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| Before the ink had dried on the articles of secession it became abundantly clear that the newly formed Confederate States government was not financially able to provide for the troops it needed for its defense. Throughout the four years the war waged on conditions in the South became steadily more desperate and basic necessities of life such as food, clothing, and shelter became increasingly more difficult to provide. |
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| Southern civilians lost clothing for many reasons. Clothing being stolen or damaged by Union troops is a common occurrence throughout Southern journals of the war years. Southern women wrote of the agony of seeing clothing they knew they would be unable to replace burned or packed into saddlebags and carried off by the invaders. Union troops themselves sometimes recorded in their own journals of taking clothing and other items they'd ransacked and sending it North to wives, children, or sweethearts. This was sometimes done from the practical standpoint of providing additional clothing for these Northern families, but often also from the simple aspect of sending home war trophies. Regardless of the reason many Southern women and children were often left with only the clothing they wore. |
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| Another reason Southern civilians faced a constant threat of loss of clothing was the fact that the blockades brought a halt to the amount of goods that could enter the South through ports or routes North. When blockade runners were able to get through with a shipment of goods prices were usually more than most Southerners could pay. |
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| A third reason many Southerners faced a shortage of clothing was because of volatile situations which often necessitated families fleeing invasion by Union troops. Refugees sometimes had short notice such that they were able to pack at least a few essentials, but many were caught off guard and were barely able to get away with the clothes they wore and perhaps a travel bag which had been previously packed "just in case". Clothing and essentials were sometimes sent away to family or friends in the country in an effort to save them only to have those homes ransacked and the clothing and other possessions lost. |
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| Because the Confederate States government could not supply ample clothing for its troops it became the responsibility of Southern women to provide not only for their family's needs, but also that of the Confederate troops. |
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| Spinning wheels were brought down from attics and generations of Southern women learned to spin and weave cloth as their ancestors had in years past. Some women were more adept at this art than others and thus the quality of homespun varied. Some women were naturally more gifted in the art of dyeing and developing patterns than others so yarn and homespun ranged from drab to quite beautiful. |
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| Knitting was another way Southern women provided for their families and the troops. Women and children, both North and South learned to knit. Northern women often worked as extensions of the U. S. Sanitary or Christian commissions and knitted items were collected for the U.S. troops. These efforts were certainly from the heart and much appreciated by the troops, however, there was never the desperation in clothing troops as was evident in the South. |
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| Southern women learned to knit not only traditionally knitted items, but to knit substitutes for other items such as corset laces, and braces (men's suspenders). Even in desperate times women need a diversion from the mundane and the War Between the States era was no exception. Knitted shawls were often decorated with elaborate patterns and borders which were shared and compared with those of other women in the community. |
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| Knitting was introduced in England in the l6th century. It was being used in Spain and Italy prior to being introduced in England. It was very popular in France, and the first knitting guild was created in Paris. The Germans and Poles were also excellent knitters. |
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| The word knitting is derived from the Anglo Saxon cinittan which means threads woven by hand. These threads were manipulated by means of long needles of bone, steel, gutta percha, or wood. The thread is passed from one needle to the other creating stitches. Yarns were of silk, cotton, worsted, or wool primarily. |
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| Southern women spun yarn which was often bleached by hanging on a line in the sunshine for periods of time, or it was dyed with natural ingredients found in the fields and forests in and around their homes. (See the Herbalist's Guide section). |
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| This was a theme echoed in times of war from the War Between the States, the World Wars, and even the last decade of the 20th century when calls went out for knitted socks and other items for troops in Bosnia. |
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| Southern women and children learned to knit socks and gloves which were shipped to family members in the service, to hospitals which needed such items to provide to the wounded, or to units to pass out to needy soldiers at their discretion. |
