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Gunboat Quilts
Fundraisers for the Confederacy

by Patricia Cummings

 

During the American Civil War, southern women joined together in societies to raise money toward the purchase of ironclad gunboats intended to protect southern naval ports. These seaside cities were the points of entry for shipments of foreign goods that were critical for survival during the Union embargo. Throughout 1861 and 1862, women from many of the Confederate states organized under group names, such as the Ladies’ Defense Association or the Women’s Gunboat Fund. Their primary goal was to raise enough money for the purchase of a gunboat for each of their respective cities.

Groups Organize

The first of these groups was organized in New Orleans, Louisiana,  in 1861, by women upset by the capture of Port Royal, South Carolina by the North. In November of that year, the first Gunboat Fair was held. By February 1862, the idea of raising funds for gunboats had migrated to Alabama. One newspaper, The Mobile Register and Advertiser,  published a stirring article from a mother who offered $5 (which was “earned by her needle”) toward such an effort. She called upon local women to also contribute for a gunboat to protect their cities.

The Charleston Daily Courier of Charleston, South Carolina was not far behind in publishing a similar letter. This was followed by yet another letter two weeks later in the Georgia Daily Enquirer. The ladies of Richmond, Virginia quickly responded after a third appeal for funds was published in the Richmond Daily Dispatch.

 

Women began making quilts to donate to the numerous raffles and bazaars that were planned. They also reviewed their household goods to see what other items they could give for the cause. No sacrifice seemed too great.

Mary Boykin Miller Chestnut wrote in her diary that she gave a string of pearls to a raffle held in Richmond, Virginia---it raised $2,000.

Not surprising was the fact that the ladies began to compete to see which group could raise the most money. These zealous women held benefit concerts and dinners in support of their fundraising efforts. Although some accounting was done of the sums gathered, the total amount of money raised has never been known.

Gunboat Quilts of Alabama

Two remarkable “gunboat” quilts were donated by Martha Jane Singleton Hatter (1815-1896), of Greensboro, Alabama. Although she married, at the time she made the quilts she was a widow, and the mother of two sons in the Army. She presented both quilts to her minister, Reverend Joseph Johnston Hutchinson, for the purpose of auctioning them off. The first quilt was sold for $100, but was returned for resale to maximize profits on it, and it was sold again at $100., for a grand total of two hundred dollars. Later, the quilt was given back to Mrs. Hatter and it did not leave family hands until it was acquired by the Birmingham Museum of Art in 1985, purchased with assistance from the Quilt Conservancy.

Even allowing for inflation, the low prices that Mrs. Hatter's quilts  commanded at auction are astounding to us today, considering the high level of needle skills needed to produce them, as well as the expensive Chintz and silk fabrics and materials used in their making. Just to catch a glimpse of them is to know that their high quality would place their value at thousands of dollars.

 

First Gunboat Quilt of Mrs. Hatter

Mrs. Hatter’s quilts are stunning! The first quilt is rendered in a “central medallion” format, the focal point being the center which is graced by a basket and flowers. This motif is composed of appliqué pieces which are cut from wool challis and are stitched to the chocolate brown silk taffeta background with buttonhole stitch.

The primary technique employed in its construction is the addition of (imported) chintz cut-outs which appliquéd with buttonhole stitch onto a background fabric. Today we know this method as broderie perse, but according to Barbara Brackman, that particular nomenclature has not shown up in any written materials from the Civil War time period.

 

The center floral unit is enclosed within a circular floral wreath. The center is surrounded by a square created by appliquéd blue taffeta squares, set on point, forming a border around the central design elements. This line of blue squares extends outward to the edges of the quilt. This creates four enclosed corners which each contain swatches of floral appliqués.

There are two types of hand quilting on the quilt. Closely spaced lines of quilt stitches form cross-hatched hanging diamonds in the center of the quilt and double-clamshell motifs grace the perimeter of the quilt. The quilt is a generous 66” x 66” size, and was apparently made to be used on a single bed.

