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.

 

[Rhea Cole]

General Burnside sitting on a 200 pound burlap bag of fodder while reading a news paper. LOC

THERE WAS NO NEED TO GATHER COTTON PICKING BAGS. 200 POUNDS OF FORTAGE WAS SHIPPED IN BURLAP BAGS. COFFEE WAS SHIPPED IN FIFTY POUND BURLAP BAGS.

THE ARMY HAD BURLAP BAGS IN ABUNDANCE.

Cotton bales of every size were & are wrapped in burlap. This one is 6" tall.

Link:

Colonel Reb Foundation

littlebalesofcotton

littlebalesofcotton.myshopify.com

This modern roll of burlap is 12 feet wide & 50 feet long; it is exactly like the ones manufactured in the 1860's.

A little understood aspect of Civil War logistics was the recycling of burlap bags. The army's quartermasters were adamant in their insistence that burlap shipping bags be recycled.

Empty bags were baled up & returned to depots. The bags were then used to ship coal, for example. Emptied rail cars were filled with bales of empty bags. Steamboats were likewise laden with bales of empty bags to be taken back to Cincinnati.

Empty boxes & barrels were also returned. This link details the kind & variety of shipping containers used to supply the armies.

Link:

Barrels, Boxes, and Bags: Notes on US and CS Army Ration Packaging — The Liberty Rifles

www.libertyrifles.org

 

[gary]

Thank you Rhea Cole on your insights on the availability of burlap in the US Army. That probably was the source of material for the bags.

Both fascines and bags of cotton, not bales, were used at Port Hudson.

 

[Rhea Cole]

Thank you Rhea Cole on your insights on the availability of burlap in the US Army. That probably was the source of material for the bags.

Both fascines and bags of cotton, not bales, were used at Port Hudson.

Is it just me or does Gen. Burnside have an eerie resemblance to Oliver Hardy?

It has been an interesting series for me. The hemp production in Kentucky was protected by a 40% tariff on jute from what is now Indonesia.

Rope walks were the source of John Hunt Morgan's family fortune, for example. Everything from twine to 8" hawsers went to New England shop yards via the Erie Canal.

Hemp was a major reason for keeping Kentucky in the Union both for the New England shipyards & denying it to the Deep South cotton producers.

 

[G Low]

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.

Here is one, it's about 8' long and 2' wide the back side is waterproof. It's on my 10' snooker table.

 

[G Low]

Here is one, it's about 8' long and 2' wide the back side is waterproof. It's on my 10' snooker table.View attachment 562145View attachment 562146

I meant to put this under the cotton picking bag post.

 

[G Low]

Anybody got an image of a cotton bag that would be used to collect cotton?

 

[G Low]

Is it just me or does Gen. Burnside have an eerie resemblance to Oliver Hardy?
It must be the hat!! I went by the Laurel and Hardy museum last Saturday, it's east of Augusta, Ga. along I-20.

 

[G Low]

This is a copy of a stock certificate from my 4th great granddaddy's cotton mill outside of Augusta Ga. It was one of the first (some say the first) cotton mills in Augusta, Ga. He moved from Massachusetts in the 1830's for health reasons. Also is a pic of him(Daniel Hack).

 

[G Low]

This is a copy of a stock certificate from my 4th great granddaddy's cotton mill outside of Augusta Ga. It was one of the first (some say the first) cotton mills in Augusta, Ga. He moved from Massachusetts in the 1830's for health reasons. Also is a pic of him(Daniel Hack).
View attachment 562158View attachment 562159

 

[G Low]

Check out this pic. It's the seasons first cotton at my granddaddy's warehouse in 1942. Social Circle, Ga. View attachment 561567

I worked there in the late 70's. We had a Clark forklift. I would pull a certain bail down and my uncle would pull samples to send to cotton mills. The bails were stacked 3 high inside the warehouse. They also had a bin with loose cotton about 6'x6'. Me and my brother would climb up the bails to the top and jump in the bin.

 

[wausaubob]

I think by 1860 there were some steam driven gins separating the seeds from the bolls. I don't know if there were any steam driven presses. The US south had a huge advantage in already knowing how to gin and compress the cotton. It had to be compressed for maritime shipping. Volume and value mattered a great deal.

 

[G Low]

This is a link to a video about the cotton gin festival in Bostwick, Ga.

Town Bostwick Marker, GA

Town Bostwick Marker , GA. This marker is located on the lot next to the vacant Susie Agnes Hotel in downtown Bostwick. The marker reads as : On the occasion of its Bicentennial, Morgan County placed this marker here to commemorate the community of BOSTWICK Name in honor of the family who...

digitalcommons.unf.edu

 

[G Low]

This is a link to a video about the cotton gin festival in Bostwick, Ga.

Town Bostwick Marker, GA

Town Bostwick Marker , GA. This marker is located on the lot next to the vacant Susie Agnes Hotel in downtown Bostwick. The marker reads as : On the occasion of its Bicentennial, Morgan County placed this marker here to commemorate the community of BOSTWICK Name in honor of the family who...

digitalcommons.unf.edu

 

[wausaubob]

Picking time and ginning season should have always been a festival. A few dollars for the head of the family, and some improved food might have made picking go faster. But they saw it differently.

 

[Pollaco]

Humans standing on bales ought to give you an idea of the size

 

[G Low]

Humans standing on bales ought to give you an idea of the size

View attachment 562525

I don't see how the cotton on the bottom layer could stay dry. Any wake could have soaked the cotton.

 

[CowCavalry]

I don't see how the cotton on the bottom layer could stay dry. Any wake could have soaked the cotton.

I don't see how the ship stayed afloat.

 

[G Low]

Here's a picture from a Vicksburg restaurant.

 

[gary]

View attachment 562152

View attachment 562153

That could double as a sleeping bag or as in The Far Side cartoon with the two bears looking a people in sleeping bags. One points and says, "Sandwiches!"

 

[Sheltowee]

Here's a picture from a Vicksburg restaurant.
View attachment 562528

Where's OSHA and the NTSB when you need them?