Tonights at war with king debating drinking and in the civil war. My name is molly mersmann and i am a postdoctoral associate here with the Virginia Center for civil war here at virgin tech, which is sponsoring this event, the center regularly hosts talks like and other activities which include academic conferences scholarships and grants, outreach programs in museums and, Elementary School classrooms and more besides, basically sharing wonderful civil war era history. As many different people as we possibly can. You can keep up with what is going on with the center on our website, which is civil war dot v teen dot edu or you can go on facebook or twitter. On to tonights event. Our speaker is dr. Meghan bever, who is an associate professor of history and chair of the social department at Missouri Southern state university. She received her ph. D. From, the university of alabama, but i am a little more excited that she received her undergraduate degree at purdue university, which is where i went for my graduate work. So im excited to have that connection with. Broadly, she focuses on 19th century u. S. History, an emphasis on civil era liquor and foods studies. She is the coeditor of the book the historian behind, the history. And her most work is the brand at war with king alcohol, debating, drinking and mask enemy in the civil war era, which is the subject of this evenings presentation. Dr. Barbour will speak for around to 35 minutes, give or take, by a discussion with the with you wonderful people. You can all type in your questions at any time using the q a button on zoom. We may not be able to get to single question, but we certainly are going to try. We are to wrap things up at the latest around 815 noon eastern time. I think that is it for me. And with i would like to just say thank you to bever for how grateful i am that she is joining us tonight to her wonderful new to discuss her research. And with that i will turn it over to dr. Pepper. Thank you, dr. Emerson. Molly, for that wonderful and very generous introduce. And id like to thank the Virginia Center for civil war studies and dr. Paul quigley as well, for the invitation to join you all this evening. I really appreciate the virtual welcome from blacksburg, and im so glad that so many of you have decided to join us this evening. If i share my screen, i would to begin tonight in camp of the 118th pennsylvania and specific i id like to join them along the potomac. In may 1863. This is just days after the union defeat at chancellor and the event is somewhat unrelated. I want to set the scene, but the scene were going to step into is a party or, a shindig of sorts, hosted a captain dendy sharwood before the war, sherwood had been a hotel owner and he had experience as a caterer because of his line of work and for his shindig, he treated his guests, other fellow officers, to a generous supply of gin, fish house, punch club, punch and ale, and to go along with those beverages, the offers the officers found tubs of cold beef boiled ham, a Chicken Salad and ham sandwiches. Perhaps not surprisingly, the men really enjoyed themselves at sherwoods party, and his tent became filled with a writhing mass of drunken men who were exchanged at least some pledges of love, friendship. The next morning, most of the officers lay asleep on the floors under the tables and on the ground, surround ning sherwoods tent. Only one captain who had remained sober at the party was awakened up to report for duty, and luckily i suppose the sober captain found the incident mostly amusing. The problem, and i think which i can, you know, thank for for giving me a book to write is that drunkenness in the army wasnt always as funny as party. In fact, later that year, in the same regiment, the 18th pennsylvania, a private shields was found outside the limits. One october day. He was roaring drunk and disgrace ing the regiment and in by unseemly and conduct his captain, Francis Adams donelson, was out of patience. Privates shields was a substitute, and although he was quiet and inoffensive when he was sober, he was a veritable devil incarnate. When drunk and unfortunately for private shields, he was drunk. Most the time. So in this particular instance, after he was taken to the guardhouse, the very combative private shields charge captain donelson with his musket, donelson being sober was able to wrest musket away from shields, and he clubbed the private on the. The blow kilt killed private shields instantly. Captain donelson felt justified in his actions, and he wasnt punished for the mishap. But he still got branded as a mankiller by men in regiments in nearby. And of course, donaldsons negative experience is only part of the problem. Shields ended up dead, and its by what most of us would consider unavoidable accident if he not been so often drunk, violent. Neither the shah would ignore the shields incident or isolated. It wasnt that 118th pennsylvania was uniquely liquored up. In fact these types of occurrences, both ornery and funny, and then also violent, occurred throughout union and confederate armies. And they did so at least in part because the armys regulations regarding liquor left the armies unable to completely rid the camps of. The potentially disruptive spirits. And this is what would like to talk about tonight in the limited of time that we have. How the armies were at war with liquor in more than one sense. First, id like to discuss how Union Confederate armies purposefully went to with liquor stocked in their medical and Subsistence Department as much as possible. And after fleshing out the official uses for liquor, i want to turn to the ways that officers and soldiers broadened their beyond those official rations. Drinking and becoming intoxicated when it suited their own medicinal and recreational needs ultimately. Id like to discuss how the widespread use of liquor left officers soldiers, civilians debating how much drinker drinking was appropriate for men who were serving their countrys. So lets begin by looking at alcohols official uses, medicinal uses in the civil war armies and in 2023, when we think of alcohol or liquor, we tend to focus on those numbing characteristics that pain relieving the cough relieving even emotional relief that liquor provides for us. But when the civil war began, the