| From the Wilmington Journal |
| April 21, 1864 |
| |
| Sherman's Raid on the Railroads, and our
Repairs -- Destruction of our Railroads by our own Troops |
| We have been favoured with a
very interesting account of matters and things in the Southwest, with
reference not only to the ravages committed upon the Mobile & Ohio, the
Selma and the Southern Railroad by Sherman's troops, but also of the
reckless and useless destruction of property by our own troops there, a
destruction, or rather a system of destruction which needs to be curbed
and restrained, if not wholly forbidden. |
| General Sherman's army
destroyed the bridges, culverts, warehouses, water stations and
turn-tables on 48 miles of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad, and within this
distance tore up 21 miles of the track, on 16 miles of which there was
nothing of cross ties left but the ashes; and the heavy rails of which
that road is built, for the whole distance of 16 miles, were bent in
every conceivable shape. There were two heavy bridges over rivers nearly
as large as the Neuse at the crossing of the Wilmington & Weldon
Railroad, one smaller one, three quarters of a mile of trestle, besides
43 smaller pieces and wooden culverts. |
| He tore up the track and
burned the trestle work (of which there was very little, and no
important bridge) and 9 miles of the Selma Road, which being built with
a light rail is more easily straightened than the heavy rails used on
the Mobile & Ohio Road. |
| On the Southern (Vicksburg)
Road, he tore up about 3 miles of track, and burned a few bridges,
and but little trestle work. That Road is not materially damaged. |
| Gen. Sherman's great object
seemed to be to destroy the Mobile & Ohio Railroad, and Col. Fleming,
the Engineer and Superintendent was equally anxious to repair it in the
shortest possible time. The larger portion of the railroad hands had
fled in every direction on the approach of Gen. Sherman's army, and
another part on the appearance of Gens. Smith and Grierson. The
difficulties encountered in collecting hands in a country so completely
desolated by the enemy will be easily understood. Notwithstanding this,
an engine was run over the road Sherman had destroyed, in 29 1/2 days
after the work was commenced, or in 33 days after Sherman's army left
Meridian, and 4 days of the above time was lost by heavy rains; so that
the work was actually accomplished in 25 1/2 working days; and, in fact,
the Mobile & Ohio road was in working order four days before the Selma
Road was ready to connect with it. As late as last week, the Southern
road was not yet in running order. |
| In addition to the destruction
effected by Sherman's army, Generals Smith and Grierson passed over 32
miles of the Mobile & Ohio Road on the prairies, destroying all
culverts, warehouses, and water stations. They also tore up the track at
intervals and bent the rails. On this part of the road there is no
timber, or if any could be obtained it could not be hauled except by
railroads, and, consequently, it was necessary to finish the work below
before anything could be done towards repairing it. And, to make the
matter worse, our own forces burned the bridge over Tibbee River,
one of the heaviest on the road, and a freshet occurred two days after
the rebuilding of the bridge was commenced, which has delayed operations
a full week. However, the whole work will be completed, notwithstanding
these delays and mishaps, in six weeks from the day the axe was struck
in the first tree. Our informant says that the people out there consider
it rapid work repairing 80 miles of railroad, on which, according to
General Sherman, "the destruction was very complete," in six weeks, and
we agree with them. The passenger trains are running with as much
regularity over Gen. Sherman's work as they did before his appearance. |
| A highly intelligent and well
informed subscriber, residing in the Southwest, in a recent letter, a
private one, alluding to a brief editorial paragraph in the Journal
making reference to the rapidity with which the railroads destroyed by
Sherman had been rebuilt, says: |
| You are right -- "it is easier
talking about destroying railroads than it is doing it," if those who
control and manage them understand their business and the government
will lend its influence in procuring the necessary labor to repair them;
provided however, that the government will either issue an order
or pass a law which will prevent our own forces by making it a death
penalty -- for nothing else will stop it, from burning bridges and
cars and destroying railroad property, every time they get scared,
which is VERY FREQUENTLY in this Southwestern Department (always
excepting Gen. Forrest's command). To such an extent has this been
carried that nearly all the rolling stock of every road West of the
Tombigby River has been destroyed by our own forces, and under no
circumstances could the enemy have use it if captured. In the recent
raid, Gen. S. D. Lee sent a detail up the Mobile & Ohio Railroad to
destroy all "loose cars," and break the flanges of the wheels,
and they destroyed 30 cars along the road where the enemy never went.
Gen. Chalmers also ordered the burning of one of the heaviest bridges
over a stream which could have been easily forded within 150 yards of
the bridge, and which, in my judgment, could not have been used by the
enemy if there had been the slightest effort made to prevent them from
crossing it. You can have no idea of the insanity which seems to
possess the minds of subordinate Generals and officers to burn and
destroy the moment the approach of a Yankee force is announced. Gen.
Ruggles burned a public bridge near Columbus, Mississippi, in the recent
raid, where there was only one foot and a half of water in the stream,
and a lady rode across the stream half an hour afterwards. He had the
fuel collected and placed on the fine railroad bridge at Columbus, when,
to prevent the enemy using it, if indeed that was possible it was
only necessary to open the draw, which swung around, and rested
on the Columbus shore, and would have left an opening of 90 feet,
and the bridge was 60 feet high. The same insane disposition, for
I can call it by no milder tern -- seemed to possess every "Commandant
of Post" and Military officer in the State of Mississippi, where the
enemy appeared. |
| And this has been the case in
the Southwest ever since the beginning of the war. At the evacuation of
Columbus, Ky., the bridges were burned on the railroads, when the
enemy did not have a car or an engine within his dominions of the same
guage, that would run on these roads. Again, at Corinth, the bridges
were burned on the Memphis & Charleston, and the Mobile & Ohio
Railroads, when the enemy had no rolling stock, and seven (7) trains
loaded with government stores and containing upwards of one hundred
(100) cars, and five millions worth of property had to be destroyed
because the bridges on the former road had been burned too soon.
Is the first Grierson raid the cavalry got scared, and in their
flight stopped for nothing except to burn the trestle-work and bridges
on the Mobile & Ohio Railroad. I have never seen cars, engines, or
railroad property destroyed by our own forces that the folly of
it was not made apparent within ten days, and in a majority of cases the
railroad Companies were asked to repair it. General Beauregard saw the
folly of this while in command out here, and, sensible man as he is,
among the first orders issued by him on assuming command at Charleston
was one to prevent the destruction of Railroad property by our forces. I
wish the other Generals had an equal amount of brains." |
| These remarks are pretty
sharp. Perhaps their tone is rather too much so, but we fear there is
too much occasion for them. They certainly show up an abuse which cries
aloud for correction. |
|