https://www.susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/bc4053c71d5d714c2f2720f36ff1025e.png f1a64f26658264479f2b994b74ca910c https://www.susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/ea0c608404049e1f0b2e286e9e99ccee.png 64aafecfa2b3ca181ec29b58f12da5ed https://www.susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/a51d037f3366e79ee3f8bd7dc4b0cba3.png 0176f064b3dd43ec847a5cb0a4a6e501 https://www.susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/354c2963035b4816b616f6dccfed4172.png 50e1ef132e60d7a689bf94ed61ef1a0d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Civilians and Divided Loyalties Subject The topic of the resource The sample documents in this section are designed to help site users study the impact of military campaigns and other wartime pressures on the Mississippi home front. They also reveal that while some Mississippians remained devoted Confederates, others were steadfast Unionists, while others changed their positions during the war. These documents also spotlight the changing gender roles women experienced in the war — thrusting them into positions as heads of households in the absence of husbands, fathers, or adult sons in military service. Women of all classes asserted their needs to the governor, especially soldiers' wives and widows. The collection also indicates that women's leadership of households did not end with the war. Considering the high death toll of the Civil War (750,000 Americans (military and civilian; North and South), and the number of <a href="https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/about/exhibition/lifeandlimb.html#:~:text=More%20than%20three%20million%20soldiers,saved%20lives%20by%20sacrificing%20limbs">permanently disabled veterans</a>, it shouldn't be surprising that women would need to remain in roles as breadwinners. Finally, be sure to examine one of the most interesting letters in the collection that describes efforts by Governor James Lusk Alcorn's administration to stop the assaults and murders committed by the Ku Klux Klan across the state. <div>Secession Support: Several documents in this sample reveal white Mississippians' early support for secession and desire to contribute to the Confederate cause, including <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/1">Charles Fontaine's calls for secession</a> from Pontotoc, MS just after Abraham Lincoln won the Election of 1860. See also<a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/8"> Mrs. J. O. Smith's appeal from Vicksburg</a>, where, in September 1861, she offered her services to the Confederate cause as a volunteer nurse in Virginia. Wartime Pressures: Other documents in this sample reveal the pressures Mississippians faced as Union forces invaded the state, including food shortages that affected their families. A good example of this is <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/20">L. J. Wilson's plea from Vicksburg</a>, MS, in July 1862 (a year before the Federal siege of that city) for state-assistance to provide sufficient salt for food preservation, as well as wood and water to residents. See also militiaman W. V. W. McLendon's description of food shortages in March 1863 and his proposed solution that militiamen be sent home to plant and <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/36">later harvest those crop</a>s. In Marion, MS, C. W. Henderson suggested securing corn from counties where it grew in abundance, and distributing it to <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/32">soldiers' families</a> in areas like his own Lauderdale County which was in "a Suffering condition." Be sure to do a keyword search for "food" or "salt" to pick up letters in the other themes about shortages. There's a fascinating letter by William E. Scott (Copiah County) in <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/35">February 1863</a> suggesting ways that the governor might alleviate devastating hunger among Confederate soldiers across the state. Women Asserting Rights on the Home Front: Several of the wartime letters reveal the experiences of Mississippi white women of all classes asserting their needs to the governor. See, for example, the letter by widow <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/27">Charlotte Smiley of Jefferson County, MS</a>, whose husband died of consumption in Confederate service. Smiley found herself and her family "quite destitute" by August 1862, and hoped for an exemption from her taxes and financial assistance as a military widow. There is also a petition of <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/60">Sarah D. Garrett of Canton, Madison County, MS</a> protesting her September 1864 fine for allowing the enslaved men and women she owned to travel "at large" and "trade as freemen." Garrett made the case successfully that it was not her behavior that caused insecurity in the community, but rather the breakdown of the courts, property seizures by Union and Confederate forces, and the collapsing economy that forced her to take these actions while her sons were away serving in the Confederate army. There is a powerful protest from October 1864 by <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/53">Sarah Neece of Lawrence County</a>, MS against men who seized her pony for Confederate military needs. Neece appears to have been in the right (based on notations on the document), but it's unknown at this time if the horse was ever returned or replaced for the illiterate mother who relied entirely on "a small dun pony" to provide for her four children. The request of <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/78">Caroline M. Burns of Starkville, MS </a>speaks to women's continued roles as breadwinners after the war. She hoped for an exemption from Governor Sharkey's July tax on all <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/08/07/archives/mississippi-taxes-imposed-by-gov-sharkey.html">businesses and wartime earnings </a>which, Burns argued, she could not pay in addition to the costs of running an inn out of her home and providing for her children. Still, Burns insisted, the governor should note this was the first exemption request she had ever made, having previously fulfilled the "responsibilities and duties of a good citizen." Mississippi Unionists on the Home Front: The Lost Cause largely erased the memory of white Mississippians who supported the Union during the war, but documents like these demonstrate that they, indeed, existed. As more documents are transcribed and annotated, the CWRGM research team will have a better sense of how prevalent Unionist support was among civilians, as well as why, where and when it tended to increase or decrease. Within this sample, you can find examples of home front Unionism in Mississippi in several July 1865 documents. In one, Union veteran <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/76">William M. Pollan of Choctaw County, MS</a>, spotlights Unionists' fight against secession even after the war ended. He detailed anti-Union statements heard in his community, and, fearing a resurgence of secessionist support, requested permission to organize the many Unionists he claimed exist in his county into a militia to thwart that threat. See also the letter from Unionist <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/73">James Pierce of Columbus, MS</a>. He refused to fight for the Confederacy throughout the war and served as a hospital steward instead. Pierce hoped to secure a position in local or state government through his demonstrated loyalty to the United States now that Mississippi had rejoined the Union. (Written by Susannah J. Ural, Ph.D.)