IOWA DURING THE

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

ON THE HOMEFRONT:

Presented by Russ Gifford

How did the American Civil War affect

Iowa and Iowans?

Tonight’s Goals:

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

Missouri, Kansas and… Iowa?

Feelings About Slavery

(Which is not the same as feeling toward

Slaves)

Was Lincoln Popular in Iowa?

Tonight’s Goals:

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

What happened in business, government,

and most importantly, at home when

“Johnny marched off to war”?

Tonight’s Goals:

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

• Part of Wisconsin Territory – 1800

• Becomes a state – July 4, 1846 as part

of the Missouri Compromise of 1820.

• The War with Mexico - 1848

Iowa Events

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

• Dred Scott – March 6, 1857

The verdict “crystallized attitudes that led

to war.” – Oxford Guide to the Supreme

Court

National Events

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

• But Iowan’s were not fooled by the

Dred Scott case. The first Iowa

Supreme Court case – 18 years before

– had clearly ruled in Re the Matter of

Ralph that the slave was free in the

territory of free-soil Iowa.

National Events

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

America, 1860

US population = 31,443,321:

Black = 4,442,000;

Free Black = 488,000

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

• Lincoln elected – November 6, 1860

• South Carolina secedes – December 20

Succession!

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

1861: Additional states follow:

• Jan 9: Mississippi

• Jan 10: Florida

• Jan 11: Alabama

• Jan 19: Georgia

• Jan 26: Louisiana

More States Leave

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

Jan 29: Kansas admitted as a free state

Feb 4:

Confederate States of America formed

National Events

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

Feb 18: Jefferson Davis becomes

President of Confederacy

Mar 4: Abraham Lincoln becomes

President of Union

More States Leave

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

April 12-13: Fort Sumter, South Carolina, is fired on, and surrenders.

Lincoln mobilizes, and each Union state is asked to provide 75,000 men.

It Will Be War!

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

• April 17: Virginia

• May 6: Arkansas

• May 20: North Carolina

• June 8: Tennessee

More States Leave

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

Iowa, 1860

Iowa population = 674,913

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

In Iowa, and other

states, men had

already begun to

mobilize – some as

early as January.

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR“We dropped our chisels,

yard-sticks and pens from

devotion to our country.

We took strong farewell

embraces, and deep,

earnest kisses…. We

dashed the spray from our

eyes, we shook fervent

hands at parting, all

through devotion to our

country.”

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

But what

happened

to those

left

behind?

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

But what happened to those left behind?

IOWA DURING THE

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

Keeping the Home Fires Burning

with Russ Gifford

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

Letters tell

the story.

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

“An army without

food and scantily

clothed is easily

whipped.”

John Q. Hanna,

Waterloo, Iowa

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

“The loyal women of the State responded nobly to the task of outfitting the first

Iowa regiments. They formed “Soldiers’ Aid Societies” and undertook to cut the

cloth purchased and make it up into uniforms.”

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

“clothing, tents, skillets, pots, kettles, pans, sow belly, hard tack and a darned

little bit of whiskey; hay, oats, corn, hospital tents, ambulances, medicines

of all kinds, etc, etc. Every train of supplies was a loving reminder of our

noble friends of the north.”

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

“The women of Iowa rendered valuable

service throughout the war in making

havelocks, lint, bandages, towels,

needle books, and various kinds of

hospital stores for the soldiers.”

IOWA DURING THE

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

Farming and Finances

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

“Decisions and tasks that had always been the responsibility of the husbands were now upon the shoulders of the wives.”

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

October 21, 1862

"If you possibly can, I think you had better sell all the horses. … as feed is so hard to get and I would like for you to keep the cows if you possibly can."

