Tweet
Here’s an interesting historic parallel for Missouri in 1863. Those of you coming to Marmy’s will likely see some of the damage inflicted on the landscape by the recent floods that plagued the Midwest. You can talk about this to your comrades in arms while you are marching through the prairie and woods, knowing that in 1863 your predecessors would have seen the same marks on the trees and trails. In early 1863 many of the western states including Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa suffered terrible floods that destroyed homes, devastated farms, and damaged forests. This was particularly rough on the people living in the path of both armies because what little crops were left to them were often destroyed or confiscated by soldiers.
In an another coincidence, the Union Provost Marshal’s records for 1863 in Missouri are full of complaints by people whose crops had already been severely damaged by droughts (just like those we normally have in MO in early summer) when they were hit hard by floods. And the rest was foraged by both armies.
The American Annual Cyclopedia for 1864 mentions that the production of wheat, potatoes, and corn were all considerably lower in 1863 because of the droughts and floods. That means that prices were higher and the food you took from civilians would have been harder to replace. (Appleton’s Cyclopedia is available on google books.)
I thought it would be interesting for those of you seeing the area for the first time to recognize that the flood damage you’re seeing in 2009 would also have been evident in 1863. Okay, I have one other geek-like thing to say. Most of you probably know that part of the Black River was dammed in the early 1940s to form Clearwater Lake. Frank recently observed that after the flooding of mid-1863, the Black River would have risen considerably & looked like a lake. So if your travels take you in that direction, you will be seeing pretty much what the area would have looked like in 1863. The old county road that runs past the woods (where the Mossbacks & civilians will be) was already there in the pre-war years and was in those days a fairly important trail. It's now a disused dirt road. The creek where the Mossbacks & soldiers will get their water runs parallel to that road, on the opposite side of the prairie, right into the Black River (or as it is called today, Clearwater Lake.)
In an another coincidence, the Union Provost Marshal’s records for 1863 in Missouri are full of complaints by people whose crops had already been severely damaged by droughts (just like those we normally have in MO in early summer) when they were hit hard by floods. And the rest was foraged by both armies.
The American Annual Cyclopedia for 1864 mentions that the production of wheat, potatoes, and corn were all considerably lower in 1863 because of the droughts and floods. That means that prices were higher and the food you took from civilians would have been harder to replace. (Appleton’s Cyclopedia is available on google books.)
I thought it would be interesting for those of you seeing the area for the first time to recognize that the flood damage you’re seeing in 2009 would also have been evident in 1863. Okay, I have one other geek-like thing to say. Most of you probably know that part of the Black River was dammed in the early 1940s to form Clearwater Lake. Frank recently observed that after the flooding of mid-1863, the Black River would have risen considerably & looked like a lake. So if your travels take you in that direction, you will be seeing pretty much what the area would have looked like in 1863. The old county road that runs past the woods (where the Mossbacks & civilians will be) was already there in the pre-war years and was in those days a fairly important trail. It's now a disused dirt road. The creek where the Mossbacks & soldiers will get their water runs parallel to that road, on the opposite side of the prairie, right into the Black River (or as it is called today, Clearwater Lake.)
Comment