</div> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Page 1: Dalton, Chickasaw co. Miss. March 12th 1863 John J. Pettus Governor, &c. Dear Sir.—permit an hororable citizen to address your Excellency in a few interrogations, &c. We are in the midst of per-ilous times: the terrible war in which we are engaged has made such a drain on our agricultural popula-tion, that already the question of Food is a question of the most vital importance; and notwithstanding all that may have been done by our State for the destitute families, yet there is danger of a good deal of suffering amongst that class for the want of the necessities of life. Food is scarce, and some articles of it are already selling at fabulous prices, so that even large sums of money purchase comparitively small quantities of food. This scarcity and these high prices, as you are doubtless aware, bear with peculiar force on the poor. Every producer of food taken from home into either the Confederate or State service lessens the quantity produced, and conse-quently the price is proportionally enhanced. Of this you are also aware Page 2: In view of these things, and the possi-bility of another unfavorable crop year, would it not be wise in the State authorities to let [strikethrough] as [strikethrough] many agri-cultural men remain at home as pos-sible? Would it not be a wise measure to turn over to the Confederate Service all the Conscripts in the service of the State, and send home the Mili-tia to make Bread for their families? So think many men of sound judgement in our State. It would not yet be too late for them to re-turn and raise a corn-crop. No doubt, the officers who are out, recieving good wages, with comparatively little to do, would oppose, with all their influence, such a movement; but then the good of the greatest number should be undoubtedly be considered. It is thought by many that the militia are more expense to the State than they do good in its defence. Of this, I will not dogmatically affirm. It is said, whether true or not, I cannot say, that men of property in the State Service are by one means or other, working out, and going home to raise crops: So writes a mi-litia man at Columbus. He says, with a few exceptions, the militia at that place are coming down to the "wool hat." Page 3: (Should there be any class discrimin-ation in such a case, it should be in favor of the poor, for the rich are able to employ some person to attend to their business, while many of the poor cannot—and consequent-ly can have nothing made at home) But the point to which I was [strikethrough] [unclear] [strikethrough] to arrive is the following, viz: If the Militia yet at home, pitch and plant their crops, is there any certainty that they will be permitted to remain at home long enough to cultivate, or make them? Or will they be liable at any time to be called out into the service though their crops should be half-made? We (the Militia) in this part of the State would feel grateful to our Executive for a definite answer to this inquiry, if he can and will give it. Men have little encourage-ment to try to raise a crop, if they think they may at any time, be called off in the midst of their labors. Their crops, perhaps, just planted, or it may be, half-made. Will you please give us some assurance therefore so that we may know what to do? Failure to make a crop would prove ruinous to many poor men for if they raise no crop, their Page 4: W. V. W. McLendon Dalton Miss families, as many of them, possess not the means to purchase provisions, must actually suffer: The State has already more destitute families to at-tend to, than it can do any thing like a good part by. Let not, then, the number of distitute be increased, if by any reasonable means it can be avoided. But as your Ecellen-cy is doubtless well aware of all these things, and well posted on whatever concerns The interest and welfare of our noble State, I will add little more, after requesting you to pardon me for trespassing so long on your time—and de-siring you, if you please, to answer this communication at as early a day as you may find convenient, not only on my own individual account, but also for the sake of others. Please address me at Dalton, Chickasaw Co. Miss. Very respectfully His Excellency } yours, &c. Jno. J Pettus } W. V. W, Mc"Lendon Jackson, Miss Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letter from W. V. W. McLendon to Mississippi Governor John J. Pettus; March 12, 1863 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context mdah_757-944-5-29 Subject The topic of the resource Families of military personnel.; Mississippi. Governor; Pettus, John Jones, 1813-1867. Description An account of the resource From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Pettus Collection. Letter from W. V. W. McLendon in Dalton, Mississippi, to Mississippi Governor John J. Pettus concerning the hardships being faced by the families of soldiers. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource McLendon, W. V. W. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Mississippi Department of Archives and History. (electronic version); Mississippi Digital Library. (electronic version) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1863-03-12 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Funding for this project provided by The Dale Center for Study of War and Society-USM, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the Mississippi Digital Library, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the University of Southern Mississippi, and the Watson-Brown Foundation Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource NO COPYRIGHT - UNITED STATES; http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/ Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1863