Liverpool's Role in the US Civil War

Liverpool in the 1860s

 

Unlike the rest of Britain, Liverpool’s population and economic status plummeted after World War Two. Go back 80 years further, though, and you have Britain’s second great metropolis, thriving off King Cotton and still benefitting hand-over-fist from the transatlantic slave trade. In modern terms, it would be a city of four million people, or nearly twice the size of Paris. A confident, arrogant world player grasping at city statehood.

Liverpool sucked money into its Cotton Exchange and banks directly from the trade winds and favourable currents from the new world. Traders got rich quick, but by 1863 something had stuck in the craw… those Damn Yankees. As a savage ground war ignited across the Eastern States of a still fledgling nation, the superior Union Navy blockaded all merchant traffic coming in and out of the South. Many leagues away in North-West England, a cotton drought set tempers boiling and the nouveau riche Illuminati of Liverpool rolled their stall out to scatter this blockade, by fair means and foul.

Britain’s official neutrality – Lincoln had explicitly warned the British Government against meddling – was flouted as the Confederate Navy was built, launched and crewed out of the city. Huge and notorious ironclad leviathans slipped out of the shipyard at Cammell Laird, steaming out into the Mersey bound for engagement. No expense was spared, and the South had been gifted the best technology of the day, with blockade runners like CSS Alabama and CSS Banshee becoming the scourge of the North. The Rebs suddenly had stock on water, and it came expressly from Liverpool.

Via deep-rooted trade connections, the city was deemed strategically essential to both sides in the war. The United States had long established a Consulate on Paradise Street, before the Confederacy – floated by local support – established its own base at Rumford Place and then Abercromby Square. A Cold War of espionage, legal challenges and sabotage began as agents (including a number of commissioned female agents) on both sides roamed the city and infiltrated the docks and ships.

Thomas Haines Dudley and James Dunwoody Bulloch

Two men infamously stood out in a growing ensemble American cast: Union Consul Thomas Haines Dudley, an erstwhile close aide of Lincoln who had a role in his election, and the formidable James Dunwoody Bulloch, Confederate Commander and Dudley’s counterpart at Rumford Place. Bulloch was the direct link in building the clandestine Navy, while Dudley challenged him in British courts and via his own network of agents who acted on the edge of local laws.

During the summer of 1863, in the run-up to Gettysburg, the pivotal battle stateside, Bulloch was succeeding in his charm offensive on the rich denizens of the city, via gentlemen’s clubs like the Athenaeum, which had a long association with slave traders. While anti-slavery campaigns were robust, former slavers had received vast sums in compensation and had reinvested their monies in the same dirty business, only at the import end of the supply chain. The CSS Alabama wreaked havoc on the blockade, and destroyed dozens of enemy vessels before finally succumbing at Cherbourg, more evidence that this war was fought on both sides of the ocean. 

 

The actions were not confined to the two senior rivals either. Key Lincoln assassination conspirator John Surratt hid out in the city for several months after the dirty deed, evading capture and extradition. Liverpool’s addiction to the vast wealth created by cotton drove the city’s fervent support of the Rebel Yell, and this included harbouring fugitives and spies like Surratt. Westminster did little to nothing in terms of disrupting this tryst, with rumours of collaborations between some senior politicians with investments tied up in Liverpool’s trading interests and the movement to back Richmond.

 

Irish Diaspora

 

An important backdrop to these events is that Liverpool’s dense population was swelled by the diaspora after the Great Irish Hunger in the 1840s, which meant that many of the commissioned agents and paid gangs originated from this generation of immigrants. Both sides in the war recruited vigorously in the city for their armies and navies. Irish fought on both sides and continued to build American cities as much as their labour built Liverpool. Ireland formed a bridge across the ocean, and Liverpool Irish were another essential link, taking up the lucrative but dirty work offered by Dudley and Bulloch at a time when any work was sought after. 

 

This nefarious cooperation of Liverpool and the Confederacy can be boiled down to an unerring truth; the American Civil War began with a shot fired from a giant gun built by a Duke Street ironmonger and ended in 1865 with the surrender of Liverpool-built CSS Shenandoah on the Mersey, with the last act of defiance coming with their acquiescing to the British rather than Union Navy.

