9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Solidly researched history, December 16, 2002
This review is from: Confederate Industry: Manufacturers and Quartermasters in the Civil War (Hardcover)
For those with an interest in the Civil War, this book gives new insight into the efforts of the Confederacy to keep its armies in the field during four years of Union onslaughts. Harold Wilson, an English professor at Old Dominion University, looks largely at the textile industry but also focuses on armaments and other production. He also discusses the Confederacy's efforts to supply itself from Europe with blockade-running ships, and the efforts of Northern armies - especially under Sherman - to destroy the Confederacy's industrial base. He also examines the rise of Southern industry in the decades after the war.
This is a solid, well-researched book that covers an important area of Civil War history in unprecedented depth.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Useful addition to a limited bibliography on CS war machine, April 4, 2003
This review is from: Confederate Industry: Manufacturers and Quartermasters in the Civil War (Hardcover)
Although living in Belgium and being Belgian, I have always being fascinated by the logistical aspects of the American Civil War, especially on the Southern side, because they had to fight this war with such limited resources. There are only a few books on the subject. "Ploughshares into swords" by Frank Vandiver (published in 1940's), that I recently found on Amazon (ten years ago I had vainly tried to order it through more traditional means) which is a biography of the Chief of Ordnance of the CS Army. Another book is called " Confederate Supply" by Richard Goff (published in the 60s)and is nowadays out of print (my copy is a xerox). It deals with the whole supply problem, not least that of feeding the army.
This book is focused on confederate textile industry as it was before the war, as it went through the war and how it successfully recovered from the War. Covering the war period, it basically describes three phases in the mobilization of these resources to clothe the army: the reign of improvisation at the level of the confederate authorities (Quartermaster department) until 1863, the reorganization of their efforts along more rational lines and the increased use of imports from Europe and thirdly the destruction of most of the southern mills by the Union army. This book is well researched, goes deeply into primary sources and adds real value.
I really enjoyed it too because it is well written. Being a trained historian myself it is not difficult to see how much time and effort has been put into it. Not an easy task but a task well done !
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Rest of the Story: CONFEDERATE LOGISTICS & SUPPLY, February 6, 2004
This review is from: Confederate Industry: Manufacturers and Quartermasters in the Civil War (Hardcover)
When the Civil War began, the Confederacy, with a few exceptions, possessed the resources to logistically support war. However, the South lacked the organization, operational doctrine and planning needed to meet their army's growing supply needs. To correct this problem, in March1861 Jefferson Davis appointed Major Abraham C. Myers, a West Point graduate and career staff officer, Quartermaster General. The author, Harold Wilson, narrates the supply problems that developed as "Myer's strict adherence to.... antiquated regulations earned few friends among field officers." In addition, Myers "failed to grasp modern notions of efficiency and system" plus "he lacked ability to plan." In contrast the Ordnance Bureau under Josiah Gorgas was well organized and properly administered.
The text recounts the numerous problems in the Quartermaster Department and with the textile manufacturers who had problems maintaining their workforce. Some manufacturers were accused of "illicit rewards" while at the same time they faced run-away inflation. Despite the concession of vast martial powers to Myers, the Confederacy had limited ability to clothe its troops. For example, the battle of Gettysburg was participated by Rebel troops attempts to secure badly needed shoes in the town of Gettysburg.
"When Myers could not provide the necessary refit for the army, he lost any remaining confidence in his leadership among the line officers." In July 1863, Brigadier General Alexander R. Lawton was appointed quartermaster general. After failing to sustain Longstreet's army in Tennessee, Lawton initiated a survey of available Confederate resources and reformed the production operations of the bureau. His reforms met great success in Virginia and Georgia; however, strong opposition developed in North Carolina." The account of Governor Vance and North Carolina's opposition to Lawton's policies is most interesting.
"By the end of 1864, Lawton's reputation as a supplier stood high." However, pressing clothing shortages continued, as the naval blockade limited imports and Federal troops burned factories and raw materials. It was found "that large quantities of government clothing are possessed by persons in civil life, and by dealers" as these articles were sold by troops who hadn't been paid in months, or the articles had been abandoned in the field or the dealers had purchased direct from the manufacturers. Most interesting, the Confederacy in 1862 had initiated a "scoured earth policy" to prevent useful assets falling under Union control so that as Sherman and other Union generals marched through the South, both the Union and Confederate armies were destroying facilities.
The author's account of blockade running to supplement domestic supplies is interesting. The text notes "Until the end of the war, most garments and goods provided to the Confederate army came from domestic resources through Alexander Lawton's mobilization of manufacturing." Most intriguing, was the fact that the Confederate government entered into an agreement with William Crenshaw to build and operate blockade-runners. Private vessels were eminently more profitable than Crenshaw's operation, nevertheless Crenshaw continued to operate after heavy loss of ships. Since domestic sources supplied many goods and garments, in addition the runners brought in critically needed new machinery and spares. "As Confederate funds in Europe dwindled, the export of cotton became more critical." So that blockade running became a two-way process with the blockade- runners leaving with cotton to pay for items received.
When Wilmington , North Carolina fell, blockade running ceased. "When Lee surrendered at Appomattox on April 9 and Johnston at Durham's Station on April 26, Confederate quartermaster and commissary stores were mostly depleted....General Lawton's system of supply was in shambles." The text now relates the tortuous process of reconstruction which under President Johnson adhered "to a `white man's country' philosophy and the adoption of a lenient policy toward the defeated South...." Johnson worked with the manufacturers, railroaders, former Confederate officers, etc to revive the South's economy based on manufacturing and technology. Also, to forestall greater chaos, President Johnson quickly moved to restore civil government in the south. By 1870 manufacturing approached it 1860 level.
The author devotes several pages to the problems of Radical Reconstruction that followed President Johnson's lenient policies. Radical Reconstruction produced years of violence and political uncertainty. The book notes "Only a token number of southern manufacturers braved the threats of violence and participated in the new Radical state governments." Most violence was initiated by southerners who resisted giving equal political and social rights to the freemen. Wilson observes that after the end of reconstruction, in the emerging New South there were the problems of discriminatory freight rates, the growth of trusts that violated the practices of the free market economy, the lack of credit for farmers, and the failure of the states to properly control working conditions. Sadly, the author notes "As grievous as the problems were, they were far more amenable to solution than had been the slavery controversy."
This is a well-researched and heavily documented work. However, it is not a very readable book. The author tends to become repetitious by presenting far too many examples for each point that he makes when he could have given just a few examples and included the balance in appendices. In addition, the author basically limits this work to the textile and clothing manufacturers in the South, essentially ignoring critical metal working, foundry and munitions manufacturing operations. The strategic Tredegar Iron Works is only listed in the Introduction. However, serious students and Civil War "buffs" will find much useful information as the text provides the other side of the story about supply shortages suffered by the Confederate armies in the field.
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