Cotton bale

[gary]

Does anyone have an image of a Civil War period cotton bale? I know they were used to "armor" ships, make breastworks and even sap rollers. I read that they were 30 lbs and were man portable.

 

[Sheltowee]

Googled "1860 cotton bale" images- pulled up quite a few. Many photos are post-war, but thinking you can see what you need.

Learned that a modern bale is @500 lbs. wow…

 

[Rhea Cole]

Does anyone have an image of a Civil War period cotton bale? I know they were used to "armor" ships, make breastworks and even sap rollers. I read that they were 30 lbs and were man portable.

Even bales of hay can weigh 80 pounds. The U.S. standard cotton bale then & now weighed (+/-) 500 pounds.

This is one of those a picture is worth a thousand words images. The bales had to be very carefully loaded & unloaded to prevent a catastrophic capsize.

McPherson's floating cotton bale bridge from Harper's Weekly.

In his memoir Grant described the events leading up to construction of a floating cotton bale bridge.

Link:

Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant/Chapter XXXVI - Wikisource, the free online library

en.m.wikisource.org

Cotton was (+/-) $1.89 / pound in 1863. That was up from 10-13 cents / pound in 1860.

 

[Mississippian1861]

According to the 1860 Census a "bale" of cotton was 400lbs.

 

[gary]

Here's why I asked. At Port Hudson some soldiers slung their muskets and carried 30 lb cotton bales. They were to throw them down the ditch so it would be easier to scale. I couldn't want to carry a 400 lb bale of cotton.

Those bales on the steamboat look awfully large; too large to carry. Even those 80 lb bales would be a task if you're going to carry it by hand. I can see rolling a bale like breastwork (Battle of Lexington).

 

[Sheltowee]

Here's why I asked. At Port Hudson some soldiers slung their muskets and carried 30 lb cotton bales. They were to throw them down the ditch so it would be easier to scale. I couldn't want to carry a 400 lb bale of cotton.

Those bales on the steamboat look awfully large; too large to carry. Even those 80 lb bales would be a task if you're going to carry it by hand. I can see rolling a bale like breastwork (Battle of Lexington).

Read an article about 6 foot cotton pick sacks. Says they would typically hold 40-45 pounds.

Is it possible that full pick sacks were used at Port Hudson? Maybe the pick sacks had not yet been emptied, to be made into larger bales?

Just blindly guessing…….

 

[Pollaco]

According to the 1860 Census a "bale" of cotton was 400lbs.

Bales of cotton were fairly large objects and no way could have been 30 lbs. Over half a dozen Confederate Notes feature humans sitting or leaning on bales.In proportion to human sized figures they had to weigh several hundred pounds.

 

[Rhea Cole]

Read an article about 6 foot cotton pick sacks. Says they would typically hold 40-45 pounds.

Is it possible that full pick sacks were used at Port Hudson? Maybe the pick sacks had not yet been emptied, to be made into larger bales?

Just blindly guessing…….

How about the engineers tying up 40 pounds of cotton into loads that a soldier could carry on his own?

The limestone blocks that make up Temple of Kulkulcàn weigh 40 pounds. "Ant chains" of men & women carried the blocks from the quarry on their backs.

The stones in this beautifully precise Inca walls weigh (+/-) 40 pounds.

The usual 2 cubic foot bag of mulch, potting soil, garden soil at your local garden center weighs (+/-) 40 pounds.

Both a Civil War soldiers & Roman legionnaires' marching kit weighed (+/-) 40 pounds.

The point being down through history (+/-) 40 pounds is the maximum weight of an object that a human being can transport day & day out for weeks on end… or extract from the trunk of their car.

The army engineers knew about the 40 pound principle & prepared the cotton bales accordingly. It was an age old procedure.

 

[Pollaco]

I can't say for sure what a bale weighed back then but it was way more than 30 lbs.

 

[Rhea Cole]

I can't say for sure what a bale weighed back then but it was way more than 30 lbs.

As indicated up stream, a standard U. S. Cotton bales weighed 500 pounds, that was the measure that is used for market reports. In 1863 cotton was $1.80 / bushel. In 1860 10-13 cents / pound.

40 pound bales of cotton were made up by the engineers. As indicated up stream, 40 pounds is what a person can readily carry.

 

[Pollaco]

I was under the impression cotton sold by the pound instead of the bushel. Notice the man carrying the 2 baskets. Maybe the engraver knew a thing or two about the cotton industry

 

[Rhea Cole]

I was under the impression cotton sold by the pound instead of the bushel. Notice the man carrying the 2 baskets. Maybe the engraver knew a thing or two about the cotton industryView attachment 561534

The wagon loaded with cotton bales going to market is the salient point.

 

[gary]

Thanks everyone. I agree that the "engineeers" who were former slaves could easily have made 30 lb bales or bag wt.

After Port Hudson capitulated and was cleaned up, I suspect the cotton was recovered and sold.

 

[Rhea Cole]

Thanks everyone. I agree that the "engineeers" who were former slaves could easily have made 30 lb bales or bag wt.

After Port Hudson capitulated and was cleaned up, I suspect the cotton was recovered and sold.

This comment made me laugh, you obviously aren't from a cotton growing part of the country. When cotton gets wet it gets rotten very quickly. Cotton left on the ground where the combines & trucks meet turns into compost. Cotton bales that were stacked up to form the core of a berm would become water logged. That actually made them denser. In time, the temporary works were a great mulch pile.

Cotton, in ordered to be useful has to be ginned to remove the seeds. Cotton that is even barely damp cannot be ginned.

Cotton is grown all around where I live in Middle Tennessee. For years I passed cotton fields taking & picking up children from school. In the 1970's the cotton fields near my aunt & uncle's place in Arkansas were still being picked by hand. So, I have reason to know about cotton farming.

 

[Trooper "D"]

This comment made me laugh, you obviously aren't from a cotton growing part of the country. When cotton gets wet it gets rotten very quickly. Cotton left on the ground where the combines & trucks meet turns into compost. Cotton bales that were stacked up to form the core of a berm would become water logged. That actually made them denser. In time, the temporary works were a great mulch pile.

Cotton, in ordered to be useful has to be ginned to remove the seeds. Cotton that is even barely damp cannot be ginned.

Cotton is grown all around where I live in Middle Tennessee. For years I passed cotton fields taking & picking up children from school. In the 1970's the cotton fields near my aunt & uncle's place in Arkansas were still being picked by hand. So, I have reason to know about cotton farming.

Cotton as like manna from heaven. Use it or lose it.

 

[G Low]

Check out this pic. It's the seasons first cotton at my granddaddy's warehouse in 1942. Social Circle, Ga.

 

[Pollaco]

My mother was commissioned to paint this on a shingle by a cotton buyer from Lubbock. He never picked it up so

she gave it to me.

 

[milhistbuff1]

My mother was commissioned to paint this on a shingle by a cotton buyer from Lubbock. He never picked it up so View attachment 561570she gave it to me.

Beautiful work!

 

[Pollaco]

Another of Mom's cotton pictures

 

[Pollaco]

Cotton as like manna from heaven. Use it or lose it.

I always thought cotton was one of the "gifts" from God to mankind.