San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-01-24
Tennessee Line Played a
Prominent Part in Moving
Both Federal and Confed-
crate Forces During Civil
War.

bN tue AHsOtlhstu
Nashville, Tenn, Jan. 2i.-The Nash
vile. Chattanooga & st. Louis Rail
way today celebrated its seycnty-fifth
birthday. with President WhitefOrd X.
Cole and other officials Of the road,
ADDRESSING civic bodies in cities and
towns along its 175S miles of track.
Down that 300 miles of steel are names
that will live forever in American his
tory, when the old N. Il c., fOrerun-
uer of the present road hauled the
armies Of the United and Confederate
States back and forth, TO and from
some Of the greatest battles of the Civil
War.
For two years. from the autumn OF
81 to the autumn Of 81, the N. "
c." was the theater of operations for
the Army OF Tennessee, the Army of
the Cumberland, and for Bragg, Grant,
Hooker. Reeves and Forest.
In the final chapter Of the war It
was n homeless and wandering N. X
c." train. cent South in advance on
the Confederate retreat, that carried
jefferson Davis and his cabinet on
their last railway journey in their
flight The conductor Of that train.
Captain J. II. Latimer. the oldest
living pmplOye OF the railroad, now
lives in Atlanta.
The Nashville & Chattanooga, the
original corporate name, was chartered
in the State of Tennessee in 1915, but
the organization was not completed un-
til January "A. 1S4S-T5 years ago to-
daT. Actual construction started in the
following August.
Cut Through Mountains.
Among the serious obstacles confront
ing the builders were the tunneling Of
the Cumberland mountains and the
bridging of the Tennessee river. To cut
through the mountains. new idea III
tunneling was adopted, and cuts were
started simultaneously from both sides
and from the bottom of three vertical
shafts sunk from the mountain top.
Hand rails and black powder were the
tools used. The tunnels were opened
on WashngtOn's Birthday. 1851, with
ceremony characteristic OF the Old
South.
For a time the rail head was at
Bridgeport, Ala, where passengers and
freight were trans-shipped TO Chatta-
nooga by steamboat.
III L tDIuuIN. ICDC' NHt llut NhS N'lh-
| pleted between Nashville and Chatta-
noOga, and on July 6, passenger ser
vice between the two cities was adj
vertised in the Nashville papers.
Is 161 Miles Long.
The line was 1j1 miles long. JEFF
ferson Davis Travelled over the line
from Chattanooga 10 MurfreesborO
Tenn. in December, 1860. when he came
TO review the Army of Tennessee, just
prior to the battle of MurfreesbOrO
The ~. x c." was a link in the 10
mile journey of HOOker's Eleventh and
Twelfth Corps. $4,000 strong, wher
they moved from the Rapidan to Ste
vansOn. Ala, to reinforce the Army oil
the Cumberland, cooped up in Chat
tanOga by General Bragg. after The
| federal defeat at Chicbamauga. Gen
eral Grant came South over the route
when he was sent to Chattanooga to lead
the Army of the Cumberland.
The present day line west Of Nash
! Vile was largely constructed as far al
JOhnsonville. Tenn, By the fedora
armies. After the war the road wa'
turned back to its owners. better roaC
! by a million and a half dollars thar
when the federal troops took it over.