The Humble Peanut

[Tom Craig]

Hi All,

My wife and I were having a discussion about an upcoming event, and we got talking about food, and some of the various oddities that people bring to munch on. One thing that both of us have seen as staples throughout the years at events are peanuts. I got to thinking about it, and realized that I couldn't recall ever seeing a period reference to Union soldiers eating peanuts.

So, my question is, is there any documentation for Union soldiers in the East having access to, or having eaten peanuts in any shape or form, or is this just a farby, but hardy thing that guys bring to supplement their rations?

Take care,
Tom Craig

[Gallinipper]

Re: The Humble Peanut

Tom, seems there was another, rather extensive discussion in another {ahem} civil war forum on this subject recently. You might try a search there. I do know Gen. Sherman personally acknowledged and thanked a particular peanut-producing region of the South for providing his soldiers with something to eat besides cotton, but I do not recall a specific mention of peanuts. It seems logical that they would have been foraged with equal enthusiasm by soldiers of either army, territory permitting.... Context, context, context?

An excerpt from Illinois in the Civil War, by Victor Hicken. Notable however, that he does not cite his source:

"These same soldiers covered long distances through Tennessee on to Chattanooga. They streamed through mountain passes, outflanking the Confederate army attempting to hold Georgia. As they wrote their wives or friends, the march from Atlanta to the sea was a real lark. Swinging along red clay roads and eating their way through abundant crops of peanuts and yams, they made a mockery of distance. Their faces were turned black by tar from the burning pine woods of South Carolina."

Hicken, V. Illinois in the Civil War. Preface, p. xix


Rich Croxton

[stri volunteer]

Re: The Humble Peanut

Plenty of references to peanuts, particularly on the civilian side in "Ersatz in the Confederacy."

[Enfilade]

Re: The Humble Peanut

Goobers are a great respite for troops from Nausau bacon and cornmeal. I'm sure that Yankees had at some time been able to get them.

"During Antebellum times, genteel Northerners linked the peanut to Rowdyism. In the South, peanuts were considered food fit only for slaves." -Science News

Issues for Union troops? That's the question isn't it?

Mark Berrier
North State Rifles

http://www.northstaterifles.com

[Tom Craig]

Re: The Humble Peanut

Mark,

Thanks for the quote! And yes, peanuts and Union soldiers are the question. I'm not thinking they were ever issued as part of a ration, but my question is more if soldiers in the Virginia theater ever had them in any way. Certainly southern civilians from Georgia etc would have had access to them, but how about Yankee soldiers?

Take care,
Tom Craig

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: The Humble Peanut

Mark,

Thanks for the quote! And yes, peanuts and Union soldiers are the question. I'm not thinking they were ever issued as part of a ration, but my question is more if soldiers in the Virginia theater ever had them in any way. Certainly southern civilians from Georgia etc would have had access to them, but how about Yankee soldiers?

Take care,
Tom Craig

Union soldiers would have been familiar with peanuts since they were very a common street food in the north before and during the war. A great many were imported from Africa so the war did not create a shortage of peanuts in the north. Since peanuts would be a stable food product, it is possible that they sent in "care packages" but I don't have any documentation.

Since I have not studied many military diaries or other books that are specifically military I can't give you many documented answers but only opinions. They did grow peanuts in southeastern Virginia, there were federal soldiers in that area so they would know that peanuts could be eaten. The question would be were they there after the peanuts had been harvested and dried since peanuts were not usually eaten just after being picked. In Virginia, peanuts were usually harvested beginning the second or third week of October but that could change depending on the weather. They were then shocked in the field to dry and cure for about ten days (also dependent upon the weather). Then the peanuts were removed from the vines, sorted and packed for marketing. After the peanuts were ready for market, they still needed to be roasted before eating.

I did find the following quote, "Long drills were the order of the day and long rolls the order of the night. The camp was in a continual furor over stories of spies seen lurking about, and woe was sure to betide the unfortunate peanut peddler or trinket vendor who came near our sentries after tattoo." History of the Second Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers 1861-1865 by Martin Haynes. They were marching into Virgina from Washington prior to the battle of Bull Run. I realize that this was the beginning of the war but I would suppose that there would have been other people selling peanuts to Union soldiers during the war to make extra money.

Maybe others can provide quotes from military books that I have not been able to find. I would be interested in others' documentation.

