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Ulysses S. Grant (1822–85). Personal Memoirs. 1885–86.
Chapter XXIII
"I knew General Buell was advancing on Nashville from the north, and I was advised by scouts that the rebels were leaving that place, and trying to get out all the supplies they could. Nashville was, at that time, one of the best provisioned posts in the South"
"Nashville contained valuable stores of arms, ammunition and provisions, and the enemy is probably trying to carry away all he can."
[Nashville may not be the originating point for the supplies, the Confederacy saw Nashville, as an important point to store supplies needed to defend northern Tennessee]
Harper's Weekly
New York, Saturday, July 5, 1862
THE LEVEE AT MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE—HAULING SUGAR AND COTTON FROM THEIR HIDING-PLACES FOR SHIPMENT
NORTH.—SKETCHED BY MR. ALEX. SIMPLOT [ SEE PAGE 423.]
[note the adjacent steamboats in the picture on site indicated above-son of the south]
SOUTHERN PRODUCE MOVING.
The rebels burned all the produce they could find. But a good deal escaped them, and is coming out of hiding-places. The Memphis Avalanche says:Independent of the boat, armed and unarmed, of the Federal fleet, transports are going from and coming to our wharf in such a way as to awaken a dim memory of the good old times. The Perry started this evening heavily laden with sugar and cotton. An unusual degree of animation prevails about the levee, and the echoes of the mallet has again awakened the echo of the bluff. Heaven knows we need a revival of trade sadly.
The Herald correspondent writes:
Business in Memphis is falling into its old channels. The J. D. Perry, of the St. Louis and Memphis Steamboat, Line, left last evening with a full freight of sugar, and a boat will start for Cairo today laden with it fine supply of cotton. Drays are already crowding the levee, and cotton and sugar are coming out of their places of concealment in unlooked-for abundance. A boat came in yesterday from St. Louis laden to the guards with supplies for the Memphis market.
The Tribune correspondent says:
More and more cotton and sugar is being discovered daily in and around Memphis, and I have seen numerous parties who boast of their adroitness in outwitting the minions of the Confederacy, showing the Southern staples as proofs of their cleverness. A number of flat-boats loaded with New Orleans sugar are now lying at the mouth of Wolf River, having been brought down the stream since the occupation of the city, and will be sold by the owners to the highest bidder. In various garrets and cellars cotton and sugar have developed themselves in considerable quantities, and still more will come to light during the coming fortnight.
The World correspondent says:
In three days we have had a dozen steamboats partially loaded with goods, groceries, clothing, etc.
The goods have been landed and stored, and the boats are loading up with cotton, sugar, and molasses for their return trip. For the present the purchases are, of course, limited to the bare wants of the consumers, for the reason that the currency is still unsettled.
Southern railroad systems were built in different gauges so that mobility was further limited as Southern armies were reduced to walking men and supplies had to be carried overland on narrow dirt roads, often in knee deep mud.
Paraphrased from The West Point Military Series, The American Civil War, Thomas Griess, Ed. 1987
I've seen several references to that problem in the past, though I don't have the details. The additional problem was that so many of these railroads weren't linked or bridges were missing. General construction which would have resulted in a network was still in it's first stages in 1860. Much of Tennessee and Alabama where the terrain gets a bit rocky was still not built. Railroads were mostly in flat, sandy country and even there bridges were slow in arriving.
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Ancestors in US Army: 13th TN Cav; 10th TN Cav; 3rd NC Inf
Ancestors in CSA Army: 48th VA; 63rd VA, 5th NC Cav; 37th NC
Wife and Grandson's CSA: 15th AL, 51st GA, 41st TN; 36th TN; GA Mil 1197 Dist
I'll apologize in advance for taking this discussion slightly off-track (pun intended): The lack of infrastructure -- railroads in particular -- speaks loudly to the point that capital in the south was not invested in things that did not directly benefit the planter.
Now, back to the regularly scheduled program.
