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Sex & Prostitution |
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Too colorful to ignore, this page will highlight issues of sexuality, prostitution, and the bawdy side of life in the Confederate Capital.
Written Accounts
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| Richmond Dispatch | 6/20/1861; row of houses behind the Exchange Hotel are occupied by parties of a "dubious and uncertain character" |
| Richmond Dispatch | 10/25/1861; "Extraordinary Freak" - man in drag appears on Main street |
| Richmond Dispatch | 3/10/1862; Wm. Carson, Tredegar operative, in trouble involving Ann Beazley & “house of ill fame” in Butchertown |
| Richmond Dispatch | 3/20/1862; G. W. Alexander raids house near corner of Cary & 13th. Arrested “some 12 or 15 persons of bad character.” |
| Richmond Dispatch | 4/28/1862; two prostitutes arrested outside Libby Prison and confined in Libby for the night |
| Richmond Dispatch | 5/1/1862; Miss Minerva Meredith (future bread rioter) has endured a combined verbal assault – her character is attested to by local police; Mayor Mayo referred to as “his royal rotundity” |
| Richmond Dispatch | 5/6/1862; owners of the YMCA hospital, established "next to Crawford's old saloon" complain about "resort for lewd females" across the street |
| Richmond Dispatch |
5/13/1862; appeal for ladies to send old garments and rags to Chimborazo for use as dressings |
| Richmond Dispatch | 5/13/1862; excellent description of the proliferation of prostitution in Richmond, of "both sexes." |
| Richmond Dispatch | 5/21/1862; editorial protest against skinny dippers in stream at Hollywood & canal |
| Richmond Dispatch | 7/3/1862; “Strong-minded female” captured and interrogated by G. W. Alexander |
| Richmond Dispatch | 7/8/1862; Wet nurse needed at Robertson Hospital |
| Richmond Dispatch | 7/17/1862; 2 negroes attempt rapes near Coal pits, Chesterfield County. Mrs. Rudd raped, Mrs. Corse escaped. First rapist, slave of Wm. E. Martin, to hang. #2 to be transported away. |
| Richmond Dispatch | 7/26/1862; August Fisk, soldier, “accidentally” steals $500 from Zella Glenman, “a nymph, residing at the sinful abode of Ella Johnson, in the rear of the Exchange” |
| Richmond Dispatch | 7/28/1862; Maria Underwood sent to Castle Godwin – tried to enlist in Palmetto Sharpshooters in disguise |
| Richmond Dispatch | 9/8/1862; “Of Evil Name &c” Woman arrested for “indulging in horseback exercise on one of the public streets of the city in company with a person said to be a Lieutenant in the army, to the disgust of decent people…” Witnessed by the Mayor, woman was sent to jail. |
| Richmond Dispatch | 9/11/1862; 26 POWs arrive, plus laundress of 26 Pa., who was sent to Castle Thunder |
| Richmond Dispatch | 9/12/1862; list of commissioned officers POW at Williamsburg & arrived at Richmond. Two “vivandiers” also caught & put into Castle Thunder |
| Richmond Dispatch | 9/22/1862; Thomas’ disorderly house near Battery #8 raided. Booze seized. Major Atkinson issues a warning to him. |
| Richmond Dispatch | 9/22/1862; 2 soldiers in Castle Thunder for robbing citizen. Mayor forced to contemplate extent of his authority in city over military personnel. Slave items and prostitution as well. |
| Richmond Dispatch | 9/29/1862; Three Irishmen from Camp Lee jailed for drunken fight, including Barney McNunn and Jno. Brennan; man charged with keeping disorderly house near Dr. Higginbotham’s Hospital – brawling with wife, etc. |
| Richmond Enquirer | 9/29/1862; man charged with operating a "disorderly house" near Dr. Higginbotham's Hospital |
| Richmond Enquirer | 12/16/1862; Martha Ball, nurse at GH#1, convicted of being a "woman of the town" |
| Richmond Examiner | 6/30/1864; hilarious account of a "fistic scene." |
| Richmond Dispatch | 7/16/1863; Lt. Buford, aka Alice Williams, sent to Mississippi from Castle Thunder. |
| Richmond Sentinel | 4/22/1864; Dr. Mary Walker, captured in the west, arrives in Richmond (in male attire) and conveyed to Castle Thunder, Libby having no female accommodations |
| Richmond Whig | 4/22/1864; Dr. Mary Walker arrives in Richmond, and is taken to Castle Thunder. She is "about thirty years old and quite ugly" |
| Richmond Sentinel | 5/2/1864; Dr. Mary Walker's appearance in Richmond causes quite an excitement - she is taken to Gen. Winder's office, then to Castle Thunder. |
| Richmond Whig | 5/2/1864; Mary Walker is marched from Castle Thunder to Gen. Winder's office, still in male attire, and creates quite a stir |
| Richmond Sentinel | 6/25/1864; Mary Jenkins, nurse at Howard's Grove, found street wandering. |
| Richmond Examiner | 6/29/1864; Details of the imprisonment of Dr. Mary Walker in Castle Thunder |
| Richmond Sentinel | 7/1/1864; house of "ill fame" is broken up by police. Women there "exposed their persons in the windows, and halloed at, threw at and spit upon all passers by." |
| Richmond Sentinel | 7/7/1864; Chimborazo patients caught in a "disorderly house" |
| Richmond Whig | 7/7/1864; two Chimborazo patients caught in a "house of ill-fame" in Rocketts |
| Richmond Examiner | 7/19/1864; department at Castle Thunder is reserved for "depraved and abandoned women" |
| Richmond Sentinel | 7/26/1864; Dr. Mary Walker is taken to Gen. Gardner's office, desiring to be released |
| Richmond Whig | 7/26/1864; notes on Dr. Mary Walker parading the streets, on the way to Gen. Gardner's office seeking a parole. Also remarks on her lack of good looks and elicit correspondence while here |
| Richmond Sentinel | 10/31/1864; two females who had been serving for two years under Gen. Early were found out and put in Castle Thunder; details on two other prisoners: one male slave and one white female |
| Richmond Whig | 10/31/1864; two women, masquerading as soldiers, brought to Castle Thunder. They had served with General Early for two years |
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Copyright © 2008 Civil War Richmond Inc. |
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