The Business of Civil War: Military Mobilization and the State, 1861-1865

321 Pages·2006·3.122 MB·English

by  Mark R. Wilson

The Business of Civil War
johns hopkins studies in the history of technology
Merritt Roe Smith, Series Editor
The Business of Civil War
Military Mobilization
and the State,
1861–1865
mark r. wilson
The Johns Hopkins University Press
Baltimore
© 2006 The Johns Hopkins University Press
All rights reserved. Published 2006
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1
The Johns Hopkins University Press
2715 North Charles Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4363
www.press.jhu.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wilson, Mark (Mark R.), 1970 –
The business of civil war : military mobilization and the state, 1861 – 1865 / Mark Wilson.
p. cm. — (Johns Hopkins studies in the history of technology)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8018-8348-2 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. United States Army — Mobilization — History — Civil War, 1861 – 1865.
2. United States — History — Civil War, 1861 – 1865 — Economic aspects.
3. Contracting out — United States — History — 19th century. I. Title.
II. Series: Johns Hopkins studies in the history of technology (Unnumbered)
E491.W76 2006
973.7 ′1 — dc22 2005029017
A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
For Diane & Gary
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
chapter 1
The Rise and Fall of a Federal Supply System 5
chapter 2
The Formation of a National Bureaucracy 34
chapter 3
The Making of a Mixed Military Economy 72
chapter 4
The Trouble with Contracting 107
chapter 5
The Middleman on Trial 148
chapter 6
The Unacknowledged Militarization of America 191
appendix a
Note on the Value of a Dollar during the Civil War Era 227
appendix b
Leading Northern Military Contractors in Selected Industries 231
viii contents
appendix c
Note on Data Collection and Record Linkages 237
Notes 241
Essay on Sources 285
Index 295
Illustrations
figures
1.1. The Pennsylvania Volunteers 25
2.1. Map of Treasury Disbursements to Quartermaster’s Department
Depots, 1856 – 1860 48
2.2. Group Outside the O‹ce of the Quartermaster General,
Washington, D.C. 67
3.1. Map of Treasury Disbursements to Quartermaster’s Department
Depots, 1861 – 1865 77
3.2. Filling Cartridges at the United States Arsenal,
Watertown, Massachusetts 79
3.3. U.S. Cavalry Stables at Chattanooga, Tennessee 80
3.4. Employees at a Government Horseshoeing Shop 85
4.1. Two Thousand Army Horses Wanted 145
5.1. Running the Machine 177
tables
1.1. Procurement Expenditures by Ten Northern States in 1861 13
2.1. U.S. Military Expenditures by Department, 1845 – 1875 38
2.2. Twenty Leading Procurement O‹cers during the Civil War 69
4.1. Leading Civil War Contractors 122
B.1. Leading Small Arms Suppliers to the U.S. Army, 1861 – 1866 231
B.2. Leading Heavy Ordnance Suppliers, 1861 – 1866 232
B.3. Leading Wagon and Ambulance Suppliers, 1861 – 1864 232