A slow but steady economic collapse took hold after the important Union victories at Vicksburg and at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Strapped for money and unable to secure loans from abroad, the Confederate government could pay only ridiculously low prices for food, creating everworsening poverty for Southern farmers. Men who left their farms to fight left overburdened families to carry out the demanding chores of raising crops as best they could. Essential farm equipment broke down and could not be repaired. At the same time, many cotton and tobacco farmers would not give up their cash crops to plant badly needed food, thus starving the army further. Speculators hoarded dry goods as well as food and cash crops, holding their supplies out of the market until the prices rose and they could sell them again for a steep profit. The lack of supplies and the shortage...