“Starving the South” lecture: Food in the Civil War

Virginia Ham and Biscuits with Hoppin' John in the background

The Culinary Historians of New York commemorated the 150th anniversary of the start of the American Civil War with a lecture by Andrew F. Smith, author of the recently published book “Starving the South: How the North Won the Civil War.”

A pre-lecture reception featured mingling over drinks and a spread of Southern dishes including Hoppin’ John, hardtack, fried okra, grits, and Virginia Ham and biscuits.

Smith’s lecture explained crucial changes in food production and distribution during the Civil War and emphasized how the North’s campaign to starve the South played a direct role in the Confederacy’s defeat.

Mini Hardtack minus the grubs

A few key lecture points included:

• The South chose to grow cash crops instead of food because it was cheaper to import food from the Midwest and focus their resources on growing lucrative cash crops including cotton, tobacco, rice and sorghum.
• Confederate control of the lower Mississippi river, forced the North to rely on railways to transport food to East Coast harbors for the first time.
• After the 1863 siege of Vicksburg, Grant and Sherman focused part of their military strategy on destroying Confederate supply lines and civilian food supplies – a tactic that left parts of Georgia and Mississippi devastated for years.
• George Custer seized the last few supply trains during the Confederacy’s last stand at Appomattox, directly contributing to Lee’s surrender the following day.

If events about historical foodways interests you half as much as it interests me, take a moment to review the Culinary Historians of New York’s website and be sure to check out their past events link where you can kick yourself for having missed “TV: Dinners A History of Television Cooking Shows” and “Swindled: The Dark History of Food Fraud from Poisoned Candy to Counterfeit Coffee.”