The territory of the Confederacy was divided into an ever-changing mosaic of military-administrative commands called departments, subdivided in turn into districts. Ruggles (31 January 1810-1 June 1897) was born in Massachusetts but married into a wealthy Virginia family, and so aligned himself with the Confederacy at the outbreak of war. He is best remembered for his service at the Battle of Shiloh, where he commanded a division. In the report, Ruggles cites the various regulations that would justify his (unspecified) efforts to "regulate and restrain intercourse and trade" in his district. He also seeks to clarify his rationale for consenting to "the exportation of cotton in small quantities under guaranty for European consumption." From the beginning of the war, the Confederacy had maintained an informal embargo on cotton exported to Europe, hoping that a resulting "famine" would close the textile mills of Lancashire and force the British to intervene on the South's behalf. This "King Cotton" diplomacy was not, of course, successful, and as economic conditions in the South worsened, it became apparent that the embargo was detrimental to the war effort. But in the fall of 1862 the issue was still a controversial one; hence Ruggles' care in clearing his actions with Richmond.