GDG- Re: CS supply

[Biggsk at aol.com]

Chet writes:

>>>>Time and again, Southern armies found themselves short of --  or severely 
limited in --- necessary supplies --- food, clothing, arms, etc.  not because 
they did not exist --- and in good quantities --- within the  boundaries of 
the Confederacy, but because the Southern railroad system (along  with often 
inept quartermaster and commissary structures) simply could not  move what 
was needed from Point A to Point  B.>>>>
 
Chet,
 
Please name a single battle that the Confederates lost due to lack of  
ammunition from the arsenals to the front lines.
 
There isn't one.
 
While sometimes there were shortages of things, these were often off-set by  
supplies taken from another department to supplement what was missing with 
those  taken supplies replaced.

 
The Southern rail system indeed could move things from A to B - just not  
always on time for a myriad of reasons.  The problems came more on a local  level 
like hoarding unloaded cars and not returning locomotives.  This was  eased 
over time, but it did create some bottlenecks for a time.  If the  rail system 
could not do what you state then the war is over in 1861.
 
There is also a big difference between Confederate armies on  campaign 
raiding the North and Confederate armies sitting in camps or  defending fixed 
points.  As one historian once said, "show me a picture of  Confederates at 
Petersburg lacking shoes," and yet that is the image many have  of Confederate 
soldiers.
 
When you are sitting around or in Petersburg's trenches, you do not have a  
shoe problem as you are very close to your sources for those shoes and getting  
them when needed.  When you are marching into Pennsylvania or Kentucky, you  
are walking yourself out of those shoes at the tail end of a long supply line 
-  and guess what - the same thing happened to Union forces at times as well!  
 I have read a lot about barefooted Yankees on campaign!
 
Were there problems?  Sure there were - and the Commissary Bureau was  one of 
the poorest run services - but the Quartermaster Bureau, especially when  
Alexander Lawton took control, performed brilliantly!  Of all the CS supply  
bureaus, only Commissary was inept, at least until Northrop was finally forced  
out late in the war (with Lee's help).  Medical, Mining & Nitre, QM and  
Ordnance (under the brilliant Josiah Gorgas) all performed their jobs quite  well.  
All of their efforts were supplemented by captured items and  importations 
through the blockade.   When Confederate armies fought  battles they had what they 
needed to win every time in terms of equipment.
 
The best Confederate Secretary of War was John Breckinridge and he  performed 
miracles with his back to the wall amassing supplies for Lee's army at  
Petersburg/Richmond and for his retreat.  It was too little, too late by  this time 
however.
 
Please folks - read Richard Goff's book "Confederate Supply." He tells the  
good, the bad and the ugly, and when it is over you will have a great  
understanding of what the Confederates had to work with and how well they did  under 
the circumstances.
 
Greg Biggs



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