Jefferson Davis declares martial law in the Richmond area and also bans the production of spirits
The Confederate Congress had voted Jefferson Davis the authority to declare martial law and suspend habeas corpus in "cities threatened with invasion." He had immediately declared martial law in Newport and Portsmouth, Virginia two days before and now extended the restrictions to Richmond itself. He also banned at the same time the production of hard liquor around the city and ordered distilleries and places of sale closed. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
Edward McPherson, The Political History of the United States during the Great Rebellion ... (Washington, DC: Philp and Solomons, 1865), 121.