Original Civil War Tobacco Twist, as in museums and books

Being offered is a large twist of Civil War tobacco. It was found with several other pieces at an antebellum home in Kentucky, where it remained undisturbed for over 150 years. This example measures 8” x 2 ¾” and is still very tight.

During the Civil War it was difficult for the general public to obtain tobacco, but for Union and Confederate soldiers it was never a real problem. That being much of the fighting was taking place in the tobacco rich south; soldiers just helped themselves from the crops. For years the U.S. Navy supplied its sailors with tobacco rations and in February of 1864, the Confederate government followed suit and included tobacco as part of the army’s rations.

Actually, there are reported instances where Confederate and Union soldiers exchanged goods – the traditional swaps were Northern coffee for Confederate tobacco. Tobacco was extremely important to the Civil War soldier, and I go into more detail in my book “The Civil War Soldier – His Personal Items” (see pictures).

There are also examples of this tobacco in The Civil War National Museum and The Civil War Medical Museum (see pictures). This is a great opportunity to acquire an original piece of Civil War tobacco. I have a similar piece in my private collection which came out of the Dr. Francis Lord collection and is pictured in his book “The Collector’s Encyclopedia of the Civil War”. It was part of the personal effects of Captain John Macomber, who was killed at the Battle of the Wilderness in 1864 (see pictures).