- Joined
- May 12, 2010
- Location
- Now Florida but always a Kentuckian
2006-ca-turkey
Yathin S Krishnappa [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Wild Turkey was enjoyed before and during the Civil War. After the war the turkeys suffered serious decline with the widespread logging of southern and eastern forests. During the war it was a prized source of protein and the turkey feathers made quills for correspondence.
There are several mentions of turkeys by soldiers in letters. They include:
John B. Jones, clerk to the Confederate secretary of war in Richmond, Va. on March 19, 1864.
"I saw a large turkey today in the market (wild) for which $100 was demanded."
A Major from 3rd Louisiana Infantry in letter to his father from the Yazoo River above Vicksburg on April 3, 1863 .
"The woods, or I might rather say the canebrakes, abound with wild turkey, and now and then the boys waste a cartridge in killing one----which is strictly forbidden."
Lt. Theodore A. Dodge, 101st N.Y. Volunteers, near Harrison Landing, Va. on July 3, 1862.
"Such a country for productiveness and I saw___ wild turkey and quail run through our camp all the time."
This shows wild turkey was available as food and much sought after by soldiers and probably the civilians.
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