Salt was a crucial resource during theAmerican Civil War. It not only preserved food in the days before refrigeration, but was also vital in the curing of leather. Union GeneralWilliam Tecumseh Sherman once said that "salt is eminently contraband", as an army that has salt can adequately feed its men.[1]
The most importantsaltworks for the Confederacy were atSaltville, Virginia. In late 1864, the Union army twice advanced to capture the saltworks, as it was the last prominent source of salt for the eastern Confederate states. The October 1864First Battle of Saltville saw the Confederate able to repulse the charge, but the next December in theSecond Battle of Saltville Union forces underGeorge Stoneman managed to destroy the vital saltworks. Two months later the salt works were back to work for the Confederacy, although the destroyed railroad system around the area hampered its distribution.[2][3]
InGeorgia, the price of salt depended on one's family circumstances. Heads of families could purchase a half-bushel of salt for $2.50. If a widow had a son in the Confederate army, the price was only $1.00. But if the widow's husband had served his nation, the price was free. Local court clerks sent salt requests to the state government, which in turn allotted salt to the counties as requested.[4] One way Southern families acquired salt was to boil the dirt in areas where they had previously cured meats.[4]
Florida's greatest contribution to the Confederate war effort was in producing salt. With a total investment of $10 million, Florida salt plants worked 24 hours a day boiling salt from sea water, mostly in the area betweenSaint Andrews Bay andSt. Marks, Florida. Occasionally, Union forces came ashore just to destroy the boilers.[5] Confederate law exempted salt makers from thedraft, which rendered saltmaking a popular profession in wartime Florida. The estimated workforce involved in saltmaking there numbered 5,000.[6]
SMALL.JPG)
Avery Island, three miles inland from theLouisiana coast, gave the Confederacy a huge supply ofrock salt until the Union captured it. It was not realized at the time that there were structures similar to the Avery Islandsalt dome all along the Louisiana and Texas coasts of theGulf of Mexico which could have provided an additional source of salt.[1]