[Gallinipper]

Re: The Humble Peanut

Hi Ma'am! I seem to recall hearing somewhere that peanuts were not introduced to those regions of VA and NC until after the war? But I suppose they could have been exported from any existing growing region northward at any time, as there were other uses too. I'll see what else I can find out there. Perhaps someone else has input on that too.

From the the Virginia-Carolina Peanuts website... no specific mention of that but interesting info nonetheless:

When Africans were brought to North America as slaves, peanuts came with them. Slaves planted peanuts throughout the southern United States (the word goober comes from the Congo name for peanuts - nguba). In the 1700's, peanuts, then called groundnuts or ground peas, were studied by botanists and regarded as an excellent food for pigs. Records show that peanuts were grown commercially in South Carolina around 1800 and used for oil, food and a substitute for cocoa. However, until 1900 peanuts were not extensively grown, partially because they were regarded as food for the poor, and because growing and harvesting were slow and difficult until labor-saving equipment was invented around the turn of the century.

I wanted to add- From this article it is not clear, to me anyway, whether they are speaking just in terms of their being "commercially" grown. I assume so. But it certainly seems logical that, even if ONLY slaves were planting them at that time, there WERE slaves in those areas of VA/NC, so some could have been grown even on a limited localized basis.

It might also be interesting to hear what Dr. Robertson has to say on the matter- if you can bother him with such matters!

Rich Croxton

[Pvt Schnapps]

Re: The Humble Peanut

Hardtack and Coffee, p. 221 (emphasis added):

"I think the art of box-packing must have culminated during the war. It was simply wonderful, delightfully so, to see how each little corner and crevice was utilized. Not stuffed with paper by those who understood their business, thus wasting space, but filled with a potato, an apple, an onion, a pinch of dried apples, a handful of peanuts, or some other edible substance."

[Hank Trent]

Re: The Humble Peanut

Hi Ma'am! I seem to recall hearing somewhere that peanuts were not introduced to those regions of VA and NC until after the war?

Um, Wilmington and Norfolk were major peanut-growing and exporting areas in the antebellum era. If you want export statistics, I can provide them, but I'd rather see your evidence first. Show me a list of Wilmington or Norfolk exports for a few antebellum years, that doesn't include significant amounts of peanuts.

Okay, it's too easy, just a couple: 117,000 bushels of peanuts out of Norfolk in 1857, only 102,000 in 1859, a bad year.

Wilmington's 1860 crop of peanuts had fallen off considerably, down to "only" about 100,000 bushels.

From the the Virginia-Carolina Peanuts website... no specific mention of that but interesting info nonetheless:

However, until 1900 peanuts were not extensively grown, partially because they were regarded as food for the poor, and because growing and harvesting were slow and difficult until labor-saving equipment was invented around the turn of the century.

Yes, the antebellum U.S. wasn't providing all our peanut needs and we needed to import more from Africa, but how many hundreds of thousands of bushels does one have to grow to be considered "extensively"? If the antebellum production wasn't enough, the author apparently also missed the dramatic upswing in domestic peanut production in the late 1860s. In 1869, "A million bushels of peanuts a year are raised on the south shore of the James River, between Norfolk and Petersburg." Source.

Don't believe every modern "expert" who puts something on the intertubes, including what's in this post. :) Images of period magazines listing production statistics are widely available online, among other sources. Check it out for yourself!

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Hank Trent]

Re: The Humble Peanut

To address the original question, like Virginia Mescher I haven't looked at many soldiers letters and diaries, but if regimental histories are okay, it occurred to me that one could do a quick and dirty search of them to find examples:

Search for "pea nuts" or "peanuts" in books with the title "regiment," 1861-1890. That gives a couple dozen hits.

One example, from the 33rd Mass. in South Carolina:

In the sheds belonging to this house we found a thousand bushels of peanuts, or "goobers," as the natives call them. We camped near, and we lugged off the peanuts, not by the pint or quart, but every man with a blanket full, as big as a feather bed. We roasted them in our camp fires, and had peanuts enough.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Gallinipper]

Re: The Humble Peanut

Sir,

I'm not claiming to be an expert on the subject, I'm just providing fodder for the discussion. One of the most valuable aspects of this forum is as a learning tool. I heard what I heard, and simply did a "quick, dirty" search to try to support the statement. It definitely looks like a lot of valuable information in your possession was left out of that particular website I found (please see the comment I also added, about the time you were making yours). But I'm sure it's only one of many, and some no doubt contain more info than others. I'm glad somebody else has more sufficient data. Again, that's the beauty of this forum.

