NCA, RRB 8/24/1863

Hillsboro, Nr. Carolina
August 24th 1863
 
{Major F. W. Sims, Chief RR Bureau}
 
Major,
   In reply to your letter of the 11th inst. and enclosures I have to say that Major Morfit appears to have written under a misapprehension of the facts connected with the joint ownership of the "Six gun flats" The North Carolina Road is equally interested with the Roads he mentions & consequently the cars should be permitted to run on that Road when required for guns or other heavy freight.
   It is certainly very unfair, as Maj. Morfit states, to all if Mr Gill of the R. P R Road {Superintendent, Richmond & Petersburg RR} to run the cars of other Roads on his, without compensating the roads to which they belong for their use. This compensation commenced with the war &, in my opinion, is the principal cause of the detention of heavy freight at Weldon & Petersburg & in this state. Our Roads object to taking such freight for the reason above stated. If you could remedy this evil you would hereafter hear less complaint in reference to the matter. The fact is some freight ought not to be transferred & cannot be without serious loss to the Government, ??? the cars, & when necessary for the public defence, which is sometimes the case, in the opinion of our Military Commanders, trains of other Roads should be run over Mr Gills Road to Richmond & return, upon the same terms they are on the Petersburg, Wilmington & Weldon Raleigh & Gaston North Carolina and Atlantic & North Carolina Rail Roads. Of course when they run on Mr Gills Road they would be under his entire control. When I was last in your city the Atlantic Road had a train that reached Petersburg, from Goldsboro, with troops The entire train of cars was sent over to Richmond & on its return to Petersburg was sent immediately back again by order of Gen Hill with troops. For this service that Road will probably never receive a cent. Now Major Morfit informs us that that Road has again been subjected to similar imposition. Several thousand dollars would not more than justly compensate the Atlantic Road for the use of cars on the Richmond Road & other Roads have suffered in like manner, since the beginning of the war. Mr Gill I understand contends that he can with his own rolling stock do his own work. I know to the contrary& so do you. For in times of emergency no Road in Virginia or North Carolina owns rolling stock sufficient to move troops as rapidly as the interest of the country requires. The Atlantic Road now owns more rolling stock in proportion to the length of Road run than any Road, perhaps in the South and not withstanding we frequently have to obtain aid from other Roads to prevent delay & thereby injury to the Government. But we pay for it. Any Road no doubt can do its own work at its own convenience but I am decidedly opposed to allowing it under existing ??? continually. I approve of Gen Hills action in relation to our cars at Petersburg. Richmond was threatened & it was {end of page and last page of the letter found in the archives}
{This letter is clearly in the hand of Major John D. Whitford and was found in his papers in the archive. It was also clearly addressed to Maj. Sims}

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