The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1888-04-19
BREAD RIOT IN RICHMOND.
a Story Of the Late Civil War by an Eye
Witness OF the Occurrence.
1Dixie in Washington Post.

Dixie in Washington Post.
1t was in the early part of the late
war, in, l think, the second year. Our
armies (the confederate) had been gen.
orally successful, and there was as yet
little Of that great suffering to which
the people of the south were afterward
to be 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 eldest and wealthiest of southern
aristocratic families.
The treasury department occupied on
Broad streetin Richmond, q large store,
and in that store number of ladies
were occupied in numbering and sign
ing coupon bonds, and others in sign
ing and numbering the one and two
dollar notes with which the confedera-
cy was flooded.
One afternoon there was rumor in
Richmond that body Of disorderly
women and boys had assembled on the
Capital square, 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 GER
tain, and I gave the rumor little
thought as I walked up Broad street
the next morning toward the depart
ment, now only few squares off.
Bread, bread; give US bread" amid
pandemonium of yells, startled me.
AS I turned in alarm, a scene met my
eyes that I will not soon forget
Pouring out of a side street motley
crowd of women and boys surged uplin
my wake to the very building that was
my goal. 1t was striking and unique
sight-not a man visible, but every wo-
man in the city seemed to be there, yel-
ling for bread.
For me to be thus the unwilling
leader of a mob was anything but a
pleasant sensation, and, fastening my
steps, I reached the departmentjust be-
fore 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
our chief had given orders that the la
dies 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. Foiled in
their attempt to obtain the govern
ment's currency, they turned their at
tention to other more accessible plum
der. A milliners shop and shoe store
We're quickly sacked and their contents
appropriated. Decked with the unlaw
full spoil, they next proceeded to break
in bakery and appease their famished
stomachs by emptying the flour into
the streets and tramping the bread be-
meath their feet. While employed in
this congenial occupation they were
interrupted by the arrival Of detach-
ment of soldiers sent by the governor
to disperse the rioters. The troops
opened fire with blank cartridges, with
no other effect than causing laugh and
jeers from the mob, who seemed anus
ed. The plundering continued, and
there seemed no way of dispensing them
without using bullets, which the SOL
diers were unwilling to do. Finally, by
charging with the bayonets, the milli-
tary managed to stampede the crowd
without, however 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 in
spired 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 pov-
erty. The leader of the rioters was SEN
fenced to the penitentiary. 1t was
thought in Richmond that it was con.
cocted with view of making the cause
of the confederacy appear more desper'
ate than it then was, and thereby
bringing it in discredit both at home
and abroad.