medical community didnt really liquor this way at all. In fact, the medical manuals discussed liquor as a stimulant. So the idea was liquor could reinvigorate a body that had lost a lot of blood and it could restore nervous when men were suffering from shock. So when the civil war surgeons are instructed to prescribe liquor when soldiers are sick or wounded in order to stimulate the body and help it recover every use of liquor designed to give the body a jolt, if you will. So in practice, what this looks like is union and confederate armies guidelines to to use liquor to treat wounds and illness in their hospitals and beyond this the medical departments also used whiskey rations try to prevent malaria. They mix quinine with whiskey and so you know anything about the 1860s you may know that physicians in that decades physicians at the start of the civil war dont understand that malaria is a mosquito illness. But the u. S. Army does know that malaria occurred swampy or low lying areas. And they also know that quinine can treat malaria. They also think it can prevent it. The problem with quinine is its incredibly bitter. And youve ever tasted tonic water, you you know this to an extent. So you have to cut the quinine with something to help get it down. And civil war soldiers, their quinine with whiskey. So any time the armies are encamped near water departments dole out whiskey quinine rations. If supplies are available. Beyond the medical departments, military regulations stated that whiskey or other types of could also be used in cases of exposure. And what this meant was the soldiers got whiskey rations whenever. They were stuck in extreme elements, typically water or snow or mud if theyre cold, damp, they get rations again. If supplies allows. So this hopefully prevents them from becoming ill. And this is particularly common if soldiers are serving picket duty in bad weather. And then the final official use of whiskey rations is that theyre used in cases of extreme fatigue. And officially, this means that soldiers can have rations any, time, theyre performing fatigue, duty. So building bridges, digging trenches, burying the dead. In practice this often gets expanded to include anything thats exhausting. Marching long distances, for example, is sometimes lumped together with fatigue duty. Now, i think at first glance, these guidelines seem straightforward enough. They appear to be clearly defined. When liquor is going to be used or doled as a ration . Its also measured. Its usually a gill, a half gill. And i wanted put those conversions up for you. So a liquor ration is about a shot or maybe two. And just to give that a measurement that more used to than a gill. The problem is that in practice, these guidelines are not really very specific all. And in large part the confusion and the lack of specificity came from the fact that supplying the rations often left to the discretion of a Commanding Officer. So in some cases commanding generals actually decide and take control over how liquor is going to be dispensed. For example, the battle of fredericksburg in 62, robert lee, who was commanding the army of virginia, he forbade christmas rations throughout the ranks. So he just controls from the top how the whiskey is is going to flow or not flow. In this case, but just down the road, in the army of the potomac, youve got general joseph hooker. He is celebrating christmas and his new promotion by doling out whiskey rations pretty widely. So can see in two cases, both in fredericksburg or fredericksburg in 1862, you have general really controlling the ebb and flow liquor rations at the top. Thats pretty. Most of the time the decision about rations passed down the chain of command. So the implementation varies lot by whos in charge. So if a colonel or a major in your chain of command is a teetotal, youre probably not getting any rations. And other times your Company Officer might have the authority to ladling out whiskey. And so basically what this means is you have a lot of low ranking officers making decisions about what constitutes exposure and what constitutes fatigue. So when men had to march for, there are plenty of Commanding Officers who thought that a ration of whiskey would stimulate them, so to speak, for the journey. This doesnt work that well. There in plenty of cases whiskey and other forms of liquor are responsible. A lot of straggling, perhaps the most infamous instance of not working well are the whiskey related problems that occurred during burnsides mud march. Again, this is shortly after the battle of fredericksburg soldiers in the army of the potomac are incredibly demoralized anyway. Their officers decide give them whiskey rations to cheer them up in the midst of the bad weather and everything else. And the men drunk and begin fighting. Beyond marches, there are other officers who decide that battle constitutes extreme. Fatigue. And this is absolutely, most assuredly not what military considers to be fatigued duty. But the officers seemed to be that if you needed whiskey to dig ditch, you definitely needed whiskey. Charge a hill. And the general seemed to be that liquor could stimulate, but maybe also calm nerves or steal a soldier in the midst of a fight. Again, it doesnt work the way that officers intend. So there are instances when officers will give whiskey rations battle and it backfires. In one case, during siege of petersburg in june 1864, a federal captain gave his men whiskey right. They were going to be engaged and instead of fighting the men, it dropped into a ditch just outside of line of trees. And the captain who had given the whiskey rations was left with tears streaming down his face. He was screaming at his men and prods them, begging them not to disgrace themselves or, also to disgrace him. Despite his fear that men might fighting if they were during battle. There were plenty officers who gave men if theyd been under heavy fire. And i think this is especially true after the men were done fighting if theyd experienced a victory. So i think this is the biggest stretch of these official regulations for officers in a way. So ill just give another example to try to illustrate the point when. A federal general fitch, john porter heard of Union Successes in tennessee. So porter is in virginia on the peninsula, but he hears