The Alabama in the Civil War Message Board

Re: Alabama a source of supply for Hood's TN Campa

HD,

Thanks for these fine accounts - most of which I had not yet located.

The supply line for Hood's army was a total joke and your post shows some of that.

Powder, ammunition, QM supplies and more were still coming from Georgia - Augusta, Macon and Columbus and these had trouble, in particular powder from Augusta, from mid-November onward thanks to Sherman's march.

The depots in Alabama, smaller than those in GA for the most part, added in what they could as well as the smaller depots in Mississippi. These smaller depots were designed to feed into the larger depots and not as much to supply the needs of a large army although they could, and did, support smaller forces in their area deployed for their defense.

The trace of supplies from GA ran like this - by train to Columbus. Shipping across the river by boat; reloaded onto a train to Montgomery, AL. Loaded again onto boats for shipping to Selma. Put back on trains there heading west to the Tombigbee River. Off loaded onto boats yet again and once across the river reloaded onto trains to Meridian, MS. Off loaded onto trains of the Mobile & Ohio RR for shipment to Corinth. Off loaded there onto trains of the Memphis & Charleston RR for shipment to Cherokee, AL. From Cherokee to Tuscumbia by wagon over poor roads. Cross the Tennessee river by wagon to Pulaski, TN. Onloaded to trains there for the run to Franklin, TN and from there north to Nashville but only after Hood was able to repair that railroad. He had three locomotives (or close to that) and a handful of cars to transport supplies on this line.

The CS railroad system was close to utter collapse by late 1864 and that is why some of the M & C line could not be repaired beyond Cherokee. The other CS problem was Union raids on the Mobile & Ohio line in Mississippi which was indeed raided by Ben Grierson's cavalry to the point that by mid-month that line was knocked out and large caches of supplies captured and burned. By the time that Hood came back into Alabama and Mississippi, his supply line had been destroyed.

This line was a joke to begin with and not conducive to supplying a large army - and it would have had even more problems had Hood's force contained more troops. The wagons of the AOT were over-worked the entire time and running over very bad roads.

Anything else that can be passed along would be greatly appreciated. Thanks to everyone that has jumped in so far. More local sources like newspapers are also helpful to add to the large grouping I already have. I know that papers in Jacksonville, Montgomery, and Mobile were still going (Selma too I think) and should have accounts.

Greg Biggs

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Alabama a source of supply for Hood's TN Campaign
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Re: Alabama a source of supply for Hood's TN Campa