US Regular Army 1986-1988 88N-10 Basic Ft Dix NJ, Training FT Eustis Virginia, Ft Ord, California 573rd troop Movement Detachment Traffic Management Coordinator specialized moving troops, supplies and equipment via all modes. On a side note it is my belief the south lost the war because even today the most cost effective way to move troops, supplies and heavy equipment is by train. That is why almost all major battles between the war between the states where at rail junctions. There was zero number of locomotives produced in the South after the war began, The amount of rail produced annually by the North (220,000) and South (26,000) at start of war, Rail mileage laid annually in the North (4,000) and South (400) during the conflict, There were six railroads serving Richmond but not one interchanged with each other; you had to transfer goods by hand hauling across town to reload on other trains, train speed dropped from 25 mph in 1861 to only 10 mph in 1863, southern train depots couldn't supply wood and trains had to stop along the way to chop and load wood as needed, accidents happened because no reliable telegraphs, Union troops destroying tunnels and burning bridges along with their Sherman neckties heating rails and wrapping around trees surely didn't help and raised the average cost of new cast-iron wheels in the South in 1861 ($15) compared to 1865 ($500). The major Southern rail centers were Chattanooga, Atlanta, and most important, Richmond and very little track was laid west of the missisippi. In Conclusion for all the above reasons it is my strong belief that the reason the south lost the war is because of transportation management.
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Originally Posted by MadWolf