Sam Mattox

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

November 23, 1862

• "You can sell or

trade the old wagon

for whatever you

can get…You had

better try to trade

the colt for corn

and wheat."Sam Mattox

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

March 17, 1863

"I am sorry your relief money has given out for I don't know now when I will get any more money to send to you…

Sam Mattox

IOWA DURING THE

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

Losses &

Love

Newton Scott,

Monroe Co, Iowa

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

June 17, 1863

• "Since I wrote you last … E. F. Knight Has Bin verry sick But is getting well now. Dorsey Makin is verry Sick at the Present He took Sick on or about the 15th March & Has Bin Gradualy Sinking Ever Since He is not Exspected to live …

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

July 23, 1863

• "I am Sorrow to Inform you that we Recd.. the

News Here a few days ago that Oliver

Boardman was Killed in the late Fight with

Johnston in the Rear of Vicksburg & Several

more of that Co. Wounded

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

July 6, 1863

• "You Spoke a word or two in Refference to my

Darling Hattie & that the Cavalry Boy would

Be to fast for me there But If He is I cannot

Help it But will Cry If I can Shed a tear.

IOWA DURING THE

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

Mother, Cook,

& Nurse

Recipes found in an

1862 cookbook

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

SOAP AND CANDLES

SOAP

Pour twelve quarts of boiling water upon five pounds of unslacked lime. Then dissolve five pounds of washing soda in twelve quarts of boiling water, mix the above together, and let the mixture remain from twelve to ….

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

TO RAISE BREAD WITHOUT YEAST

Mix in your flour subcarbonate of

soda, two parts, tartaric acid one part,

both finely powdered. Mix up your bread

with warm water, adding but little at a

time, and bake soon.

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

GARGLE FOR SORE THROAT, DIPTHERIA OR

SCARLET FEVER

Mix in a common size cup of fresh milk two

teaspoonfuls of pulverized charcoal and ten

drops of spirits of turpentine. Soften the

charcoal with a few drops of milk before

putting into the cup. Gargle frequently,

according to the violence of the symptoms.

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

Not all women were at home.

Nationwide, some 8000 women were with the Northern

armies, as nurses and caretakers.

For Consideration

IOWA DURING THE

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

Reaching Their Limits

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

Clearly, the hardships of the American Civil War

reached from the battlefront

to the home front.

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

Men endured hell in the battlefield and disease

in the camps.

Women married to soldiers endured as both

the homemaker and the laborer – for 4 years.

One can argue it was on the home front that

the actual brake was placed on the battlefield.

Neither side was doing well, and by late 1863

and early 1864, both home fronts had tired of

unending war.

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

When women in the South rioted in Richmond

and other cities due to privation, it would

shake the foundations of the Confederacy.

“I have 6 little children and my husband is in the army what am I to do?”

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

November, 1863

“There’s a heap of men

gone home. And there’s

another heap that says

they will go too if their

families get to suffering.”A Southern

soldier

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR•

The Iowa Homefront endured.

Veteran in a New Field (1865)

Winslow Homer (American, 1836–1910), The Veteran in a New Field, 1865

The war changed the men who fought in it, and

the country they fought for.

But it would change the women who proved

their ability to labor and to endure – and to

push for their rights, as well.

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

"It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens;

nor yet we, the male citizens;

but we, the whole people, who formed the Union.

And we formed it, not to give the blessings of liberty, but to secure them;

not to the half of ourselves and the half of our posterity,

but to the whole people - women as well as men.”

– Susan Anthony’s argument for Women’s Rights

Women’s Rights (1866 - 1872)

How did the American Civil War affect

Iowa and Iowans?

Can you Answer

Tonight’s Goals?

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

Missouri, Kansas and… Iowa?

Feelings About Slavery

(Which is not the same as feeling toward

Slaves)

Was Lincoln Popular in Iowa?

Can you Answer

Tonight’s Goals?

IOWA and the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

What happened in business, government,

and most importantly, at home when

“Johnny marched off to war”?

Can you Answer

Tonight’s Goals?

Created and produced by

Russell Gifford

Russ Gifford © 2008

Pictures provided by the National Archives,

Sioux City Public Museum, and other regional

historical groups.