American Civil War For Dummies. Keith D. Dickson

Чтение книги онлайн.

Читать онлайн книгу American Civil War For Dummies - Keith D. Dickson страница 30

American Civil War For Dummies - Keith D. Dickson

Скачать книгу

target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="#fb3_img_img_e24846a7-80ed-57f2-8574-2043c055e7f3.png" alt="Bullet"/> Tying strategy to political objectives

      

Understanding the role a nation’s resources play in forming a strategy

      

Examining the role of geography in shaping strategy

      

Exploring the theaters of war

      Wars are fought with armies. But what guides the actions and purpose of armies in war? That’s where strategy comes in. Strategy is developed at the national level. In the case of the Civil War, the president and his military advisors dictated the strategy.

      Strategy takes into account a number of important considerations. One of these is an assessment of the resources of the nation — essentially a measurement of its ability to conduct a war and sustain armies in the field. Another is the analysis of the geography. Geographical features can serve as an advantage or disadvantage, depending on your strategic approach.

      Let’s take a look at the resources the Union and the Confederacy possessed at the beginning of the war and compare them by category. The military men of both sides had a very tough assignment in assessing strategic resources and deciding how to marshal them to support the conduct of the war. No one had any experience in taking on such a monumental task to support military operations across a vast territory that stretched from the Mississippi River to the Chesapeake Bay. Physical and material resources would be required in as yet unimaginable quantities. The will of each country to sustain such a monumental effort would play an important role in determining victory or defeat.

      Industrial power

      Industrial power includes raw materials (coal, iron, salt, niter, oil, copper, tin) and the factories to produce weapons, clothing, equipment, train engines, rails, and munitions. Southern factories were insignificant in comparison to the production capacities of factories of the North. Northern factories were already producing shoes, clothing, rails, and locomotives and were able to respond quickly to making these items available to the Union armies. Other factories were able to convert to producing weapons or weapons components very quickly. The Northern industrial base was capable of manufacturing every item (no matter how insignificant) needed to sustain an army in the field. From the onset, Southern factories were undermanned and overwhelmed early by wartime production demands. Although building an impressive capacity with limited resources, the Confederacy continually struggled.

      Agricultural advantages: Food and crops

      Cotton: The double-edged sword

      In peacetime, all the world, but especially Great Britain and France, needed Southern cotton to feed their factories. For the South in wartime, though, cotton became a double-edged sword. Cotton hurt the South by taking up acreage that could be used to produce food for the Southern armies and civilian population. On the other hand, cotton represented a powerful strategic weapon for the South. Without cotton, European industries would have to shut down, causing great economic distress. European manufacturers could put pressure on their governments to do something about the lack of cotton. Cotton for the Confederacy could become a political bargaining tool to gain diplomatic recognition from the European nations.

      Cotton as collateral

      Financially speaking, cotton was white gold. Cotton shipped to European markets would fetch high prices, especially when the Europeans began to feel the pinch of cotton shortages as a result of the war. In turn, money from cotton sales could be used to purchase the weapons and supplies for Southern armies that the Confederacy could not produce itself. In addition, cotton could be used as collateral for foreign loans to support the Confederate government. Cotton became both a diplomatic and a financial advantage that President Davis hoped would be the decisive factor that would win the war for the Confederacy.

      Soldiers and laborers: Population

      Large-scale war requires enormous human resources, both in terms of soldiers to fill the ranks of the armies and workers to produce the means to sustain those armies as well as support the civilian population. The several million immigrants who flooded into the North between 1830 and 1860 provided recruits, agricultural laborers, and industrial workers. Few immigrants came to the South, leaving the Confederacy to rely on its white male population for soldiers. Slaves were a critical strategic resource, providing in some cases the skilled labor in factories and logistical support for the armies, as well as working on the farms to produce food. Women also were employed in a variety of roles in supporting the wartime production effort. During the Civil War, about 45 percent of the eligible males in the North served in the army. In the South, about 90 percent of eligible men served in the army.

      Financial wealth

      Analyzing the statistics for both sides

Скачать книгу