James McDowell Papers, #1707

In this November 12, 1864 broadside General Jubal Early promises food supplies for soldiers' families' in the Virginia counties of Augusta and Rockbridge will be exempted from seizure by the army for other purposes. Early hoped his proclamation would reassure his troops and maintain civilian morale.

Papers of the Hill Family, #6548

This January, 1865 letter from one sister in rural Virginia to another explains the toll the war had taken on the social interactions and social life of Southerners. "You can tell what ladies we have been all this year. I have nothing to do but sit in the house & sew all day."

Papers of the Minor Family, #6055

In January 1865, Mary Ann Swann Minor confided to her diary about hardships in the South. "The country is destitute of food for man & beast. Much sickness and distress." A few months later, as the war was drawing to a close, this despair and war-weariness began to manifest itself as reckless revelry. "War still in our land & the people ful (sic) of exertion, gaity (sic) of every kind. Even the soldiers deserting the army the whole country seems demoralized. I believe we who profess to love God, are living far from Him! We do not pray as we did."

Calico was a favorite among women for a variety of clothing. This 1866 sample was used for a glove.

Dannett, Sylvia and Jones, Katharine M., Our Women of the Sixties, Washington, D.C.: U. S. Civil War Centennial Commission, 1963. 

America did not forget the sacrifices and courage of women during the Civil War Centennial. This special publication provides many objective examples of Southern and Northern women's activities. Chapter VI, "The Federal Blockade and Women's Ingenuity," describes how Confederate women overcame food shortages.