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While Confederate blockade runners famously carried the seaborne trade for the South during the American Civil War, the amount of Southern cotton exported to Europe was only half of that shipped illicitly to the North. Most went to New England textile mills where business "was better than ever," according to textile mogul Amos Lawrence. Rhode Island senator William Sprague, a mill owner and son-in-law to Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase, was a member of a partnership supplying weapons to the Confederacy in exchange for cotton. The trade in contraband was not confined to New England. Union General William T. Sherman claimed Confederates were supplied with weapons from Cincinnati, while General Ulysses S. Grant captured Rebel cavalry armed with carbines purchased in Union-occupied Memphis. During the last months of the war, supplies entering the Union-controlled port of Norfolk, Virginia, were one of the principal factors enabling Robert E. Lee's Confederate army to avoid starvation. Indeed, many of the supplies that passed through the Union blockade into the Confederacy originated in Northern states, instead of Europe as is commonly supposed. Merchants were not the only ones who profited; Union officers General Benjamin Butler and Admiral David Dixon Porter benefited from this black market. President Lincoln admitted that numerous military leaders and public officials were involved, but refused to stop the trade.
In Trading with the Enemy: The Covert Economy During the American Civil War, New York Times Disunion contributor Philip Leigh recounts the little-known story of clandestine commerce between the North and South. Cotton was so important to the Northern economy that Yankees began growing it on the captured Sea Islands of South Carolina. Soon the neutral port of Matamoras, Mexico, became a major trading center, where nearly all the munitions shipped to the port—much of it from Northern armories—went to the Confederacy. After the fall of New Orleans and Vicksburg, a frenzy of contraband-for-cotton swept across the vast trans-Mississippi Confederacy, with Northerners sometimes buying the cotton directly from the Confederate government. A fascinating study, Trading with the Enemy adds another layer to our understanding of the Civil War.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
August 21, 2014 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781594165764
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781594165764
- File size: 5756 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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May 26, 2014
Leigh's short but thorough account provides a window into the frequent but illegal trading that took place between North and South. With the outbreak of the war, New England mill owners were clamoring for Southern cotton, and Southerners were desperate for guns and money. Leigh reveals how widespread illicit trade was between the two warring nationsâfrom New Orleans, where Union General Benjamin Butler made a fortune indirectly by allowing illegal trade with the Confederates to the port of Matamoras, Mexico, which during the war saw the arrival of 20,000 English-speaking speculators to even New York City, where mayor Fernando Wood suggested the city should declare itself independent in order to allow for continued trade with Southern states. Leigh's revelations about who encouraged and allowed for this kind of illegal trade are at times shocking. Abraham Lincoln, who despite numerous military complaints about the illicit trade taking place, believed trading with the Confederates would actually weaken their position. Instead, Leigh says, in this damning portrait of greed and its consequences, that "a culture of abuse became acceptable for those with power and influence," and that in the end, Confederates benefited mostly from these illicit trades, almost assuredly lengthening the conflict. -
June 1, 2014
Columnist Leigh (New York Times "Disunion" series; editor, Co. Aytch, or a Side Show of the Big Show) describes how this country's Northern and Southern economies remained integrated even during the Civil War. Detailing endemic corruption and waste, especially on the part of unscrupulous Northern speculators, he argues that interbelligerent trade caused more problems for the Northern cause than it solved. While most books on the subject focus on blockade running, Leigh devotes most of his attention to legal trading that was dispensed as patronage by Northern politicians and officials, including Abraham Lincoln. Personal greed was not the only reason many Northerners maintained trade with the Southern states during the war; many believed that preserving economic ties would help bind the nation back together. In addition, the Northern economy needed cotton, as an export and for their own mills, in order to fund the war effort. Finally, keeping cotton flowing to Europe helped keep England and France out of the war. Most important, Leigh's book helps answer the question: "Why did the North fight?" VERDICT This book will be appreciated by those who enjoyed Mark Egnal's Clash of Extremes: The Economic Origins of the Civil War.--Michael Farrell, Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, FL
Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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