Split in 2

[mt155]

After Vicksburg, the south was split in two, and many use this as an argument as to why Vicksburg was one of, if not the most important battle. The supplies and such would be much harder to get accross the Mississippi in large numbers, if at all, to the eastern front. My question is this; Besides man power, was this such a huge blow to the eastern supply situation? Other than supplies from blockade runners into Galveston and Brownsville, actually how much and what kind of supplies were coming from TX, LA and AR? Did the west really supply that much?

 

[The Iron Duke]

A lot of supplies were brought into Mexico, smuggled over the Rio Grande, and then shipped across the Mississippi. Cotton and foodstuffs made up a large amount of the material coming from the Trans-Mississippi.

 

[5fish]

I trolled around the net but found in place that stated that 20million dollars worth of smuggled goods passed through Memphis alone. I found references that people got rich smuggling goods across the Mississippi river during the war.

I also found references about the trade of smuggled goods going from the east to west as well as form west to east...

I could not find a worthy answer to this fine question..


a note--

 

[Elennsar]

Twenty million in what dollars, 5fish?

 

[ole]

East Texas wasn't exactly a barren wilderness. Cattle, fodder, horses and grain made the crossing until Union gunboats made the crossing hazardous. Of course, goods were still trickling across in small boats and rafts.

 

[5fish]

Twenty million in what dollars, 5fish?

First it should have been 20 million a year in dollars..

A below is the link to where I read it----

Voices of the American Civil War: stories of men, women, and ... - Google Books Result
by Kendall F. Haven - 2002 - History - 346 pages
1 There is a name for illegal trade across national borders: smuggling. ... most lucrative region for smuggling was along the forested Mississippi Valley, ...
books.google.com/books?isbn=156308905X...

 

[Elennsar]

Hm, interesting, but hard to tell how reliable it is.

Also unclear what currency is being refered to. $20 million in Confederate currency is a lot less than Union greenbacks.

 

[Vareb]

Hm, interesting, but hard to tell how reliable it is.

Also unclear what currency is being refered to. $20 million in Confederate currency is a lot less than Union greenbacks.

I figured you would find something wrong with it.

 

[Elennsar]

I praise and criticize as seems justified by the facts.

At best, not listing whether it was Confederate currency or not was an oversight...though if we had the full book instead only what Googlebooks shows, it may be clarified later.

 

[5fish]

Hm, interesting, but hard to tell how reliable it is.

Also unclear what currency is being refered to. $20 million in Confederate currency is a lot less than Union greenbacks.

If you read the link does not the figure come form a Senate committee investigation...Can one assume it is 20million in US dollars then..

Here's another link to another book that mention the Memphis smuggling..

To Live and Die: Collected Stories of the Civil War, 1861-1876 - Google Books Resultby Kathleen Diffley - 2004 - Fiction - 429 pages
Ross Guffin "A NIGHT ON THE MISSISSIPPI" (Putnam's, April 1870) On the ... who, for the sake of the large gains promised, took the risk of smuggling. ...

The link did not take...

 

[Elennsar]

One could, but given the existance of a Confederate senate for a time, its uncertain - also, if it was US dollars, that still leaves "US dollars when?"

I hate to nitpick on something that seems like an interesting read if nothing else, but its kind of hard to weigh how much we're talking about with such a vague figure.

 

[Scribe]

After Vicksburg, the south was split in two, and many use this as an argument as to why Vicksburg was one of, if not the most important battle. The supplies and such would be much harder to get accross the Mississippi in large numbers, if at all, to the eastern front. My question is this; Besides man power, was this such a huge blow to the eastern supply situation? Other than supplies from blockade runners into Galveston and Brownsville, actually how much and what kind of supplies were coming from TX, LA and AR? Did the west really supply that much?

Here's what Lincoln thought.

"The war can never be brought to a close until that key [Vicksburg] is in our pocket. . . . As valuable as New Orleans will be to us, Vicksburg will be more so. We may take all the northern parts of the Confederacy, and they can still defy us from Vicksburg. It means hog and hominy without limit, fresh troops from all the States of the far South, and a cotton country where they can raise the staple without interference."

And here's what Jefferson Davis thought.

"It seems to me now clearly developed that the enemy has two principle objects in view, one
to get control of the Missi. River, and the other to capture the Capital of the Confederate States. As to the last, our recent successes at Fredericksburg give assurance that at least during the present winter, Richmond may be successfully defended, and at best its capture can only be valuable [to the Union] by the effect which it would produce on public opinion abroad, and by the destruction of manufactories and other resources very essential to our future efforts. But the control of the Mississippi River will be not only indirectly valuable to the enemy by the injury which its loss would inflict on the Confederate States, but directly by furnishing the best possible base for operations in the valley both on the East and West side of the River, by answering the exigent demand of the North Western States for the restoration to them of the unrestricted use of that river, and by utilizing the heretofore fruitless possession of New Orleans.... Nothing will so certainly conduce to peace as the conclusive exhibition of our power to hold the Mississippi river...."

 

[DixieRifles]

Maybe this will help.

I caught a part of the new PBS series "The Ascent of Money". In one episode it described how the Confederacy had a monopoly of all the Cotton that was available to England. They issued bonds to finance their country. Then when the blockade took effect(when New Orleans fell or when?) then the British made arrangement to purchase cotton from other countries and the bonds became worthless.

I'm sure there are others who know more about this than I.

LINKS:

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2009/jul/06/ascent-money-bonds-war/

PDF guide of the Episodes.

http://content.service.bbcworldwide...6397c245-0ccc-45c3-9072-9b77014354e9.pdf?7261