Special Orders No. 18
| Adjt. and Insp. General's Office |
| Richmond, Va., January 22, 1863 |
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| ***** |
| V. Iron for the completion of public vessels being
indispensable, and not within the reach of the Government through
the ordinary sources, Col. W. M. Wadley, assistant adjutant-general,
and Maj. I. M. St. John, chief of the Niter and Mining Bureau, are
appointed to act, with an officer to be designated by the Navy
Department, as a commission to examine and advise on what railroads
in the Confederate States the iron on their tracks can best be
dispensed with. In making this inquiry the commission will be governed
by the public interest, and will leave out of consideration all
roads and portions of roads required for military operations and defenses,
and also such as are indispensable in conveying supplies for the
public use. They will also, remembering that the iron rails which
can be advantageously removed as far as suitable may be needed for
the maintenance of the roads indispensable to military operations,
inquire and report the best means of ascertaining the iron suitable
for such roads and apportioning the same, and the rails removed may
be exchanged for equivalents in value of more defective rails to be
rolled and used for naval purposes. |
| ***** |
| By command of the Secretary of War |
| John Withers |
| Assistant Adjutant-General |
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