By late 1862, Virginia was running out of food to feed its army. Lee's horses were dying of disease because they had little or no fodder. The cavalry and artillery units had to be widely scattered behind his lines in order to find food for the horses. In the winter of 1863, food trains from the south were becoming more and more scarce. His men were living on rations of one-quarter pound of salted meat per day. Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his Secretary of War James Seddon wanted to send detachments from Lee's army to other more successful war fronts. Lee was opposed to the idea. Because of increased activity by the Union Army of the Potomac recently, he could not afford to weaken his army any further.