Two Centuries Ago, Batteaumen on Virginia’s James River Found Freedom at the End of a Long Workday

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The James River Batteau Company, an outdoor recreation-meets-historical tour business, has designed a dinner cruise that honors the resilience and culinary ingenuity of enslaved boatmen

Kinsey Gidick

April 10, 2025 3:04 p.m.

As daylight wanes behind the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains, the James River unfurls like a golden ribbon, reflecting the slow passage of a batteau. This flat-bottomed wooden craft, reminiscent of the 18th century, cuts effortlessly through the water, where scents of grilled trout and steaming asparagus blend, evoking the simple meals shared by those navigating these waters centuries prior.

From 1775 to 1840, the James River’s currents were navigated by hundreds of skilled watermen—enslaved individuals, freed men, and impoverished whites. These boatmen moved flotillas laden with goods such as tobacco, iron, and flour from Central Virginia’s Piedmont region to markets in Richmond, the young state capital. Thomas Jefferson remarked in his diaries that bundles of tobacco could weigh up to 11 hogsheads, or 11,000 pounds, as the laborers pushed and pulled against the river’s currents with powerful strokes.

“Consider navigating this river at just two feet deep with a boat carrying 10,000 pounds of tobacco,” explains Will Smith, co-owner of the James River Batteau Company, located in Scottsville, Virginia. “These men played an essential role in establishing Virginia’s robust economy during that period.”

Today, transport is dominated by trucks and trains, yet the James River once served as a vital artery of commerce, facilitated by the hard work of marginalized men. Their evening meals aboard the batteaux provided a much-needed respite from their challenging lives.

“They relied heavily on ashcakes and salt-cured bacon,” remarks Will Cash, Smith’s business partner. “These foods were easy to prepare on the boats.”

This emphasis on historical cuisine inspired the company’s distinctive “Farm to Batteau” voyages, an immersive experience that runs from May to October. Passengers are invited to relive the river’s past, sampling straightforward and hearty fare reflective of the meals consumed by their precursors.

Weighing the risks of the job

By the dawn of the 1800s, batteau travel became the mainstay for transporting goods across central Virginia. Typical crews of three manned these slender vessels from dawn until dusk in favorable weather conditions. Smith explains, “Returning upstream required more men, especially when the vessels were loaded. Crew sizes could swell to five or even nine men depending on the circumstances.”

The shallow drafts of these boats, often less than two feet, allowed them to navigate even in low-water conditions. However, this low profile necessitated careful steering and considerable strength from the crew as they worked with 70-foot boats and large oars known as sweeps to secure footing in the riverbed’s slippery surface. The most experienced sailors took on the critical role of headman, guiding vessels through challenging rapids.

“River traffic had a seasonal nature,” notes Smith. “Water levels would dictate how many boats were sent. Plantations would dispatch more craft when conditions allowed, but low water levels during summer meant longer wait times.”

The payment structure for these boatmen remains somewhat ambiguous. “We can only guess at their compensation,” Smith states. “They might have received currency, tobacco, or other goods for trade.” The actual rewards likely paled in comparison to the amount of work required.

Accounts reveal harrowing instances in which batteaumen found themselves battling rapids, frantically bailing water while watching valuable hogshead barrels get swept downstream. Bruce Terrell, in his work The James River Batteau: Tobacco Transport in the Upland Virginia, 1745-1840, notes that crews sometimes had to leap into the water to physically lift their vessels.

One of the most poignant stories involves Frank Padget, an enslaved man who drowned in January 1854 while trying to save fellow crew members from a capsized canal boat. A historical marker near Glasgow, Virginia, honors Padget’s courage in facing peril to aid others.

Nonetheless, the reliance on batteaux began to wane with the advent of the James River and Kanawha Canal and the rise of the railroad. Despite their decline, the economic benefits offered by batteaux at their peak in comparison to the more labor-intensive transport methods remained significant.

As cited by Terrell, the rise of batteaux dramatically boosted tobacco exports, increasing shipments to England and Scotland by 40% between 1761-1765 and 1771-1775. Thomas Jefferson and other affluent planters recognized this economic potential, willing to take significant risks to transport their goods.