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| English children were taught to knit and provided hundreds of wool socks during WWI for the troops. |
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| Southern women became so adept at knitting they could do it with little or no attention, sometimes knitting while doing other activities such as reading. Many diaries discuss activities like knitting socks while walking to town or visiting, and many Southern churches deemed it fit and proper for women to knit in church. Need for these items was great, patriotism high, and women were willing to go to any lengths to provide them. |
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| Many women slipped notes of support in the socks before shipping them to the front. Many a soldier discovered these notes of patriotism and encouragement when his foot slid into one of the socks. No garments were ever made with so much love because each Southern woman knew in her heart the life of her loved one rested in the hands of God and felt somehow less helpless by providing for the comforts of the troops. Often late at night as midnight neared knitting needles could be faintly heard and in the stillness of the night after children were put to bed and all became quiet fears for the safety of a loved one would surface. |
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| Often items were shipped to the front in specific numbers per box. Socks were knitted, washed, and folded and then boxes were packed containing perhaps a pair of socks, gloves, handkerchief, etc. Sometimes a card bearing the name of the woman who had provided the items was included. Twelve such packages were then tied into bundles and sent to a company commander to distribute to needy individuals. |
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| Christmas time was one of the more special times when goods were collected and sent to the soldiers. In addition to socks and gloves there might also be visors, and scarves to ward off the cold. Christmases were rather bleak for Southern children during the war, yet the soldiers were provided for above all else. |
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| In January l855 an article entitled The American States: Alabama, Part I appeared in Debow's Review which stated, "It should be the aim of every political community to become self-sustaining, yet we have only one million invested in manufactures of every description, including cotton factories, forges, furnaces, tanneries, and distilleries. We are not, however, alone for the whole south is now almost slavishly dependent on the North for the very necessaries of life, which great and small find here a vacant market. Steam-engines, and coffee-mills, and knitting-needles; carpets, clothes, domestics, hats, hose, ready-made pants, shoes, and shirt collars; ships, passenger-cars, carriages, ploughs, buckets, axe-helves, stoves, gridirons, pots, pokers, rat-traps, and sausage stuffers, and every other contemptible notion are brought, to the enormous profit of the commiserating Yankee, for the supply of our lamentable destitution." |
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| In a mere six years Southerners would regret not paying more heed to the above passage when they saw blockades imposed isolating them from the source that provided the majority of their household items. In July l86l another article appeared in Debow's Review entitled The Southern Confederacy. This article was fairly lengthy and discussed the tariff of the Confederate States enacted at Montgomery, Ala. This tariff was imposed by the Congress of the Confederate States of America and imposed on all "goods, products, wares, and merchandise imported from abroad into the Confederate States". The tariff was broken down into several parts with various items taxed at a different percentage rate. |
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| "Needles of all kinds, for sewing, darning, and knitting" fell under Schedule C to be taxed at l5 percentum. This was in the higher end of taxation and represented a burden to the Southern women who would soon find themselves in a position of having to provide for the troops without these precious tools. Also included in Schedule C were essentials such as ink, fabric of varying kinds, corks, laces, dishes, etc. |
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| It is interesting to note that diamonds, cameos, gems, pearls, rubies and other precious stones were listed in Schedule D and were taxed at l0 percentum. Perhaps this shows the value of the knitting needles. |
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| As the war progressed periodicals of the day such as the Ladies Repository printed articles about knitting for the soldiers. This was perhaps done more as an encouragement to the ladies than for the literary merit. The following appeared in Vanity Fair in 1861 published in New York. |
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| The Knitting of the Socks |
| The winter is upon us - we have passed the equinox |
| Call the wives and maids and widows to the Knitting of the Socks |
| By the Potomac river the wind is blowing cold; |
| The frost-nip rusts the maple and dims the marigold: |
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| And on the Missouri's borders are waving to and fro |
| The pine-trees and the dry reeds that beckon to the snow: |
