As wood was used for everything in the mid-1800’s, pictures from then seem to show that the eastern US is 10x more forested now than it was then.......in general, Civil War pics show a denuded land.
Was at the Vicksburg battlefield and couldn’t figure out how the short range artillery was able to shoot through or over the tree’s. Later I looked at some old pictures of the battlefield and surrounding area, it was barren.
Look at pictures of Petersburg battlefield from 1865 and then go there today. It is a completely forrested area now. If the Park service wanted the battlefield to look authentic they would open it up to logging.