Confederate – Antietam Institute

“we were almost starved” The Confederate Soldier, Food, and the Maryland Campaign – Michael Hardy

It is a common cliché – that food makes the army move. That is especially true for the Maryland Campaign. Food was one reason why Lee moved north following his victories at Second Manassas and Chantilly. While some of the soldiers, like those who captured Harpers Ferry, were well fed, others went hungry through much of the campaign. It was the opinion of Assistant Surgeon Spencer Welch of the 13th South Carolina Infantry that during the Maryland Campaign, “we were almost starved.” Historian and author, Michael C. Hardy will discuss this dire condition on June 15 as he presents, “we were almost starved” The Confederate soldier, Food, and the Maryland Campaign.

Michael C. Hardy is an award-winning and widely published author. He has written on a large array of subjects – airplanes, Southern places, and Confederate regiments—in books, articles, and blog posts. He is a graduate of the University of Alabama. In 2010, Hardy was named North Carolina Historian of the Year by the North Carolina Society of Historians. He was also awarded the James I. Robertson Literary Prize by the Robert E. Lee Civil War Library and Research Center in 2018 for his history of the Branch-Lane Brigade, General Lee’s Immortals (Savas Beatie, 2018). Michael has presented at a number conferences, like the Appomattox/Longwood Civil War Seminar, Pamplin Historical Park’s Symposium, and the American Battlefield Trust’s Annual Meeting, as well as being featured on an episode of Blood and Fury on the American Heroes Channel. When not researching, writing, and traveling, he volunteers at historic sites, sharing his love for history.

Come join leading historians and scholars as they discuss intriguing topics about their latest works and research on the Maryland Campaign and the Civil War during our Civil War Summer Lecture Series. See the complete 2026 schedule.

These indoor programs are held in McKinley Hall at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Monday evenings at 7:00 p.m. The church is located at 209W Main Street with a small parking area off the alley. More parking is available on Main and Hall Streets. These lectures are free and open to the public. Each week, we hold a drawing in which the proceeds support the Save Historic Antietam Foundation. Be sure to check our Facebook page for updates and changes to the schedule.

Confederate “Greybacks” Donated

The Antietam Institute recently helped facilitate the donation of four Confederate notes to the Sharpsburgh Museum of History. We received an email in late April from Mr. Larry Lauer stating that he had a number of Confederate notes and wanted to donate them to an organization for preservation. The notes he had were $100, $50 $10 and $5. They were dated from 1861 ($50) 1862 ($100) 1863 ($5) and 1864 ($10).

Mr. Lauer said the the notes had been given to him by an aunt in 1965 when he was 16 years old. April 9th of that year was the centennial anniversary of the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox. The centennial was a “big deal nationally with lots of activities around it”, he stated. Mr. Lauer was very interested in the Civil War reading books by historian Bruce Catton, who wrote “A Stillness at Appomattox” and others. His aunt also gave him a few older books about the Civil War to encourage his interest. Mr. Lauer donated a 1965 5¢ Appomattox commemorative stamp as well. It was one of the five Civil War Centennial Series stamps issued between 1961 and 1965.

Although he is not a collector, Mr. Lauer researched the notes and said from his understanding the bills from 1861 ($50) and 1862 ($100) are rarer because fewer of them were printed then in the later war years. All of the bills were printed in Richmond on rice paper which is thin and brittle. They are hand signed by different people and some are numbered and dated by hand.

The Confederate paper money was called “Graybacks” to distinguish them from the Union bills which were called “Greenbacks”. When the Army of Northern Virginia marched north, they gave these “Graybacks” to locals when they confiscated food and live stock to support the army on the move. These payments were essentially worthless, because they could not be redeemed for gold until after the war. The Union armies did the same thing. Maryland, being a border state, had soldiers from both armies fighting and marching through the region throughout the war, so both “Graybacks” and “Greenbacks” were not uncommon in local areas.

Once the Confederate notes arrived, the Institute coordinated with Ed Beeler, Executive Director of the Sharpsburgh Museum of History, to receive them. The museum will display the notes in a new exhibit interpreting the Civil War that emphasizes the struggle and hardships the civilians of Sharpsburg faced during the war.

We want to thank Larry Lauer for his generous donation to the Sharpsburgh Museum of History and are thrilled that the Institute was able to assist in making this happen. We look forward to seeing the exhibit at the museum.