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
Caroline Bush
I really enjoyed the unique style you used when writing this article, it was very refreshing. Before reading this article I could have never imagined that women, little girls and their dolls were used to smuggle drugs. I guess during times of war everyone had to do things they wouldn’t normally do even if you aren’t a solider. I found it really interesting that people were so desperate that they had to use little girls dolls to get the things they needed. Overall this was a very interesting article and I loved the style you used, it really stood out from all the other articles I read.
Hanadi Sonouper
This particular article definitely stands on top due to its creativity and uniqueness. I would have never guessed that this specific topic would fall into the same line as little girls dolls. It was indeed a captivating article of saving lives during the civil war, even if it was a dark time in our United States history. It is quite shocking how these particular anesthetics were smuggles in toy, it definitely has its negative aspects that still constitute common problems today with drug smuggling. However, overall the author did an excellent job at writing a well expressed article that constitutes a new perspective of the civil war from the eyes of a doll.
Maria Callejas
Very creative title choice, the minute I read it I was extremely intrigued to read more about it. I have to say, I enjoyed the narrative style you utilized. This is a unique and interesting article, I had absolutely no idea dolls were used to smuggle objects during the civil war. Whoever came up with that idea, pure genius. No one could have imagined that coming from inoffensive toys. This goes to show that in times of need, people will take the most unexpected measures. Great article!!
Dayna Valdez
Very interesting and unique article! Before reading this article, I would have never thought that dolls or even children would be used as a tactic to smuggle drugs. However, I think it was also a really bright idea, because nobody would think of young children having them. The article took me by surprise in more ways than one, because they also used the drugs in positive ways rather than abusing of them.
Crystalrose Quintero
It was refreshing to read the intro paragraph in the form of a story being told. It was very visual and implied what the main purpose of this article was to be aboout. The smuggling of drugs through confederate lines during the civil war was such a contrast with the story of a little girl with her doll. Which is interesting to read and understandable why no one suspected her to have drugs. it was interesting to see that the names of the dolls was proposed. The last paragraph described another story of the doll getting to the hands of the one needing it. It was a great way to end the article.
Mariet Loredo
Very interesting article! I can’t believe they will use innocent dolls to smuggle drugs, but I’m not going to lie and say that it was a bad idea. They used a tactic that no one would find suspicious, no one would ever think that a child holding a doll would be smuggling drugs. It’s obviously bad because they are using children without them knowing what they are doing. It is amazing though, how people finds the ways to survive even when they aren’t the best ideas.
Alejandra Mendez
What an interesting article! I never would have thought that in the times of the Civil War, they used children and their dolls to smuggle things across to the Confederates. If you think about it however, there are many more ways to smuggle illegal things across borders today. When these people that smuggle things are desperate, just like the confederates were, they find any way possible to smuggle things across borders. They use people of all ages too, old and young alike.
Alyssa Valdez
Very cool article! I thought it was very interesting! to be completely honest I think using dolls to smuggle drugs is very smart. I mean there are tons of methods people use to smuggle drugs and a lot of them are very dangerous! From hiding them in secret compartments to actually swallowing them! this is definitely a safer solution, Anyways I thought your article was very interesting and I can tell you put a lot of time and effort into your article!
Gabriela Serrato
This article is very unique. It was informative and provided factual information while being creative at the same time. My interest was struck by this article because I was unaware that dolls were being used to smuggle drugs. I find it so interesting that they used dolls to smuggle in the drugs because it really does show how careful they had to be, to be undetected. It also struck me how these drugs were being smuggled in order to care and better individuals, when modernly drug smuggling is a negative and deadly practice.
Samuel Sanchez
This was an amazing article. It’s an interesting topic for an article. I never knew they would use dolls as a way to smuggle drugs. I mean we see it now with people smuggling drugs into the states and they will hide it anywhere to prevent detection. I did not know it was in the civil war that this technique was used. They had to do what they had to do in order to get supplies. It was a clever way to use women and children no body back then would expect that or at least I wouldn’t. It is crazy how smuggling has changed and now they will use anyone to get supplies over into the states. It was an interesting to find out that it was used in the Civil War. Amazing article keep up the good work.