The Surprising role of salt in the Civil War

Chances are that today you ate one of the most important foods during the Civil War. Can you guess what it is? The answer is salt! Salt is a key ingredient in many food products we eat every day, and it is an essential element in human nutrition. Salt has many other uses like preserving meat, which was very important before refrigerators were invented. It is also used for dying fabric and tanning leather. When the Civil War began in the United States, salt works and salt mines became targets of the Union army. Union General William Tecumseh Sherman wrote in 1862 that, “Salt is eminently contraband, because of its use in curing meats without which armies cannot be subsisted.” In other words, if an army doesn’t have any salt, it will not be able to feed its soldiers.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, New Iberia was one of only five places in the entire Confederacy that produced salt. This made the town very important to citizens and the military. On May 4, 1862, the large salt dome at Avery Island was discovered just ten miles southwest of New Iberia. Today, geologists believe that the salt dome at Avery Island is as deep as Mount Everest is tall! The discovery of Avery Island’s salt dome was very significant as the salt shortage grew in the Confederacy. The limited salt supply was rationed in the military and also to civilians. In Georgia, salt was reported to sell for $125 per bag if it could be found at all. In Texas, a “donkey load” of salt cost 2.25 ounces of gold! 

Soon after the Avery Island discovery, the Confederate army stationed two companies of infantry soldiers and one section of artillery to defend the salt mine from Union forces. However, on April 17, 1863, Union forces led by General Nathaniel P. Banks captured Avery Island and ended its salt production for the remainder of the war. Salt became increasingly scarce in the Confederacy as the Civil War continued. This made preserving meat almost impossible. In the end, the Union’s war on salt was just part of its war on the economy of the Confederacy. How do you think the war might have changed if the Union had not targeted salt works and salt mines?