So I was listening to 10 Civil War blunders and they're #1 blunder was the South's belief that Cotton Diplomacy would coerce England and France to recognize and support them. As it was presented, they missed a valuable opportunity to purchase valuable supplies and alienated trade with England when ships that showed up in 1860-1862 were sent away "empty". How accurate is that depiction?

Does anyone have a recommendation for a book about CSA politics?

A Government of our own by William C. Davis.

The south had bumper crops in 1860 so the New England and Old England mills were full of cotton and spun cloth to keep them gainfully operating until the 1862 harvest came in. During that time the south withheld exports to use King Cotton to get England and France to challenge the blockade or even intervene in the war. But the bumper harvest of 1860 killed that strategy. By the 1862 harvest the south was desperate enough to end the embargo because they needed arms and goods.

Thanks.

Do you believe it was a major blunder? It's my understanding that the South was even burning cotton around that time.

BQ78 said:

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Yes, even without the bumper crop of 1860, England was not going to intervene in favor of a nation with slavery. When cotton shortages occurred in the mid-60s as a result of the war, England just turned to Egypt and India to pick up the slack and now we have Giza Dream sheets .

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Egypt and India really made this a non-issue for England, and France was certainly not going to go it alone.

I think that's also the importance of the Emancipation Proclamation- there was a lot of care taken early to avoid stating slavery was a central issue for the war (even as it obviously was). But with that one statement Lincoln made sure Europe was not going to intervene to save the CSA.

Also worth noting that if you were an unscrupulous businessman during the war you followed the Union army into a subjugated area, got hold of as much cotton as you could, and shipped it north for a huge profit. The government tried to put limits on what you could do, but it didn't stop a lot of the illegal action around it from going on.

Heck after Vicksburg fell, Confederate general Kirby Smith in charge of the Trans-Mississippi was selling cotton directly to northern mills good book on that is Leigh's Trading with the Enemy. The northern command up to and including Lincoln knew about it and let it happen.

Another great source for cotton in the north during the later stages of the war was the US Navy. The Prize Courts of the old navy applied to the brown water navy on the western waters, whereby a crew shared the value of any prize ships they captured. It was so bad during the Red River Campaign that Porter and his captains were sending sailors out into the countryside on captured wagons to confiscate cotton bales. So many sailors were busy getting Cotton prizes that they didn't notice the river falling due to the Confederates damming the river and just the drought the country was experiencing. The fleet was nearly captured in total at Alexandria when they became trapped. Fortunately an army engineer named Bailey built a dam that allowed the fleet to escape. When I was a kid you could still see remains of the dam.

The Federal soldiers made fun of the sailors for confiscating government bales of cotton stamped CSA. The sailors would add a stamp of USN below that before sending it to the prize court. The soldiers said it stood for: "Cotton Stealing Association, United States Navy."

Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

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Thanks.

Do you believe it was a major blunder? It's my understanding that the South was even burning cotton around that time.

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Not a blunder...a blessing perhaps?

BQ78 said:

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Yes, even without the bumper crop of 1860, England was not going to intervene in favor of a nation with slavery. When cotton shortages occurred in the mid-60s as a result of the war, England just turned to Egypt and India to pick up the slack and now we have Giza Dream sheets .

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Ah, the irony.

I sort of get your point, but neither India or Egypt had officially sanctioned slavery in 1861.