Richmond Bread Riot

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The Richmond Bread Riot was an event of civil unrest in Richmond, Virginia on April 2, 1863. Many women took to the streets and raided bakeries and other shops, to protest the lack of food (due to the Union blockade and the Confederate farmers' unwillingness to grow food on their cotton plantations).<ref name="cause">Cayton, A., et al. America: Pathways to the Present, page 355. Prentice Hall, 2000.</ref> Reports of the size of the mob varied, from less than one thousand<ref name="numbers-1">Cayton, A., et al. America: Pathways to the Present, page 355. Prentice Hall, 2000.</ref> to about three thousand.<ref name="numbers-2">"Reported Bread Riot at Richmond". Harper's Weekly, April 18, 1863.</ref>

The riot was quickly broken up when Governor John Letcher and Confederate President Jefferson Davis arrived on Main Street. Davis gave a speech in which he sympathized with the rioters' cause, but argued that order had to be restored. He also threatened to have local soldiers fire on the mob.<ref name="end">"Our Richmond Mobs". Richmond Dispatch, December 16, 1888.</ref> Several of the rioters were later tried.<ref name="trials">Richmond Bread Riot. Civil War Richmond, Inc., 2004. (Accessed August 5, 2006.)</ref>