OR, Series 1, Vol. 18, Page 875

Navy Department, C. S. A
Richmond, Va., February 13, 1863
 
His Excellency Zebulon B. Vance
Governor of North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C.
 
Sir,
  I am informed by Flag-Officer Lynch that there are at Lawrence-burg, N.C. {on the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad's Tarboro Branch}, 4,224 bars, or about 707 tons, of railroad iron, and that all operations upon the extension of the railroad beyond that point have been suspended and will not be renewed during the war. I have the honor to request that this iron may be turned over to this Department to be rolled into plates for protecting the gunboat and battery under construction on the Roanoke River. The iron will be paid for at its market value, or the Department will agree to return it six months after a declaration of peace. All efforts made to obtain iron in North Carolina and elsewhere have failed, and I beg leave to urge upon your consideration the expediency of turning over the lot of iron referred to, with the understanding that it will be used exclusively for plating gunboats and batteries now nearly ready for it in your State.
I am, respectfully, your obedient servant
S. R. Mallory
Secretary of the Navy

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