What was the richmond bread riot

As the women walked, they attracted hundreds—some accounts say thousands—of followers. Curious onlookers, such as Confederate War Department clerk J. Jones, asked some in the group what they were doing.

We are starving! Some merchants resisted the rioters while others watched helplessly as the looters seized bacon, ham, flour, and shoes.

Mayor Joseph Mayo quickly arrived at Mayo Street the street was not named for the mayor , where he literally read the Riot Act to the mob; he was ignored. Letcher appeared shortly thereafter, as did Confederate president Jefferson Davis. Again, accounts of who summoned the City Battalion and who threatened the mob with violence differ.

Varina Davis wrote in her memoir of her husband that he pleaded with the rioters to disperse and then threatened to have an artillery unit open fire on the mob.

Others assert it was Letcher who ordered city forces to fire on the group if it did not disperse in five minutes. Tense moments passed, but the crowd did scatter. Local officials carried through with their threat to post cannon on key thoroughfares. That factor served to discourage another group that gathered on April 3, Fears of further disturbances led the commander of the Department of Richmond to order troops to augment forces under the provost marshal.

The atmosphere in the capital remained jittery as the City Council met that afternoon. Although the riot was over in two hours, it had shocked locals. Confederate secretary of war James A. Seddon implored the local press not to publish accounts of the disturbance for fear it would fuel Union propaganda and undermine morale at home. To some extent Seddon succeeded, but Union prisoners of war in Richmond reported what they saw and the New York Times ran a front-page article about the bread riot on April 8, More than sixty men and women were arrested and tried in connection with the riot.

Fines and prison terms were meted out, apparently in a rather capricious way. Skip to content. Get News In Your Inbox. Podcast: How We Got Here. Vaccine in Virginia. Your Money with Carlson Financial. Election Results. First Alert Weather Blog. Dress For The Weather. On Your Side. Acts of Kindness. National Sports. Community Calendar.

About Us. Contact Us. Only after troops were deployed and authorities threatened to fire on the mob did the rioters disperse. More than sixty men and women were arrested and tried for their actions during the riot. Confederate military officials tried to block news coverage of the Richmond Bread Riot, but Northern newspapers and magazines reported on it, including Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper which published this two-paneled engraving in its May 23, , edition.

Titled Sowing and Reaping , the illustration points out that southern women, in their zeal for war, brought suffering upon themselves. In turn, Richmond city newspapers characterized—and dismissed—the hungry protesters as thieves, prostitutes, and crones. Encyclopedia Virginia Grady Ave. Virginia Humanities acknowledges the Monacan Nation , the original people of the land and waters of our home in Charlottesville, Virginia.