 

After the War

 

Dunwoody Bulloch settled in the city after the war and is interred at Smithdown Road cemetery. Today, Liverpool redefines itself as a city of tolerance and as a proud, ancient melting pot with a strong urge towards social justice. City historians like Lawrence Westgaph and Malik Al Nasir have opened up long-closed archives that detail what happened before and after the war, particularly in terms of slavery, by following the money and proffering reparations for the middle passage Holocaust. Myths hang tight, and while the ideas behind the Confederacy maintain an allure to the alt-right in the US, the frequent appearance of a Confederate saltire on Bulloch’s resting place reminds us that maybe a few in Liverpool still wished that war had ended differently. The fundamental difference is that now they’re in a tiny minority.

 

About the Author

 

John Maxwell is the author of the Civil War thriller “Water Street”. 

 

Set in Liverpool in 1863, the American Civil War comes to the British Empire’s second city and the world’s richest port. Confederate Commander Banastre X. Dunwoody has a plan to turn the conflict by securing advanced warships, but the U.S. Government is one step ahead of him. It seeks to sabotage his efforts through its covert agent – Harriet Dunwoody – Banastre’s pregnant wife.

 

 

 

 

British Woman at War: The Contribution of Factory Girls to Victory in WWII

As in the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany and, indeed, the United States, by far the largest number of women mobilized in support of the war effort went into the civilian labor force to replace men called to arms. Yet whereas women in U.S. factories were all volunteers and the Germans relied heavily on slave labor from the Concentration Camps, POWs and occupied Europe, Britain conscripted women into the munitions and aircraft factories from 1942 onwards.

Already by 1941, it was obvious to the British government that there was a serious shortage of manpower both to fight the war and to produce the instruments of war, particularly munitions, ships and aircraft. The British government recognized that the only solution was to bring women into the work-force both by enabling them to fulfill a wider range of support roles in the armed forces, thereby reducing the number of men that would have to be conscripted, and on an even larger scale employing them in factories producing essential war materiel. 

In the spring of 1941, all women between the ages of 18 and 60 were required to register. By December, a shortage of 1.5 million factory workers in essential war industries was identified and the decision was taken to conscript women to fill this gap. Although women were given the option of joining one of the women's auxiliary services, doing civil defense work or working in industry, fully half of the 1.5 million women called to national service, 750,000, would be directed into the munitions factories. The legal basis for female conscription was included in the National Service Act passed 18 December 1941, which made all widows without children and single women between the ages of twenty and thirty subject to conscription.

By the end of the war, women up to the age of fifty were liable for national service and already in 1943, 90% of single women and 80% of married women were in one way or another contributing to the war effort. The bulk of these women worked in factory jobs, and three-quarters of them full-time. Yet even though many of these women were called up to fill the place of men going into the armed services, most were paid a lower wage then the men they had replaced. The exceptions such as the Air Transport Auxiliary and the railways were the rare exceptions that granted women equal pay for equal work, the later due to a national union agreement.

Furthermore, wartime demands meant that working conditions deteriorated dramatically. In 1940, after Lord Beaverbrook took charge of the specially created Ministry of Aircraft Production, factories assembling aircraft or producing the component parts for them started to work around the clock. The shifts were extended to twelve-hours and weekends and holidays were cancelled. In the crisis atmosphere created by the Battle of Britain and Blitz, workers began sleeping in the factories and soon accidents went up and productivity declined. Such a pace was not sustainable, and inevitably things settled into a wartime "normal." This was on average a 58 - 60 hour workweek for men and a 45 to 55 hour workweek for women. (Below, women workers assembling an aircraft fuselage)

In addition to the shorter workweek, other concessions were made to the female workforce. Where men had stood, women were often provided with stools to sit. Tea breaks became regularized, and canteen food improved. Yet the work still had to get done and while women were shielded from combat, there was no comparative effort to protect them from dangerous jobs. 

Most notably, nearly a million (950,000) British women worked in munitions factories, then known as the Royal Ordnance Factories or ROF. These jobs were better paid and required fewer hours than in other sectors such as transport, but the risks were enormous. The women worked filling fuses, detonators, bullets, shells, mines and bombs with explosive materials, particularly TNT. Health and safety practices were minimal. The women often suffered from side effects such as skin discoloration and stomach illnesses from handling toxic chemicals, often with their naked hands. The risk of explosion was always present, and in addition to 134 fatalities, many more workers lost limbs in accidents. (Below women working in a munitions factory.)

Other vital industries that relied heavily on women were the railways where 105,000 women were employed doing all tasks necessary to keep the trains running. Women also built tanks and other vehicles and produced and packed parachutes. The latter job had the perk of being able to keep the scraps of silk for personal use. Substantial numbers of women were employed by the Post Office as "engineers" laying and repairing telephone lines. Women served in the merchant navy as stewardesses aboard troop transports, and worked as conductors or ticket collectors on public transport buses and trams. 

