| Virginia Central Railroad |
| General Superintendent's Office |
| Richmond, Va., September 10, 1862 |
| |
| Col. A. C. Myers, Q. M. Genl |
| |
| Colonel, |
| On the 17th of last June I
received an order from the Hon Secy of War, to communicate with Maj
Genl T. J. Jackson immediately, and get instructions from him relative
to all the motive force on the Road which Genl Jackson wished placed
at his disposal. |
| I immediately telegraphed to
Maj. A. W. Harman Q. M. at Staunton requesting him to inform Genl
Jackson that the motive power of this Road was at his disposal. |
| On the 18th I received the
following reply by telegraph. |
| "Staunton June 18th To H. D. Whitcomb
Supt |
| Major Genl Jackson desires that you order
all your rolling stock to Staunton at once. |
| A. W. Harman Maj & QM" |
| The trains were placed at the
disposal of Genl Jackson, and were exclusively used by him to the
extent stated in the accompanying bill. It was not known to what
points the trains were to go, and no orders of transportation were
given except in a few cases, all of which we withdrawn from our
general account for June, and will be delivered up to the Govt. when
this account is settled. In some cases the trains we sent on further
after arriving at the point to which they were first ordered. The
movement commenced on the 19th of June and ended on the 26th. There
are no accounts against Government in our general account for June,
for any of the troops carried on these trains. |
| The account is per car load,
and the price charged $1. per car per mile run. The whole number of
car loads was four hundred and ninety six (496), the total mileage was
nineteen thousand two hundred and forty four (19,244). The average
distance for each car is thirty-eight and eight tenths (38 8/10) mile.
There is no charge for empty cars returning. |
| This account was to have been
presented to Maj A. W. Harmon Chf Q. M. of Genl Jackson's army for his
approval, according to an understanding with him. It is impractical to
do this at this time, and it is important to have the account settled
before the close of the fiscal year Sept. 30th. |
| I respectfully ask your
approval of the bill. |
| The amount of $19,244 is
equivalent to the fare, at 2 cents per miler, of twenty four thousand
eight hundred miles (24,800) carried the average distance 38 8/10
miles. |
| The records of the Adjutant
Genl will probably enable you to judge of the strength of the army
corps of Genl Jackson at that date. It is proper to state that we
carried no artillery or cavalry. |
| My impression is that the cars
carried over fifty men each. I trust that this account which has been
unavoidably delayed, in order to make it accurate, will be allowed. |
| Very Respectfully |
| Your Obdt Servt |
| H. D. Whitcomb |
| {detailed bill not
found} |