Luckily, the time period had not yet arrived when damaging metal additives were added to silk to make it weigh more since silk was sold by the pound. Consequently, this quilt is still in very good condition with little damage visible to the eye. This seems to be a rare early example of the use of silks in quilts, according to two quilt historians: Bryding Adams Henley, "Gunboat Quilts," Alabama Heritage, Spring 1988, Issue 8, 14-25, and Barbara Brackman, Quilts from the Civil War, (C & T Publishing, 1997), 66-67.

 

Both of these historians note that the colors of the printed wool challis may have changed over time due to unstable dyes. It is suspected that the colors we see as blue or tan today were most probably green or red when the quilt was first made. Light exposure alone has a way of changing unstable dye colors over time.

Second Gunboat Quilt

In a letter dated April 4, 1862 sent by Reverend Hutchinson to the Alabama Beacon, he mentions a second quilt donated by Mrs. Hatter. This quilt,  71” x 86”, also had a central motif of flowers and utilizes appliquéd wool challis on cotton. The quiltmaker has varied her hand quilting designs in a most interesting manner. The borders are wide, contain lots of flower designs, and are quite a bit different from her first quilt.

The second Hatter quilt was re-sold no less than four times: first for $115, in Tuscaloosa, and again for $500. there; a third time for $250. in Summerfield, and a final time for an undisclosed amount in Selma. This particular quilt is now owned by the First White House of the Confederacy, Montgomery, Alabama, the gift of Mrs. Mary Hutchinson Jones in 1982.

Other Masterpiece Quilts of Mrs. Hatter

Mrs. Hatter was very prolific with her needle. She is known for certain to have made two other “masterpiece” quilts: a child’s cotton quilt with cotton appliqué and a crocheted cotton edging, 60” x 33”; and a crib quilt which is cotton with cotton appliqué and a cotton torchon fringe, 37” x 31 ½”. Both quilts have survived and are located in the collection of the First House of the Confederacy in Montgomery, Alabama. In addition to these, a carriage quilt owned by the family of John Erwin in Greensboro, Alabama, is believed to have been made by this same quiltmaker.

Unrealized Goals

In 1862, the price of one gunboat was $80,000. While this goal was never realized, the money raised did enable the purchase of three other types of vessels: the “Charleston,” the “Fredericksburg,” and the “Georgia.” Though not true “gunboats,” these boats were jokingly referred to as “petticoat Gunboats” or “ladies Gunboats.”

Fundraising efforts for gunboat quilts had been partially inspired by the successes of the C.S.S. Virginia, an ironclad confiscated from the Union. However, when that was sunk by its own captain to avoid its capture, southerners became disheartened and disillusioned. This event marked a change of heart for the avid gunboat advocates. When it became apparent that Mobile would be likely to fall into enemy hands in 1862, gunboat funds were channeled toward medical supplies and hospitals.

Surviving Examples of Dedication

Still the story of these gunboat quilts takes on much more meaning for us because of the superb examples that have been conserved. To see them is to understand the passion of southern women to support the Confederacy and the work of their brothers, husbands, and sons. The fundraising efforts remind us that women always do what they can to support causes in which they believe.

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When all is said and done, there is always more to be revealed. In this article which appeared in The Quilter, a bit of intrigue was hinted at in the sidebar added by editor, Laurette Koserowski, based on some correspondence. I will leave that to you to discover in a back issue of the magazine. www.thequiltermag.com

This article was reprinted in The Citizen's Companion, a living history/Civil War magazine tailored to the interests of civilian reenactors:  "Gunboat Quilts" by Patricia Cummings - June/July 2007, 25-28, with photos of Civil War Era quilts (not Gunboat Quilts) provided by Barbara Brackman.

Additional reference: Southern Quilts: Surviving Relics of the Civil War, Bets Ramsey and Merikay Waldvogel (Rutledge Hill Press, 1998), 86-89.

For more information, and to see quilts made by Martha Jane Singleton Hatter Bullock, please visit the chapter, “Alabama Gunboat Quilts,” E. Bryding Adams, in (Quiltmaking in America: Beyond the Myths, Laurel Horton, editor, Rutledge Hill Press, 1994).