Evening star., 1897-01-16

49, that of railroad
~ MlE< transportation. The
!: :: :: J:
territory controlled
MEE by them at the be-
@NA 81 ginning of the strug-
-AM@ gle-roughly speak
EE% ing, that lying south
Of the Potomac-was
)> threaded by numer-
Gus railroads, the equipment of which was
fully equal to the requirements of peace
traffic; but when war came and there were
masses Of men. horses, food, ordnance and
ammunition to be moved. the lack Of suff1-
Client rolling stock became at once appar-
ent. The southern railroads had a few
shops, 1t Is true, but their combined facili-
ties were not equal to the manufacture of
half the rolling stock needed. Where were
the much-needed locomotives, cars and
machinery to come from? European mar
kets were out of the question and north
ern shops equally so. for obvious reasons
even supposirg that the requisite funds
had been forthcoming. Invention. lashed
by stern necessity, soon found way out
Of the dilemma, at once simple, bold and
effective, though not unattended with diff
Guilty and danger.
The plan, based on the axiom that "all
| is fair in love and war;" was nothing more
| or less than that of sezing the rolling
stock of a northern road and appropriat-
ing 1t to use on the southern lines. which
| included the Raleigh and CASTOR, from
Raleigh. N. C., to near Petersburg Va:
| the North Carolina Central from Raleigh
| to Charlotte. N. c.. and the Virginia Cen
| trail, from Gordonsville, Va, to Richmond.
The successful carrying out of this
| scheme forms unique and exciting chap
| ter. which has been but little touched upon
| by war historians. 1t Is the purpose of
1 ~ t-1z 1.:N~-
able movement or rather series of move
ments Qor the accomplishment of the plan
covered nearly two years. and 1t is be-
| ieyed the recital will prove highly inter-
esting to the readers of this generation.
| In June 1861, the confederate forces un-
| der Gen. Joseph E. Johnston occupied
Harper's Ferry. controlling the Baltimore
| and Ohio railroad from Point of Rocks. a
| few miles south of Harper's Ferry, to a
considerable distance west Of Martnsburg
! The Union forces, under Gen. Patterson
were between the Potomac and the Penn
| sylvania lire. Smiling fortune could hard
| ly have fashioned situation more favor
| able to the plans Of the confederates, cove
| tous of northern locomotives, for right be-
| tween the hostile lines, and yet generally
within the grasp of the southern forces,
| ran the Baltimore and Ohio railroad a
| prosperous trunk line of standard gauge
extending from Baltimore to ST. Louis
and completely equipped with first-class
rolling stock while at Martinsburg. only
ern railroad, and but eighteen miles from
Winchester, which the confederates at that
time held without dispute. was the termi-
nus of one of the divisions of this trunk
line with shops and roundhouse, a point
Of assembly and distribution for cars and
engines.
How the Appropriation Was Made.
Getting possession of this coveted ma
terial was but a matter of protecting skill
ed workmen while they vanquished me-
chanical difficulties That these difficulties
were by no means small will be seen from
the statement that the sole means of
transporting the prizes from Martinsburg,
the point whence most Of them were taken,
to Strasburg, Va. where they could be
placed on the tracks Of the Manassas Gap
| railroad. was by way of Winchester over a
turnpike.
It is generally conceded that the idea of
taking the Baltimore and Ohio rolling stock
originated with Col Thomas r. Sharp, at
the time of the occurrences narrated cap
tain and acting Quartermaster In the con-
federate army. He was a civil engineer by
profession and a thorough railroad man,
self-reliant and resourceful Most of the
facts given are obtained from ]. Z. Duke,
now residing in Cumberland, Nd, and in
1851 Col. Sharps confidential clerk. Mr..
Duke, who enlisted in the army from JEFF
ferson county, Virginia. was detailed for
duty in the quartermaster's department,
was present when some of the locomotives
were taken, and was more or less identified
with the entire movement. His memory
has been refreshed and his facts substan-
tiated from other sources when thought
necessary.
The necessity for obtaining the railroad
material In the manner described created a
special organization, entirely separate and
distinct from the military, though of
course, cooperating with them, and which,
while working under authority of the
quartermas ster generals office at Richmond
might havo chrjStpnQd ho roll
corps" The part taken by the military in
the locomotive seizures was merely that of
furnishing protection. The armed forces
invested and picketed the country and left
the railroad hen free to operate.
In speaking pf tftF Baltimore and Ohio as
northern" foad,t the term is used broad
lying entirely within what was at that per-
iod of the war q confederate territory.
GeographicallH speaking. a good portion Of
the road trayArsed the border between tie
auentiy in lie hands Of both "as armies, les
! not all the maf upan the road dulins
III In s.'isa june. issa, "s}onewalr, jackson, act
ing under tho orders of Gen. Johnston.
went to MartinsbuE} and burned number
Of and sna sssn belonging Tns to the Bal
| were but slightly Blurred (only the wood
work having beeM damaged) and were
among those afterward carried off by the
railroad CORPS"
Manner OF Transporting the Stolen
Locomotives,
The first capture of locomotives took
place at Martinsburg on q bright morning
| in July, 1891. Everything having been pre-
viously arranged, the forces selected to do
| this work. consisting OF about thirty-five
men, including ak machinis.s, detailed
| from the ranks, ten tcamsters and about a
dozen laborers, left Winchester before day
break and proceeded by the pike to Mar
| tinsburg. They were under the immediate
charge Of Hugh, Lonsust. an experienced
| horses, hired, and. where necessary, Inn
pressed from the farmers In the rich val