Bill, regarding the precipitous decline of Arkansas' agrarian economy during the Civil War, one factor which cannot be overstated is the movement of ravenous, foraging armies across the state for four long years.

Another is the "total war" strategy of the Union army and the "scorched earth" tactics of the Confederate army. The Union leadership understood that destroying the enemy's economy and infrastructure and demoralizing the enemy's civilian population would weaken the enemy's army. The Confederate army routinely destroyed supplies, cotton, food, etc., to prevent their use by an enemy which was then dependent on long, vulnerable supply lines.