First Place

Andrew Michael Leber, Oscar F. Smith High School, 11th Grade

"The Economic Impact of the Union Occupation of Hampton Roads"

For much of the civil war, the Union army was present in force in the Hampton Roads region. In addition to military activities, this presence had a subtle, though still significant, effect. The Union occupation of Southeastern Virginia had a damaging effect on the Confederate economy, due to the Union’s impact on slavery, trade and taxation, and supplies.

Union forces hurt the southern slave-based economy by accepting fugitive slaves and those in occupied territory and using them in their own workforce. Slaves worked to produce the signature crop of the South at the time: cotton. “Hence, slavery is indispensable for the maintenance of the whole southern economic structure,” was the view of slave owners even before the war (Randall 72). The South relied heavily on slaves for agricultural output, to feed their armies and people, and to produce cotton for sale. “In fact, Confederate leaders counted on ‘King Cotton’ to provide revenue to purchase clothes, boots, blankets and weapons from abroad” (Henretta 409). The Union also recognized the importance of slaves in the South, especially in and around the Hampton roads area. Union forces inside Virginia itself provided a tempting haven for slaves to escape to and join slaves already in the occupied area. The Union quickly made use of this fact, in particular General Benjamin Butler, who, “when ... slaves reached his army camp on the Virginia coast in May 1861 ... labeled them ‘contraband of war’ and refused to return them ... To ... undermine the Confederate War effort, in 1861 Congress passed the First Confiscation Act, which authorized the seizure of all property – including slaves – used to support the rebellion” (Henretta 413). Union forces in Hampton Roads, with the aid of the national government, were able to reduce the South’s economic power while increasing their own workforce as a beneficial side-effect. Slaves were used to build fortifications, establish transportation infrastructure, and even fight for the Union army in the area. The loss of slaves affected the South, in particular southerners living in or near Hampton Roads. As seen in a protest against the Confederate government’s taxation of the area, “The heavy loss of slave labor has caused much distress, and I feel confident that no county similarly situated will pay taxes” (Wills 212). The loss of slave labor damaged the economic output of Hampton Roads and the surrounding area, while also creating difficulties for taxation in the area.

The Union presence in the Hampton Roads region diminished Confederate revenue from taxes and trade. The Union army’s occupation of the area prevented the Confederate government from taxing their residents of the area, not a few of whom were fairly well-off. Even after the Union Army pulled back to the Norfolk area, the Confederacy found it difficult to collect current or back taxes, as many inhabitants lacked either the resources to pay or even the property being taxed. In the words of one resident of the area, “It seems very hard to us to have to pay these heavy taxes and at the same time to pay back taxes – taxes which could not be collected because of the … proximity of the enemy, and taxes, too, upon property which has yielded us nothing [with which to pay them]” (Wills 211). The cash-strapped Confederate government faced the further loss of a not insignificant part of its tax revenue. In addition, trade in and out of Richmond and much of the surrounding area was largely prevented by the Union Blockade of the waterways leading into the area. This prevented supplies from reaching the beleaguered South and prevented the South from selling any raw materials it produced in order to pay its soldiers to provide them with adequate equipment. The Confederacy’s strongest attempt to break through the blockade, in the form of the ironclad warship named the C.S.S. Virginia, was thwarted by the appearance of and the Virginia’s subsequent fight to a draw with the U.S.S. Monitor. As a result, the South was unable to break through the blockade and remained confined to areas further upriver. While the blockade may not have been the controlling factor in shortages in the South, combined with the disruption of the war and the loss of thousands of slaves it reduced the amount of food and supplies for the civilians and soldiers of the South.
One of the most significant effects of the union occupation of Southeastern Virginia was the large amount of supplies it denied to the South.

By mid-1862, Confederate forces had pulled back to the Blackwater River, more or less leaving Southeastern Virginia in Union hands. This meant that the South was cut off from large amounts of food and other supplies that instead went to the Union army. As the war continued, the value of these lost resources increased. As seen in early 1863, “To the Southerners these regions represented largely untapped areas under enemy occupation. Obtaining supplies from them would … benefit the empty coffers of the Army of Northern Virginia” (Wills 109). The shortage of food and supplies affected the civilian and military population of the Confederacy. Combined with the naval Blockade, the Union possession of such a large part of Virginia played a key part in making Confederate supplies scarce. These supplies instead aided the Union cause. Though both sides foraged in the “no-man’s land” between Suffolk and the Blackwater River, Union forces retained more control over the area, in addition to controlling the region east of Suffolk. While the Union army did not forage in Force, soldiers “took the opportunity to forage independently. Food was the common target … to supplement the normal soldier fare. The foragers were so effective that one Suffolk lady lamented …, “We will soon be robbed of everything” (Wills 75). Such supplies in the area became so crucial that the Confederate government dispatched an army under General James Longstreet to move into the area in force and take supplies. “They wanted him to drive the federal forces out of their garrisons in southeastern Virginia and northern North Carolina, or at the very least to hold them there while his men gathered and secured all food stocks, forage and other quartermaster supplies that could be found” (Wills 109). The fact that the Confederacy was willing to send an entire army to collect supplies shows the degree to which they felt such an action was necessary. While Longstreet was successful in gathering supplies, he was unable to shift Union forces from the region. Diverting Confederate forces from the main army impacted the army as a whole by delaying any action on the part of General Lee against the Union; it also kept many experienced troops from the battle of Chancellorsville. The supplies contained within the Union-controlled territory weakened the Confederacy economically and as a result weakened their military forces.

The Confederate economy was weakened by a loss of slaves to Union forces, the disruption of taxation and trade by occupation and blockade, and the Union control of supplies in the region. While the Union forces in Hampton Roads may not have had a military impact on the scale of Gettysburg or Antietam, they nevertheless had an important effect on the war. In a way in which the South was already outmatched economically, the importance of the Union presence in Hampton Roads cannot be overlooked.


Works Cited

Henretta, James et al. America’s History. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004.

Randall, J.G. and David Donald. The Civil War and Reconstruction. Toronto: D.C. Heath and Company, 1969.

Wills, Brian Steel. The War Hits Home. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2001.

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