'Breadbasket of the confederacy'? Did they eat the stuff?
That cotton was in east Texas, unimpeded by the war, and The Lincoln set out to get it.
That can hardly be the reason since there wasn't much of it. In the year prior to the war of the 3 million bales of cotton exported from the south only 68,000 came through Galveston. Not enough to make a dent in the Northern demand. If the purpose was to get cotton it made more sense to go where the cotton was, in Alabama and Mississippi and South Carolina, instead of Texas where the cotton wasn't.
Because of the blockade what traffic there was out of the Galveston area tended to be one way - during some periods over 80% of the ships which left never returned, either with cargo or to pick up another load. By the time of Sabine Pass Vicksburg had fallen and the Mississippi was cut so nothing in the area could make its way east. The Texas authorities were looking more towards Matamoras as a port rather than the useless Galveston area. So Sabine Pass was a minor sideshow of the war, an embarassment for the Union commander, perhaps, but nothing more. It didn't delay the outcome of the war by a single day.
LOL! No, I was borrowing a phrase from a statement somebody made at the time...I forget exactly who...to describe Texas' cotton reserves. The concept behind it is this -
Texas, due to its geography, was able to continue its cotton production relatively unimpeded by the war. This led to stores of it that amassed in the eastern part of the state. Texas by way of Galveston was also the only state in the confederacy to consistently hold its ports open throughout the war. The yankees took the other ports around the south but could never get a foothold in Galveston. They were thrown out by the confederates shortly after their only occupation of the city. It was therefore a consistent place of entry and exit for the confederate blockade runners. In this sense Texas was able to provide trade for the confederacy - they had the cotton to trade out and the only consistently open port to facilitate the blockade runners who were doing it.
That can hardly be the reason since there wasn't much of it. In the year prior to the war of the 3 million bales of cotton exported from the south only 68,000 came through Galveston.
Ah, but that shifted significantly when the Louisiana ports such as New Orleans fell. Texas' cotton was in the east and could potentially go out by way of Galveston but also Beaumont by way of the Sabine and Louisiana by way of the northern part of that state. When Louisiana's main outlet, the Mississippi, fell, Galveston was left as the major port of exit.
Not enough to make a dent in the Northern demand. If the purpose was to get cotton it made more sense to go where the cotton was, in Alabama and Mississippi and South Carolina, instead of Texas where the cotton wasn't.
First, your stats are incomplete. Second, those three states had experienced severe drops in cotton production because the war was being waged literally in their back yards. Texas continued producing unimpeded though.
Because of the blockade what traffic there was out of the Galveston area tended to be one way - during some periods over 80% of the ships which left never returned, either with cargo or to pick up another load.
At times this was true. At other times in the war the path was practically open into and out of Galveston. For example the Alabama paid a visit to the area for a brief period and brought its own havoc of dispersement to union operators in the area.
By the time of Sabine Pass Vicksburg had fallen and the Mississippi was cut so nothing in the area could make its way east.
More difficult, yes. But impossible, no.
So Sabine Pass was a minor sideshow of the war, an embarassment for the Union commander, perhaps, but nothing more. It didn't delay the outcome of the war by a single day.
Much to the contrary. Had Sabine Pass not halted the invasion from the gulf, there would have been no Red River campaign.