Ole
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
Am I correct that the anaconda concept essentially involved Grant containing the ANV in the north and then moving southward to link with Sherman coming from the south having defeated the AOT. That's essentially what happened. What I still don't understand, and I have read Hood's pie in the sky reasoning about moving through Kentucky to move back east and help Lee in Virginia, is why the AOT ever really left Georgia? Seems to me that was the line of defense against the Army of the Tennessee. If you fight and win, you cause a serious distraction for Grant. If you lose, you hasten the end of the war and save several thousands of lives at Franklin, Nashville, and Bentonville.
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Ancestors in US Army: 13th TN Cav; 10th TN Cav; 3rd NC Inf
Ancestors in CSA Army: 48th VA; 63rd VA, 5th NC Cav; 37th NC
Wife and Grandson's CSA: 15th AL, 51st GA, 41st TN; 36th TN; GA Mil 1197 Dist
Am I correct that the anaconda concept essentially involved Grant containing the ANV in the north and then moving southward to link with Sherman coming from the south having defeated the AOT. That's essentially what happened.
The original had nothing to do with any commander or specific army movements. It was Scott's idea to isolate the south by taking or blockading the Mississippi and its Atlantic and Gulf ports. The idea was to lay siege to the entire south and thereby avoid a bloody war. It took almost 4 years for the US Navy to reach a point where it began to pinch. Meanwhile, it totally ignored the CSA soldier and resourcefulness.
Quote:
What I still don't understand, and I have read Hood's pie in the sky reasoning about moving through Kentucky to move back east and help Lee in Virginia, is why the AOT ever really left Georgia? Seems to me that was the line of defense against the Army of the Tennessee. If you fight and win, you cause a serious distraction for Grant. If you lose, you hasten the end of the war and save several thousands of lives at Franklin, Nashville, and Bentonville.
By the time Hood got his act together, Sherman was gone and there was no sense chasing him or trying to cut his nonexistent supply line. I'd guess he'd have been most valuable plaguing Sherman in Atlanta -- messing with the Chattanooga connection, harassing outposts, keeping Sherman from doing whatever he intended to do. But no, Hood headed west, intending to invade Tennessee. So. I'm with you -- I don't understand.
Ole
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
Southern railroad systems were built in different gauges so that mobility was further limited as Southern armies were reduced to walking men and supplies had to be carried overland on narrow dirt roads, often in knee deep mud.
Paraphrased from The West Point Military Series, The American Civil War, Thomas Griess, Ed. 1987
More true in the South than the North, and it did create problems -- but it often meant you had to get off the RR at one end of town, walk or take a horsecar to the other, and get onto a different RR. Freight would have to be unloaded, transferred, and loaded again. That is why, for example, the Union troops were marching through Baltimore when attacked by the mobs in April, 1861: they were changing trains.
The real problems with Southern RRs came from a lack of equipment, workshops, locomotives, rails, and manufacturing facilities. No new rail was laid anywhere during the war for the Confederates, and beyond that the government was often reduced to ripping up one section of track to put another into shape to use.
The original had nothing to do with any commander or specific army movements. It was Scott's idea to isolate the south by taking or blockading the Mississippi and its Atlantic and Gulf ports. The idea was to lay siege to the entire south and thereby avoid a bloody war. It took almost 4 years for the US Navy to reach a point where it began to pinch. Meanwhile, it totally ignored the CSA soldier and resourcefulness.
After all the ridicule of Scott's 1861 Anaconda Plan, McClellan came up with his own version for 1862. After taking Richmond, he planned to put his troops on ships and move along the coast taking ports (Wilmington-Charleston-Savannah-Mobile-New Orleans) until the Confederacy gave up.
The problem with the various versions of the Anaconda was that it took a long time. Any military man could see the means by which it would work, but the pressure was on for a short war.
I'll apologize in advance for taking this discussion slightly off-track (pun intended): The lack of infrastructure -- railroads in particular -- speaks loudly to the point that capital in the south was not invested in things that did not directly benefit the planter.
Now, back to the regularly scheduled program.
Ole,
Usually true. Southern plantations were usually served by slow-moving rivers and streams. River and harbor improvements were favored there. Also, lower population densities tended to make RR's less profitable.
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