| From the Phoenix Weekly Republican |
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| October 26, 1899 |
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| A Story of the Old War |
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How the Confederacy Stole a Lot of B. and O. Locomotives in 1861 |
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The story of the stealing of the Baltimore & Ohio
locomotives at Martinsburg, W. Va., during the rebellion, and their
transfer across the country for service on Southern railroads, has
been lately retold by an officer of the Baltimore & Ohio, who
recently made some inquiries of old employees who were at
Martinsburg at the time the incident happened. |
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These employees say that on June 19, 1861, 200 men of
Stonewall Jackson's command were detailed to destroy the Baltimore &
Ohio's cars and engines at Martinsburg. They piled wood and coal
over forty-one engines and nearly 400 cars, and then set fire to
them. Only ten or twelve of the engines, however, were seriously
damaged. Col. Thomas Sharp arrived in Martinsburg on August 18, 1861
{Agent Sharp first arrived in Martinsburg on
July 1, 1861}, and was there until the following March
{He was in charge of the operation until May
25, but was frequently in other locations -- Richmond, Manassas,
etc}, engaged in removing engines and machinery. He took
eight engines across the country over the turnpike, either to
Staunton, Winchester or Strasburg, thirty-two horses being required
to haul each engine. He also removed all the duplicate parts of
engines and cars and all the rough iron at the station, and took
away all the machinery and tools. These latter were afterwards used
in southern arsenals. The country around Martinsburg is extremely
hilly, and the work of getting the engines over the country roads
required considerable engineering ability. |
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Col. Sharp is still in Ohio. Some years after the war he
was employed on the Baltimore & Ohio as master of transportation. |
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