Was the entire country in ruin after the civil war?

Answer 1

No. There was hardly any damage from the war in northern states. In 1862 there was a major campaign in western Maryland which ended with a big battle near Sharpsburg, on Antietam Creek. And in 1863 there was a major campaign in Maryland and Pennsylvania that ended with the Battle of Gettysburg. There was some damage from the Gettysburg campaign to the area around Gettysburg, a few houses burned on the battlefield, and barns also, but really nothing major. There had been major riots in New York City in the summer of 1863, as the Federal government began to implement its draft law, and quite a few buildings were burned in certain areas. But this was basically all the damage done in the north.

In the south there was a quite a bit of damage. The cities of Atlanta, Georgia, Columbia, South Carolina, and Richmond, Virginia had all been burned, though not completely, but large sections were destroyed. In parts of Tennessee and Virginia where the armies concentrated, and much of the fighting took place, there were many burnt homes and barns. Many farmers had wooden rail fences, and soldiers were quite prone to burning these for firewood, so where the armies went few fences remained. Where Sherman marched his army, from Atlanta to Savannah, then north to Columbia and on into North Carolina, there was a path of destruction, with few large homes escaping the flames, and most barns and mills as well. Any government building in any town or city the Yankees reached was likely to be burned. There was another scorched earth campaign, not as well known as Sherman's, in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, by Union troops under General David Hunter, which also saw many homes burned. There was a lot of looting, of valuables, household goods, horses and mules, and food animals all over the south, where ever Yankee armies went. On their two trips into the north the Confederate Army strictly forbid its men to act this way, wanting to present a contrast. Supplies were taken from farmers in the north by the Rebels, but only by parties under the command of officers ordered to gather such items as food, horses, and horse feed.

There were four counties in western Missouri that the local Yankee commander had ordered depopulated, because he believed the people living there supported the Confederate guerrillas who were doing their part to make the war in Missouri a nasty, bitter, vicious bloodbath. Everyone living in those counties had to get out, and then Yankee troops went through and burned every building, in all four counties. For years after the war this area was called "the Burnt District".

So, in only a few places, almost all in the south, was there widespread destruction. But all over the south farms had lain fallow and neglected while the farmers were off fighting. And after the war everybody in the south was broke, financially ruined, so getting going again took a very, very long time.