Fleming, 2 FL, CSA]
30 June / near Fayetteville, PA / 25 cents apiece [Tesh, 28 NC, CSA]
July / PA / 10 cents apiece [John Bedingfield, 60 GA, CSA]
1 July / Coudersport, PA / 5-6 cents per pound [The Potter Journal, market price, USA]

ONIONS
Two cost examples are known.

15 June / Hamilton’s Crossing, VA / $1 for 5 onions (about 1 pound) [Tesh, 28 NC, CSA]
1 July / Coudersport, PA / 75 cents to $1 per bushel (about 57 lbs.) [The Potter Journal, market price, USA]

POTATOES

1 July / Coudersport, PA / 37.5 to 44 cents per bushel [The Potter Journal, market price, USA]
9 August / Orange Court House, VA / $10 per bushel ($2.50 per peck) [Pickens, 5 AL, CSA]

WATERMELONS

Watermelons thrive in warm climates, so Confederate soldiers would likely not have seen any during the invasion. South of the Mason-Dixon line they were apparently a rare and expensive treat, based on this one example:

August 17 / Orange Court House, VA / $9 apiece [Pickens, 5 AL, CSA]
 
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Being quite naive about this, can someone briefly describe how and why individual soldiers would buy food like this? Didn't they get food from the field mess? Was it for something different?
 
Being quite naive about this, can someone briefly describe how and why individual soldiers would buy food like this? Didn't they get food from the field mess? Was it for something different?
If you were a confederate, by late 1863 their diet was down to something like "3 bites of bacon. 1 handful of corn meal or 2 hardtack" or something similar, and a lot of regular soldiers got that once every other day if they were lucky. So if you were in the South and had gotten your hands on a couple greenbacks, I'm sure a meal would be a top of the lists of "to buy"? Just thinking with my belly here. If it was "free money" you'd probably be much more likely to throw caution to the wind and blow it on some creature comforts you may have been wanting/missing.

If you were in the Union, and getting fed regularly, I would still imagine they needed some kinds of niceties to break up the monotony. How many days in a row can you really have black coffee before you scream "Crud! I just want a drop of cream and teaspoon of sugar!". Or in the case of bread...how nice would a fresh loaf of bread be over the hardtack you've been chocking down for the last 3 weeks on march? I could be way off base here as well, and have done absolutely zero research into things, but if this were right after Gettysburg, I'm sure supply lines on both sides were disrupted. Who knows how many needed a meal on the 4th and would be happy to shell out a couple bucks after the ordeal they went through.
 
I remember hearing a story about Union troops approaching a farmhouse near Gettysburg.

The woman of the house (who, unbeknownst to the soldiers, had Southern sympathies) came out with a basket of bread. She took out the first loaf and began to hand it to a soldier, then realized that he was a Union soldier, not a Confederate.

At that point, she pulled the loaf back and informed the soldiers that if any of them wanted bread, they would have to pay a dollar for each loaf.
 
Yes, I've read stories where taking advantage of soldiers was the main theme. One story is wonderful- someone selling glasses of milk to passing troops had their stand suddenly overwhelmed and whoops, commerce turned into donations. And should have. For what it's worth locals were charged the same silly prices. Elizabeth Thorn, ejected from the Gatehouse for awhile ( Howard had an idea she'd be in less danger in the middle of a gigantic battlefield..... ), bought bread from another local. She said it was half baked and inedible.

There's another believable account post battle of opportunists selling bandages to wounded men. Bandages! Rats, wish I could remember whose memoirs that's from. She found it so shocking because most homes were filled with wounded men and households ripping up sheets for bandages.

From what I can find, opportunists were swift to jump on board but there are accounts of men hanging out by kitchens while women's bread baked. Heck, we get sidetracked by Virginia Wade's death- she was making bread. The family had been baking bread and taking it outside to troops before she was killed. A good amount of accounts are of civilians passing bread and water from the sidewalk to troops along with more positive interactions between civilians and Confederate troops than you'd think.

It's a little bit of a pity those bloodsuckers around didn't meet the troops who decided selling milk was not nice.
 
Being quite naive about this, can someone briefly describe how and why individual soldiers would buy food like this? Didn't they get food from the field mess? Was it for something different?

During a campaign, supplies are often disrupted.

While the troops were fighting at Gettysburg, the Union supply head was a day's wagon-haul behind them. Priority was given to getting ammo forward to the Army and bringing wounded back. Men at Gettysburg went hungry, no matter what might have been available 20 miles behind them.

The same often applies when campaigning troops are on the march. The Army may well have rations available somewhere near you, but if they can't get them to you, you don't have them. This applies to many other items as well. The OR has many references to Union commanders in the Gettysburg Campaign urgently requesting socks and shoes for troops who are now marching barefoot due to the constant hard use on the roads.

As a result, troops were constantly on the look for food and other things. Even if Army rations were available, they wouldn't be all that exciting and troops wouldn't be seeing things like fresh bread, vegetables or meat on campaign.
 
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A basic economic principle holds that the price and quantity of goods sold in the market are a function of both supply and demand. When supply decreases, the price of a good increases. When demand increases, again the price of the good increases. Price gouging occurs when prices lead to unfair levels. But how do we define the moment when fluctuating prices caused by supply and demand cross the line into unfairness? We still struggle with the question today, after every natural disaster.

I think we can define price gouging as a temporary situation in which demand spikes, but in actuality there is sufficient supply. The temporary presence of a marching Army or the aftermath of a natural disaster are both good examples.

BTW, someone said up thread the Confederates would not have found watermelon in South Central Pennsylvania. I'm not sure that's true. Maybe not as ripe in July as it may have been in, say, Alabama, but it would have been there. Pennsylvanian's would have already cut hay when Lee's Army arrived. It's not the Arctic tundra.
 
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