The Army and Moonshiners in the Mountainous South During Reconstruction

Abstract

This study investigates the role of the Army in combating moonshiners in the mountainous South during Reconstruction. The military committed numerous detachments across the South to aid U.S. marshals and revenue agents in eliminating stills. This assistance, although significant quantitatively, failed to end moonshining. Rather, with the withdrawal of soldiers from southern occupation duty, the Internal Revenue Bureau sufficiently increased its efforts to fill the void created by the absence of troops. The thesis provides insight into the Reconstruction Army. After reviewing structures, morale, and soldier quality, it analyzes the moonshine problem in society. Arrayed against each other were illicit distillers and federal authorities. Focusing on the motivations of both sides, the study introduces military detachments into this complex historical equation. Reconstruction, Moonshining, Drug war, Illicit distilling

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 03, 1994
Accession Number
ADA284658

Entities

People

  • Craig J. Currey

Organizations

  • United States Army Command and General Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Congress
  • Department Of Defense
  • Drug Trafficking
  • Employment
  • Families (Human)
  • Law
  • Lessons Learned
  • Military Science
  • Motivation
  • National Governments
  • National Security
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personnel Management
  • Police
  • United States
  • United States Military Academy
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Computer Vision.
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.