Final answer:
The statement is false. The Civil War-era Confederacy faced economic hardship leading to inflation and shortages, resulting in the 1863 Richmond bread riots, but not specifically due to a shortage of nurses.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that the Confederacy faced a severe shortage of nurses leading to skyrocketing prices and riots in the streets is false. The primary issue was the Confederate economy straining under the burden of war, leading to severe inflation and shortages in goods. A variety of factors contributed to the economic hardship, including the government's failure to tax major sources of revenue, issuing large amounts of paper money, and the inability to produce essential goods due to the Union blockade and reliance on cash crops like tobacco and cotton. These issues culminated in the Richmond bread riots of 1863, where desperate citizens, many of whom were mothers, took to the streets to protest the starvation they faced due to the extreme food prices.
While there were certainly challenges in maintaining adequate medical care for the wounded, with many women in the South converting their homes into makeshift hospitals, the specific mention of nurse shortages leading to riots is not supported by historical evidence.