If there is solid evidence to support that they were commercially GROWN in those specific regions, as there certainly seems to be, then where they were actually exported from becomes secondary, for purposes of the discussion IMHO, except to further support evidence of regional production. As with everything else relating to soldiers, if they'd a had em, they'd a used 'em.... or in this case, eaten' em.

ADDED NOTE: It also appears you did a "quick, dirty" search, which we all do, and found a letter from a Masachusetts soldier in South Carolina. But if you look at Tom's original question- which I missed too but Mark clarified- it pertained to soldiers in the East, which he further explained as relating to soldiers in the "Virginia Theater". Indeed, you have proven that quick and dirty searches are not always the way to go, thanks!

Rich Croxton

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: The Humble Peanut

Hi Ma'am! I seem to recall hearing somewhere that peanuts were not introduced to those regions of VA and NC until after the war? But I suppose they could have been exported from any existing growing region northward at any time, as there were other uses too. I'll see what else I can find out there. Perhaps someone else has input on that too.

From the the Virginia-Carolina Peanuts website... no specific mention of that but interesting info nonetheless:

When Africans were brought to North America as slaves, peanuts came with them. Slaves planted peanuts throughout the southern United States (the word goober comes from the Congo name for peanuts - nguba). In the 1700's, peanuts, then called groundnuts or ground peas, were studied by botanists and regarded as an excellent food for pigs. Records show that peanuts were grown commercially in South Carolina around 1800 and used for oil, food and a substitute for cocoa. However, until 1900 peanuts were not extensively grown, partially because they were regarded as food for the poor, and because growing and harvesting were slow and difficult until labor-saving equipment was invented around the turn of the century.

It might also be interesting to hear what Dr. Robertson has to say on the matter- if you can bother him with such matters!

Rich Croxton

Although your question has strayed from Tom's original question, I did want to address your comments. I am not saying the peanuts were a huge crop prior to the CW but according to primary sources they were grown in the some southern states including VA, NC, and GA prior to the CW and after the war, the peanut production became a large cash crop. Some article compare the profits made from peanuts with tobacco and peanuts gave a greater profit.

I checked out some of the websites on the history of the peanut in Virginia and found their information interesting but it disagreed with the primary source information I found. Also, I wanted to add that they did not include any sources, primary or secondary with their statements.

I pulled out the following information from my extensive files on peanuts.

From Report of the Secretary of Agriculture for 1869:

"Though the peanut has been cultivated in Virginia to some extent from a remote date, it is only since the war that the crop has become of primary importance in the section of the State peculiarly adapted to its production. The greater part of Eastern Virginia was by turns occupied by both of the contending armies; and as nearly every farmer raised peanuts enough for his family, and some to spare, their merits became extensively known among the soldiers; so that when the armies were disbanded a knowledge of them was carried to every part of the country. It is doubtless to this cause, more than to any other, that we are to ascribe the extraordinary impulse given to their culture within the last few years. So rapid has been its extension that the crop of each successive year has been threefold greater than that of the year preceding, and at prices fully maintained."

The article goes on to briefly describe the cultivation, harvesting, collection of seed peanuts, and marketing of peanuts. In 1869 there were two varieties of peanuts, the Virginia (had a large pod and bean or nut and was the desired peanut for eating) and the Carolina (had a small pod and bean and was used for oil). The entire article may be found at http://books.google.com/books?id=F7N...HY3wkQSU_bHfDw or http://tinyurl.com/ddzoop

From Tilton's Journal of Horticulture 1869. "Peanuts - A million bushels of peanuts a year are raised on the south shore of the James River between Norfolk and Petersburg. A Norfolk man had invented a peanut picker."

In an 1870 article from Southern Farm and Home they stated about peanuts, "More money in peanuts that cotton!."

According to an 1880 Frank Leslie's Monthly there were seven counties in Virginia that grew peanuts and in 1879 the crop 900,000 bushels.

I have a book, The Peanut Plant, Its Cultivation and Uses by B. W. Jones published in 1885 and the entire books discusses the cultivation of peanuts in Virgina.

I realize that the peanut was promoted by George Washington Carver in the early 20th century when the boll weavil began destroying the cotton crops but apparently peanut production was well underway long before the early 1900s, at least according to agriculture statistics in the 1870s and 1880s and with Carver's program, it expanded to the cotton growing regions of other states where crops had been destroyed.

