“GITTIN STUFF” the Impact of Equipment Management, Supply & Logistics on Confederate Defeat
“GITTIN STUFF” The Impact of Equipment Management, Supply & Logistics on Confederate Defeat BY FRED SETH, CPPM, CF, HARBOUR LIGHTS CHAPTER “They never whipped us, Sir, unless they were four to one. had been captured. For four years they had provided equipment and supplies from If we had had anything like a fair chance, or less disparity of Europe to support the Confederacy and its numbers, we should have won our cause and established our armies. Since the beginning of the war, independence.” UNKNOWN VIRGINIAN TO ROBERT E. LEE.1 Wilmington, North Carolina had been a preferred port of entry for blockade-run- ners because Cape Fear provided two entry the destruction or capture of factories and channels, which gave ships a greater oppor- PREFACE farms in the Deep South and Richmond. tunity for escape and evasion. Also, rail fter defeat in the Civil War, known by The lack of rations at Amelia Court House, lines ran directly from Wilmington to A some in the South as “The War of which has been called the immediate cause Richmond and Atlanta.4 Northern Aggression,” Southerners were in of Lee’s surrender, is examined in detail. By the fall of 1864, Wilmington was a quandary regarding their willingness for Most importantly, the article addresses how one of the most important cities in the war. As discussed in the first article of this the inability of its leaders to conduct pro- Confederacy – it was the last operating series, the North had the overwhelming ductive logistics, equipment, and supply port. Confederate armies depended on advantage in industrial capability and man- management led to the decline and ulti- Wilmington for lead, iron, copper, steel, power.
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