PATRON + People were starving in Alabama in 1866

Thank you for the history. The South is so needlessly maligned. The real history of the Civil War
(and its aftermath) needs exposure.

Some of those that suffered the most were the southern Unionists in Marion, Winston, and Blount counties. The territory north of the Tennessee River was occupied by Union forces for much of the war, the Home Guard and Conscription Agents were relentless in the area because most of the military-aged men either were hidden in the rough terrain of the area or had crossed over the river and joined the Union army. They burned crops, homes, and took property of the families that remained behind. The only businesses that remained were owned by Confederate sympathizers because those owned by Unionists were destroyed or fell into disrepair due to the absence of their owners, so Unionist families could not buy things they needed because they were refused service. Even charitable contributions of food and other necessities made to help the suffering families were under control of Confederate sympathizers who would not distribute anything to starving Unionist families.

As if the Unionist families weren’t mistreated badly enough by Confederate sympathizers, occasional raids by Union forces led to foraging parties who took farm animals and crops. They typically provided a receipt to the families that would allow repayment after the war, but those weren’t edible and some families never lived to cash in their receipts. Members of the Union 1st Alabama Cavalry (many of whom were from north Alabama) were cognizant of how badly their families were suffering and when they served with General Sherman on his campaigns through Georgia and especially South Carolina, they were accused of committing some of the worst atrocities against Confederate citizens along the marches. Payback was hell.