Rebellion Record: a Diary of American Events: Documents and Narratives, Volume 6.
Frank Moore, Ed.

A refugee from Richmond, who left that city on Tuesday, gives an interesting account of the riot of the second instant. Considerable excitement had prevailed for some time in consequence [523] of the exorbitant prices, and rumors of a popular movement had been in circulation for several days. Females had begged in the streets and at the stores until begging did no good, and many had been driven to robbery to sustain life. On the morning of the second instant, a large meeting, composed principally of the wives and daughters of the working classes, was held in the African church, and a committee appointed to wait upon the Governor to request that articles of food should be sold at government rates. After the passage of sundry resolutions the meeting adjourned, and the committee proceeded to wait upon Governor Letcher. That functionary declined to take any steps in the matter, and upon urging the case the ladies were peremptorily ordered to withdraw. The result of the interview was soon made public, when a body of females, numbering about three hundred, collected together and commenced helping themselves to bread, flour, meat, articles of clothing, etc. The entire city was at once thrown into consternation. Stores were closed, the windows barred, doors bolted, and every precaution taken against forcible entries ; but hatchets and axes in the hands of women rendered desperate by hunger made quick work, and building after building was rapidly broken open. The destruction commenced on Carey street, above Fifteenth street, and was becoming general in that section of the city, when the City Guard, with fixed bayonets, arrived at the scene of operations. A few individuals attempted to resist the women, but without success. One man who struck a female was wounded in the shoulder by a shot from a revolver, and the threatening attitude of those armed with hatchets, etc., intimidated others from attempting force. The Mayor soon appeared, and, mounting a stool on the side-walk, proceeded to read the riot act. During the reading of that document a portion of the crowd suspended operations, but no sooner had the Mayor concluded than the seizure of provisions commenced again more vigorously than before. At this juncture an attempt was made to arrest the more violent; but the party immediately scattered, and, entering Main street, resumed operations.

Governor Letcher then appeared, and, mounting a vehicle in the centre of the street, addressed the throng, characterizing the demonstration as a disgrace and a stigma upon the city, and announcing that but five minutes would be given them in which to disperse. If in that time the order was not complied with, the troops would be called upon to act. Again the crowd broke up, and in a few moments burst into the stores on Franklin street. But little damage was done here, however, and the riot finally subsided, but not until after the arrest of about forty of the women, and the promise of the Governor to relieve the wants of the destitute. A large amount of bread and bacon was carried off, and all engaged in the riot succeeded in getting a good supply of provisions. Steps have been taken to provide for the immediate wants of some of the families; but great suffering still prevails and is daily increasing. Another uprising is feared, and precautionary measures for its suppression have been instituted; but great uneasiness is felt throughout the city, and merchants are adding to the strength of doors and shutters in every possible manner. The effect of this riot upon the troops about Richmond was very demoralizing. The authorities are much exercised over it, and the greatest vigilance is enjoined upon the police force. The leading men of the city attempted to circulate the report that the women were “Irish and Yankee hags,” endeavoring to mislead the public concerning the amount of loyal sentiment in the city, but miserably failed. The fact of their destitution and respectability was too palpable, and the authorities are forced to admit the conclusion that starvation alone incited the movement.

Troops are being hurried up from Richmond to Fredericksburgh. There is still a large force in the vicinity of Richmond; but these, it is believed, are about to leave for the Rappahannock. Fortifications are being thrown up on the Rapidan River, and the force in that section is being augmented. No work is going on upon the defences about Richmond. Two gunboats (iron-clads) are afloat in James River. The Virginia has been trying to get below the obstructions, and now lies near Drury's Bluff. The third is unfinished, but is rapidly approaching completion. The iron works are worked to their utmost in the manufacture of munitions of war; but the iron is of miserable quality, and many of their projectiles contain pieces of stone.

The railroads have almost entirely given out, and no material is to be had for their repair. Great despondency prevails, and the events of the next three months are awaited with most absorbing anxiety.

Happily these daylight burglaries are undergoing judicial investigation. A great part of the stolen goods has been reclaimed. The ringleaders are being arrested; they will be tried and punished. A full account of the affair, from its obscure origin to its disgraceful culmination, will be made public, and the exaggerations that have gone to the country will be counteracted.

That there was any just ground for the shameful disturbance of Thursday no one believes. The more it is looked into, the more causeless it appears. Doubtless there is much suffering in the city. But the fund voted the poor was by no means exhausted; the churches were willing and abundantly able to relieve distress; private benevolence had not once been appealed to. No petition, no remonstrance had been made; yet, on a sudden, a hundred or a hundred and fifty well-dressed, plump-cheeked women, led by a virago who is known to have made a fortune by market-gardening, and cheered by a rabble of gamblers and ruffians, who are protected here by the special toleration of the confederate, State and municipal governments that misrule this unhappy city — all of a sudden this throng of courtesans [524] and thieves assembles in the Capitol square, organizes, and proceeds to break open stores — to get what, forsooth? Not meat and bread, but boots, shoes, silk dresses, tobacco, jewelry, brooms and the like. These the Mayor in his investigation last Friday, suggests pertinently, are not articles of food. But there is a proof more convincing than any yet given of the absurdity and falsehood of the plea, that this row was occasioned by suffering for food or clothing, and that is the fact, substantiated by every house-keeper in the city, that notwithstanding high prices and scarcity of provisions, there have been fewer applications for charity than in any previous winter for many years. The entire absence of beggars at a time like this, and in a city so crowded by idlers as Richmond, is very notable. The writer of this article can testify, that during the whole winter he has encountered but two beggars, one of whom, an obvious impostor, wanted to fight because her veracity was doubted, while the other set upon him with the stunning petition for “a quarter to buy a catechism!” The truth is, this petticoated foray was political in its origin ; as the simultaneous disturbances in other cities indicate, and as the evidences before the Mayor will yet prove.

If there be a soul of good in things evil, this ridiculous affair may be turned to account. It ought to put a stop to hoarding, to suppress speculation, to induce producers to bring in supplies, to make the government facilitate transportation, and to clean out the gamblers, loafers, and ruffians, stock, lock, and barrel. Let Congress at once pass a law requiring every man to show that he is engaged in some honest, useful calling or else go into the army forthwith. In this way the five and twenty gambling-houses that feed every day nearly as many thousand idlers, and thereby run up the price of provisions, will be swept away. And let our high officials display a little courage and a little reason. The people are not afraid of unpleasant truths; why should they be? Let them not attempt impossibilities. But the reports in the papers will go to the country and encourage other riots. Better a correct account in print than a thousand exaggerations from as many tongues and private letters. If the riots occur, put them down; it is easily enough done. But the Yankees will get hold of it. Certainly. What if they do? Let them make the most of it; they are going to do their worst, any way. Better a thousand fold that the Yankees should ply their lying arts with all the aid the disaffected here can give them, than that the people should see that the government of Jefferson Davis is timorous about any thing on earth. The people are manly; so should their government be, and put a bold, calm face on every thing. If any thing could be “kept back,” the fate of Ananias should warn us of the folly of attempting it. Have we gotten so deep in the mire of a sneaking, evasive, alternately truckling and bullying policy, as not to be able to turn round and face Yankees and females combined? Or shall it go to the country that the confederate government is scared out of its wits because a parcel of women broke open a store and stole a pair of shoes?