It is quite generally known that the Confederate
government was troubled to considerable extent in preserving(?)
salt-peter and nitre from which to make gun powder, so it became
necessary that the following advertisement be published in the
Selma Alabama Times in Oct 1862.

The ladies of Selma are requested to preserve the chamber-lye
collected on their premises for the purpose of making nitre.
A barrel will be sent around daily to collect it for the nitre
and mining Bereau

John Hanesen

A Confederate officer. Who was a great-wag and somewhat of
a poet commented on this as follows

John Harreson John Harrolson you are
funny creature You have added to the dreadful war
a new and funny feature, You've have us think that
every man was born to be a fighter, and the laddies
bless the little dears should save their piss for nitre

John Harrolson John Harrolson
where did you get the notion
to send your barrel around
the tow to gather up the lotion

We though the girls had work enough
in making shirts and kisses
but you will put the pretty dears
to patriotic pissing

John Harrolson John Harrolson
do pray invent a neater
and some what more modest way
of making your salt-petter
for tis a dreadful idea,
gun powry and cranky,
that every time a lady lifts her skirt
she shoots a bloody Yankey

It happened that the above lines got into the hands
of a Federal officer who new good thing when he saw
it and believed in pushing it along so he wrote what
he call a federal view of it.

John Harrolson John Harrolson
We read in son and story
That women tears through all the year
Had morstened fears of glory [??]

But never was it told before
How midest these scenes of slaughter
The southern beauties dried their tears
and went to making water

No wonder that your boys are brave
Who would not be a fighter
As every time he used his gun
He used his sweet-heart nitre

And vice-versa what would make
a yanky soldier sadder
that doging bullets fired by
a pretty woman's bladder

they say there was a subtle smell
which ingled in the powder,
and as the smoke grew thicker
and the din of battle louder

But there was found in this compound
one serious objection
No soldier boy could sniff it
With out having an erection

From a pocket diary-ledger book dated 1907-1916 from Portland, Oregon. Sorry for the transcription errors.

The diary is online here:

https://archive.org/details/1907-1916-bawdy-diary-ledger-book/page/n3/mode/2up?view=theater