Their contribution to the war effort is all to often ignored, forgotten or simply dismissed.

Award-winning novelist Helena P. Schrader is the author of three books set in Britain during WWII: Where Eagles Never Flew, Grounded Eagles and Moral Fibre.  You can find out more about them, their awards and read excerpts at: https://CrossSeasPress.com.

 

British Women at War -- The "Land Girls"

 by Helena P. Schrader

Throughout history, when men went to war, the burden of maintaining agricultural production — often the mainstay of the economy — fell to the family members left behind. That meant old people and children – and women. Yet in WWII, something new happened. Rather than relying on whatever family members happened to remain behind, the British government organized an external labor force to help farmers cope; it called on women to help out on the land and created the “Women’s Land Army.”

The Women's Land Army (WLA) had its origins in WWI. Established in 1917, the Women's Land Army employed some 23,000 women before the end of the First World War. This precedent encouraged early planning for a similar deployment of women in agricultural work as Europe slid slowly but inexorably towards war in the late 1930s. 

Logically for an agricultural employment scheme, the Women's Land Army (WLA) was organized geographically and divided into fifty-two regions each with a "county office." This office employed a permanent and paid staff which administered recruitment, placement, and complaints. The "local representative," most commonly an older woman with standing in the community and an appreciation for agricultural issues (e.g. a woman who owned a country estate), was responsible for visiting each Land Girl in her district at least once a month. She noted and reported on billeting, food, pay, time-off and recreation facilities available. She handled complaints and tried to mediate between the Land Girls and their employers, but if differences could not be resolved, the Land Girls were free to change employers.

Young women interested in the WLA applied at a county office and were interviewed by at least two people. Applicants came from across the country with widely different educational backgrounds and training. An astonishing third of all so-called "Land Girls" came from urban backgrounds. Many conscientious objectors were found among the ranks of the Land Girls. 

The work week was set at 48 hours in winter and 50 hours in summer, although during harvest and other periods of particular need the Land Girls like farmers and agricultural workers around the globe worked dawn to dusk. Most of the year, however, Land Girls got off work at noon on Saturday and did not need to report back until Monday morning. The majority spent their weekend at home with their families. 

The Land Girls were hired and paid directly by farmers, receiving the same wages as female agricultural workers -- i.e. the minimum wage of one pound, two shillings and sixpence a week. However, their room and board were deducted from this wage, leaving only ten shillings a week for personal expenses. Girls working more than 20 miles from home were also entitled to a "railway warrant," which was free train transportation to their home once every six months.

The work was extremely varied. It included, for example, driving tractors and ploughs, feeding and herding livestock, milking cows, mucking out barns, weeding kitchen gardens, harvesting grains, vegetables, and fruits, threshing, thatching and rat-catching/killing. Land Girls were expected not only to know how to use all usual farm equipment but also to be able to repair it. The only kind of work they were exempted from was domestic work -- something not all farmers appreciated in the early years. Furthermore, except for some correspondence courses, most of the Land Girls had to learn about farming on the job. 

Although Land Girls had a "uniform" and badges that declared their seniority in the service, the WLA was never a military or paramilitary organization. There were no ranks, no drill, and no regimentation. Girls could both give notice and be fired. Many Land Girls lived on the farms where they worked -- sometimes treated like members of the family, although some had the misfortune to be treated like cheap labor instead. Others lived in hostels together with other Land Girls. The biggest problem with individual billeting was loneliness and boredom. Girls in hostels had each other for company both when “at home” and for forays to local towns and events. 

In 1942, the "Timber Corps" was formed as a component of the WLA. The women who joined this corps were engaged in forest management including felling trees and transporting lumber. They lived in communal huts, usually 20 to a hut, and engaged in particularly heavy labor. 

The major appeal of the WLA was the opportunity to work in the sunshine, fresh air and away from the bombing. A secondary appeal was the "extras" like fresh eggs, milk, vegetables and fruits that the girls were able both to enjoy and to share with families.

Altogether, roughly 90,000 women served in the WLA during the Second World War. Their contribution is best measured by the fact that the organization was not disbanded until 1950. From the middle of the war until that time, Britain's dependence on homegrown foods had become acute, and the extra labor in the agricultural sector was essential to meet even minimal demands.

Award-winning novelist Helena P. Schrader is the author of three books set in Britain during WWII: Where Eagles Never Flew, Grounded Eagles and Moral Fibre.  You can find out more about them, their awards and read reviews and excerpts at: https://helenapschrader.com