The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-06-23


founl only ono railroad IN possession Of the
Gnfernmont- from Washington to Alex
ar sC y,, sv' snor1iy cbnnSScd IN byiot
space ut time the Orange and AlcXnndrin. the
Manassas Gan, the A"xnnlria, l9udonn, and
Hampshire. the Richmond, Fredericksburg,
and Potomac, aud tho Norfolk aud Peter shurg
ktrotds w"r" opened Th"s". with others
that warc aurrwird taken poes,'s sion NJ, con-
tnund notwit standing occasional Interrupt
tons, tn b. used tor military purposes. and in
iacii thing thr transfer OF troops, IN conveying
w""mdc1. Who can "stimnic H. value Of tho
services they rendered To the armies operating
In the East, to VI 'CiHllan IN the Pcnin-ular cam.
from Antictam. To idc at Ere lerick shurg.
Hooker at ChapccliorsylIc Meade before, 1t,
and after Ntiyshurgl Each was under obiga-
ton. NOR or less To the railroads.
IL WIS not, however until litter in tho war,
and when CHATTANOOGA became the second great
centre " military operations, that the full
valur OF tho railroad servcc began TO be eN-
pcricnccl No one viii dcny that the presence
Of Hooker with the Eleventh AMI Twelfth Army
Corps NJ Chattanooga was positive advantage
To the Union causc. or that the preliminary
final victory ut Missionary Ridge. But Tor the
railroad department Hooker could not have
should be- no failure at ChattanoOga. and that
Cen. Grant should be- able to give u crushing
blow to Gen; Bragg Secretary stanton had re-
solved I" retniorcc Grant 10y sending him the
two corps above mentioned, body of men
some $4,000 strong. from the Army ot the Poto-
mae, then cncampcd near the line Of the Rapi-
Sd troops could rr transferred IN
time To- enable thom To be- Of any service TO
tanHo from tho Rupidan to- stevenson. Ala,
whore the troops wrrn to be landed, was atrut
l. 300 milca. Ii WIS the opinion NJ Gen. lal-
lock who had still much 10 say in the conduct
of military operations, that the trnuslcr Of 80
many mon with all tho necessary appnrts-
names Of war. over such a distance. could not bc
accomplished IN less than six wccks. A. a
matt OF course, he discount nancod the move
rrtnry " War. and the question wis
put to me-. After some consideration,
| gave II ~ my opinion that the transfer might
hc accom- pishcd in seven DAYS. Haleck. who
was ~, sent. declared " it could not hc done,
aud that IN his opnion, il WIS vain and
foolish enterpt Sc. At the request " Sccrc-
tHry stanton. made out the calculations. adj
herring In my original opinion. hut declaring that
| could not undertake the work without m
unlimited supply ol cars ana iocom9tvrs anu
absolute control ot the railroads. These con-
however. that thor" must b" no failure" Ihc
necessary prelmnaries were made. The
crowded and heavily laden trains were set IN
motion, and in seven days. as had been stipu,
lated. tho task was accomplished, Day and
night inccssantly the trains rolled ON. Thy
were seven days II great toll AMI anxiety, but
had my reward in tho expressed gratitude of
the Secretary Of War and ~ the President
hms"l f. rs well rs in the conviction that had
contributed somewhat TO an almost certain We
tory NJ CHATTANOOGA
My attention was next exclusively confined to
mans army. over 90 QUO strong. with go 900 ami
mails. lay In and around Chattanooga. and II
"a
ward Richmond sherman should move from
Chaunnooga On Atlanta, From Chattanooga to
Atlanta tho distance Is ll6 miles and the main.
trnance OF such an army during It's southwark
march through the encmys country was not TO
bee thought Of unless il was kept in constant
communication with the railroad. In plain
terms. the success OF sherman = expedition To
Atlanta was conditioned on his receiving sup
plies by means Of the railroad.
In his retreat from BuE'ird Roost 20 Atlanta.
l. Gen, Johnston. in the noUC IL delaying or pro-
Zlarf hnl fAr
rihe destruction on the one road which con-
nected the last-named place with Chattanooga.
| The road had 90 hr put n working order. TINS;
! however was not the only ROAD which required
/ attention. The road from Nashville IL Chatia-
noo2a. over which supplies were brought io NE
| condition. The difficulties OF the situation were
greatly aggravated 10y the scarcity Of material
! necessary for the work OF reconstructon. and
hy The small quantity ~ rolling stock al our Il
| rosal. In a brief space Of time. however. IN"
! aspect of things presented an agreeable change.
sly ilrst attention was given to the men in my
| charge. Having been arranged IN two serarap'
| divis ions and ass 'snod; one 10 N" conlurt 81
nary repairs Of ne foadfs in use, and the other
| To- the r'cpustru ion of such railroads a. might
| fall into our hands they were soon regularly "
! work. Tho rOu~fru tllu corps WIS under chief
| Engineer W ". Wright Tho transpottntion
! Anderson. Thew wants Df ine Department hav-
| iug been made known 20 th" Government. We
| necessary tor the repairs 20 iin ro"Ns ANA %"
bridges. Nor WAS this alb By i,rma 9rI"r
Dom issued
] 1851 ( WINS orf,rrt 10 rrOrurc without DELAY
nr,f ,vh.rrysr thew could I've found M. Mood N
/ nI,,.i,r ~ anr- and loeomotfvo-. AND az the
| same timc locomotive manufacturers through
out the country were specially instructed lp de-
l,vor To my order such engines rs might lireet
/ whether hutldirr for ,thor parties or Otherwise
/ the Government bntng responsible therefor Is
! thc., and other means ti,, rolling stock not
/ witlstqnding All m .ultips experienced In cuuse-
I uueure of the iii romeo IN gauge. was soon
| brought M to "a r,n-onihl. standard.
Tie rond connecting Nashville with Chatin-
| nongn having bscn repairsd and the otncl
| roads in tL, Immediate neigh borhOOd huVlnl
| iaan cnrel for work WAS commenced On Ma,
! Western md Atlantic Railroad between Chnttl-
nooga and Atlanta. THIS was one Of the most
4 nj .ult NJ oree II work that tho men ~ the a."
| parimcut were called upon 10 perform. Tie
| entire distance was 80 miles. In many place
| the rails had hren torn Up. aud the bridges fpi
thc most pari had been Destroyed. In the worl
uf ro,onstri tion % mil"s - track hadto be
7 relaid. an a iI.rent points. and iN-l llu'Nl fee
/ IF bridges wrr. r.-iuiit. the wprkmen ali the
| time being exposed 10 the almost unerrng ain
~ the guerri las who infested the road along ~
/ entire length. The most important singh
structure on this road was the Chattlhoo'h hi
! bridge $50 Feet long and ~ t"ct high, Whl'l
WINS b, gun AMI completed boy the construction
| corps within period OF 4 = days.
The rDad was opened to RiuggOld, Georgia