"Soldiers Were Apt to Get Drunk Whenever They Got a Chance": The Control of Alcohol in Wartime Washington, DC, 1861–1865

Abstract: This article explains the authorities' failure to quell alcohol consumption in wartime Washington. Unlike Confederate locations under US occupation, the capital was under direct authority of the US Congress and a loyal local government. This civilian power in the District complicated the army's efforts to regulate soldiers' drinking. Businesses leveraged the judicial system to fight legislation and used their sway with local government officials in attempts to keep the liquor flowing. The multiple law enforcement agencies in the city, both military and civilian, were, furthermore, unable to present a unified front; individual men in positions of power, including army officers, regularly neglected to enforce the law and implemented conciliatory policies under the pressure of the civil authorities and business owners. Despite flirting with prohibitory laws before the war, Americans' ambivalence about the restriction of alcohol continued during wartime, notwithstanding the enhanced power claimed by governing authorities in places like Washington.