The Calvin Shedd Papers > Background > Oath of Allegiance
Oath of Allegiance
| Date(s) of Letter(s) | Fretwell,
Jacqueline, Ed. Civil War Times in St. Augustine. St. Augustine, Florida: St.
Augustine Historical Society, 1986.
|
| October 12, 1862 October 19, 1862 February 17, 1863 Rations to Civilians |
"From the start the Federal authorities had issued oaths of allegiance to the United States to any residents willing to swear their loyalty. True Unionists did so willingly. Soon the army began to use the pressure of hunger to induce oath taking in others. Secessionists judged it as cruel to starve women and children into submission, but the Federals felt it incongruous that they should be obliged to feed the families of confederate soldiers fighting to destroy the union." (Fretwell, p. 31). |