Suppliers to the Confederacy II: S Isaac Campbell & Co., London, Peter Tait & Co., Limerick

I picked up this book because of my interest in confederate uniforms and Peter Tait uniforms in particular. There never has been a real scholarly work on Confederate, or Federal for that matter, uniforms of the Civil War so you get information in drabs throughout various publications like "Echoes of Glory", Brassey Publications, and all those various little books that almost always show that guy in the leopard skin pants at the forefront and then a brief mention of Tait later on with the usual picture of the dead Confederate with his buttons and shoulder straps cut off.Frederick Adolphus put out a really nice work on Tait uniforms a while back, lots of pictures of existing jackets, a mention of trousers, information on buttons, overall a nice book. If you have that book then you need Suppliers to the Confederacy II to place along side of it on your bookshelf.There is so much more to be learned about Peter Tait & Co. and this book provides it. Oh, and by the way, the Campbell & Co. part of the book is the icing on the cake.If you are a uniformologist or a button nut then you need to own this book.

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This book was more than I expected. Not only does it tell the story of the British suppliers to the Confederacy, it contains a world of information that only long extensive research can accomplish. This information had to be acquired both in the USA and the UK. Not only is it a great read but a fantastic reference book. It is a must for the War Between the States military antiques collector or re-enactor’s personal library.

great reference book.

Great item!!!

If you have read Suppliers to the Confederacy, or if you have not read Suppliers to the Confederacy, you will certainly want to track a copy down because you will be amazed at Suppliers to the Confederacy II and will want both volumes in your library.As a former large corporation logistics person, I am always looking for the logistics behind the movements of the armies in the Civil War. Shamefully, we have not had a lot to work with as far as telling us how armies moved and equipped themselves. In chapter 1, Setting the Stage we learn that the Southern states were ill prepared to equip an army. We learn that the few Federal arsenals that fell into the Confederates hands did not contain modern arms, but the older flint lock rifles. The Confederate States as well as the Federals had a large shopping list and where better to shop than England. We learn that on one expedition shopping for arms, representatives of the South, north and the states of South Carolina, Massachusetts, and New York were all bidding against one another. These buyers were not aware of the quandary until into the difficult task of arming those they represented. These situations made the arms trade a lucrative initiative for the British.Samuel Isaac and his nephew Benjamin Hart knew that if you wanted arms contracts you have to have a prestigious address and none was loftier than London. The New Yorkers seeing a chance at great financial gain from the war bought out the long established firm of S. Campbell & Co. of that city. As the chief Confederate purchasing agent presented them his long shopping list, all would not be rosy and green.Once the deal was struck the merchandise was not simply shipped to a Southern port. The US government had eyes everywhere and moving goods was difficult at best. The authors have done a great job tracking down the sources to bring these details to light.If you are interested in what was made, who made it, who bought it, and how it got to where it was supposed to, or not, how was it financed, where did they get cloth, how was it sewn, examples of imported items and who used them, then you need this book in your library.We again commend the authors, one on each side of the ocean for bringing forth another great work which exposes long forgotten or over looked facts.

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