Despite it being early morning, a line had already formed. They had gotten off the boat wobbly, still trying to get their land legs back since they had traveled all the way from England. Moving slowly, a mother holding the hand of her young daughter whispered again to her. Moving forward at the command of a union soldier, the young girl looked down, gripping her doll tightly to her chest. Looking up through her eyelashes at her mother as she talked to the man in a blue uniform, she tightened her hand in her mother’s. Another man in blue looked at the young girl smiling, saying to her what a cute doll she had, moving to touch it. The young girl moved behind her mother’s dress remembering her mother’s words whispered to her early in the line. “Don’t let anyone touch your doll.” The man who was talking to her mother yelled at the other for scaring the young girl and apologized to both of them, ushering them forward across the blockade. During the Civil War, the Union blockade hindered the passing of crucial supplies to the Confederate side. Many blockade runners were women and even young girls. Through the use of such people, the Confederates had spark creative ways of smuggling supplies over the blockade. In fact, dolls similar to this girl’s doll was used to smuggle anesthesia drugs through the Confederate lines.
A simple doll made of papier-mâché helped smuggled contraband across enemy lines with the help of a young girl, the niece of Confederate Major General James Patton Anderson. During the start of the Civil War, the South had been winning the war against the North. As the war began, a plan was introduced from the Union. This plan was known as the Anaconda plan. This plan attempted to surround the South and starve their supplies until the South had had enough. The North had a production economy and the South was mainly made up of plantations that produced cotton; the South lacked most of the industrial production that the North produced in abundance. This greatly hurt the South because, as mention before, the North introduced the Anaconda Plan, cutting the South’s access to all kinds of supplies, including anesthetics very much needed by the Confederate medical corps, which became limited and scarce. The need for anesthetics increased for the South.1 The necessity led to creative means, such as this example of using dolls to smuggle these drugs within them to the South.
Dolls named Nina and Lucy Ann are suspected to have been used to smuggle drugs used for anesthetic purposes across the North’s blockade. The South needed these supplies so desperately that dolls were used to carry them across. The Virginia Commonwealth University Heath System Radiology Department has taken X-rays of both dolls and discovered their heads to be hallowed out papier-mâché heads.2 This finding though could not prove that the dolls did, in fact, smuggle contraband across the blockade because many of the dolls during that time period had papier-mâché heads. Further analysis by the United Federation of Doll Clubs (UFDC) concludes that the probability of the dolls being used for smuggling was very high because of evidence such as Nina’s head being secured by clips instead of it being sewed to the body. This evidence suggests that it allowed for things hidden inside that could be easily accessed. More evidence came from Lucy Ann, which had a gash on the back of her head, which was most likely used to get access to items likely contained inside her head. With this conclusion, the museum of the UFDC has stated that it is highly likely that these dolls were used to smuggle some kind of contraband during the Civil War.
The young girl held her doll safely to her chest, whispering reassurance to herself and to the doll. Once the mother had led her daughter to the edge of a clearing of grass near some of the trees across the field, a man in gray was standing there waiting. He ran across the field with such speed that once he had got across, he was out of breath, trying to express his thanks, causing the little girl to giggle at the man’s antics. The mother gently pushed her daughter forward. The young girl looked up at the man; she then kissed the doll’s forehead, and holding her in both hands, she lifted her up, giving the doll to the man. The man took the doll with great care, smiling gently to the young girl. Waving goodbye to her doll and the man, the young girl and her mother watched as he ran as fast as a rabbit across the clearing with the doll’s long curly brown hair swaying in the wind. The North’s blockade had made many of the supplies that the South needed very limited, but that only led to creative ways to circumvent the blockade, such as the use of dolls to smuggle important items across such blockades. The Confederates were desperate for such supplies and the use of dolls was a very good way to smuggle things across. With Nina and Lucy Ann being two such dolls, we now know more about how the South reacted to the blockade during the Civil War.
100 comments
Eric Ortega Rodriguez
This was very fascinating. During the civil war, I know sides would have specific ways of getting their supplies, but never would I have imagined putting supplies into a little girl’s doll. It is shocking but very smart. Both sides would do whatever it took to facilitate the war for themselves. I also think it is crazy how they had a little goal play a role in the civil war. Overall, a very original article and well-written.
Luisa Ortiz
The title and the intro are very well written, good job on this piece! I have no idea or have even heard of this theory/story! I guess it is true when they say you have to do what you have to do, and in this case, was being creative to smuggle drugs inside dolls! This article made me wonder about what other ways were used to transport these ideal life essentials. Again, congratulations!
Didier Cadena
This was a very interesting article. I do not believe that I had heard of instances like this and the Anaconda Plan before, so it was nice to read a little bit about it. Hiding supplies in dolls and sending them through children, something that most people would not have expected, seems like a great idea. The article does a great job of putting all the information together and still make it enjoyable to read.
Hector Garcia
The imagery in this article might be one of the best I have read on this website. It seemed like the story was thoroughly thought out and it was also successfully executed. It was interesting to get an insight into the smuggling of supplies during the Civil War. I also thought that the description of the Anaconda Plan was a nice touch.
Robert Rodriguez
I had never heard about this in any of my history classes, this is so interesting to me and I found it their idea pretty smart, I mean who would take a little girls doll away and make her upset? genius ahaha. the article was very informative and the details really helped bring this article to life. Great job!
Elias Garza
People get so creative when it comes to finding a way to survive. Most people export and import contrabands as a way of living. During the Civil War, this doll smuggling method was innovative and helped them out a lot. The fact that they used a little girl to do so was a great business idea because many will not question a kid.
Regina De La Parra
I really like the intro to this article because of how it exposes the topic!! I never knew that during the Civil War dolls and the innocence of young girls to smuggle drugs! I do know though that this continues today and people have gotten more creative on the smuggling of drugs. Overall, this was a great article. Good job Esperanza!
Anna Guaderrama
Honestly, this didn’t even surprise me. I’ve heard about dolls like this being used but in today’s society so it’s not a new concept to me. However, I do think it’s a clever strategy of using a little girl to smuggle stuff in, one thing that’s more shocking to me is I’ve heard of people using dead babies to smuggle drugs in. But, overall, I enjoyed this story because it gave it a new light/life through the story.
Saira Castellanos
I did not know that they used dolls to smuggle things during the Civil War. I did know that people today use dolls to smuggle things though, so this isnt something new to me. People even use dead babies to smuggle things. I really liked the story of the little girl and her mother getting past the blockade, it added alot more life to the story instead of just a bunch of facts.
Arianna Kennet
This article was very interesting. I am pretty informed about the civil war and I have never heard of this before now. It was a brilliant way to get across blockades and borderlines for sure. I have heard of other odd and smartly crafted things that both side had done during the war however this one might be the brightest. I can see where many young women and girls from the south could go to the south bye medicine and dolls in bulk and help at least 50 solider. Therefore this I see having a big impact on the longevity of certain areas of the south.