The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1888-05-09
Bread Riot in Richmond.

1t was in the early part of the late
war, think in the second year. Our
armies (confederate) had been gener-
ally successful and there was as vet
little of that great suffering to which
the people of the South were after
ward reduced. The dearth of men in
Richmond made it necessary to employ
a large force of women in the various
departments of the government, a great
many of them refugees, and many from
the oldest and weathiest of southern
aristocratic families. The treasury de-
partment occupied on Broad street in
Richmond large store, and in that
store a number of ladies were occupied
in numbering and signing coupon bonds
and others in signing and numbering
the 81 and 81 notes with which the
confederacy was flooded. One after
noon there was a rumor in Richmond
that body of disorderly women and
boys had assembled on Capitol squares
clamOring for bread. 1t was asserted
that Governor Letcher and the mayor
of the city had addressed them in the
interest of law and order and promised
them relief. But as yet little was known
for certain, and | gave the rumor little
thought as | walked up Broad street
the next morning toward the depart
ment, now only a few squares off.
Bread, bread; give us bread!n amid
pandemOnium of yells, startled me.
As | turned in alarm scene met my
eyes that l will not soon forget. Pour
ing out of side street, motley crowd
of women and boys surged up in my
wake to the very building that was my
goal. 1t was striking and unique
sight--not man visible, but every
woman in the city seemed to be there
yelling for bread For me to be thus
the unwilling leader of a mob was any
thing but a pleasant sensation, and,
fastening my steps, reached the de-
partment just before it was closed
against the mob Hating in front of
the building, they vainly sought to force
an entrance. Fearing that they might
have firearms the chief had given
orders that the ladies should keep clear
of the windows. But Mother Ewes
vice got the better of us, and we eagerly
watched the crowd as they battered at
the doors, at the same time demanding
that the money should be given up to
them. Fooled in their attempt to obtain
the governments currency, they turned
their attention to other more accessible
plumber. A milliner's shop and shoe
store were quickly sacked and their
contents appropriated. Decked with
the unlawful spoil, they next proceeded
to break into bakery and appease their
famished stomachs by emptying the
flour into the streets and trampling the
bread beneath their feet. While en-
D ,,11 - (. IL, I'll
they were interrupted by the arrival of
detachment of soldiers sent by the
governor to dispense the rioters. The
troops opened fire with blank car
tridges, with no other effect than caus-
ing laugh and jeers from the mob,
who seemed amused. The plundering
continued and there seemed no way of
dispensing them without using bullets,
which the soldiers were unwilling to
do. Finally, by charging with fixed
bayonets, the military managed to
stampede the crowd-without, how
ever, wounding any of them. They
returned to their homes and gave no
| further trouble. To the credit of the
women of the South, it should be said
that the women who inspired the riot,
though in the South, were not of it,
but the wives principally of foreigners,
who, when the war broke out, went
North, leaving their wives to carry on
their market gardens and shops in
Richmond and thereby save their
property. The leader of the riot,
market gardener, was said to be worth
$4,000 in gold Many of the partici-
pants were known to be almost as rich,
but their victims were reduced to pow
erty. The leader of the rioters was
sentenced to the penitentiary. 1t was
thought in Richmond that it was con-
cocted with view of making the cause
of the confederacy appear more des-
perate than it then was, and thereby
! bringing it into discredit at home and
abroad" Dirie," IN Washington Post,