| Engineer Bureau |
| July 1, 1864 |
| |
| Hon. Jas. A. Seddon |
| Sec'y of War |
| |
| Sir, |
| I have ascertained that the enemy damaged
some eighteen miles of the R. & D. R. R. in this recent raid.
Every assistance in the power of the Engr. Bureau has been furnished.
From the representations made it is probable that a month in all will
be required to complete the repairs. Say three weeks from this time
with present arrangements. I see no way of hastening materially this
period except by impressing teams & hands along the line. It is
possible by so doing to reduce the time of completion a fortnight. The
force at work is approximately as follows: |
| Capt Myers with |
150 |
hands |
| 5 Companies of 1st Engr Regt |
200 |
effective hands |
| Mechanics furnished by Navy & Engrs |
60 |
|
| R&D R. R. Co.'s hands |
100 |
probably |
|
Total |
510 |
|
| Engaged in removing iron from the
York River R. R. |
| 2 Engineer Companies |
80 |
men |
| Engineer laboring force |
150 |
|
|
230 |
men |
|
| Tomorrow 2d July the Navy Dept will
furnish a further assistance of 60 mechanics. Thus as soon as the iron
is removed from the {Richmond &} York
River R. R. the total working force on the repairs of the R & D {Richmond
& Danville} R. Rd. will be approximately Eight hundred
effective hands. To these Eight hundred I hope will be added in a few
days, three hundred hands from Halifax Co. called out for the work in
accordance with your instructions of yesterday. |
| The grand total would then be about Eleven
hundred. |
| Very Resp'y &c |
| A. L. Rives |
| Col. &c |
| If the able bodied hands recently
recaptured from the enemy around Petersburg could be sent to work on
the R&D R. R. the work of repair would be very materially
advanced. |
| A. L. R. |