The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-05-24
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a personal dispatch sent TO his in
fiuential hackers in Washington"
The colonels auditors needed no
prompting about the characteristics of
Kearny and Slocum which made the
episode the more interesting for the
others involved in it. The brave
Kearny would go out of his way to
find a battle. He lost his life while
seeking one within the enemy's lines,
at Chantilly, entirely alone. Slocum,
on the other hand bided his time, car
rying out the programme set for him
by circumstances. He lived to command
the right wing of Sherman's army on
the march through Georgia
A RAILROAD OF WOOD AND
STRAP IRON.
"The Orange & Alexandria railroad
of those days, as most of you remem-
ber," continued the colonel, was a
very primitive affair, indeed. it was a
wooden track road; that is, the track
consisted of long hewn timbers topped
out with strap iron. No grading had
been done in having it and it ran up
hill and down dale just as nature or
the great flood had left things in the
beginning. ii was a 'swithback' with
out the back-switching attachments.
Given power to haul trains up the hills,
like anything on wheels. But there
was no such power provided for us that
day. The rickety old engines couldn't
pull the cars up empty, not at one
haul SO we jumped out and pushed
the ears up the heavy grades and then
scrambled in and rode down at break
neck speed. The soldiers, officers and
all, entered into the fun with the
abandon of a schoolboy crowd to5agan-
ming with bob-sleds. All agreed, how
ever, that if Secretary Stanton was
really anxious that we REINFORCE Nc
Clellan, he would better have told US
to measure ties in covering that dis
lance.
Now, with Stanton. orders were or
ders. The edict having gone forth that
brigade should be brought from
Manassas to Alexandria by train, to
re-enforce the army on the Peninsula,
it would have cost the commission of
any general disobeying the literal
wording of that command. Well, it
took US all day and far into the night
to push those ramshackle affairs, mis-
called trains, up a hundred hills, be-
sides stopping to fetch wood and
water for the engines. The water had
to be toted from distant wells and
springs in camp kettles, and the coun-
try far and wide was denuded of
fence rails-the last tithing-to keep
! fire under the boilers. We reached AL
exandria, at last, and formed in order
for the march to the steamer landing,
on the Potomac. i was very dark
When we struck the junction of the
streets where the one running from
the station crossed Fairfax road we
found the latter highway occupied by
a column of troops marching at a
heavy swing in the direction we
were to go Supposing that they
were bound for the steamer land
ing, like ourselves. we thought moth
ing of it until some of our men,
with the usual curiosity to know the
/ sort of company they were in, called
/ out, Say, fellows, what regiment? ~
Hundred and Fortieth Rhode Island =
answered one of the marching men,
while another chimed in, Two Hun
! dred and Twoth Vermont" Our line
/ stood halted, of course, for the stran-
gers had full possession of the street
My company was second in line. and
the orderly sergeant, who was at the
front, thought he recognized the voice