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| And the sea-board is rebounding in the surging of the main, |
| As the fog-bells and the light-ships ring and rock in the hurricane. |
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| Oh! A voice comes through the tempest, ringing clear like a crystal bell- |
| "Alls well!" adown the wind-gust, from the pacing sentinel: |
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| And in the lull of the night-blast between the swirls of sleet, |
| Comes the "stamp stamp" of the sentinel, for cold, cold are his feet. |
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| Fifty thousand maids and matrons, and widows a hundred score |
| Up, up! And ply the needles, let our soldiers freeze no more! |
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| And sweet music to your hearts will steal, as each pacing sentinel |
| Feels the sentiment he utters in his baritone "Alls well!" |
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| Ho! Buxom wife, and widows, and maid with the glossy locks, |
| Draw round the loyal hearth stone to the Knitting of the Socks!" |
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| As knitting needles were lost or damaged it was customary to replace them with needles made of wood. Many Southern women were proud to have a set of home-made knitting needles as their first set. Oak or hickory was the preferred wood because of its durability. These were fashioned to the proper size, sanded, and ready to begin providing service. |
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| Caps were knitted for Southern men during the war when hats became difficult to obtain. President Jefferson Davis is recorded as wearing such a knitted cap to church in Richmond. Echoes of Glory has a picture of knitted caps worn by soldiers during the war. Although made as substitutes for more standard types of head coverings they were warm and welcome to those in need. |
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| Any time not occupied with another activity was used to knit. Waiting for a business appointment, waiting for a wedding or funeral to start, visiting for tea, etc. were typical settings where women filled every minute with knitting. |
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| Knitting was limited only by darkness. Lighting was scarce during the war and when not available women would knit until it became too dark to see the stitches then it was lovingly put aside till daybreak. |
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| Often older men in the community remembered learning to knit as children and would teach the other men and boys. Knitting needles were sometimes made of bone in such situations. |
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| Gloves were often knitted with only half fingers so the soldier could have full control of his firearm. Sometimes what was thought to be the trigger finger was left at half length while the others were finished to full length for warmth. |
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| Neckties were knitted of various colors and from white yarn. Comforters were knitted garments worn about the neck for warmth and were knitted in an abundance of colors. |
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| Many women recorded in their journals they could knit a pair of socks per day. As long as supplies of yarn held out they were veritable knitting machines. |
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| BIBLIOGRAPHY |
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| Journals: |
| The Ladies' Repository: a monthly periodical devoted to literature, arts, and religion. Vol. 25, iss. 4 April l865, Cincinnati |
| Vol. 22, iss. 4 April l862, Cincinnati |
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| Vanity Fair. Vol. 4, l86l. New York |
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| Debow's Review, Atricultural, commercial, industrial progress and resources. Vol. 3l, iss. l. July l86l. New Orleans |
| Vol. l8, iss. l. Jan. l855. New Orleans |
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| The Atlantic Monthly. March l865; Vol. l5, No. 3. |
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| Books: |
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| Richmond During the War: Four Years of Personal Observation. Putnam, Sallie Brock. University of Nebraska Press. l996. |
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| Ersatz in the Confederacy: Shortages and Substitutions on the Southern Homefront. Massey, Mary Elizabeth. University of SC Press. l993 |
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| The Diary of Miss Emma Holmes l86l-l866. Marszalek, John. Louisiana State University Press. l979. |
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| Brokenburn: The Journal of Kate Stone l86l-l868. Anderson, John Q. Louisiana State University Press. l972 |
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| Lucy Breckinridge of Grove Hill: The Journal of a Virginia Girl l862-l864. Robertson, Mary D. University of SC Press. l994 |
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| Sarah Morgan: The Civil War Diary of a Southern Woman. East, Charles. Touchstone books. l99l |
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| Life in Dixie During the War. Gay, Mary A. H. Atlanta, GA l897 |
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| The Encyclopedia of Victorian Needlework Caulfeild, S. F. A. Vol. I. l972. Dover Books |
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