i-ruin
and plantations of which the ruin is for the present total and
complete.... The trail of war is visible throughout the valley in
burnt-up gin-houses, ruined bridges, mills, and factories... and in
large tracts of once cultivated land stripped of every vestige of
fencing. The roads, long neglected, are in disorder, and having in many
places become impassable, new tracks have been made through the woods
and fields without much respect to boundaries."

Similar conditions existed wherever the armies had passed, and not
in the country districts alone. Many of the cities, such as Richmond,
Charleston, Columbia, Jackson, Atlanta, and Mobile had suffered from
fire or bombardment.

There were few stocks of merchandise in the South when the war ended,
and Northern creditors had lost so heavily through the failure of
Southern merchants that they were cautious about extending credit again.
Long before 1865 all coin had been sent out in contraband trade through
the blockade. That there was a great need of supplies from the outside
world is shown by the following statement of General Boynton:

"Window-glass has given way to thin boards, in railway coaches and in
the cities. Furniture is marred and broken, and none has been replaced
for four years. Dishes are cemented in various styles, and half the
pitchers have tin handles. A complete set of crockery is never seen, and
in very few families is there enough to set a table.... A set of forks
with whole tines is a curiosity. Clocks and watches have nearly all
stopped.... Hairbrushes and toothbrushes have all worn out; combs are
broken.... Pins, needles, and thread, and a thousand such articles,
which seem indispensable to housekeeping, are very scarce. Even in
weaving on the looms, corncobs have been substituted for spindles.
Few have pocketknives. In fact, everything that has heretofore been an
article of sale in the South is wanting now. At the tables of those
who were once esteemed luxurious providers you will find neither tea,
coffee, sugar, nor spices of any kind. Even candles, in some cases, have
been replaced by a cup of grease in which a piece of cloth is plunged
for a wick."

This poverty was prolonged and rendered more acute by the lack of
transportation. Horses, mules, wagons, and carriages were scarce, the
country roads were nearly impassable, and bridges were in bad repair or
had been burned or washed away. Steamboats had almost disappeared from
the rivers. Thos