Prospects of Peace 1864 Tour: Roeder's White Hall Tavern

Civilian groups gave aid and comfort.

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Quick Facts

Amenities

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Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

Of 618,000 Civil War fatalities, about two-thirds (414,000) died of disease. The Union Army alone blamed 50,000 deaths on diarrhea-dysentery, a sum larger than "killed in action". In his 1862 “Culinary Hints for the Soldier,” Captain James Sanderson stated, "Cleanliness is next to godliness, both in persons and kettles. Be ever industrious, then in scouring your pots...Beans killed more than bullets; and fat is more fatal than powder." 

Diet kitchens operating under US Army surgeons’ control were supplied mainly through hospital commissaries and supplemented with delicacies and other necessities by the U.S. Christian Commission. All patients who did not receive meals from the general kitchen, received special diet kitchen meals by surgeons’ orders. Experienced and competent women attached to the USCC managed these kitchens. Before war’s end, more than one hundred diet kitchens were in service. Diet kitchens issued over 2 million rations during the last 18 months of the war. These diet kitchen services likely saved thousands of soldiers' lives. Coffee-wagons and “special diet-kitchens” were organized for the convalescent. The USCC estimated that their work during the war cost more than 6.25 million dollars.  

The USCC played a role in Harpers Ferry during the Civil War. One of the citizens of Harpers Ferry, Mary Roeder, left her home after the death of her father, Frederick, and married a man named Kerns. As she and her family returned to their home throughout the Civil War, they often found it occupied by federal soldiers. The Roeder/Kerns family continued their support of the Union by offering food and medical supply storage to the USCC in their buildings here on Potomac Street in the lower town of Harpers Ferry.