Flora and Fauna of the Civil War: An Environmental Reference Guide

Grape

44 Flora cocted from slippery elm (U. rubra) bark in the form of soothing, jelly-like poultices to treat gunshot wounds and syphilis sores.1 We elms of Malvern Hill Remember every thing; But sap the twig will fill; Wag the world how it will, Leaves must be green in spring. —Herman Melville Melville’s elms survived the ravages of an epic war, but the continued existence of this species now valued as graceful shade trees depends on another battle, this one with a fungus known as Dutch elm disease. Felix Poche with CSA Brigadier General Henry Gray’s Brigade near Washington, Louisiana, on Sept. 24, 1863: “I spent the whole day at the house, and was quite unwell, still from the bowels. I took some Slippery Elm tea, and it did me some good.”2 Gideon Lincecum, seventy-year-old naturalist, in a letter to a friend from Washington Co., Texas, on March 26, 1863: “To color drab and light reds, the ley [lye] of some strong ashes is the proper mordant and it is applied after the goods have been boiled sufficiently in the coloring matter. . . . The brightest red I have produced on cotton was done with the red elm bark, the wild peach bark next; the goods being washed in ley after thoroughly boiling them in a strong decoction of the bark.”3 G r a p e Grapes (Vitis spp.) are woody vines that climb with tendrils in search of sunlight. About twenty species of native grapes are found in the eastern United States in a variety of habitats. The well-known fruits of grapes have been consumed by humans for thousands of years and are also important wildlife foods. Fifty-seven species of songbirds have been reported to eat wild grapes as well as bear, coyote, fox, rabbit, raccoon, skunk, squirrel, deer, and catfish.1 Muscadine grapes (V. rotundifolia), also known as scuppernong , grow throughout the Southeast and are popular for their large size and taste in wine and jellies. More than three hundred cultivars of this species have been developed in recent years. Modern research indi-   Grape 45 cates that polyphenols and other nutrients in grapes may have health benefits . During the Civil War, wild grapes were most often mentioned as food, but the volume of literature pertaining to winemaking using native grapes prior to the conflict suggests that the age-old art was then a common practice in the United States. One writer of the period lists thirteen varieties of wines made from native grapes.2 High- quality inks used to print Confederate currency were often hard to obtain. Wild grapes were crushed and used as a substitute at times.3 Soldiers also used grape wood for practical purposes, such as the construction of sap rollers. Private Theodore F. Upson, 100th Indiana Infantry Volunteers, near Savannah , Georgia, on Dec. 11, 1864: “We have been making rolling breast works. We make small rolls of saplings or poles fastened together with withes or peices of grape vines, and out of these have made a roll about 60 feet long and over 4 feet in diameter. Our sharpshooters get behind this and roll it down the road, shooting into the Battery embrasures so that they cannot fire their guns. We have completely silenced two Batteries so they cannot use them.”4 Kate Stone, Brokenburn Plantation near Milliken’s Bend, Louisiana, on Sept. 13, 1861: “Made John one [a small basket] and he often brings it in full of muscadines or wild grapes. All of us like wild grape lemonade, especially if feverish. There is generally a pile of the fruit heaped on a side table, and the boys make and drink lemonade all during the day.”5 John S. Jackman, 9th Kentucky Infantry, near Montgomery, Alabama, on April 30, 1863: “In the evening went a muskadine hunting on the banks of the river, and got an abundance.”6 Corporal Samuel A. Clear, 116th Pennsylvania Volunteers, at The Wilderness , Virginia, on May 5, 1864: “We pitched into the dark scrubby pines, grape vines, over old logs, ravines, tree tops, and everything else that went to make up a wilderness. It was a very irregular line of battle but it was the best we could do.”7 Myra Inman at Cleveland, Tennessee, on Sept. 25, 1862: “Cynthia Hardwick , Callie and Samantha Swan, John Swan, Peter Smith and I went out after muscadines this eve.”8 46...