 As War Secretary , Benjamin was responsible for a territory stretching from Virginia to Texas . It was his job , with Davis looking over his shoulder , to supervise the Confederate Army and to feed , supply , and arm it — in a nascent country with almost no arms manufacturers . Accordingly , Benjamin saw his job as closely tied to foreign affairs , as the Confederacy was dependent on imports to supply its troops . Davis had determined on a " defensive war " strategy — the Confederacy would await invasion by the North , then seek to defeat its armies until Lincoln tired of sending them . Davis and Benjamin worked together closely , and as Davis came to realize that his subordinate was loyal both to the Confederacy and to Davis personally , he returned complete trust in Benjamin . Varina Davis wrote , " It was to me a curious spectacle , the steady approximation to a thorough friendliness of the President and his War Minister . It was a very gradual rapprochement , but all the more solid for that reason . " 
