The Richmond Bread Riots (Article 111)

The Richmond Bread Riots (Article 111)

On April 2, 1863, a scene unfolded in the Capital City of the Confederacy, Richmond, Virginia, which could not have even been imagined only a few months earlier. Bands of women, desperate to obtain food for their families, roamed through the merchant district, breaking into stores and bakeries, and even government warehouses, to steal any provisions they could carry.

The Richmond Bread Riots had begun.

Although the Confederate military was still holding its own in that Spring of 1863, the supply chains which provided food and other necessities to both the Southern armies, and the civilians in their communities, were breaking down. Richmond, Virginia was especially hard hit as battles raged nearby and those troops had to be fed and the conduits for food delivery into the town such as wagon roads and rail lines had been disrupted. However, Richmond’s primary problem was the vast increase in population, from only about 30,000 in 1861 to 100,000 by early 1863. There simply had been no adequate government planning for such a rapid influx and almost all essential goods were in short supply.

Other factors which also exacerbated the problems included disruptions from the Union embargo of Southern ports, the fact that less food was being grown because so many farmers were fighting in the Confederate army, and some crops were confiscated by Union armies. Whenever any shortage of staples occurs, prices rise; however, southern families were not seeing any off-setting rise in income. In fact, for many families, the primary “bread-winner” was off to war.

Then, as politicians then and now are prone to do, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy and a temporary Richmond resident, at an inopportune time, declared a “Day of Prayer and Fasting” for March 27. To many of the women of Richmond, already unable to adequately feed their families, a day of fasting was seen as an affront.

A loose federation of women, through word of mouth, gathered at a local church on April 1 with no specific pre-planned agenda, but to express their concerns about the food shortages. One of the leaders of the discussions and the protest plans, was Mary Jackson, the mother of a Confederate soldier and three other children. She believed that the food shortages were caused by government ineffectiveness in controlling speculators, which were easy targets for her frustrations; however, the reasons were much more varied and complicated. As the morning went on, several of the women began to urge group action and it was generally decided to march together the following day to the Governor’s office. 

But the march did not go as planned.

At first, about a hundred women converged at the Governor’s office and, perhaps to their surprise, he came out to meet with them. As the discussions (really charges from the women, and denials and rationalizations from the Governor) continued, the mayor arrived to read a local Riot Act to the crowd. But the unruly group continued to grow, and many of the new-comers carried knives, hammers, axes and a few had pistols. Parts of the crowd began to peel off and head toward stores and warehouses, many shouting “Bread or blood, Bread or blood” as they marched. By now, nearly a thousand rioters, including a few men and boys, were scattering toward targets. The Governor called out a small militia, but they were no match for the marauding crowds. Any facility that might hold food-stuffs was ransacked, but also, some rioters robbed silver and jewelry stores; but likely those were organized criminals who simply took advantage of the situation.

President Jefferson Davis left the executive Mansion and went to the head of one mob, where he urged them to cease, and he threw some money and even his watch to the crowd to get them to disperse. He reportedly said, “You say you are hungry and have no money; here, this is all I have". Some did leave, but others lingered in the area until a larger group of home guards and police, called by the mayor, began making arrests; and Mrs. Jackson was one of the first taken into custody.

Jefferson Davis and the Governor tried to keep the episode quiet, concerned that Confederate troops could be demoralized by the plight of their loved ones, and ordered Southern newspapers to not report the incident. But that large of an event can’t be hidden, and in a few days, Northern newspapers began to print the story, unfortunately with some exaggerations. For example, some reported several deaths, but there were none, and also that over 5,000 were rioting, which was far more than actually participated. Soon Southern newspapers began reporting about the riots; however, with a spin that favored the government’s response to lawlessness.

Mrs. Jackson was held in jail for a few weeks without bond, although friends were willing to provide bail. She was eventually convicted of only a minor offence and released, after Richmond officials decided any further prosecution would make her a symbolic martyr.

As the Southern economy continued to suffer, the effects on families led to other similar riots in Georgia, at Macon, Atlanta, and Augusta.

The Richmond riots; however, did result in some positive reactions by government officials to speed the supply of more food directly to consumers. One change was that farmers and bakers were allowed to sell in open markets, rather than through wholesale warehouses which speculators controlled. However, the problem of scarce supplies was too great to fix, the war began to go badly, and for most poor southern families, the depravations continued; and in some areas got even worse.

So, did Mrs. Jackson achieve her goals? As the leader of the movement, she certainly saw city officials try to better distribute food to working class families; however, on a person basis, her incarceration probably hurt her own family. Although her son survived the war, she never overcame abject poverty and died a few years later at only about 40 years old.

Not all of the suffering occurred on battlefields.