news of grants successes in tennessee in early 62, and he gives all of his colonels permission to issue a celebrated jury ration to their men. Hes pretty far away from successes of grant. Hes all the way in the eastern theater, but he gets excited. He. He predicts that the union army will take richmond in about six weeks. And i say think that these celebrations as porters they show basic that that that official use of is being used to raise morale. So to stave off emotional exhaustion or mental fatigue if you will to try to steal the men and convince them to keep going. So those are what i would consider to be the official uses of liquor and the ways that officers use. Whats important remember, though, is that even the soldier used liquor rations beyond what their Commanding Officers intend. And here, i think its important me to note that officers are allowed to drink, but enlisted men in, lest they receive an official ration, are not allowed to drink. So theres a difference in the status that so officers during the war are keeping private of liquor. They could buy from camp merchants. They could passes to go to town and drink at times. So the captain sharwood that we met at the beginning of the talk, hes not out of line. He had permission to keep those private stores. He had permission to share them with fellow officers and party, but enlisted in the war werent supposed procure their own spirits. Theyre not supposed to buy from the camp merchant. Theyre not supposed drink in town, not even supposed to go to town without a pass. So this is why privates was in so much trouble. He had left camp without and he had procured his own spirits. And then on top of it all, he had become violently drunk. And to be clear shields is not alone. And i said that at the beginning, but enlisted men are drinking all of the time, even though its against the rules. But what i find is, even though theyre there drinking is officially against the rules. They are basing their own uses liquor off of of army. And the route here of soldiers drinking is that they have grown using liquor medicinally. So soldiers here are not unlike medical professionals. I mean, they are, but they believe that liquor treats illness. So theyve up in homes where wines and brandies are kept on hand in case someone became ill. So when soldiers became sick in the army, which was fairly they typically tried to find liquor to treat themselves. Federal soldiers could typically get whiskey rations from their medical departments. But confederate soldiers were much less adequately in their medical departments. They tend to try to scrounge their own whiskey and they use it really broadly to treat whatever is ailing them. One of my favorite examples is a texas man. His name is elijah petty, but he reports in a letter to his wife. He reports that he used about four fingers of brandy and also a bat. So hes combining the drinking with the back. But hes trying to treat fever brought on by a severe a very sore and painful ripped fingernail that i think is infected. And then also a case of piles. So this brandy is supposed to cover a lot of ground for petty and actually thinks that it works. He announced after his brandy and baths that he is ready for a full discharge. His duty. So soldiers really beyond this medicinal use, they then expand use or their understanding of liquors, usefulness. Theyre treating head. Theyre treating infected thumbs. But theyre also interpreting exposure and exhaustion. And fatigue even more broadly than their Commanding Officer, if thats possible. And soldiers much than official documents, talk about they talk about mental fatigue. And one of the places where i see this happening are in their winter camps. So, again, those of you who study the civil war know a lot about. It already are maybe familiar with this, but civil wars, war, spend a lot of time in winter camp more much more so than they do in battle. And by and large, when campaigning stops in the winter, soldiers end up living months in these tent cities that are fairly massive. And what they do is they try to make these shelters as home like as possible. Right. They try to make them warm. They build little pieces of furniture them. And they do anything they can to make them. Comfortable. And one of the ways that they attempt make themselves warm and comfortable by drinking. There are men, especially, who keep jugs of whiskey, their beds. And this seems straightforward, right . Theyre combating exposure. They think theyre staving off the cold. Thats not actually how liquor works, but they dont really understand that. But men are also right about keeping warm by playing whiskey poker. So this seems to just a little bit more than exposure. Its clear theyre trying to pass the time. Its clear theyre trying to relieve boredom. Theyre certainly trying to create some kind of familial atmosphere or that theyve had to leave behind. So when they talk about drinking in their tents at while playing games. There seems be an element of emotion in all care here. And i think that this emotional element, drinking becomes clearer around like christmas. So this is really where i see a lot of soldiers drinking combined with angst. Its a time most soldiers were used to drinking with their families, used to being with their. And they go to really fantastic lengths to fine liquor around. The christmas holidays. One example is from texas excuse me, walkers texas division. A group of enlisted men pooled their resource together to purchase some whiskey about 40 a gallon in order to have what they called a frolic on christmas day. Those prices werent isolated. For those of you who are sort of shocked. There are other soldiers who report paying between 30 and 50 for a gallon of liquor to help celebrate. And what these men are trying to do is make christmas camp as much like christmas at home as they can. But it doesnt work. They will sometimes wait for their families to send care packages. And when those care packages that include whiskey or not dont arrive, the men become melancholy. A floridian named Robert Watson said that after he drank, he still didnt. Mary, because his thoughts at home. So these descriptions of, sadness and loneliness theyre very similar to the ways that men describe picket duty. The way they describe illnesses. So liquor become