The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1866-12-27
War BY Railroad.

In no other country and during no 9TH
er war did railroad managementen,ers 50
largely into the procession of eam-
paigns IS 10 the United States during
!. the Rebellion From the 21st or April,
1861, the day on which the military au-
thorities took possession Of the railroads.
leading directly into Washington. until
August, 1855, when, by Executive order,
al military roads were transferred to
their original owners, the War Depart
snent-hcld and used Tor military purpo-
|. Sos all the lines OF roads in the coaquer-
ed territory. In making preparations
for the great campaign of the Spring of
1865, President Lincoln ordered that ID.
+ G. NcCailum be appointed military Di
| rector and Superintendent of Railroads
in the United States.9 with authority to
enter upon, take possession Of, hold and
use, all railroads, engines, cars. locomo-
tives, equipments, appendages and APP
performances, that may be required for
the transport Of troops, munitions OF
war aud supplies of the United States.'f
Clothed with this extraordinary power,
| Mr.. McCailum entered upon the duties
indicated in the order. His first labors
/ were in connection with Gen. McClel-
lan's movements in front Of w Washington,
! in March, 1862. For q considerable
time, they were confined to short lines
/. leading into Virginia from Washington
engines ana cars were sent to the pc
! ninsuia with the Army of the Potomac.
and to North Carolina for Gen. Burn
!. sides command, and were placed on
roads repaired for the use of the armies
in prosecuting contemplated campaigns,
which were brought to grief by the fail
+ ure Of Mcclellan in front of Rich
mond, This was but learning the al
I phabet Of the great lessons Of railroad
ing yet TO be mastered in e progress of
/. the war. The building and rebuilding
of the, lines on the great race-course OF
], armies, between Washington and Rich
mond. has become part of the history Of
; the semi. annual marches, battles, and
counter marches, so fruitful to both par
F ties only in failure and death. How large
bodies, of troops were transferred, Sc
cretly and with Incredible speed, from
the banks. Of the Rappahonnock to the.
. banks OF the Tennessee, ard from Knox
vile to the battle fields of the wilder
, ness, are feats in military transportation
before, then uncqualed; but the great
achievement Of railroad engineering WAS
: the successful forwarding of supplies to
Gen. Shernnan's army, in its march to
Atlanta. q E II ata1@Ho9 y : ~
In the beginning Of the war, military
railroads were an experiment and, all
though Mr. McCallum had been schooled
in the offices of the great railroads in
this country before and during the war,
and, had learned much by the experience
of 1862 and 1868, yet SO limited were all
these operations in comparison with the
q, stupendous work of supply ing an army
of 100000 men and 60. 600 animals with
munitions of war. rations and forage,
from q base Of 800 miles distant, &C.
!, cessible only. over q line of single track
railroad, lying almost wholly within =
powerful guerrilla bands, that they
dwindled into insignifcance, and in
spired few men with confident hope that
this great undertaking would be success
full. Gen. Grant ordered the campaign
to be made GcM Sherman barely hopsd
that his supplies could be forwarded Dy
railroad from Louisville to Chattanooga.
and onward to Atianta--" Instance OF
~.-11s.ncisnt corps was orsauizsdxs aad
the MosksMae..saagdeefeA We to attempt
the enumeration of the labors and diai- /
culties attending the reconstruction and
maintenance of this line of road. BY
it, Johnson b ad retrcatea to Chattanooga,
thence to Ruzzard Roost, and from BuZ-
Yard BOOST to Atlanta and, ia falling
back from one strong position to anoth-
er, he spared no efforts to so complete
the destruction Of the road as to make
the rapid pursuit of Shernlan's army i'm
possible :. but, though the damage was
great, it did not prove serious barrier
to the unchecked advance of the nation
al troops. Full supplies of all manner
Of CONSTRUCTION materials, such as iron,
rails, chairs, spikes, cross ties and
bridge Rber, had been stored onder
guard at convenient points along the line,
so that, whether called upon to repair
damages done in the rear by guerrillas,
to rebuild bridges Of formidable dirnen-
sions. to lay miles of track in front,
in order to keep pace with the great army
that was exex marching along, the Su-
perintendent was amply prepared to
doubtful, Gen. Sherman soon ceased to
fear any delay from want Of transports
lion and supplies.
IAN October. 1864, Gen. Hood gained
Sherman.s rear, threw his whole army on
its line of communication, and in sin
gle effort destroyed IS miles of railroad
track and ass feet of bridges Before
the enemy had completed the work of
destruction at one end If the line of his
raid, the Construction Corps had com
menced rebuilding At the other end and
within seven and a-haif days the track
Was relsid, bridges rebuilt, and trains of
troops and supplies went laundering on
their wav Gen. Sherman7s army vas
j successful in the great campaign from
the mountsins to the sea. enabled to be
so by the energy, vigilance, and skill of
the railroad managers in its rear. When
the great army had marched through
Georgia and arrived at Savannah, it was
:, met by vessels loaded with locomotives.
cars, railroad iron. and other materials,
with men to repair and run railroads In
whatever direction the victorious com
] mand choee 10 march. From Savannah.
+ they were transferred TO w Wilmington and
i Newbarn. where they were employed to-
supply the army in North Carolina until