Quartermaster's Dept. C. S. A., Railroad Bureau
| Richmond, January 29, 1864 |
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| General A. R. Lawton |
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| General, |
| I have the honor to return you the
dispatch from His Excellency Governor J. E. Brown, of Georgia, in
which he says that "Confederate officers have taken from the
State road and had lost and destroyed upon other roads, over 200
cars and 8 or 10 engines." With some knowledge of the damage
done to railroads and machinery, I have no recollection of a single
engine owned by the State road of Georgia {the
Western & Atlantic Railroad} that was lost or destroyed
by any order or interference by the Confederate authorities. There
were some cars belonging to this road caught west of Huntsville when
that point fell into the hands of the enemy, but no engine. I am
compelled to think His Excellency is laboring under great
misapprehension in regard to this loss, and I am quite sure he is
mistaken in supposing this road incapable of supplying General
Johnston's army.
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| F. W. Sims |
| Major and Quartermaster |
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