Quite a place! I'm sure the builders wanted to make it look as nice and ornate as possible to impress the visiting dignitaries and encourage foreign recognition.
I remember reading that CSA arms production was surprisingly advanced in general by 1864, and that the confederacy was catching up to the north's industrial advantage. But it started out too far behind to begin with, and simply couldn't create the infrastructure such as railways in the time available. If the war had happened in 1851, when the gap between the regions was narrower, things might have turned out different.