I apologize for taking so straying so far off the original question.

[Gallinipper]

Re: The Humble Peanut

I checked out some of the websites on the history of the peanut in Virginia and found their information interesting but it disagreed with the primary source information I found. Also, I wanted to add that they did not include any sources, primary or secondary with their statements.

Personally I didn't think this was an easy "find" either, which makes statistical information like Hank provided all the more important. The website I found cited nothing either, although that was perhaps not it's intended scope and, given that, was a poor choice to quote from. I do think we can rule out post-war documentation as irrelevant, for purposes of the continuing discussion (I promise I was not trying to take it in that direction!) or any further info not specifically focusing on the "Virginia Theater". So I also certainly don't think any apologies are in order. It's all good stuff. Besides, after all, it was not my original question, but Tom's! I'm just digging and learning.... and not necessarily believing everything I read now!

Are you abosultely sure there's no way we can bother "Bud" about this? :D

Rich Croxton

[Gallinipper]

Re: The Humble Peanut

Soooo..... after establishing all that..... For purposes of Firper, how do we get the 'gubas into the hands- or haversack- of Josiah Private serving in the AOP (if we can forget coastal NC for now), after about mid-1862? A sharp spectator is probably bound to ask sooner or later.

I suppose a shrewd and enterprising Reb picket could always have convinced his Yank counterpart that peanut coffee was better than the original thing- and why not give it a try for trade?

I can hear Charles and Joe now, as the "C" word rears it's ugly head again. More letters home to share, anyone?

Rich Croxton

[Hank Trent]

Re: The Humble Peanut

More letters home to share, anyone?

I'm curious about that as well, especially from Virginia, because it would help address a paradox I keep running across.

The standard story that started coming out in the late 1860s, when peanut growing really boomed in eastern Virginia, was that US soldiers had been introduced to peanuts when they were in Virginia during the war, learned to like them, and that's why they demanded them after they returned home, and why there was suddenly such a huge demand for peanuts.

Here's a good example, from the 1869 USDA report:

The greater part of Eastern Virginia was by turns occupied by both of the contending armies; and as nearly every farmer raised peanuts enough for his family, and some to spare, their merits became extensively known among the soldiers; so that when the armies were disbanded a knowledge of them was carried to every part of the country. It is doubtless to this cause, more than to any other, that we are to ascribe the extraordinary impulse given to their culture within the last few years.

That brings up two puzzling points. One, the paradox that unless peanuts were already fairly widely grown in Virginia, the soldiers wouldn't have found enough to want them after the war. I suppose that can be explained by the acreage being large enough during the war but becoming even greater post-war.

Then there's the other problem: peanuts were already popular in the north, especially among Young America, the generation of men who became Union soldiers.

Andrew Smith's well-researched Peanuts also skates around that problem:

When Southern peanuts were cut off during the early years of the war, Northern importation of peanuts increased fivefold from 1860 to 1864.

Okay, makes sense--if the railroad and theater and street vendors couldn't get peanuts from Norfolk and Wilmington anymore, they had to get them from somewhere. But in the next sentence:

When Northern armies occupied nut-growing areas in the South, Union soldiers were exposed to the peanut's culinary influence. When these soldiers returned home, they wanted peanuts.

That's straight from the USDA report, except for the specification of culinary.

The subsequent paragraphs explain that the late-1860s boom around Norfolk was sparked by a businessman who got Italian peddlers to sell them on the streets of New York. And yet that was nothing new... New York and other cities had had their street corner roasted-peanut vendors for years. I can provide examples if wanted.

So there was clearly an increased market for peanuts from Virginia post-war, but I have trouble believing it was a new market among soldiers who weren't previously familiar with roasted peanuts. Instead, I think it was an expansion of the old street-vendor market and a replacement of imported peanuts with Virginia-grown peanuts. I suspect that the Virginians were seeking an easy explanation for the puzzling phenomenon of why they could suddenly sell huge quantities of peanuts profitably to the northern market, and the soldier story was the simplest explanation.

So in other words, if the soldier explanation is true, we should be seeing lots of accounts of soldiers eating peanuts for the first time in Virginia, or eating them prepared in new ways, during the war.

If the soldier explanation is an oversimplification, we should be seeing accounts of soldiers who were already familiar with peanuts when they encountered them in Virginia, and were at most surprised to see how they actually grew.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net