Homefront Tennessee:  Children and the Civil War

Lincoln Letters for Kids and the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum

In conjunction with

The City of Harrogate and the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area present

Homefront Tennessee: Children and the Civil War Exploring Homefront Medicine Activity

Created by Natalie Sweet

With credit for Remedies to

The Kentucky Historical Society

Quick! Your family is sick and you need a quick remedy to ease their suffering. Would you know what to do if you were living on the homefront, and there was no medicine available?

Materials Needed

Linen strips

Small bottles to store your medicine in

Bowl and pestle

Turnips

Apples

Lemons

Mustard Seed

Vinegar

Water

Sugar

Knife *Do not use knife unless an adult is with you!

First of all, don’t panic. More than likely, any home remedy you might make for your family is bound to be safer than most of what you could get from a pharmacy. This is because during the Civil War, many medicines contained mercury, opium, or cocaine; that is, materials that are either very harmful or illegal for use today!

So how do you treat common illnesses and problems around the house? Well, it varies from home to home, but these were some things that people used on the homefront.

For a headache

Nothing can be worse than a splitting headache. But what do you do if there is no asprin? Take a lemon and slice it. Place one lemon slice on each of your temples, and wrap linen strips around your head to hold it in place.

For a burn

Ouch! You’ve burned yourself while cooking your supper over the fireplace. What do you do for the burn? Take a potato and cut a slice the size of the burn. Place it on the injured area, and wrap linen around it. The coolness and wetness of the potato should make it feel better.

For a cough

Your little sister can’t seem to stop coughing, and no one in your one-room house can go to sleep because of the noise. How would your mom fix the situation? She would get a turnip from out of the cellar, cut it into small pieces, and place the pieces in a bowl. She would then use the pestle and mash the turnips, a little water, and sugar into syrup for your sister to have a spoonful of.

For a cold

You’ve come down with a runny nose and achy bones. How would you fix a cold? Take an apple, cut it into small pieces, and add it to water and vinegar in a bowl. Use your pestle to smash it together into syrup. Take a spoonful of the medicine, and get some rest on your cornhusk bed.

For consumption

First of all, what is consumption? Consumption was what we would tuberculosis today. Tuberculosis was (and still is) a very serious disease in which a person is “consumed” by terrible coughs and a high temperature. Many people died from it. So, if you thought your brother had consumption, your mother might make a mustard plaster. First, she would grind mustard seeds in a bowl with a pestle. Then she would add vinegar to the crushed seed to make a paste. The paste would be spread over your brother’s chest, and linens would be wrapped around the paste to keep it in place. Your mother might also try the remedies for coughs and headaches, too.