Lack of footwear was a supply problem and a supply problem. The Confederacy did not have an adequate supply of leather for most of the war. Leather took a long time to tan and supplies on hand were rapidly used up. Quantities of leather and shoes had to be brought in through the blockade mostly from England. The quantity of shoes required staggers the imagination. For example the Houston Depot manufactured 6,500 pairs of shoes during the year of January 1st through November 30, 1863. And that is from one of the smaller depots. (Entrepot, p221). Add to that the quanity of leather required for the manufacture of accouterments, horse tack and other items takes a lot of cows and then it has to be tanned.

The second supply problem was that the quartermaster was unable to supply the existing footwear where it was supposed to be. Many shortages talked about by CS soldiers were the fault of supply not keeping up with the army. With a few exceptions there were usually barely enough shoes to equip Lee's army. In addition the CS quartermaster dept. didn't work well during the early years and supplies sent by wagon to where ever the army was supposed to be never made it to the troops. This resulted in shortages especially during the campaign season.

I would suggest those interested in the procurement of Confederate war material read the book ENTREPOT by C.L. Webster III.