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  • #1

    Liquor at Events

    I have a question that has been bugging me a bit, what alcohol concoctions were available for the discriminating Civil War Soldier.

    I know about Apple Jack Whiskey, Brandy etc... but what was the most common. I was suprised to recently read about some enteprising men of an Iowa regiment that created a nice still while in winter Camp at Vicksburg in 63... It would appear that was quite a bit of demand for their poison.

    There was question as to whether or not it was made w/ one or two cottonmouth corpses and a few river rats with maybe some tobacco thrown in for flavor.
    Johan Steele aka Shane Christen C Co, 3rd MN VI
    SUVCW Camp 48
    American Legion Post 352
    [url]http://civilwartalk.com[/url]
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Period Liquor for Alcoholics

    Bourbon, Applejack, Rye and Corn Wiskey, Brandywine, Gin and of course beer were popular in the time period.
    Robert Johnson

    "Them fellers out thar you ar goin up against, ain't none of the blue-bellied, white-livered Yanks and sassidge-eatin'forrin' hirelin's you have in Virginny that run atthe snap of a cap - they're Western fellers, an' they'll mighty quick give you a bellyful o' fightin."



    In memory of: William Garry Co.H 5th USCC KIA 10/2/64 Saltville VA.

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: Period Liquor for Alcoholics

      Originally posted by hireddutchcutthroat
      Bourbon, Applejack, Rye and Corn Wiskey, Brandywine, Gin and of course beer were popular in the time period.
      There's a reference to porter (strong dark beer) in Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" (1843) it may well have been available in the States, ale was being produced as far back as the late 18th century (Sam Adams).

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: Period Liquor for Alcoholics

        Originally posted by fidlr1
        There's a reference to porter (strong dark beer) in Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" (1843) it may well have been available in the States, ale was being produced as far back as the late 18th century (Sam Adams).

        Paul

        Yes, porters, and ales were probably the most common beers in the Americas during the 1800s, due in part to the fact that they lasted longer without refridgeration than lagers and pilsners did. But Lagers and Pilsners were growing in popularity due to the large influx of Germanic immegrants. Lageres and Pilsners became the beer of choice after the war and reached their height before prohibition.
        Robert Johnson

        "Them fellers out thar you ar goin up against, ain't none of the blue-bellied, white-livered Yanks and sassidge-eatin'forrin' hirelin's you have in Virginny that run atthe snap of a cap - they're Western fellers, an' they'll mighty quick give you a bellyful o' fightin."



        In memory of: William Garry Co.H 5th USCC KIA 10/2/64 Saltville VA.

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: Period Liquor for Alcoholics

          Two examples from Louisiana during the War are rum, being plentiful, with all the sugar plantations, and the beer that Elijah Petty's letters describe that Walker's Texas Division was brewing to replace their poor water supply.
          Phil Graf

          Can't some of our good friends send us some tobacco? We intend to "hang up our stockings." if they can't send tobacco, please send us the seed, and we will commence preparing the ground; for we mean to defend this place till h-ll freezes over, and then fight the Yankees on the ice.

          Private Co. A, Cook's Reg't, Galveston Island.

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: Period Liquor for Alcoholics

            Yuengling Brewery has been in exsistance since 1829. It is considered the oldest American Brewery. How a Keg of Yuengling could make it to the soldiers I would not know. They did not start bottling untill 1895.

            Home - Yuengling
            https://www.Yuengling.com



            Sgt. Daniel Curran
            37th NC Co. A

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: Period Liquor for Alcoholics

              Originally posted by 37NC
              Yuengling Brewery has been in exsistance since 1829. It is considered the oldest American Brewery. How a Keg of Yuengling could make it to the soldiers I would not know. They did not start bottling untill 1895.

              Home - Yuengling
              https://www.Yuengling.com



              Sgt. Daniel Curran
              37th NC Co. A
              ummm in a keg :sarcastic :wink_smil
              [SIZE=2][B]Mark Mason[/B][/SIZE] :cool:
              [SIZE=2][I]Tar Water Mess[/I][/SIZE]
              [SIZE=2][I]GHTI[/I][/SIZE]
              [URL]http://http://www.ghti.homestead.com/[/URL]

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              • #8
                Whiskey

                Hello all,

                I've read a bunch of Federal regimental histories and they all have references to whiskey in them. For example, in the history of the 22nd Mass. Vols. they talk about how a near riot ensued between them and "their friends" in the 118th Pa. over a keg of whiskey that was on a broken down wagon during the infamous "mud march". Many of the regimentals have references to whiskey being issued as a ration. And the men were always on the lookout for the stuff when going through an abandoned (or not) house. Whiskey seems to be the one common liquor that, at least for Federals, is in the minds & gullets of the common soldier.
                [COLOR=DarkRed][SIZE=4][FONT=Times New Roman]En Obtien!...James T. Miller[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

                Comment

                • #9
                  Re: Period Liquor for Alcoholics

                  any references to the use of cider????

                  Paul B. Boulden Jr.

                  RAH VA MIL '04
                  Paul B. Boulden Jr.


