Southern Manufacturing
In the spring and summer of 1861, many men from the southern states joined the Confederate army positive of a quick victory. ... By the 1850’s, four textile mills already operated in the southern town of Columbus. ... The war manufacturing begin even though the city’s stability was questionable. Columbus city leaders told a newspaper editor from North Carolina that Columbus had “sufficient water and power to drive machinery to do the manufacturing for the South. ... Columbus’s contributions to the war effort sparked a greater effort toward textile manufacturing. Textile manufacturing was also a solid job due to its quiet industrial life. ... Young’s Manufacturing Company had become the largest producer in the South. Due to the continuous demand for uniforms and cloth, the importance of Eagle Manufacturing lasted from Fort Sumter to Appomattox. ... There was one limiting factor in the making of cassimere by southern textile mills like Eagle, and it was the shortage of raw wool. Eagle then turned to offering civilians any cloths or yarns it produced in trade for wool, reminding them of their patriotism and insuring them that their wool went directly to the use of the southern soldiers. ... The Eagle Manufacturing Company filled the demand of many other items for the Richmond government as well. ... The factory soon began to produce firearms for southern soldiers. ... The Haiman brothers also built the Columbus Firearms Manufacturing Company, intending to produce firearms. ... The company began the war producing drums and fifes, and by the fall of 1861 had reached a manufacturing rate of more than one hundred per week.