Shenandoah Valley 1864 "The Burning": The Shenandoah Campaign of 1864

Manufacturing establishment. That is a good'n. That could be a smithy or a grist mill. Or maybe not.

In those days, not everyone could grind his own meal. So they took a few bags of grain to the local miller and got it turned into flour. And they gave a portion of that to the miller to pay for his services. And the farmer might also have dropped off a small bag at the smithy to pay for that set of horseshoes.

So is the miller or the smithy a manufacturing establishment?

Militarily, I suppose both were. If the miller could make flour that could make bread that could feed a reb, burn the mill. If a smithy could make shoes for horses that could pull or run or otherwise provide for a reb, destroy the forge.

Nobody said war was like playing tag or hide-and-seek. If you can't carry it, burn it.
 
Assuming mills are manufacturing establishments (I don't think so, but I'm not entirely sure what the definition is either), and assuming a half of the Valley's ME were mills...

70/510. If this is "destroying all in my path", Sheridan's ability to burn is almost as bad as his ability to command cavalry (where he lost just about every battle).

For the census, manufacturing included shoe factories, mills (grist, chop, saw, etc), furnaces, forges, stave makers, barrel factories, collieries (charcoal, not mining), etc.
 
For the census, manufacturing included shoe factories, mills (grist, chop, saw, etc), furnaces, forges, stave makers, barrel factories, collieries (charcoal, not mining), etc.

The very broad "places that make stuff" category, not more specific.

Understood and appreciated.
 
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