                  RAH VA MIL '04
                  (Loblolly Mess)
                  [URL="http://23rdva.netfirms.com/welcome.htm"]23rd VA Vol. Regt.[/URL]
                  [URL="http://www.virginiaregiment.org/The_Virginia_Regiment/Home.html"]Waggoner's Company of the Virginia Regiment [/URL]

                  [URL="http://www.military-historians.org/"]Company of Military Historians[/URL]
                  [URL="http://www.moc.org/site/PageServer"]Museum of the Confederacy[/URL]
                  [URL="http://www.historicsandusky.org/index.html"]Historic Sandusky [/URL]

                  Inscription Capt. Archibold Willet headstone:

                  "A span is all that we can boast, An inch or two of time, Man is but vanity and dust, In all his flower and prime."

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                  • #10
                    Re: Period Liquor for Alcoholics

                    Yuengling!!!! mmmmm.......best American Beer straight outta Pennsylvania. Id have liked to take a little raid on the brewery if I was a soldie during the war.....
                    Gregory Randazzo

                    Gawdawful Mess http://www.gawdawfulmess.com
                    John Brizzay Mess
                    SkillyGalee Mess
                    http://skillygalee-mess.blogspot.com/

                    "The Northern onslaught upon slavery was no more than a piece of specious humbug designed to conceal its desire for economic control of the Southern states." Charles Dickens, 1862

                    “These people delight to destroy the weak and those who can make no defense; it suits them.” R.E. Lee referring to the Federal Army.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Period Liquor for Alcoholics

                      Granted beer was popular in select cities and among immigrants to which it fit into their culture. However, beer was not as popular as we think of it to day. The popularity of beer is in most part do to the marketing skills of Mr. Busch after the War. Rewards for carrying his products, such as bar mirrors and other essentials, enticed tavern owners to carry beer instead of or as well as harder beverages. Something mentioned above and often over looked in beverage discussion is the popularity of rum. Rum was all of the big three when it came to a solders decision. CHEAP, PLENTIFUL, and TASTEY. Although not to discredit the various American Whiskies, which also shared the same appealing qualities for solders.

                      Beau Blackwell
                      PLHA
                      Beau Blackwell

                      A.F.M# 143 New Prospect, South Carolina

                      One day I stumbled across a case of bourbon...and kept stumbling for several days thereafter.
                      - W.C. Fields

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Cider, et al.

                        Originally posted by Stonewall_Greyfox
                        any references to the use of cider????

                        Paul B. Boulden Jr.

                        RAH VA MIL '04
                        Mr. Boulden,

                        Andrew Parsons a strict observer of temperence and a soldier in the Thirty-third Wisconsin wrote this letter in the summer of 1864, on the occasion of the one year anniversary of Pemberton's surrender at Vicksburg:

                        Our officers got into a drunken revel & caroused until midnight (set a good example didn't they [?]) They said they were commemorating the commencement of the fall of Vicksburgh [sic]. They gave some very good toasts and speeches... [S]ome of us (it being dark) went down in front of their tent and listened to them & just as they were breaking up we gave them 3 cheers. This brought them outside and they speechified all round. They took the boys to the sutlers & treated them liberally those that wanted to drink. It was nothing but harmless blackberry wine and cider bottled up..."
                        He mentioned cider and blackberry wine in another letter, as well. Did you catch the hint of sarcasm with Parsons' use of the word "harmless"?

                        Regards, Bob
                        [B]Robert Braun[/B]

                        << Il nous faus de l'audace, encore l'audace, toujours l'audace! >>

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                        • #13
                          Re: Period Liquor for Alcoholics

                          In researching the history of Rome, Ga. during the war I discovered that there were 13 saloons or "doggerys" located on Broad Street in 1862. The most frequently mentioned alcoholic beverages were: Barrelled whiskey(expensive and very hard to find), jugged whiskey (locally produced and inexpensive), and beer.

                          The Choice House Hotel offered mixed drinks including: Poor man's Punch, I.O.U., Chain-Lightning, Milk Punch, and Phlegm-Cutter. (Rome Tri-Weekly Courier advertisement, Aug. 1862) Alas, no recipes.
                          Marlin Teat
                          [I]“The initial or easy tendency in looking at history is to see it through hindsight. In doing that, we remove the fact that living historical actors at that time…didn’t yet know what was going to happen. We cannot understand the decisions they made unless we understand how they perceived the world they were living in and the choices they were facing.”[/I]-Christopher Browning

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                          • #14
                            Re: Period Liquor for Alcoholics

                            From http://www.15thwisconsin.net/15diduno.htm

                            "On Christmas Eve 1861 some of the 15th's soldiers stole a keg of beer, got drunk, and fought with the Irish soldiers of the 17th Wisconsin at Camp Randall. The fight ended after the beer was all drunk up."
                            Robert Johnson

                            "Them fellers out thar you ar goin up against, ain't none of the blue-bellied, white-livered Yanks and sassidge-eatin'forrin' hirelin's you have in Virginny that run atthe snap of a cap - they're Western fellers, an' they'll mighty quick give you a bellyful o' fightin."



                            In memory of: William Garry Co.H 5th USCC KIA 10/2/64 Saltville VA.

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Re: Period Liquor for Alcoholics

                              Notice there are no accounts of soldiers pounding cans of MGD around the fire :wink_smil :beer_yum:
                              Robert Johnson

                              "Them fellers out thar you ar goin up against, ain't none of the blue-bellied, white-livered Yanks and sassidge-eatin'forrin' hirelin's you have in Virginny that run atthe snap of a cap - they're Western fellers, an' they'll mighty quick give you a bellyful o' fightin."



                              In memory of: William Garry Co.H 5th USCC KIA 10/2/64 Saltville VA.

                              Comment

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