I’ve been writing for sometime now on the activities of cotton profiteering along the Trans-Mississippi and the results which included: needless loss of life, lack of discipline and morale in the army, and not to mentioned that it destined Arkansas to become a wasteland of death and suffering.
I am pretty much at the end of my blogging on this (in terms of posting sources and info) as I am going to at least write an article on the subject, maybe more.
Here is a letter by Charles Dana written to Stanton after he set out to start his own Cotton Speculation company along the Trans-Mississippi region. His investigation into the trade caused him such alarm, that he immediately wrote back to Stanton to denounce the entire trade:
Memphis, January 21, 1863
Dear Sir: You will remember our conversations on the subject of excluding cotton speculators from the regions occupied by our armies in the South. I now write to urge the matter upon your attention as a measure of military necessity.
The mania for sudden fortunes made in cotton, ranging in a vast population of Jews and Yankees scattered throughout this whole country, and in this town almost exceeding the numbers of the regular residents, has to an alarming extent corrupted and demoralized the army. Every colonel, captain or quartermaster is in secret partnership with some operator in cotton; every soldier dreams of adding a bale of cotton to his monthly pay.
Cotton speculation in this region is a surprise to no one, but there are implications here. First, scores of soldiers were purposely kept in cotton rich areas in order to exclusively search out cotton. Meanwhile Arkansas suffered (Gen. Hindman and his guerrilla fighters) as Federal troops focused on the eastern side of the Mississippi south of Helena, instead of west of it and Central Arkansas. Second, not to mention all of the profiteering that cost lives.
Dana does exaggerated when he claims that “every soldier” wanted in on the trade, though I am sure they might have wanted to reap the rewards of their blood and tears, but almost to a man they despised having to do it and many in the Cotton Brigade spoke openly of mutiny.
Dana might have just been sore that he missed out on an opportunity to rake it in, but nonetheless his observations are very correct.
