Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Trophies of War: Material Culture in the Civil War Era

Trophies of War: Material Culture in the Civil War Era joa n e. c a sh i n Trophies of War Material Culture in the Civil War Era When Federal troops appeared at the home of Mary Cochran’s father, a place called Glen Ora in northern Virginia, the family expected trouble. Mary, a middle-aged doctor’s wife with several children, supported the Confederacy. Her husband owned house slaves, and they had kinsmen in the rebel army. She had already recorded instances of the northern army looting personal belongings from white civilians, and this was late in the war, December 1864. But the soldiers’ conduct nonetheless astonished her. They plundered her father’s house and then pillaged the home of a neighbor, a Mr. Beverly. They took food, which was allowed under mili- tary regulations, as well as bedclothes and housewares. The soldiers then took some children’s dolls and ground them under their feet. Beverly com- plained to the offi cers on the scene, one of whom replied, “‘The men have permission to take what they want.’” In fact, the troops did not have permission to take what they wanted. Soldiers violated military policy when they seized clothes or stomped on children’s dolls, regardless of what their offi cers said. As we http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The Journal of the Civil War Era University of North Carolina Press

Trophies of War: Material Culture in the Civil War Era

The Journal of the Civil War Era , Volume 1 (3) – Aug 12, 2011

Loading next page...
 
/lp/university-of-north-carolina-press/trophies-of-war-material-culture-in-the-civil-war-era-MXVF2ZWPeA

References

References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.

Publisher
University of North Carolina Press
Copyright
Copyright @ The University of North Carolina Press
ISSN
2159-9807

Abstract

joa n e. c a sh i n Trophies of War Material Culture in the Civil War Era When Federal troops appeared at the home of Mary Cochran’s father, a place called Glen Ora in northern Virginia, the family expected trouble. Mary, a middle-aged doctor’s wife with several children, supported the Confederacy. Her husband owned house slaves, and they had kinsmen in the rebel army. She had already recorded instances of the northern army looting personal belongings from white civilians, and this was late in the war, December 1864. But the soldiers’ conduct nonetheless astonished her. They plundered her father’s house and then pillaged the home of a neighbor, a Mr. Beverly. They took food, which was allowed under mili- tary regulations, as well as bedclothes and housewares. The soldiers then took some children’s dolls and ground them under their feet. Beverly com- plained to the offi cers on the scene, one of whom replied, “‘The men have permission to take what they want.’” In fact, the troops did not have permission to take what they wanted. Soldiers violated military policy when they seized clothes or stomped on children’s dolls, regardless of what their offi cers said. As we

Journal

The Journal of the Civil War EraUniversity of North Carolina Press

Published: Aug 12, 2011

There are no references for this article.