Reviving history on the James River

If not for a remarkable archaeological discovery in the 1980s, the story of the batteau might have faded into obscurity.

In 1983, scientist William E. Trout III and musician James Moore III uncovered a ship outline in a construction site near Shockoe Slip while developers worked to create the James Center. Their intuition led them to the remains of over 100 boats and a wealth of artifacts, sparking renewed interest in the region’s riverine history.

“Thousands of artifacts were recovered from the site, including everyday items like cooking implements and tools,” shares historian Brian Coffield, a member of the Virginia Canals and Navigations Society.

This discovery inspired local residents, including Joe Ayers, to recreate the batteau. In 1985, he founded the James River Batteau Festival, which remains an annual event where participants navigate 120 miles from Lynchburg to an area known as Maiden’s Landing. The festival typically features 10 to 15 batteaux and countless kayakers joining the festive journey.

Ralph Smith, Will Smith’s father, participated in the festival from the get-go, building his first batteau in 1988, shortly after the birth of his son.

“I practically grew up on a batteau,” says Will Smith.

In 2006, Smith and his childhood friend Will Cash crewed their own boat in the festival. After pursuing further education and travel, they returned to Virginia with the intent to forge careers that integrated their passions for history and experience. In 2022, they launched the James River Batteau Company, which offers compelling tours on their replica, the Morning Dew. Their venture took an innovative turn after meeting live-fire chef Sarah Rennie in 2023, inspiring the addition of onboard meals reflecting historical flavors.

The “Farm to Batteau” dinner cruise, unlike their typical day trips, features meals cooked live on the boat at sunset, providing guests with a degustation of the past while they anchor near Scottsville and partake in stories and music.

Culinary clues

What did these boatmen eat during their arduous journeys? While ashcakes and salt pork were commonplace, records detailing their diets from the time often reflect the perspective of privileged individuals, complicating a clear understanding of their meals. Coffield advises caution with such narratives, urging a skepticism toward the writings of enslavers.

Nonetheless, the remarkable archaeological dig provided clues about their diets, revealing discarded food remnants along with the ships. As reported by Richmond Magazine, remnants included watermelon seeds, chicken bones, and some preserved catfish, hinting at a varied diet.

“They likely had makeshift galleys aboard their boats,” Cash explains. Historical context indicates that fires could be created using dirt and iron to provide warmth and cook food at both ends of the vessel.

Archaeological investigations at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s estate, have also shed light on the dietary habits of enslaved individuals, revealing their access to a wider range of proteins, including rabbit, squirrel, and deer, alongside more common meats.

George Bagby, a 19th-century journalist, described some meals enjoyed by batteaumen, including a mix of fresh and salt fish, eggs, milk, and the unforgettable ashcake and fried bacon.

Reports suggest that shoreline foraging likely supplemented their diets, adding critical calories. Historian David Hunter Strother noted that meals could be enriched with eggs or poultry encountered along the way. However, many men sometimes engaged in pilfering, taking opportunities to boost their rations with goods such as molasses during their journeys.

Rennie imagines the batteaux drifting past wild papaw trees, where crew members gathered fruit for dessert—taking advantage of the natural bounty. Unlike the restrictions of plantation life, navigating the river offered a sense of freedom, with each evening gifting fleeting moments of independence.

As she prepares offerings of sausages, peas, corn, and peppers during the dinners, those meals serve as a reminder of resilience amid adversity and the ingenuity of those who traversed these waterways.

Accompanied by music and laughter, Smith emphasizes the importance of tradition during these cruises. “Food, music, and a little whiskey were integral to these evenings,” he notes, promising guests a memorable experience of freshly prepared meals, live acoustic music, and an optional drink of choice.

As the batteau glides through the dimming light, it’s a powerful moment to reflect on the strength and perseverance of those who once traversed these waters—whether enslaved, freed, or impoverished—and how their nightly gatherings at the river represented genuine moments of freedom in their constrained lives.

Source
www.smithsonianmag.com