the head of the Confederate War Bureau conceded that “things are getting worse very rapidly. . . . Ten days ago the last meat ration was issued [to Lee’s army] and not a pound remained in Richmond. . . . The truth is we are prostrated in all our energies and resources.” The price of gold rose to 5,000, and the value of the Confederate dollar slipped to less than 2 percent of its 1861 level.
