GDG- Re: CS supply

[Biggsk at aol.com]

Jim Schmidt writes:

>>>I agree, and I hope I can point everyone to one existing  source and what 
I hope will be a estimable future source, both on the Union  side.  You (we?) 
may have to be a bit flexible w/ the definition of  "logistics"...or at least 
break it down into its various parts - mobilization,  actual production behind 
the lines, transport to the field, resupply,  shortages, etc.>>
 
All of the above is part of logistics in actuality.  While I concur  most 
definitely that there are components of that, and these do need to be  covered by 
books, there also needs to be a Union version of Goff's "Confederate  Supply
," which is a brilliant overview of it all.  I do not encourage any  lay person 
to get into CS logistics on any level until they have read this book  and 
Black's "Railroads of the Confederacy."
 
There is a bio of Montgomery Meigs (actually two, Weigley's older one  and 
Miller's most recent) and a book on the Union troops transfers to the West  in 
September, 1863, but not much else - and there really needs to be.   Certainly, 
a detailed study of the various Union QM Depots (New York, Philly,  
Cincinnati and St. Louis) would be most helpful just to start.  The US  depot system 
parallels the CS depot system to the point that the war could  really be called 
the War Between The Regional Depots.  
 
Railroad genius Herman Haupt is the study of two biographies (the most  
recent being 1973 - there are two and both are out of print) but his  reminiscences 
have been reprinted and are still available.
 
Lots of work to be done in the Union logistics field.

>>>A) first - for the present source - I would point you to  Mark Wilson's 
excellent book: **The Business of Civil War: Military Mobilization  and the 
State, 1861-1865** (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2006). You  can see 
my review of the book  here:

http://civilwarmed.blogspot.com/2007/06/business-of-civil-war.html>>>>
I had seen that listed somewhere and promptly forgot about it - I  appreciate 
the mention here.
 

>>>B) forthcoming - I have a very strong interest in the  intersection of 
military history with business history and I am combining the  two in my 
forthcoming book: **Lincoln's Labels: America's Best-Known Brands  and the Civil War** 
(Edinborough Press, Spring 2008), in which I discuss  the
role of how companies such as Brooks Brothers, Tiffany & Co., du  Pont, 
American Express, Squibb, and Scientific American magazine played an  important 
part in the war. 

I think we have discussed this online before via emails.  Thanks for  the 
reminder and please do let me know when it is released so I can get it for  my 
library.  Bruce Bazelon has published a couple books on American  military 
equippage by maker and sources and some of these are listed  therein.  I have 
contributed to an upcoming revised version.  Tiffany  was a major supplier of 
military goods, North and South until Ft. Sumter, as was  Horstmann's in 
Philadelphia.  Both advertised in Southern papers for  business with Southern militia 
units.
 
One recent book that I enjoyed (although it was too Eastern-centric) that  
ties into logistics was "Mr. Lincoln's T-Mails" by Tom Wheeler.  This is a  
study of how Lincoln used the telegraph and it is quite novel and very helpful  in 
understanding strategy and logistics as well as communications.
 
I also just got from Amazon the new, and massive (and massively researched)  
book on the Confederate powder works in Augusta, GA.  This is the  definitive 
study and the breadth of it is breath-taking for understanding how  the 
Confederate military was able to keep fighting.  Within the book are  details of the 
various types of powder they manufactured (musket, field  artillery, bigger 
guns, etc.) as well as the breakdown of who got the powder and  where and when 
it was shipped.
 
I will post some things to this list that pertain to Lee's army and  
Gettysburg (and aftermath) very soon.
 
The book is called "Never For Want Of Powder" by C. L. Bragg, Charles  D. 
Ross, Gordon A. Blaker, Stephanie A. T. Jacobe and Theodore P. Savas.  I  have 
known about this book for years and it is great to see it finally  out.
 
Greg Biggs



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