Made By The Ladies
Some people like to portray women of the Victorian era as repressed and without influence, but history - and cockades! - tell us a different story.
In 1865, a poem was published with the famous line, "the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world." Nowhere is that more evident than in the Secession Crisis of the 1860s.
Though men were ostensibly the ones who discussed secession and either voted for it or against it, the women most decidedly had their say in the matter!
And often, "their say" included a cockade!
Make A Secessionist Of Them
In 1861, Thomas Smiley's sister Mary wrote to him about her "persuasive" activities regarding secession.
Hutchens are all unionists I believe even to the women Some of us got to arguing with Eliza yesterday but we might as well have tried to make her believe that the sun shines here in the night as to make a secessionist of her, and this is the way with all the unionists Tell John Beard he must try to make a secessionist of his father and Sam....Thomas have you received your secession badge yet Hannah was telling us that she had made one for you but Ma told her she ought not to have done it as it would be a mark for the enemy to shoot at.
Hannah's letter with the secession cockade says:
Cousin Tom
I send you this Secession badge as a token of the regard I have for you. It is small but I wish you to wear it for my sake. I would be glad to recieve a letter from you & would most assuredly take pleasure in answering it.
Your friend & Cousin
Hannah M Berry
Cockades For Legislators...
Though women didn't vote in elections, they certainly had persuasive power over legislators! This item from an 1860 newspaper states:
Senator Toombs and the Ladies.—The Columbus (Ga.) Times, of the 30th ult., says: "Senator Toombs was in the streets of Columbus, on Saturday, the "blue cockade" given him by the fair ladies of Montgomery. God bless them! We are for them and a union with them, where love, harmony, and good feeling exists, but are opposed to any other sort of Union." The night that the Senator spoke in Montgomery many ladies wore the badge of secession.
...And Cockades For Soldiers
But while lobbying the men in power, the ladies didn't forget the common soldier either. Sam Watkins in Co. Aytch remarked:
I saw then what I had long since forgotten - a "cockade." The Kentucky girls made cockades for us, and almost every soldier had one pinned on his hat....Everywhere could be seen Southern cockades made by the ladies and our sweethearts.
A Northern schoolgirl, Caroline Richards, recalled: A lot of us girls went down to the train and took flowers to the soldiers as they were passing through and they cut buttons from their coats and gave to us as souvenirs. We have flags on our paper and envelopes, and have all our stationery bordered with red, white and blue. We wear little flag pins for badges and tie our hair with red, white and blue ribbon and have pins and earrings made of the buttons the soldiers gave us.
Designed By the Ladies
Though the gents developed some of their own cockade designs, the ladies created most of the cockade styles. One newspaper in Arkansas details how a young woman created a Southern cockade:
Neat and Appropriate.—We have received, from a young lady in Burrowsville, Searcy county, a tasteful presentation in the shape of a rosette. It is so simple and pretty that we will endeavor to describe it. A grain of corn is fastened, by means of a hole drilled through it, to a floss of cotton, spread so as to form a circle; this is also attached to a light blue circle, and the whole to a deep blue, of the usual size of a rosette. By using a grain of red corn, we have the colors of the Confederacy flag; red, white and blue, while the corn and cotton are emblematical of the Confederacy. The design and execution are both excellent.—The present was sent with a patriotic note from the true hearted donor. In the revolution of '61 as in '76, the women are on the side of truth and liberty and, if need be, will show themselves to be heroines as did their foremothers. God bless them and the Southern Confederacy.
A Feather In Their Cap
The Charleston Mercury carried a patriotic and slightly humorous declaration from the ladies, which mentions not only their preference for secession cockades but also their patriotic desire for gunpowder tea and percussion caps!
To the Editor of the Charleston Mercury:
A party of young ladies, recently, while sipping inspiration from the China leaf, became warmly imbued with the spirit of the times, and after electing officers, etc., drew up the following resolutions:
Resolved, That we, though by Divine authority termed the “weaker vessels,” are nevertheless endowed with resolute wills, and hence have the power to make resolves, and to keep them,
Resolved, That since the election of Lincoln to the Presidency, we consider our allegiance to the North as ended, and will therefore use our influence in favor of an immediate secession,
Resolved, that we honor all men who are for this movement, but are determined to secede ourselves from all who are opposed to it,
Resolved, That at present the best “feather in the cap” of any young man, is the “Palmetto cockade,” and it makes our hearts flutter to see one mounted above a manly brow,
Resolved, That “gunpowder tea” shall be our favorite beverage, and “percussion caps” the only ones that we shall set,
Resolved, That “Yankee Doodle” is now defunct, and we can henceforth play only marches and quicksteps, and sing of the Lone Star, the Soldier’s Return, etc.,
Resolved, That the Military Institution of the State is a great institution, and her Cadets great fellows,
Resolved, That notwithstanding we feel duly grateful to the Yankees for their past services in making our shoes, &c., we are now seized with a decided predilection in favor of French boots, and hope to get a supply as soon as our Southern President becomes inaugurated.
Resolved, That since the weather is getting quite cold, and manufacturing establishments South rather scarce, we will hold on to our Northern “goods and chattels” a while longer, knowing that our silks and worsteds are from Europe, and feeling that to our calicos and cotton stuffs, at least, we have the original, the “God-given” right,
Resolved, That though our Palmetto shades are dearer to us than life, yet we love every State at the South–two of them especially–and dwell with delight upon the beautiful lake scenery of the one, and the mountain and grotto view–ideal-painted–of the other,
Resolved, That we honor the sons of Carolina in proportion to their patriotism, and are ready to yield up our hearts to the first Garibaldi who shall show himself,
Resolved, That we wish the world to know our views on the present issue of events, and will therefore place them at the disposal of the Charleston Mercury.
I'd say these resolute ladies of the 1860s were not women you'd want to mess with!
New Items in the Shop!
I have new items listed in my shop, as well as more coming! Here’s a few of them.
Need A Program for Your Group?
Many heritage and civic groups are planning their programs for the next year. I’m not traveling much this year BUT I recorded a 16 minute presentation about American cockades that you are free to schedule as one of your regular programs!
There's no cost - you can simply go to this Youtube link to watch it. Hope y'all enjoy it!
Thanks for reading! See you next week.
Regards,
~Heather Sheen