Slave Payroll of the Confederate Nitre Works
6/1863
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This payroll acknowledges that 1st Lieutenant H. T. Reardon paid certain George W. Trice for work performed by his slaves at the Nitre Works, District No. 4, Virginia, during June 1863.
The slaves included William (blacksmith), Lindy (woman laborer), Clary (woman laborer), Jim (boy laborer), Frazier (boy laborer), and the following adult male laborers: Davy, Wash, Lewis, Thornton, Jerry, Henry, Bill, Harry, Isaac, Kellis, Martial, Edmond, Calvin, Jack, Ben, George Mason, Money [?], Monroe, Barber Lewis, B. Jim, George Barber, Dabney, and Jeff.
During the U.S. Civil War, the manufacture of gunpowder became a serious concern for the Confederacy. Potassium nitrate, in particular, is a critical element of gunpowder, and the Confederacy acquired it through several methods. One was through removing potassium nitrate–rich bat guano from caves; another method was through creating “nitre beds.” These were large rectangular pits filled with rotted manure and straw and covered weekly with urine and the liquid removed from privies and cesspools. The solid matter was rotated regularly with the urine by hand to create the desperately needed saltpeter.
The people employed by the Confederacy to do this noxious work were enslaved. Short on manpower, the Confederate government paid enslavers to lease their enslaved workers to perform work like digging entrenchments and tending to the nitre beds. Some nitre works used enslave women as laborers, which was fairly uncommon. However, enslaved women laborers “earned” less than the men. At Nitre Works District No. 4 in Virginia, the enslaver of two women laborers named Lindy and Clary were paid $8.33 a month, while the same enslaver received $20 a month for an adult man and $12.50 for a boy (as seen in the payroll above).
While much of the history of the Confederacy focuses on the contributions of White soldiers, it was the unpaid enslaved Black women who had no choice that helped make the saltpeter that made the Confederate gunpowder that kept the war going.
The slaves included William (blacksmith), Lindy (woman laborer), Clary (woman laborer), Jim (boy laborer), Frazier (boy laborer), and the following adult male laborers: Davy, Wash, Lewis, Thornton, Jerry, Henry, Bill, Harry, Isaac, Kellis, Martial, Edmond, Calvin, Jack, Ben, George Mason, Money [?], Monroe, Barber Lewis, B. Jim, George Barber, Dabney, and Jeff.
During the U.S. Civil War, the manufacture of gunpowder became a serious concern for the Confederacy. Potassium nitrate, in particular, is a critical element of gunpowder, and the Confederacy acquired it through several methods. One was through removing potassium nitrate–rich bat guano from caves; another method was through creating “nitre beds.” These were large rectangular pits filled with rotted manure and straw and covered weekly with urine and the liquid removed from privies and cesspools. The solid matter was rotated regularly with the urine by hand to create the desperately needed saltpeter.
The people employed by the Confederacy to do this noxious work were enslaved. Short on manpower, the Confederate government paid enslavers to lease their enslaved workers to perform work like digging entrenchments and tending to the nitre beds. Some nitre works used enslave women as laborers, which was fairly uncommon. However, enslaved women laborers “earned” less than the men. At Nitre Works District No. 4 in Virginia, the enslaver of two women laborers named Lindy and Clary were paid $8.33 a month, while the same enslaver received $20 a month for an adult man and $12.50 for a boy (as seen in the payroll above).
While much of the history of the Confederacy focuses on the contributions of White soldiers, it was the unpaid enslaved Black women who had no choice that helped make the saltpeter that made the Confederate gunpowder that kept the war going.
This primary source comes from the War Department Collection of Confederate Record.
National Archives Identifier: 24487470
Full Citation: Slave Payroll of the Confederate Nitre Works; 6/1863; Confederate Slave Payrolls, 1874 - 1899; War Department Collection of Confederate Record, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/documents/document/slave-payroll-confederate-nitre-works, March 27, 2023]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.
