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

At the beginning of the war, the Confederacy had an overwhelming need to supply their armies with uniforms, arms and field equipment. Suppliers to the Confederacy II tells the story of the two men who gambled on the new nation and assured that the Confederate armies remained in the field until the end. This book tells the compelling stories of two of the most brilliant entrepreneurs of 19th Century Britain whose companies would eventually go on to provide uniforms, arms and equipment to the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. (1861-65) The first firm would be involved from the very beginning of the war from 1861 until mid-1863, with the second from mid-1864 until early 1865. The book opens with the story of Samuel Isaac, a man of Jewish extraction, which in itself was a huge disadvantage in 19th Century England, but he had the imagination, foresight and business acumen to succeed in life. The second story is of an impoverished young Scottish boy, Peter Tait who at just sixteen years of age embarked for a new life in Ireland determined to make a success of himself with nothing but a steely determination and a shrewd business brain. With research based on original invoices from the McRae Papers and other extensive archives and new photographs of the surviving uniforms and buttons provided by Tait, Suppliers to the Confederacy II is a complete look at the lives of the men who supplied the Confederacy with the means to fight for their independence.