Wholly Smokes (3 page)

In fact, it was the Virginia Badcocks who had no staying power, while the General Snuff Company of Boston (America’s first tobacco company) would form the basis of a world tobacco empire.

But that’s getting ahead of our story. First came a slight
contretemps
with Britain.

Samuel Badcock

The oppressive English tobacco tax was weighing ever more heavily on the American growers along the Chesapeake Bay (nicknamed the “Tobacco Coast”). They also found themselves perpetually in debt to British merchants; by 1776, growers owed the mercantile houses millions of pounds.

Thus when war finally broke out, there was no doubt about its purpose. Along the Chesapeake Bay, the Revolutionary War was known as the
Tobacco War
.

In the North, Samuel Badcock added chewing and pipe tobacco to his line of snuff. He saw the impending war as an opportunity to expand his business – after all, who chews and smokes more than soldiers? – but to which soldiers should he market his new products? The outcome of the war was far from certain, and it would pay to be
on the right side.

Samuel finally compromised by selling to both sides. To the British, he offered a pipe tobacco called
Good King George
(marked with the image of the celebrated monarch). To the rebels, he offered a chewing tobacco called
Minuteman
(marked with a musket and a plow).

Samuel needed to know, however, whether his new products were acceptable; some market research was necessary. First he gave a generous supply of samples of
Good King George
to the garrison at Boston, where soon the British redcoats were puffing away contentedly. They seemed to like it, though there were complaints that it made them nervous and irritable.

Later the same day, Samuel rode out to the village of Lexington, some 20 miles away, and delivered generous samples of
Minuteman
chewing tobacco to the rebellious Lexington Company of militia. The militia, who called themselves “minutemen”, were delighted that his product seemed to pay them tribute. On the morning of April 19, 1775, the rebels were chewing assiduously, though complaining of the bitter taste. They had assembled on Lexington Green at 2 a.m. to block the advance of the British, who were marching through town on their way to Concord.

The two sides met under the most unfavorable circumstances. The British had marched all
night, pausing only to smoke
Good King George
. They were jittery and quarrelsome, spoiling for a fight. The 70 minutemen, who had assembled to block the bridge, were supposed to be making only a silent protest, but the bitter tobacco had put them in a foul mood.

Major John Pitcairn, leader of the British troops, screamed out, “Disperse, you damned rebels! You dogs, run!”

The minutemen slowly and reluctantly began to withdraw. Their captain, John Parker, had told them not to fire unless fired upon first. But as they dispersed, one rebel stopped next to a broken plow which lay on the green. He looked back at the British and remarked, “This is disgusting! Damn it, I’ve had enough!” He referred to the bitter taste of the tobacco, which he now spat vigorously.

The gob of tobacco whacked against the iron plowshare with a sound like a musket shot, and threw up a cloud of dust like gunsmoke. The jittery British troops immediately fired two volleys into the crowd. The rebels returned fire, and the War of Independence began.

“Give a man very many unemployed hours, and tobacco, if not a necessity, is a wonderful solace.” – Henry T. Johns of the 49th Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry

Jezreel Badcock

Tristram Badcock

The War of Independence may have been good for the tobacco business, but the Civil War would prove even better. Both branches of the Badcock family continued to prosper after the revolution, and on into the nineteenth century. There was talk of reuniting the Boston and the Virginia branches into one mighty family company. Alas, the Civil War would split them further apart than ever.

Tristram Badcock, who now headed the powerful
Virginia branch of the family, saw the war as a personal attack upon himself and his property. He believed that the dastardly Yankees wished him nothing but harm. If no one stopped these interlopers, they would strip him of his family heritage of fifteen plantations (totaling nearly a million acres), they would steal his 2,400 slaves, and they would lay waste to his crops of beautiful “Bright leaf” tobacco. There was nothing for it but to fight. Tristram formed a cavalry regiment and prepared to ride off in defense of his birthright.

His wife, Scarlotta, said good-bye to him on the steps of the great white mansion. It was evening, the air was filled with the scent of magnolias and the melodious humming of devoted slaves. Tristram removed his magnificent hat, with its eight-foot ostrich plume (there was not a hat to match it in all the Confederate Army) and kissed Scarlotta. He told her not to fret, he would return in time for the Cotillion Ball. Then he put on his hat, tied it securely under his chin, and rode off to glory.

Tragically, Tristram died in his very first skirmish. While charging up a hill, he passed under an oak tree where his splendid hat caught on a low-hanging limb. The hat, knotted securely under his chin with a leather thong, pulled Tristram from the saddle. His men, by then engaged in battle, were not immediately aware of his predicament.
Tristram Badcock strangled to death before he could undo the knot.

Meanwhile in Boston, Jezreel Badcock had no such illusions about the war. This was not a crusade, but a business opportunity for his General Snuff and Tobacco Company. As he put it in a letter to his congressman in 1862:

The scheme worked, forcing Northern troops
to buy their supplies of tobacco from “sutlers,” civilians who ran small stores at every army post. The sutlers charged exorbitant prices for tobacco – up to $2.50 a pound, or ten times the normal rate. Union soldiers desirous of a smoke or a chaw had no choice. But in combat zones (where sutlers were not allowed) they soon discovered a new source of tobacco – the enemy.

The Confederate government authorized a tobacco ration for “every enlisted man in the service of the Confederate states.” It was considered indispensable for army morale. On the other hand, Confederate troops often lacked other items, such as coffee, sugar, shoes, blankets and overcoats, which were plentiful in the North. They solved the problem with a barter: during a truce, ceasefire or any lull in the fighting, the two sides would signal they were ready to trade. Two men at a time would cross over, make a deal, and return to their own lines.

When Jezreel Badcock learned of this, he was livid. He again wrote his congressman:

Jezreel saw that he must act directly, taking a personal hand in the war to achieve this monopoly. He waited until the war was virtually won, then quickly formed a detachment of volunteers. (As their leader, he proclaimed himself a general.) At the head of this detachment of irregular troops, he rode out from Boston only days before the peace treaty. Badcock’s Irregulars galloped at a relentless pace night and day, whipping horses furiously, changing to fresh horses, and heading always for Virginia.

Today, Badcock’s march through Virginia is almost as well-known as Sherman’s march through Georgia. Jezreel Badcock and his Irregulars made their way across the state, burning hundreds of tobacco plantations. He did not spare those of his own family. Indeed, he took particular care to seek out all fifteen of those belonging to his cousin Tristram, and put them
to the torch.

On approaching one Badcock plantation, he beheld a woman on her hands and knees in the field, apparently eating something from the earth.