The American Civil War opens with the…

Salt plays a role during the Civil War, not only preserving food in the days before refrigeration, but also vital in the curing of leather.

General Sherman once said that "salt is eminently contraband", as an army that has salt can adequately feed its men. (MacGregor, Graham. Salt, Diet and Health (Cambridge University Press, 1998) p.49).

The most important saltworks for the Confederacy are at Saltville, Virginia.

The battle of Saltville, fought by both regular and home guard Confederate units against regular Union troops, including one of the few black cavalry units, over an important saltworks here, is a Confederate victory, stained by the murders of captured and wounded white and black Union troops by irregular guerrilla forces under the notorious Champ Ferguson. (Ferguson will be tried after the war in Nashville, Tennessee for these and other non-military killings, found guilty and executed.

A second battle will occur two months later when Union general George Stoneman defeats Confederate defenders and burns the saltworks.