The Scourge of Whisky and Loose Women in Memphis-- Part 4: "Sell themselves and a Bottle of Liquor for a Dollar"

Continuing with George Cadman's letter to his wife.

I have come across mention that he was born and grew up in England which probably was why he made use of the 'habitues of Wapping and Shadwell" phrase.

"I shall be glad when we get orders for Vicksburg which I expect is our ultimate Destination, for here we have nothing but prisoners.  We cannot go more than 50 yards from our Camp without a pass, only in consequence of the misconduct of our Regt. in the Guard House, for offenses committed while Drunk.

"Even now women come to the very Guard line with their bodies strung round with Whisky under their clothes to sell themselves and a bottle of Liquor for a Dollar.  For the first few nights we could get no sleep for the cursing of the men [and] screaming of women and the firing of pistols outside our camp."

The 39th, Making Up for Lost Time.  --Old Secesh

The Scourge of Whiskey and Loose Women in Memphis-- Part 3: Shadwell and Habitues

Of interest there is a Wapping Elementary School in the South Windsor Public Schools with motto "Developing Children Who Are Confident, Capable, Caring and Cooperative."  Evidently the term no longer reflects what the slang used to do.

As far as Shadwell, Wikipedia says it is a district in East London on the north bank of the Thames River near Wapping.  This is also a big maritime area.  In the 19th century large numbers of lascar seamen were brought over from India by the East India Company and lived in Shadwell.

So this would be another area where you find lots of sailors.

The word "habitues" means a frequent or habitual visitor to a place.

--Old Secesh

The Scourge of Whiskey and Loose Women at Memphis- Part 2: "Habitues of Wapping and Shadwell"

Continuing with George Cadman's letter to his wife.  I kind of have to wonder why he wrote his wife about this particular thing.  It couldn't have settled her worries for her husband.

"One [company] got all its men in the Block (military prison) but three.  Our men were not quite as bad as that that, but the biggest part was drunk, in fact drunkenness was the order of the day, so you may form some idea of what the camp was like and with some Hundreds of the most Abandoned women in the world to add to this evil influence, I thought the habitues of Wapping and Shadwell were bad enough, but the Harpies of this place beat them all hollow."

Okay, I wasn't sure what he exactly meant by "habitues of Wapping and Shadwell" so looked them up even though I had a definite idea of what George Cadman was referring to.

The dictionary said "Wap" originally meant a hit or blow.  In slang between 1560-1730, it meant to copulate (usually used in reference to women.

Wikipedia said that Wapping is a district in East London, England, located by the Thames River whose proximity :"has given it a strong maritime character."  Many of the original buildings of Wapping were destroyed when the London Docks were built and many more during the Battle of Britain in World War II.

Let's see, what two things might attract a sailor after a long sea voyage.