https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/b341e81d83cb975b8f58b22242c11f73.png d8b81226a414388b4aeb868582d1930f https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/a968b826c22e2b85f051bb71ff9a17ee.png 463921e802c5cb5c13fbcdf3dc8d5a29 https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/ecc7ac1a6a35d50948c51eaae87226b9.png 10ef81e8f4356fb608fbb7e07b153b64 https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/68c7de1336e562a10784c3777997b699.png d2d63e543c5bccbef67298df5feffec9 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. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data letter Text Any textual data included in the document Pg. 1 Pontotoc Nov. 12. 1860 Gov. John J Pettus Dear Sir Before this raeches you, I persume, you at Jackson will have received full returns of the Election from this state, and which I doubt not will show 10000 majority at least for Breckin-ridge & Lane. If this result throughout the state has been produced, by a like sentiment to that which in Pontotoc se=cured the large majority of [strikethrough] [unclear] [strikethrough] 67 ^667^, Mississippi will secede. Our people are ripe for it. Here, during the Canvass. we never Shirked the question, "What will you do if Lincoln Shall be elected?"—Our answer was always prompt and expli=cit. "We will withdraw from the Union" We never said we would cooperate with Alabama South Carolina, or other states, or wait until we could see what they would do. I at least took this ground that we would secede First and cooperate afterwards, That Mississippi before all other States, was in a situ=ation to set such an example, and [strikethrough] [exercise] [strikethrough] practically illustrate the right Pg. 2 of peaceable secession. She has respects of entry of consequence, and not enough of Revenue is collected on her borders to bring her conflict with the Revenue Cutter or ^other^ branch of the millitary service The United States The ground taken in the Canvass and the triumphant success of our ticket at the Ballot Box assures me that, our people at least, will be ready to adopt this simplest and most peaceable mode of redress, if the Election of Lincoln, shall occur asnd thus satisfy the public mind that the northern masses have at length been brought together upon a plat=form of hostility to [strikethrough] our [strikethrough] section. I sincerely believe that 9 out of every 10 who voted for Breckinridge will vote for direct secession. And I know that most of the Douglas men, to repel the free soil suspicion their late conduuct, has subjected them to, are already earnest advo=cates of Secession, Many good men besides who voted for Bell did so in an honest effort to defeat Lincoln, and thus avoid a cause which they think sufficent to justify Pg. 3 Secession; So that I am satisfied that for every timid Breckinridge man who will vote for acquiescence we will gain two from the ranks of Bell and Douglas, who will vote for secession Every man of every party is in favour of Mississippi's sustaining any other Southern state who may secede against ^any^ act of coercion. Governor—^sure^ as you live the people are a long away in ad=vance of those, they have honored to the posts of Leadership. All they want is some Known Leader who will throw himself in to the Breach Who will show them the way=Where is Jeff Davis? Will he let this auspicious moment, pass by,? If it does so pass, I greatly fear, that the spirit of resistence will be for=ever quenched, and the flame ^of^ liberty smoulder out in the ashes of a base submission In great haste—I want to to express the hope that you will at once convene the Legislation, and in your message be as explicit as the Governor of South Carolina. I beg to be Pg. 4 kindly remembered to Cousin Millie. and remain Very truly Your frend &c. Chas D Fontaine PS. We have not heard of your decision in the case of Holladay's application for a commutation of his sentence I am more confident of the fact than when I wrote you last that the public sentement is favourable to such exercise of the Executive clemency. I think the wish that his sen[strikethrough]tence[strikethrough]tence should be com=muted is now univeirsal Yours &c C D F 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 Charles D. Fontaine to Mississippi Governor John J. Pettus; November 12, 1860 Subject The topic of the resource Mississippi. Governor; Pettus, John Jones, 1813-1867; Secession--Southern States. Description An account of the resource From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Pettus Collection. Letter from Charles D. Fontaine in Pontotoc, Mississippi, to Mississippi Governor John J. Pettus explaining that the local citizens are in favor of leaving the Union. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fontaine, Charles D. 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 1860-11-12 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource NO COPYRIGHT-UNITED STATES Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Document Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context mdah_757-930-10-8 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 Civilians/Divided Loyalties