| Annual Report of the Alabama & Florida
(of Alabama) RR |
| as of October 1, 1865 |
| Chief Engineer and Superintendent's Report |
| |
| Office Engineer and Sup't Ala. & Fla.
R. R. Co. |
| Montgomery, Alabama, January 24, 1866 |
| |
| Sir, |
| |
| ***** |
| The removal of our property
to Georgia, where the five foot gauge (corresponding with our own) was
universal, it was hoped would enable us to save at least the larger
portion of it, by transferring it, with our own rolling stock, from
threatened localities to more secure positions. |
|
The sequel will show how sadly we were disappointed in
this calculation.
|
| The forces under General
Wilson, pausing in Montgomery only long enough to destroy the machine
shop, car factory, cars, and machinery which, owing to the pressure on
the Montgomery & West Point railroad consequent on the evacuation
of the city, we were obliged to leave behind, proceeded in two
divisions, one to Columbus and the other to West Point. |
| At Columbus everything of a
destructible nature belonging to us was completely demolished. |
| At West Point our cars,
engines in running order, and one, A. E. Maxwell, (which had been
caught near Evergreen by a raiding party of federals from Pensacola
and but slightly damaged,) had all been safely transferred beyond the
Chattahoochee river, and were ready to move with the machinery and
supplies we had succeeded in bringing off from Montgomery, when the
commander of our forces at West Point placed a guard on the train with
strict orders not to allow them to move without permission from the
military. |
| The forces under Colonel La
Grange very soon attacked the town, and capturing Fort Tyler, the sole
dependence for successful resistance, immediately crossed the river,
captured and destroyed three engines and seven cars, with their
contents, among them our entire stock of patterns. This loss left us
with only four effective engines and about forty cars of every
description, all more than one hundred miles from home, and all
communication with Montgomery completely destroyed. |
| The armistice between
Generals Johnston and Sherman alone prevented the total destruction of
all the property we took to Georgia. |
| As no move towards the return
of our stock and machinery to Montgomery could be made prior to
rebuilding of the M. & W. P. R. R.
{Montgomery & West Point RR}, (which was more effectually
destroyed than any road in the south, with the exception perhaps of
the Central Georgia and South Carolina railroad,) I left by your
direction all of our property in Georgia in the care of trusted
agents, and repaired to Montgomery to look after the interests of the
company here. |
| On reaching Montgomery I
found that the machine shop and car factory, together with the cars
and machinery left behind in the evacuation of the city, had been
completely destroyed, as also the Howe trestle bridge over the
Pintlala. The warehouse at Sparta, the passenger and freight depot at
Pollard, had met a similar fate at the hands of Colonel Spurling a few
weeks before. |
| ***** |
| The only engines at
Montgomery not destroyed were two old ones belonging to the Memphis
& Charleston railroad, (the Luxahoma and Jas. F. Cooper.) |
| ***** |
| The Cooper had been standing
out in the weather for four years past, and was an engine only in
name. |
| ***** |
| A great deal of trestling
required removal, and a heavy bridge force had to be employed, not
only to overhaul trestles, but to repair the damages of the
unprecedented freshet of November 8, 1864, and fortifying the road
against similar disasters. |
| ***** |
| Respectfully submitted: |
| Samuel G. Jones |
| Engineer and Superintendent |