"Was Texas the best fed state in the CSA?" Topic

"I remember reading alot of beef in the CSA came from Texas, and once Vicksburg fell, meat was in short supply. Is this true? Moreover, if all the beef was in Texas does that mean there were some fat rebels? Lol, all the fat on that steak adds up…."
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Amicalement
Armand

Yes, But they had a problem with the Comanches/Kiowas raiding into Texas to deal with.

The fat only made it to the rebels until late 1862. In October of 1862 1,500 head of longhorn were captured by the Union navy trying to cross the Mississippi River. That pretty much ended the trade. In addition, by this time manpower was getting so scarce in Texas that cattle drives pretty much ceased and the cattle economy collapsed in Texas. Many of the animals were just allowed to roam wild. By 1866 it was estimated there were over 200,000 surplus cattle roaming Texas. At this same time, there was a heavy migration of people heading into Texas looking for a new start, solving the manpower issue. Interestingly, about this time a number of enterprising northern businesses in cities like Chicago saw the opportunity which started the beef boom up north and the great cattle drives of the old west period. If you have seen the Western movie "The Outlaw Josey Wales" the group ends up at one such abandoned Texas ranch. The book the movie was based on is called "Gone to Texas" It described the hundreds of abandoned steer left by the owner at the ranch. He had gotten himself killed at Shiloh.

East Texas is fertile wooded and green. Not like the western section. Yes they were well fed but so was much of the Confederacy. Times were only hard during the weeks that the Yankees were raiding into your area. So starvation was rare. Discomfort common.

Well, they didn't have the Chesapeake Bay contiguous to their state, nor NC-style BBQ, so…………

I would imagine with so much eastern land taken out of the export and cultivation of cotton, the potential for an increase in food production was there. The question was labor, manufactured farm equipment, and transportation.

There was no importing of food to Texas. They were well known for providing every thing they needed without importing. This was even a talking point in the 1970s.
Before the Civil War, Texas was managing all of the aspects mentioned by Nashville.
20th and 21st Century views of economics was different than the 1860s. An agrarian life not an industrial one.

Thanks!.

Amicalement
Armand

I would imagine with so much eastern land taken out of the export and cultivation of cotton, the potential for an increase in food production was there

I have read a couple of accounts that this happened, at least in parts of the deep south. The problem in significant parts of the south wasn't switching over to food production. It was keeping armies out of the area while the crops were growing or being harvested, being processed, shipped, stored or distributed. It only took a day of a hostile army operating in the area, or a slightly longer period of a friendly army operating in the area to result in the loss of a large amount of farm produce at some point along this chain.

The main problem was transportation -- How to get the food from where it was grown to where it was needed.

I was amused to read Longstreet's mention that, at Chickamauga, he had a breakfast of sweet potatoes and Nassau bacon -- which indicates that the Confederates were importing bacon from Nassau, in the Bahamas, through the blockade!

He also said that they had never had potatoes of any kind in Virginia!